Arriving with what prove to be outsized expectations for raucous humor on the basis of “Superbad,” Greg Mottola’s “Adventureland” unspools as a rather ordinary account of youthful summer misadventures that goes down easily thanks to a sparkly cast, more than 40 pop tunes that anchor the action in the late ’80s and characters who get high both on and off their jobs at a tacky amusement park. Thanks especially to the presence of leading lady Kristen Stewart in a role she filmed prior to “Twlight,” the pic should spin good returns for Miramax on its March 27 release.

Based on the experiences he had working at a Long Island amusement, Mottola cooks up a passable amount of mischief to occupy the late- teen/early-20s misfits who work as ride and game operators at Pittsburgh’s Adventureland in the summer of ‘87. Writer-director’s evident stand-in is James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg of “The Squid and the Whale”), who’s forced to take any summer job he can get when his European trip is dashed and his autumn date with grad school at Columbia is jeopardized by his alcoholic father’s fall from grace at work.

For a Reagan-era pothead, James is a terribly serious, woefully earnest guy who offers up his SAT scores when applying for low-end summer positions. He also somehow has emerged from college still a virgin, but his saving grace as far as his Adventureland cohorts are concerned is that he’s always has some weed. This makes the days go by easier, and also fuels the night, which the gawky James surprises himself by chastely spending with the alluring but massively screwed up Em (Kristen Stewart), who works at the park only as a way or getting away from her father and unbearable new stepmother.

What James doesn’t know is that Em is having a clandestine affair with older local musician and handyman Mike Connell (Ryan Reynolds), to whom James sometimes confesses his amorous feelings for Em. Adding further to the equation is a flirty cupcake Lisa P. (Margarita Levieva), a known virgin-for-life who nonetheless encourages James’ attentions.

Adventureland … read more »

In her new town of Forks, Washington, misfit teenager Bella Swan (Stewart) falls for her alluring and mysterious classmate, Edward Cullen (Pattinson). As it turns out, Edward belongs to a lineage of vampires, although he doesn’t fit the typical vampire mold. As their passion reaches dizzying heights, can Edward resist his natural urges, and will he be able to defend Bella from his family members who have come for her?

In terms of movies, 2008 will be remembered as the year superheroes went truly mainstream and, separately, the industry realized that female and gay male audiences are a neglected demographic. But what about the younger generation — more specifically, teenage girls? Has any studio been able to figure out what they want, aside from Hannah Montana? Enter Catherine Hardwicke’s adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s first novel, a project that first captured our interest very early this year when Kristen Stewart (Bella), Robert Pattinson (Edward), and a handful of their castmates took over our STARmeter chart, well in advance of any available footage from the production.

The hype reached its first apex at Comic-Con, when the movie’s panel earned Beatlemania comparisons from aging journalists who covered their ears as the teen girls and their “Twilight Moms” made the event more of a freak-out and less of a presentation. It’s always tricky to predict if Internet buzz will turn into box-office gold (or, in this case, crimson) but I will say this: If the mother-daughter duos turn out for opening weekend (which was pushed up from mid-December to pre-Thanksgiving once Harry Potter decided to hide until 2009), Twilight could trump some higher-profile holiday movies, powered by repeat audiences, and send competing studios rushing off to optioned like-minded novels. Stephenie Meyer is keeping a blog on the movie’s progress, so you might want to bookmark it as your destination for all things vamp as the release date draws near.

Rated PG-13 for some violence and a scene of sensuality.