adventureland

i absolutely had to see this movie. i come from western pa and grew up in the 80's. the movie takes place in an amusement park near pittsburgh in the 80's. in real life it's called kennywood. it was filmed at kennywood. i have friends who worked at kennywood. why it is called kennywood i have no idea. but here are my thoughts:
1. jesse eisenberg is a menschy version of michael cera.
2. kristin stewart would be a great actress if she stopped playing with her hair. i also couldn't figure out why she was shivering all the time. however, if they shot off-season, western pa gets awfully chilly in september.
3. the director is a fan of eggleston. per the big star album cover presented as almost product placement, and the shots of sad, lonely suburban homes and cars. (love him too)
4. great soundtrack. i love a movie that opens with the replacements.
5. absolutely no western pa accent for anyone. and they had a dialect coach. disappointing.
6. the return of martin starr, whom i love from freaks and geeks.
7. totally unbelievable set of characters who might work in an amusement park:
a. a beautiful and rich nyu student
b. a brainy, menschy oberlin grad, en route to columbia
c. a poor young jewish intellectual who reads gogol
8. ryan reynolds didn't make me want to puke.
9. not nearly enough t&a.
10. nothing particularly original at all.
i would have to conclude that this is a mash-up of the following films:
nick and nora's playlist, flashdance, the squid and the whale, freaks and geeks, the funhouse, and pretty in pink/16 candles.
final thoughts: buy the soundtrack, although you probably already have the singles on your ipod.