Games Games Games!

I said quite a while ago I'd write more about films, and I haven't, so here goes.

For me, it's harder to write confidently about film because I rarely watch a movie more than once (or occasionally twice), especially recent ones. So for all the fine films I've seen in the cinema lately, I'd feel a bit fraudulent saying more than a little.

So, let's go to some comfortable ground - a genre that may be called a guilty pleasure but isn't terribly guilty; the American coming-of-age/youngish adult romance/comedy/drama.

It's not the most critically revered, though it has significant span, from Grease to Brick. I'd say I'm a minor-league aficionado, and have seen a few more films starring the likes of Ryan Reynolds and Julia Stiles than most have.

I don't have particularly exacting standards and parameters - I remember being shocked by how much I enjoyed American Pie at the cinema, though usually I don't really go for the grosser/more laddish angle.

I've loved an awful lot of these films, whether they're darker indie dramas like The Squid and the Whale and Thumbsucker, or archetypal feelgood flicks like She's All That. I embrace their use of popular song of the day, find myself so often surprised at the wit of the dialogue I should no longer be surprised, root for the outcome and often find myself with a little lump in my throat.

I have a favourite - one that ticks all my boxes.

I was reminded of it by seeing publicity for the new film 'American Ultra' and its two stars being interviewed together. Ah, Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart, they seem to get on well, I thought ... oh yes, I remember.

I don't think I'll go see American Ultra - stoner and ultraviolent comedy aren't subgenres that always hit my happy spot, though if it's got a touch of Grosse Point Blank and gets decent reviews, maybe I will.

Anyway, Eisenberg and Stewart's previous encounter was in 'Adventureland', an underrated, underseen little marvel which is one of my favourite films in the world.

What's Adventureland? It's a theme park in late-80s Pennsylvania where students etc spend their summer earning a bit of cash. The sun occasionally shines, it's a bit grimy and depressing. I haven't actually seen much Kristen Stewart, just this and bits of the first Twilight film (Twilight is coming-of-age romance, a plus, vampire, a minus, blockbuster, also a minus) but the sadness and self-loathing behind the eyes makes her pretty compelling in this. Eisenberg I'm a huge fan of, Zombieland, The Social Network etc.

I first saw him in The Squid and the Whale, more a a family film than a teen film per se. I've been watching a lot of Noah Baumbach film's lately. They're all really good, but there is a sourness which can be a little off-putting.

Adventureland does not have that sourness. It's got the ring of truth, it's not glossy, but it's not sour. Greg Mottola is the director and it is, I believe, semi-autobiographical. There's a sweet nostalgia in the period detail. In Britain - maybe less so in the USA - the late 80s can be seen as a bit of a wasteland for music, but the soundtrack is one of the very best things about the film - the key band are The Replacements, those keepers of the flame for the real rock music.

I saw The Replacements a couple of months ago, at the end of their comeback tour, so quite probably their second last gig ever. I'd already been a fan before I watched Adventureland but the depth of my affection is certainly connected to the film. The film ends with the viewer satisfied, as there's a happy ending to the soundtrack of the band's most beautiful song 'Unsatisfied'. The otherwise awesome gig ended with this listener ever so slightly unsatisfied, as there was no 'Unsatisfied' to finish. It finished with 'Alex Chilton' their moderately famous song about what would have happened if Chilton's very unsuccessful but influential band Big Star were massively famous. Big Star also are on the Adventureland soundtrack.

I constantly wish for a world where Big Star, The Replacements and Adventureland have all been massively successful.

These teen films, they're easy to be moved by, to be sucked into empathising, but Adventureland is really more about the right kind of people than most. Geeky but not too geeky, normal and bright, well-read and poor, restless and hopeful.

And it's got Ryan fuckin Reynolds. I like Reynolds, the modern smartass king. Often he's the romantic hero, which kind of works as long as he's a bit of a dick with it, here he's just a bit of an ambiguous dick. It's a very strong supporting role, amongst any others, including Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader.

The film came out at the same time as (500) Days of Summer, a fair bit more feted for its "fresh twist on the romcom". I like that film too, I've seen them both more than once, and, again, great use of the pop music, but it's much more mannered, more artificial, more glossy. Also, not that "liking the characters" is always important for liking films, it does help somewhat with romantic films, and the central two in 500 Days of Summer are super-annoying where pretty much everyone in Adventureland is likeable.

The male star of 500 Days of Summer is Joseph Gordon-Levitt. There are three guys of roughly that age who've done roughly those parts - Eisenberg, Gordon-Levitt and Michael Cera. Cera (whatever will be will be), the oddest, most teen awkward, most straightforwardly comical, has seen his star fall a little inevitably. I'd be surprised if he's still getting main parts in five years time (not that i don't think he's pretty ace).

Eisenberg and Gordon-Levitt, it'll be interesting to see. Both are getting big parts in big films now, though physically Gordon-Levitt lends himself to more, I think, more action hero, more matinee idol, more capable of dumb. Eisenberg, I suspect, will always be at his best when stuttering, self-deprecating, wisecracking. We'll see.  They're both in their mid-30s now, anyhow. No more coming-of-age dramas, one hopes.

Anyway, have I told you enough about Adventureland? I've talked it up to people, some of whom have liked but not loved it, not quite getting why I put it on such a pedestal. It's just ... everything about it ... it's marginal gains ... I like every detail in it better than other films of its type, that's all.

I, like Levitt and Eisenberg, am at an age when I'm (or should be) outgrowing the genre a little, but I think I'll always have a place in my heart for Adventureland.