Jesse Eisenberg

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Now You See Me: Now You Don’t
  • IMDb: link

Mixing magicians into a hesit film for something undeniably cool, if a bit overly-complicated, Now You See Me gave us Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, and Isla Fisher as four young magicians brought together by a mysterious secret organization to use their skills and sleight of hand to deal a bit of justice to the wealthy who have skirted their responsibilities. The clusterfuck of a sequel even further over-complicated the story, removed key figures from the plot, and retconned the motivations of a key antagonist leading to a dismal follow up that somehow didn’t kill this franchise.

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A Real Pain

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: A Real Pain
  • IMDb: link

Most notable for Kieran Culkin‘s performance, A Real Pain stars Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg (who also wrote and directed) in and odd couple pairing as cousins visiting Poland after their grandmother’s death hoping to reconnect with their Jewish heritage and feel closer to her one last time. Starting out with a Holocaust tour group the pair find themselves shown around Poland landmarks ranging from restaurants to a concentration camp with an eclectic group who include Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan, Liza Sadovy, Daniel Oreskes, and Kurt Egyiawan, before moving off on their own to find their grandmother’s home.

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Now You See Me 2

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Now You See Me 2
  • IMDb: link

Now You See Me 2

The sequel to Now You See Me attempts to pull an Oceans Twelve as the heroes from the first film are constantly thwarted and outmaneuvered. Sadly this movie doesn’t have the wit or style to pull off such a move. Taking place three years after the first film, the script makes several odd choices. While the Four Horsemen (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco) have gone into hiding, Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) has remained with the FBI for the questionable purpose of keeping the Feds off the inactive magicians’ trail. His lovely Interpol girlfriend (Mélanie Laurent) is nowhere to be seen, and the adventure he and the Horsemen get trapped in will rewrite several key pieces of the first film.

When the Horsemen do return, except for Isla Fisher who is replaced by Lizzy Caplan, to take down another greedy billionaire, the media darlings are thwarted by an adversary (Daniel Radcliffe) who separates them from their leader and puts them to work in Macau to steal a revolutionary microchip. After an awkward set-up that includes Harrelson in a dual role, the movie begins to pick up a little steam in Macau as the Horseman get back to business stealing the chip and attempt to turn the tables on their tormentor.

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The Best Movies of 2010

/ / Top Tens & Lists

This wasn’t a year to wow you. 2010 may have been somewhat of an off year for movies, but there are several quality films that hit theaters this year which are worth noting. A couple things struck me as I was putting together this list. First, how actresses stepped up huge this year. Whether in lead or supporting roles, it was a year dominated by the performances of the fairer sex. And second, 2010 was a year of raw emotion, almost visceral, brought to screen. You might argue that one or two of my choices didn’t have elaborate plots, but each delivered on an emotional level.

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The Social Network

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Social Network
  • IMDb: link

Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is an asshole, or he’s at least trying his damnedest to be one. That seems to be the central point of The Social Network which gives us a traditional tale (genius without people skills, rise to power by stepping on your friends) with a fresh take, several good performances, and some darn fine dialogue by screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.

In the film director David Fincher and Sorkin team-up to adapt Ben Mezrich‘s 2009 nonfiction novel The Accidental Billionaires about Zuckerberg’s life and the creation of a little thing called Facebook (maybe you’ve heard of it?). The film tackles everything from friendship to cut-throat business tactics and class warfare.

We begin with a lengthy pre-credit scene involving Zuckerberg’s break-up with his girlfriend Rooney Mara which will lead to the drunken creation of his first social networking site later that night, and lay the foundation for the later creation of Facebook. It’s a great scene to start, though both actors seem to struggle initially with the pace and tempo of a very wordy Sorkin scene.

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