New drama / biography Resistance is the story of a group of Jewish Boy Scouts who worked with the French Resistance to save the lives of ten thousand orphans during World War II.
Written / directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz, key cast includes Jesse Eisenberg, Ed Harris, Edgar Ramírez, Clémence Poésy
Having recently seen Eisenberg in The Art Of Self Defense (2019) where for much of the film he’s far from empowered, I like that in Resistance his character appears to be brave, heroic and taking charge.
Matthias Schweighöfer, Bella Ramsey, Géza Röhrig, Karl Markovics, Félix Moati, Alicia von Rittberg, Vica Kerekes, Tobias Gareth Elman, Kue Lawrence, Christian Clarke and Aurélie Bancilhon also star.
The Art Of Self Defense (2019), Jesse Eisenberg, Bleeker Street
It was the humour in the trailer for writer / director Riley Stearns’s comedy / drama The Art Of Self Defensethat first had my attention. Then came my desire to see Jesse Eisenberg’s character Casey’s interest in self defense actually pay off.
Also starring Alessandro Nivola and Imogen Poots, the first third of The Art Of Self Defense proved quite uncomfortable to watch because it’s never fun to see a vulnerable person being taken advantage of. I therefore couldn’t wait for Casey to finally reap the benefits of his Karate lessons – which he does, but certainly not quite in the way one might expect.
I liked the general outline of Stearn’s story but similarly to Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Lobster (2015), things took a dark turn I wasn’t fully expecting and I found myself wanting to go back to the more humorous phase, even though said phase was mixed in with uncomfortably vulnerable scenes.
There are two or more moments in Stearns’s film that had me questioning the believability of certain goings on. Also, towards the end, the editing had me feeling as though specific scenes had been skipped which unfortunately made the whole experience feel a tad rushed.
Everyone performed well but my favourite is Nivola’s turn as sensei, because he’s the source of much of the little humour there is, plus his quiet confidence and general air of mystery also proved quite arresting.
Generally speaking, I really can’t say that I enjoyed The Art Of Self Defense more than it annoyed me and / or made me uncomfortable. Should you find yourself particularly curious though, especially if you liked The Lobster in its entirety, perhaps give The Art Of Self Defense a chance.
Vivarium is the new sci-fi / mystery starring Jesse Eisenberg, Imogen Poots, and directed / co-written by Lorcan Finnegan.
While searching for the perfect starter home, young couple Tom and Gemma end up following a mysterious real estate agent to a new housing development, but soon realise that they actually can’t leave…
‘What fresh nightmare is this?‘
The very kind that has me wanting to watch and find out just how different this will be compared to one of my Jim Carey favourites, The Truman Show (1998).
I’m guessing some kind of alien abduction happened.
Jonathan Aris, Eanna Hardwicke, Shana Hart, Senan Jennings, Molly McCann, Danielle Ryan and Olga Wehrly also star.
New comedy The Art Of Self Defensestars Imogen Poots , Alessandro Nivola and Jesse Eisenberg
Directed by Riley Stearns it’s the story of Casey (Eisenberg) , a man who’s randomly attacked on the street and so begins a journey to learn self defense, with the help of a charismatic and mysterious Sensei.
The promise of comedy is why I’m interested and I definitely want to see Casey become less afraid. There’s also the fact that I already like Nivola’s character’s attitude. He reminds me quite a bit of Chris Messina’s Danny Castellano character in The Mindy Project.
Steve Terada, Phillip Andre Botello, Leland Orser, Josh Fadem, Elizabeth Howlett and Chris Lay also star.
Salma Hayek, Alexander Skarsgård and Jesse Eisenberg are the stars of The Hummingbird Project, a Kim Nguyen written / directed drama about two high-frequency traders facing off with their former boss.
The prize available is serious money in a fibre-optic cable deal…
I’m in for the showdown, because I love Hayek, I want to see Eisenberg in what looks like a more crazed version of his role as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network (2010). And lastly, I have to see more of Skarsgård’s character running.
Michael Mando, Johan Heldenbergh, Ayisha Issa, Sarah Goldberg and Kwasi Songui also star.
Café Society (2016), Kristen Stewart, Jesse Eisenberg
It’s generally understood that Hollywood films about Hollywood tend not to do well at the box office. I’d only been aware of this phenomenon anecdotally until I watched Hail, Caesar! (2015), a movie I along with many others did not love.
I’m yet to see the most recent Hollywood movie about Hollywood. Namely Warren Beatty’sRules Don’t Apply (2016), but I know that it also didn’t do particularly well upon release. The most recent Hollywood movie about Hollywood I’ve watched is Woody Allen’sCafe Society (2016). I took my time to watch this one for the reasons stated above. It was my love for Allen’s Blue Jasmine (2013), my favourite of his movies, Blake Lively and a general curiosity about Kristen Stewart’s acting that made me finally tune in. Cafe Society isn’t one of Allen’s most raved about films. Still, if I had to choose between it and Hail, Caesar! (2015), the latter absolutely would not win, except that the costumes in Hail, Caesar! are definitely more fun.
I wasn’t in love with the ending of Cafe Society and I admit to largely losing interest when one or two of the main characters shows up again towards the end; something to do with my general ‘liking’ of Blake Lively and her character, perhaps. Somehow I did manage to make it to the film’s conclusion; rather anticlimactic end I might add. As pleasing as that ending might be to Allen and everyone else, I felt, for want of a better phrase, ‘left in limbo’.
Performance-wise Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart were fine but I loved Steve Carell and Parker Posey more. My favourite thing about Cafe Society is the colour filter and the music. I’m just glad that the film didn’t prove to be a waste of my time to the levels of Hail, Caesar! (2015). I wouldn’t say that ‘You simply must see it! You must!’ because I only found it just OK overall.
Café Society (2016), Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart
Woody Allen, writer and director of one of my favourite films Blue Jasmine (2013) is back. Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart and Blake Lively are the stars of Café Society, a movie set in the 1930s about a young man who moves to live and work in Hollywood…
Having just recently watched the unfortunate disappointment that isHail, Caesar! (2016), I don’t know about another movie about Hollywood from way back when. I may end up liking this. One can only wait and see.
Louder Than Bombs (2015), Isabelle Huppert, Jesse Eisenberg
The new movie starring Jesse Eisenberg, Gariel Byrne and Devin Druid has my attention because it involves a seemingly dark secret. Norwegian director Joachim Trier is the man in charge of Louder Than Bombs and the movie’s following trailer has me hypnotised….
For a moment there I thought the trailer was going to reveal the secret alluded to in the trailer. I don’t know what I would have done if that happened. This trailer could have probably done with being a little shorter but things could certainly be worse.
Isabelle Huppert, Ruby Jerins, Rachel Brosnahan and Megan Ketch also star.
The Movie My Life 