If I had to single one thing out as being the saddest moment in PIXELS, it would have to be when Michelle Monaghan, as a newly dumped wife is forced to find solace from Adam Sandler as she is weeping and drinking chardonnay from a sippy cup on the floor of her closet.
YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN
In what circle of Hell did YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN get the green light? It’s not that we go to an Adam Sandler comedy, those in which he has a producing and writing credit, that is, with hopes high. Or even raised for that matter. But this stinking pile of crass anti-humor masquerading… Read More »
BEDTIME STORIES
There may once have been a charming idea at the heart of BEDTIME STORIES, but alas, whatever it might have been has been Sandler-ized. And not for your protection. The tale of Skeeter (Adam Sandler), an underappreciated hotel maintenance man given a chance to succeed where his father failed in the hospitality industry is singularly… Read More »
GROWN UPS
The pain of watching a shlocky film is trivial compared to the torture of sitting through a shlocky film that has convinced itself that it has a message beyond being awful. The latter is the experience of GROWN UPS, a dismal interlude that in the first 10 minutes establishes that men are idiots, women are… Read More »
JUST GO WITH IT
Evincing a sense of humor that would be the envy of a first-grader, Adam Sandler once again assaults the concept of humor in JUST GO WITH IT. Predictable is perhaps the least of the faults to be found here, combined as that is with a fixation on excretion, and with tedious direction from Sandler regular… Read More »
EIGHT CRAZY NIGHTS
Adam Sandlers EIGHT CRAZY NIGHTS may actually give Ed Woods PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE a run for its money as the worst movie ever made. But maybe thats just the shell shock kicking in. This animated film was such an assault on my senses that at one point my life actually flashed before my… Read More »
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA is a sunny little animated film about vampires and other assorted creatures of the night. Co-written by Robert Smigel, he who makes those divine animated shorts for Saturday Night Live, there is enough, youll pardon the expression, bite to the humor to make this a mostly painless experience for adults. The film, though,… Read More »
GROWN UPS 2
A question that I like to ask of comedians who veer towards the edgy is if there is anything off limits when it comes to comedy. I have gotten many great answers over the years, but the one that was the most succinct came from Orlando Jones. Not funny, thats off limits. There may be… Read More »
BLENDED
Its never easy to see innocent children dragged into the madness of adults. Their fresh little faces and trusting innocence exploited by hard-hearted cynicism. And so it is with BLENDED, another in a seemingly endless series of Adam Sandler flicks designed to pay for his vacations. The venue this time is Africa, and the story,… Read More »
ANGER MANAGEMENT
With ANGER MANAGEMENT, Adam Sandler continues those first few tentative steps he took with Paul Thomas Anderson’s PUNCH DRUNK LOVE towards appealing to an audience over the age of eight and other than male. There it was a stab at dramatic respectability that worked beyond anyone’s expectations. Here he’s made the bold choice of moving… Read More »