Jesse Eisenberg

Jesse Eisenberg plays Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg in the hotly anticipated new David Fincher film The Social Network, which is coming to theaters this Friday.  I've been a fan of Eisenberg since 2002's Roger Dodger, where he played the young, naive nephew of Campbell Scott's Don Draperian advertising copywriter.  Since then, Eisenberg has turned in winning performances in films like Noah Baumbach's excellent family dramedy, The Squid and the Whale (2005), and the sweetly nostalgic but hilarious Adventureland (2009).  That is not to say that Eisenberg's career has been completely free of missteps; he appeared in M. Night Shyamalan's much maligned film The Village (2004) and the cult horror movie Cursed (2005).

Eisenberg has often been compared to Superbad star Michael Cera, most likely because both actors frequently play sensitive, slightly neurotic young men with hipster tendencies.  Cera may be the more famous of the two, but Eisenberg favors characters with a darker edge and has larger breadth in his roles.

Fun fact:  Eisenberg created the super addictive world play website OneUpMe.com where users compete to make the most amusing/ profound simile.

Check out Eisenberg in one of the DVDs we have at the library:

Zombieland (2009). *
DVD COMEDY ZOMBIELAND
Find it in the catalog!
The best zombie movie since Shaun of the Dead (2004).  It has a very cool cameo by everyone's favorite Chicagoan, Bill Murray.

Adventureland (2009).*
DVD COMEDY ADVENTURELAND
Find it in the catalog!
My favorite film of last year.  It has an excellent supporting performance by Media Corner favorite Martin Starr too!

The Education of Charlie Banks (2007).
DVD FICTION EDUCTION
Find it in the catalog!

The Hunting Party (2007).
DVD FICTION HUNTING
Find it in the catalog!

The Squid and the Whale (2005).*
DVD FICTION SQUID.
Find it in the catalog!
A touching, funny and sometimes painful portrait of a family going through a divorce.

Cursed (2005).
DVD HORROR SCI-FI CURSED
Find it in the catalog!

The Village (2004).
DVD HORROR SCI-FI VILLAGE
Find it in the catalog!

*Heather Recommends.