Recognizing five international and local actors and actresses that have inspired popular acclaim from the British public, the BAFTA Orange Rising Star Award has been running for five consecutive years. This year Carey Mulligan, Kristen Stewart, Tahar Rahim, Jesse Eisenberg and Nicholas Hoult were named as the nominees for 2010.

The nominees must have featured in a film between the 1st of January to 31st December 2009 or within the extension period from the 1st of January to the 19th of February 2010.

Mulligan is the talented star of An Education, Hoult appears alongside Colin Firth in A Single Man, Rahim is the star of A Prophet, while Stewart starred in the Twilight Saga: New Moon and Adventureland for which her co-star Jesse Eisenberg was nominated.

The list has strong contention and it is hard to decide who has the greater chance of winning. If Mulligan does not win in the Best Actresss category she will most certainly take this award for Rising Star. The category description however, seems to indicate that popularity is worth more than talent, giving Kristen Stewart’s chances a great boost in the wake of Twilight fever.

The winner will be announced at the BAFTA ceremony on Sunday 21 February at London’s Royal Opera House.

Anchor Bay Entertainment | USA | 100 minutes

(The following review contains minor spoilers)

When you hear the name Fred Durst usually an image of Limp Bizkit on TRL in 2000 comes to mind. You think stereotypical hard rock ass. What you probably don’t think is film director and especially not dramatic film director, but that is exactly what is seen in Durst’s directorial debut The Education of Charlie Banks. The film had a limited release after receiving the “Made in NY Narrative Award” at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was then released on DVD at the end of June 2009. The film stars Jessie Eisenberg (Adventureland) and Jason Ritter (W.).

The title of the film is very true as it is dealing with the title character Charlie Banks (Eisenberg) learning how to cope with his “boogeyman.” A child hood bully named Mick whom he shares a mutual friend with. Charlie and Mick first meet at a party when Mick ends up getting into a fight with and brutally beating two guys who decided to get rough with him. This is where we first get a glimpse of the brutality that Mick is capable of. Finally wanting to put closure to his fear of Mick, Charlie goes to the cops and gives a statement that would have the potential to put Mick away for good, but after having a talk with the mutual friend — never revealing that he was the one who went to the cops — decides to withdraw his statement. This is the last we hear or see of Mick for a while.

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Here is the fourth episode of The Film Stage Podcast in which we review Jody Hill’s Observe and Report. Recorded by Jordan Raup, Dan Mecca you can stream it below or download the mp3:

Download the mp3 (right-click and save as): The Film Stage Podcast Episode 4 – Observe and Report Review

You can now subscribe through iTunes! Just click the image below and each episode will download for you automatically as it comes out:

Check out the contents of the podcast >>

Here is our third episode of The Film Stage Podcast in which we review Greg Mottola’s Adventureland. Recorded by Jordan Raup, Dan Mecca and guest John Ranic, you can stream it below or download the mp3:

Download the mp3 (right-click and save as): The Film Stage Podcast Episode 3 – Adventureland Review

You can now subscribe through iTunes! Just click the image below and each episode will download for you automatically as it comes out:

Check out the contents of the podcast >>

Not sure what is coming out this month? Here is my rundown of my most anticipated films coming out:

10. Fast & Furious (Lin, April 3rd)

Plot: As he is released from prison, Brian O’Conner teams up with Dominic Toretto work with the feds to bring down a heroin importer by infiltrating his operation.

Trailer

Why You Should See It: I’m actually not sure if this is a film to watch or avoid. The first one was enjoyable and it looks like a return to the original. I’ve heard early buzz that it is a decent popcorn flick.

Check out the rest of the list >>

Here is our second episode of The Film Stage Podcast. In the beginning of the podcast we mention we will review Adventureland, but as a bit of good and bad news; we are now officially part of the Washington, D.C. and Buffalo, NY press. This means we can no longer post or talk about reviews until the day of their release. This podcast will only include a Duplicity review. Recorded by Jordan Raup and Dan Mecca, you can stream it below or download the mp3 (right click and save as)

Download The Film Stage Podcast Episode 2 – Duplicity Review

You can also now follow us on Facebook!

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By Dan Mecca

If honesty is the best quality, Adventureland is the gem of the cinematic year so far. Written and directed by Greg Mottola (the guy who directed Superbad) this dramedy is a throwback in every way – from the setting of the film (summer 1987) to the laid-back comic delivery. There’s barely anything that can be defined as a joke in this thing.

For the most part, all the movie’s laughs are natural and observatory rather than fed and forced. This is not to say that the latter doesn’t work – see I Love You, Man for proof of this, a film that feeds jokes consistently with a natural rhythm that does not overwhelm.

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Not sure what is coming out this month? Here is a run-down of my eleven most anticipated films:

11. The Great Buck Howard (March 20th) (limited)

Plot: A law school dropout (Colin Hanks), much to the chagrin of his father (Tom Hanks), becomes the new assistant to an illusionist in decline (Malkovich). Can the fledgling partnership lead to the comeback of a lifetime?

Trailer

Why You Should See It: Pretty impressive cast and a somewhat interesting premise, this is should be a decent indie comedy/drama.

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Miramax has debuted the Adventureland Red Band Trailer on IGN. The comedy is written and directed by Greg Mottola (Superbad) and stars Jessie Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Bill Hader, and Ryan Reynolds. Check it out below:

Plot: A comedy set in the summer of 1987 and centered around a recent college grad (Eisenberg) who takes a nowhere job at his local amusement park, only to find it’s the perfect course to get him prepared for the real world.

I loved Superbad and Adventureland is looking to be just as good. The film got pretty positive reviews at Sundance. It will also be at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March before hitting theaters in wide release on March 27, 2009.

What do you think of the red band trailer for Adventureland?

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have written and are set to star in the comedy Paul, which Variety describes as two British slackers who, after visiting Comic-Con, go on a road trip to Area 51, where they encounter a small alien named Paul, who enlists them to help him find his way home. It is going to be directed by Greg Motolla who directed Superbad and has a new film, Adventureland, premiering at Sundance.

/Film reports in a recent podcast Director Greg Motolla discusses the alien character in the film:

“That movie is a far more technically challenging movie than Adventureland was because one of the main characters is a fully non-existent creature. He’s basically an alien who may be, let’s say, 70% CGI and the big challenge is that he needs to be a very funny, comedic method actor.  It’s not the kind of CGI character where we people to say ‘Oh wow, look what they did, that’s so cool’ it’s actually the kind of CGI character where we want people to just treat like another actor in the film, and he should be fully believable and multi-faceted and has to give a great performance, he just doesn’t exist. We’ve been doing a lot of test trying to figure out how to pull that one off.”

The film will also definitely be R-rated we can look forward to that. Motolla says:

“It’s rare that an R-rated comedy would have a CGI Creature right at the centre of it so I’m learning quite a bit.”

Pegg + Frost + Motolla + R-Rated looks like a win to me.  I can’t wait to see how realistic the alien character will be. Paul is scheduled to start shooting in March but it won’t hit theaters until 2010. Motolla’s new film Adventureland is one of my most anticipated of the year and is coming out March 27th, 2009.

Are you excited for Paul?