Posts Tagged ‘Adam Sandler’

Film Review: “Funny People”

Funny_People_PosterFunny People, the latest film by writer/director Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin) has been advertised as being a comedy, when in fact it is more of a dramedy, which happens to contain many moments of true hilarity. It is Apatow’s most mature film to date (this in spite of the director’s need to talk about penises every 2.5 minutes in each of his films), and certainly the most mature work Sandler (Big Daddy, You Don’t Mess With The Zohan) has ever done in his life. While it’s not proof that either man will ever truly grow up, it’s a testament to the fact that both are maturing in their approach to the material they work on.

Sandler plays George Simmons, an amazingly successful former standup comedian-turned-actor, who has sold out his principles for a big mansion and a hefty cut of his movies’ box office grosses. He’s still good to his fans though, stopping to pose for pictures and crack jokes in order to make sure they crack a smile. However when George gets some tests back from his doctor, stating that he has an extremely rare blood disease and his chances are grim bordering on hopeless, he begins the slow path through self-absorbed grief to introspection and ultimately makes an earnest attempt to right the wrongs of his life.

At a comedy club one night, George happens to cross paths with Ira Wright (Seth Rogen, who also served as an executive producer on the film), a barely funny funnyman whose own friends at work and his roommates at home continually tell him how unamusing he is. Perhaps it’s the fact that Ira’s giving his all that one night, or George is too lost in his own self-pity to notice fully, but some of Ira’s material strikes a chord with him as having promise, and George hires Ira to write jokes for him. (more…)

Revival House: Nine Great Movies You’ve Probably Never Seen

The concept is simple: come up with a list of great films that didn’t do well at the box office or ones you’ve been told are great and you’ve said to yourself, “Yeah, I should see that,” but you never get around to it. Originally when I was tinkering with such a list over ten years ago I included The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Hoosiers (1986), and Silverado (1985), but enough people have since discovered those movies on home video that I won’t include them here. But if you still haven’t seen those three or anything on the following list, by all means check them out!

BartonFinkBarton Fink (1991). The Coen brothers’ take on writer’s block and peeling wallpaper won Best Director (Joel Coen), Best Actor (John Turturro), and the grand prize — the Palme d’Or — at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival. John Turturro plays a New York playwright hired to write screenplays in 1940s Hollywood. While struggling to write a wrestling picture, the studio puts him up in a run-down hotel where he meets his next-door neighbor, an insurance salesman played by John Goodman. And then, in that typical Coen brothers way, it gets deliciously weird.

BrazilBrazil (1985). Think of it as George Orwell meets … well, Terry Gilliam. The director’s take on an Orwellian bureaucracy almost never got released in the U.S. The story is the stuff of Hollywood legend: Universal said the picture was unreleasable. They wanted to completely recut it and change the concept of the entire ending, so Terry Gilliam conducted private screenings against the studio’s wishes. Members of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association attended one of the screenings and voted Brazil best film of the year. Universal then relented and gave it a theatrical release, albeit reluctantly. But beware — the abbreviated, 94-minute cut of Brazil is sometimes shown in syndication, so if you’ve only seen it on TV, chances are you’ve seen the screwed-up version.

California Split (1974). This often overlooked Robert Altman film is a character study of two compulsive gamblers, wonderfully played by Elliott Gould and George Segal. There’s a lot of poker playing in this movie, yet in typical Altman fashion, not one actual hand of poker is shown — the focus is on the people, not the cards. All this plus the usual Altman touches (improv, long takes, and overlapping dialogue) make California Split the most realistic account of gambling I’ve ever seen.

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DVD Review: “Bedtime Stories”

51nzzhyxbbl_ss500_1Bedtime Stories (2009, Disney) purchase from Amazon: DVD | Blu-ray

The most disappointing aspect of watching Adam Sandler’s latest, Bedtime Stories, is how much wasted potential the film has. From an accomplished cast that includes Guy Pearce, Russell Brand, Courtney Cox and Keri Russell, to a director coming off one of the most engaging films of 2007 (Adam Shankman and Hairspray, respectively), to a story idea that is both clever and imaginative, Bedtime Stories should have been the perfect companion to great family films like Night at the Museum and Elf. Instead, this movie feels rushed and half there and Sandler, normally an actor who commits to his roles no matter how ridiculous or outrageous, seems to be sleepwalking through the movie.

A brief introduction gives us Marty Bronson (Jonathan Pryce, also the narrator), a man raising his two children, Skeeter and Wendy, while trying to run his own motel in the heart of Los Angeles, creating a small oasis in the big city. The kids help around the place and it’s a true family-run business. Marty’s dream is for Skeeter to one day take over and run the motel himself. Unfortunately, Marty is terrible with bookkeeping and is convinced to sell the motel to a manipulative businessman named Nottingham.

Cut to the present. Marty has passed away, Skeeter and Wendy do not speak, and Nottingham has transformed the small motel into a high rise hotel for the stars. Despite a promise by Nottingham that Skeeter would someday run the hotel, Skeeter has been relegated to handyman while he watches others get ahead in the world. In case you didn’t figure it out, Sandler plays Skeeter. When Nottingham, somehow forgiven for screwing Skeeter’s dad out of his business, decides he’s going to expand and open a new hotel, he immediately appoints weaselly hotel manager Kendall (Pearce) to come up with the theme for the new place. Skeeter is devastated that Nottingham won’t even consider his ideas.

At the same time, Wendy has grown into an anal retentive elementary school principal. Who better to play her than Courtney Cox, bringing Monica from Friends to life once again? Wendy’s school is closing and she’s suddenly out of a job. Divorced with two cute kids, she has to go to Arizona to find work. In desperation Wendy asks Skeeter, a man she hasn’t seen in two years, to suddenly take responsibility for her son and daughter, Patrick and Bobby, even though Skeeter has a tough time taking care of himself. (more…)

Mix Six: “Anti-Love Songs (Love Stinks)”

DOWNLOAD THE FULL MIX HERE
Ever been dumped?  Stings, don’t it?  We know.  Believe me, we at Popdose know.  Last year, as Valentine’s Day approached, many of the Popdose staffers gathered to trade stories of being dumped. After our “boys and girls” Iron John weekend, we wrote our stories of heartache and woe, and like idiots we posted our pain for all to shake their collective heads at –  my sob story can be read here and was penned when I went by the moniker “Py Korry.”

Yes, I know Valentine’s Day will be here in a matter of days, but sometimes you gotta be a contrarian and do a little something for those who have loved, lost and are still bitter they got dumped.

But never fear, dear readers: we here at Popdose won’t be pissing in the punchbowl on Valentine’s Day. We have something special planned where “the softer side” of the staff will be laid bare, shorn of any cynical edges.

Until then, however, let’s get on with the show!

Love Stinks,” The J. Geils Band (download)

Peter Wolf and his ex-pals from the band must have sent Adam Sandler a big bag of blow in the shape of a heart after he used this song to great effect in The Wedding Singer.  Indeed, there’s a kind of cultural divide between those who know this song from when it came out in 1980 (and during the early years of MTV) and those who know it from the movie. But it doesn’t matter when you heard it first, because 10 seconds into the song, you know you’re hearing a classic.  And, to be frank, if I didn’t lead with a “top of the hour cooker” like “Love Stinks,” my claim to bluntness would have been hollow.

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