Austin Abrams
Occupation
Actor
Brad's Status Trailer
Not everyone gets to the place they thought they would get to in life. Nothing rings more true than that for Brad Sloan (Ben Stiller). His college friends have all gone on to bigger and better things; Craig Fisher (Michael Sheen) ended up in the White House, Jason Hatfield (Luke Wilson) formed his own hedge fund company and Billy Wearslter (Jemaine Clement) sold his business and got to retire at 40-years-old. Brad, meanwhile, put all his efforts into a non-profit venture - and that's exactly what he has to show for it. None of the luxury and wealth of his classmates, but he does have a son he's incredibly proud of.
Troy Sloan (Austin Abrams) is a talented musician who's smart enough to get into pretty much any college he chooses including Harvard. Brad takes him on a tour of colleges across the East Coast, and while he initially doesn't want to put too much pressure on Troy, he soon gets over-zealous by the prospect of Harvard that he can't stop himself from heaping advice onto his son who's anxious enough as it is. Brad just doesn't want Troy to end up struggling like he is, but he's going the wrong way about ensuring his success - especially when he bumps into one of his old friends and starts doubting his own successes (or lack thereof) in life.
'Brad's Status' is a comedy drama directed and written by Mike White ('School of Rock', 'The Good Girl', 'The Emoji Movie'). It was nominated for the Platform Prize at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, and was released in theatres on September 15th 2017.
Paper Towns Review
Good
After setting the scene with vivid characters and some insightful interaction, the plot of this teen comedy-drama feels like a let down. It's an inventive twist on the usual high school movie, and it has a darkly realistic tone, but where the story goes is rather pushy and melodramatic, straining for a sentimental surge of emotion. It's very well made, and the cast is excellent, but the film is ultimately rather forgettable.
It's set in small-town Florida, where 18-year-old Quentin (Nat Wolff) is trying to focus on graduating and heading to university. He has had a crush on his neighbour Margot (Cara Delevingne) since they were children, but they've drifted apart as she fell in with the rebellious kids. Then one night she appears asking for his help to get even with her cheating boyfriend (Griffin Freeman), giving Quentin the night of his life as they stage a series of pranks. The next day Margot vanishes, leaving enigmatic clues about where she's gone. So Quentin enlists his pals Ben and Radar (Austin Abrams and Justice Smith) to help him find her, and they end up taking a road trip with Margot's best pal Lacey (Halston Sage) and Radar's girlfriend Angela (Jaz Sinclair), following her trail to a blip on a map of rural New York.
The title refers to fictional towns cartographers put on maps to alert them to plagiarists, a metaphor that never quite rings true but adds to the overall mystery. More interesting is the way the story puts a fresh spin on the usual teen-movie themes: peer pressure, wild parties, loss of virginity, the prom, plans for the future. These things are grappled with using a superb mix of humour and angst, giving the cast some very strong scenes along the way. Wolff anchors the film as a late-bloomer who's only just discovering himself, and Delevingne brings a wild allure to her role, even though everything Margot does feels somewhat contrived, which makes her feel like a romanticised memory.
Continue reading: Paper Towns Review
Watch Cara Delevingne Pull A Vanishing Act In 'Paper Towns' [Trailer]
By Stephanie Chase in Movies / TV / Theatre on 19 March 2015
The model turned actress stars in the big screen adaptation of John Green’s YA novel.
The first trailer for Paper Towns starring model Cara Delevingne and Nat Wolff premiered on this morning’s edition of NBC Today, giving us our first look at the young adult drama, which comes from The Fault In Our Stars author John Green,
Adapted from Green's best selling novel, Delevingne stars as Margo, the girl next door who captures the imagination of her neighbour Quentin "Q" Jacobsen, played by Nat Wolff. But after the two spend high school running in different circles, Q receives the shock he’d been waiting for one night, when Margo appears at his window and asks him to assist her with a revenge plot.
Continue reading: Watch Cara Delevingne Pull A Vanishing Act In 'Paper Towns' [Trailer]
Paper Towns Trailer
Quentin's life is perfectly ordinary for a growing high school boy, at least apart from his mysterious and gorgeous neighbour Margo, with whom he has been friends since kindergarten. She's an eccentric character who, out of blue, decides to enlist him on an all night revenge project of hers, touring the neighbourhood which she bitterly calls a 'paper town' and finding a way to get back at her cheating ex-boyfriend. Just as suddenly, Margo disappears the very next day leaving behind a string of clues as to her whereabouts. Worried and desperate to find her, Quentin gets his friends to join him on his search for Margo - but he's about to discover that there's more to friendship than trying to be a hero, and he's about to learn a lesson or two in love too.
Continue: Paper Towns Trailer
The Kings Of Summer Trailer
Joe Toy is struggling under the weight of his over-bearing single father Frank; his rules, curfews and sanctions are suffocating him as his independence is slowly quashed day by day during his summer vacation. In a bid for the first taste of freedom in his life, he grabs his best friend Patrick Keenan, an equally suppressed teenage boy, and takes him on a trip to the woods where he shows him where they will build their own house free from any kind of parental strain. Tagging along is a weird and unpredictable kid named Biaggio who they're too afraid to reject, and who thinks up an idea of a kidnapping to explain their dramatic runaway to their worried parents. While they struggle to live off the land and take care of themselves, their friendships are tested as they discover just how difficult it is to be independent, parents or no parents.
Continue: The Kings Of Summer Trailer
The Kings Of Summer Trailer
Joe Toy is not so different from your average hormone-ravaged adolescent boy; he, like many teenagers, struggles with his limits of independence as his father Frank, who brings Joe up alone, insists on keeping control over Joe's life as he tries in vain to gain a little freedom. In a bid for autonomy and liberation, he enlists the help of his best friend Patrick Keenan and their peculiar acquaintance Biaggio to help him build a home in the woods during their summer vacation and thus become entirely self-sufficient, living off the land. However, tempers rise and friendships are put to the test as they discover that true independence is almost impossible as even the kind of family you choose becomes just as restricting as the one you were born with.
Continue: The Kings Of Summer Trailer
The Kings Of Summer Trailer
Joe Toy is not so different from your average hormone-ravaged adolescent boy; he, like many teenagers, struggles with his limits of independence as his father Frank, who brings Joe up alone, insists on keeping control over Joe's life as he tries in vain to gain a little freedom. In a bid for autonomy and liberation, he enlists the help of his best friend Patrick Keenan and their peculiar acquaintance Biaggio to help him build a home in the woods during their summer vacation and thus become entirely self-sufficient, living off the land. However, tempers rise and friendships are put to the test as they discover that true independence is almost impossible as even the kind of family you choose becomes just as restricting as the one you were born with.
Continue: The Kings Of Summer Trailer