Five Year Engagement : All posts

Actress Mindy Kaling can't get enough of Zingerman's

Would you send Mindy Kaling some Zingerman's stollen?

"Someone send me Zingerman Deli's stolen," she tweeted Tuesday morning.

'The Five Year Engagement' slated for DVD release on September 4

Starring Jason Segel and Emily Blunt; produced by Judd Apatow; and directed by Nicholas Stoller, the movie tells the story of a couple who struggle to stay together on their long journey down the aisle.

Emily Blunt photographed in Jolly Pumpkin shirt

A local business has been getting some love from a movie star.

Emily Blunt—who spent a good bit of time in Ann Arbor in 2011, while filming "The Five Year Engagement" with Jason Segel—was recently photographed leaving a West Hollywood pilates studio wearing a Jolly Pumpkin T-shirt.

The Facebook page for the Ann Arbor-based Jolly Pumpkin Cafe & Brewery recently shared the London Daily Mail story in which the photos appeared and wrote, "Thanks Emily for sporting our great tee. What a treat to have you and your castmates as our guests last summer. Mahalo!"

'Five Year Engagement' off to slow start at box office

This story has been removed from our site after 30 days as required by our digital use agreement with the Associated Press.

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with poll: My irreconcilable differences with 'The Five Year Engagement'

Jason Segel in an Ann Arbor scene from "The Five Year Engagement."

Universal Pictures

I’m overly concerned with public image.

Not my own. I mean the image of the place I live.

It’s probably rooted in growing up in Metro Detroit—and loving it. I’ve never even lived in the city proper, but I still get annoyed and defensive whenever I hear a crack about Devil’s Night, or abandoned buildings, or the quality of American cars (my 1993 Ford Ranger has 160,000 miles on it and still runs fine, so there).

Actor David Paymer recalls Ann Arbor college days - and returning for 'Five Year Engagement'

David Paymer

“It was a treat. I had not been back in almost 30 years. It was like going home again because I have such fond memories of being here. It was an intersection of my past and my present. Obviously, Ann Arbor looks a lot different than it did in the mid-1970s. The blueprint of the city is as I remember it, there are just bigger buildings everywhere,” said Paymer, 57, of Santa Monica, Calif.

After transferring to U-M his junior year from the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY, Paymer graduated in 1975 with an undergraduate degree in theater and psychology.

with poll: Locally filmed 'The Five-Year Engagement' gets laughs from Ann Arbor on opening night

Jason Segel in "The Five Year Engagement"

Universal Pictures

A large crowd of moviegoers found out how Ann Arbor was depicted in new romantic comedy "The Five-Year Engagement," starring Jason Segel and Emily Blunt. Audience members generally gave favorable opinions to AnnArbor.com after an opening night showing Friday at Rave Motion Pictures, despite mixed reviews from the national media.

Most of the film was shot on location in Ann Arbor, and surrounding places like Ypsilanti, last summer. Local anticipation has built up. This is not only because a lot of the locations are highly recognizable to a local eye, but Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan play a big role in the actual plot.

It only took Friday night audience members Jeff and Anne Newman “a little over a year” to make it down the aisle—much faster than the fictitious fiancees in the romantic comedy.

Q and A: 'The Five Year Engagement' director and producer discuss their time in Ann Arbor

Rodney Rothman and Nick Stoller at the Michigan Theater Friday night.

Angela Cesere | AnnArbor.com

Q. What was your favorite shoot while in Ann Arbor?

NS: The night we shot outside of Zingerman’s was really fun. And the night we shot on Main Streeet was awesome. That was the best one. That was really fun. It was really funny, because the weather was especially terrible when we were shooting here. It was unseasonably cold. It was May 26—I know that, because it was my wife’s birthday—and there were literally a few snowflakes in the air that night. But it was really fun shooting and having the run of Main Street, and people were very cool.

Early 'Five Year Engagement' reviews run the gamut

The film opens nationally Friday. Here's a round-up of links to various reviews.

Detroit free press: Parnell, Stoller and Rothman talk Ann Arbor and 'The Five Year Engagement'

Chris Parnell

"It seemed like a very warm place and friendly and cool. There wasn't anything not to like about it," Parnell told the Free Press.

Another Free Press article features an interview with "Engagement" director Nick Stoller and producer Rodney Rothman.

movie review

with poll: Ann Arbor movie 'The Five Year Engagement' is lovable, despite its flaws

Jason Segel and Emily Blunt in a downtown Ann Arbor scene from "The Five Year Engagement."

Universal Pictures

As the title implies, “The Five Year Engagement” focuses on a couple’s long, bumpy path to the altar.

Indeed, a proposal scene between Tom (Jason Segel) and Violet (Emily Blunt) opens the film—which was filmed primarily in Ann Arbor in 2011—and what follows is a bloated, sometimes funny and charming, sometimes flat exploration of what happens when grown-up realities and ambitions butt heads with romance.

video: Jason Segel talks about Ann Arbor on 'The Tonight Show'

On Friday, Jason Segel appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" to promote his new movie, "The Five Year Engagement," primarily filmed in Ann Arbor last year, and he called his time in Ann Arbor "the best time of (his) life."

The movie opens Friday in wide release. Check out the five minute "Tonight Show" segment here:

with poll / with video: Ann Arbor movie 'The Five Year Engagement' poised for respectable box-office take

Universal Pictures

“Five Year” is the only romantic comedy in the pack, and the next big hitter of that genre isn’t scheduled to arrive in theaters until “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” comes out on May 18. That may bode well for the movie's performance at the box office.

with video: Ann Arbor gets sneak peek at locally filmed 'The Five Year Engagement'

"The Five Year Engagement" producer Rodney Rothman, left, and director Nicholas Stoller answer questions after the premier of their movie at the Michigan Theater Friday night.

Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com

There were cheers and applause, for instance, when Emily Blunt’s character received mail from the University of Michigan; and yet another round of cheers when Zingerman’s Deli—where Jason Segel’s character works—makes its first appearance. There was mumbling and whispering as characters who were running around downtown Ann Arbor at night were suddenly also running around downtown Ypsilanti; and a mention of Zingerman’s City Goat cheese scored a laugh.

polls: Three major movies with local angles open today; what are you hoping to see?

In a rather odd accident of timing, three national movie releases with significant ties to Ann Arbor will screen this weekend.

indiewire.com: The Five Year Engagement's first reviews, following Tribeca Film Festival screening

The review—which gives the film a B+ grade—begins, "Funny, touching and occasionally dramatic, Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller’s charming “The Five Year Engagement” falls just short of the modern-day comedy classic category, and yet is deeply entertaining, genuinely amusing and satisfying in the way most shaggy-dog, two-hour-plus comedies are not. Bolstered by a hilarious supporting cast and two genuinely likable leads, the Judd Apatow-produced comedy may feel a little unkempt at times, but the picture has sweet and touching notes to go with the diverting silliness."

with video / with poll: Local actors recall work on Ann Arbor movie 'The Five Year Engagement'

These are just two experiences of local actors who took part in “The Five Year Engagement” shoot in Ann Arbor last year.

The movie stars Jason Segel and Emily Blunt as a couple struggling to get to the altar, and one of the film’s producers is Judd Apatow. It was filmed primarily in the Ann Arbor area last year, and is largely set in Ann Arbor as well—unlike most of the other recent high-profile movie shoots in the area, which mostly had Ann Arbor stand in for other locales.

When it opens nationally April 27, these actors—and everyone else—will finally be able to see how much of their respective scenes made it into the film’s final cut, and how the whole movie came together. (A special sneak preview, this Friday at the Michigan Theater, will benefit 826michigan.)

Perhaps not surprisingly, recent U-M grad Torrey Wigfield, who moved to New York six months ago, plays a college student in “Five Year.” “Without giving too much away, I’m part of a running joke,” Wigfield said. “Essentially, I had a make out scene with Mindy Kaling that we shot 4 or 5 or 6 times. So we made out for about 20 minutes on the set, and probably about 30 seconds of that will actually be used in the film.”

Detroit Free Press: Jason Segel talks about his time in Ann Arbor

But Segel also, of course, spent a good bit of time in Ann Arbor last year while filming "The Five Year Engagement," and he talks about that in the article, too.

'The Five Year Engagement' will have a pre-release fundraiser screening in Ann Arbor

“Engagement,” which was mostly filmed in the Ann Arbor area in 2011, stars Emily Blunt and Jason Segel as a couple that keeps getting tripped up on their way to marriage.

The event is a benefit for 826michigan. General admission tickets are $20 each, or patrons may purchase VIP tickets for $100 each, which include reserved seating and a special post-screening reception with Stoller and Rothman.

Both kinds of tickets will be available March 15 starting at 9 a.m. on BrownPaperTickets.com.

aceshowbiz.com: Locally shot 'The Five Year Engagement' to open the Tribeca Film Festival in April

Director Nicholas Stoller was quoted as saying, "We are so honored that the Festival organizers have given us this platform to premiere the film. To be honest, this is all just a ploy to stand on top of a building with (TFF co-founder) Robert De Niro and look out over New York City at dusk."