Quick Shots 20 (Sandler Edition)

Title: Just Go With It.

Starring: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman, Nick Swardson, Brooklyn Decker, Dave Matthews.

Brief Synopsis: Danny Maccabee (Sandler) finds out just before his marriage that his fiance doesn't actually love him and is sleeping with someone else. After that he finds out that being recently divorced (or widowed) can score him chicks - so he adopts this as his life-long way of hooking up. Until he Palmer (Decker) and really connects with her - then has to pretend to be in the middle of a divorce with his dental assistant, Katherine Murphy (Aniston).

Opinion: Maybe it's because she is very pretty, but I really am starting to enjoy Decker (she was great in The League as well). This movie wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be - even though I saw everything coming from the start. The addition of Aniston I think helped that out - being mixed with Sandler's normal crew.

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Title: That's My Boy.

Starring: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Leighton Meester, Vanilla Ice, James Caan, Milo Ventimiglia, Will Forte, Susan Sarandon.

Brief Synopsis: A young Donny manages to seduce his teacher Mary and produces a baby. He becomes pretty famous for this accomplishment and makes a large amount of money - and proceeds to blow it. Years later Donny's (Sandler) son Todd (Samberg) is getting married to Jamie (Meester) and has done rather well for himself. In order to get out of debt Donny tries to reconnect with his son and also with the still imprisoned Mary (Sarandon).

Opinion: First, the best part of this movie is hands down Vanilla Ice. His scenes were very funny. The movie as a whole may not have been too horrible - besides a ton of old-school horrible jokes that they tried to sprinkle in. The absolute worst, though, was Sandler's voice - it was insanely horrendous.

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Title: Jack and Jill.

Starring: Adam Sandler, Al Pacino, Katie Holmes, Nick Swardson, Tim Meadows.

Brief Synopsis: Sandler plays both Jack and Jill, who are identical twins. Jack has become a successful advertising executive and family man, while Jill stayed at home to take care of their mother and is now very needy. When Jill comes to visit Jack for their annual Thanksgiving together, she begins to overstay her welcome and Jack wants her gone - that is until Al Pacino, who Jack wants to do a Dunkin Donuts commercial, starts to fall for Jill.

Opinion: Like That's My Boy's Vanilla Ice, Al Pacino stole the show in this film. He played a perfect well over the top version of himself and it was hilarious. But, probably the only good part about this movie. When are people going to start realizing playing a girl version of yourself does not equate to funny.

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Funny People

So, after my last list of movies I have watched in my Quick Shots, I realized I have been watching way too many romantic comedies. Now, I don't mind watching them, but I need to mix it up a little. So, I did my best over the three day holiday to steer clear of them.

But, I sort of unfortunately backed into one accidentally. It isn't a full blown romantic comedy, but the core of the film has a lot to do with relationships.

I tossed in Funny People not expecting too much. I had heard from numerous people that they went in expecting a top of the line comedy and came out majorly disappointed. So, I went in expecting nothing and hoped that would help me understand and enjoy the film much more.

George Simmons (Adam Sandler) is your typical stand-up comedian that hits the big time and then becomes way too big even for himself. He has grossed millions of dollars in big-budget comedy films, has the biggest house he could ever want, loads of free stuff and people that basically take care of his every need.

Simmons, over time, has sort of become too big for himself. However, he has just found out that he has a rare form of leukemia (I believe that was the disease, I am not 100% sure) and begins to realize that his life is empty.

Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) is a low on the totem pole comedian. He is just starting out and works in a cafe at a grocery store to make ends meet. He is also staying on his friends pull-out couch. He lives with two other friends, Mark Taylor Jackson (Jason Schwartzman), who has hit it somewhat big with his television show Hey Teach!, and Leo Koenig (Jonah Hill), who is also a stand up comedian, but is a little better at it than Ira.

One night while doing stand up, Simmons bumps Wright to do a short set, but manages to just tell depressing stories to the audience. Wright follows him and begins to make fun of Simmons' crying - "What does he have to be sad about?"

Despite being made fun of, Simmons feels Wright has a bit of writing talent and signs him to be his assistant and write jokes for him.

To me, the meat of this movie was about the relationship that forms between Simmons and Wright. There is also another relationship between Simmons and his ex-girlfriend Laura (Leslie Mann). In that relationship, Simmons feels that the reason he is not happy is because he cheated on Laura and lost her. Again, I feel that that storyline only really strengthened the relationship of Simmons and Wright.

I went in expecting nothing and I feel I did enjoy it a little more than I would have if I was expecting a full-fledge comedy. That being said, it still wasn't the greatest - it was sort of blah. A nice watch, but nothing spectacular.

I did laugh-out-loud a handful of times though. The movie did have some great jokes that kept it flowing, but it just wasn't enough for me.

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Good Will Hunting

I had yet another math movie problem to solve, this time with the film Good Will Hunting. I have to admit it had been years since I had seen this film, but it was a welcomed surprise.

The movie is very well done - math aside - as Will (Matt Damon) is down a very bad path despite being truly gifted in mathematics, as well as other areas of study. Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard) notices his gift and quickly tries to get Will help so that someday he can help the world with his solving of complex mathematic problems.

The issue, however, is that Will is extremely troubled. He won't let anyone in all of the way, and if anyone gets too close to him he pushes them away or does something to get rid of them. The only people he really trusts are his friends Chuckie (Ben Affleck), Morgan (Casey Affleck) and Billy (Cole Hauser) and that's because they don't ask too many questions and would do anything that he asks.

After multiple psychiatrists, Will finally was handed over to Sean Maguire (Robin Williams) an old roommate of Lambeau. For some strange reason, Maguire was able to handle what Will tossed at him - and he went at his own pace letting Will control the process.

Finally, Sean was able to get through to Will - which was ab absolutely mesmorizing scene.

Both Damon and Affleck were superb in their roles as well as Minnie Driver's Skylar.

But, the person that truly stuck out in this film is Robin Williams. It was an amazing performance, one that even landed him a best supporting Oscar.

It got me thinking about comedic actors turning dramatic - which not many are able to do. But a few stuck out to me:

I just watched Adam Sandler in Reign Over Me, which to me may be his best work to date. He was amazing in that film, and I feel may have been looked over for an award as well.

We can't forget Jim Carrey in The Truman Show or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind even though he didn't go fully dramatic - but it also wasn't full on comedy, there was a lot of emotion in his performances.

One I haven't seen yet, but heard is a good role for him was Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction.

I am sure there are more out there, but these stuck out to me. When you think of their names you automatically think comedy - but they also appear to have the acting chops to play dramatic as well.

As for the grade for the film. It has been pointed out to me that I may have been giving some of my former movies a lower grade than I should have. For some reason I was unable to give any movie an excellent grade when really it should, because the next step up is best of the best. So, I will try to be more giving in my grades - starting now.

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Quick Shots 3

Title: Twilight.

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Taylor Lautner and Billy Burke.

Brief Synopsis: Bella Swan (Stewart) moves to Washington to be with her dad and is immediately accepted into her new school. There she is (sort of) introduced to Edward Cullen (Pattinson) a loner who pretty much only sticks with his family. After a lab pairing, Cullen and Swan get to know each other - and begin to become infatuated with each other. This would be fine, if Cullen wasn't a vampire. The Cullen family has learned to live off the blood of animals instead of humans, but Edward is drawn to Bella's blood - which of course has some repercussions.

Opinion: I had no true interest in seeing this film. For some reason it never drew me in like Harry Potter did. My wife, however, has read all of the books and seen the movie a few times, and asked me to watch it with her. So far it is by no means Harry Potter, but I will probably take in the other films - it at least had me interested.

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Title: Bedtime Stories.

Starring: Adam Sandler, Keri Russell, Courtney Cox-Arquette, Guy Pearce and Russell Brand.

Brief Synopsis: Skeeter Bronson (Sandler) is promised by Barry Nottingham that when he is older he would take over the Nottingham Hotel that was purchased from Bronson's father. Cut to present time and Bronson is only the buliding's handy-man. Wendy (Cox-Arquette), Bronson's sister, has two kids that she needs Bronson and Jill (Russell) to take care of while she is in Arizona looking for a job. Bronson decides to tell the kids bedtime stories like his father did with him - only they start to become true. He tries to take advantage of this, but soon realizes it isn't what he is saying that is coming true - but what the children are saying.

Opinion: Pretty solid family film. Nothing too adult here, even with the inclusion of Sandler and Brand in the cast. If you are into family films, it is a pretty good ride. It had a lot of good laughs, especially from a big-eyed guinea pig named Bugsey.

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Title: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

Starring: Brendan Fraser, Maria Bello, John Hannah, Luke Ford, Isabella Leong and Jet Li.

Brief Synopsis: Yet again a mummy is awoken from a curse thanks to the O'Connell family - this time Rick's son, Alex (Ford) is the culrpit. So Rick (Fraser), Evelyn (Bello), Jonathan (Hannah) and Lin (Leong) try to stop Emperor Han (Li) before he becomes invincible and raises his army.

Opinion: Well, at least the mummy wasn't different this time. I have to admit the first two Mummy films are a bit of a guilty pleasure - they had action and humor which kept me interested. This film had those as well, but seemed a little forced. Li's character is mostly a walking statue the entire film, which really didn't make sense to me - and I love Fraser's work usually, but even he seemed bored with this installment. And what was the point of having Bello replace Rachel Weisz? They should have just removed her character. The other films had CGI, but the CGI yeti's were a little over the top, even for me.

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Title: Reign Over Me.

Starring: Don Cheadle, Adam Sandler, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Liv Tyler, Saffron Burrows and Donald Sutherland.

Brief Synopsis: Charlie Fineman (Sandler) lost his entire family in the plane crash during 9/11. Alan Johnson (Cheadle) has fallen into a bit of a rut both with his family and at work as a dentist. Johnson sees Fineman, his former college roommate, on the street one day and tries to reconnect with him. Fineman, however, has been a little out of reality since the horrific loss of his family - even mentioning anything to do with them sends him into an angry tirade. Johnson takes on the task to help Fineman get a grasp on reality and deal with his pain - all the while Charlie is actually helping Alan get out of his own rut at work and with his family.

Opinion: This is one of the better movies I have seen in a long time. I have wanted to see it for awhile, but never got around to viewing it. I am shocked that Sandler wasn't given more recognition for his portrayal of a 9/11 widower - it was truly an amazing performance.

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You Don't Mess with the Zohan

I had a few moments last night while eating dinner and finishing up a few things around the house, so I tossed in You Don't Mess with the Zohan.

The film stars Adam Sandler as Scrappy Coco/The Zohan. He is a military phenomenon for Israel. But, he no longer enjoys the fighting - he has longed for being a hairdresser under his idol Paul Mitchell.

During an assignment to track down his nemesis The Phantom (John Turturro), The Zohan allows The Phantom to believe he is dead so that he can escape to America.

Once in America, he changes his look and his name, and takes a job as a hair sweeper at a small beauty salon - after getting turned down by everyone else, including Paul Mitchell.

It isn't long before one of the salon's stylists quits, and Coco jumps at the chance to cut hair - and all of the ladies absolutely love his style - and of course the happy endings.

The owner of the salon, Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), soon begins to fall for Coco and vice-versa. But, Dalia is from Palestine, the mortal enemy if Coco's Israel.

All the while this is going on, a businessman Walbridge (Michael Buffer), is trying to force out all of the local businesses in order to build a large mall. But, none of the patrons are budging - so he gets creative. He hires people to vandalize local businesses and disguise themselves as either Palestinian or Israeli.

This forces both sides to blame each other for vandalization - and again has the two countries at war, this time on US soil.

The movie was actual pretty enjoyable. I must say I was not expecting much, which is why I might have actually enjoyed it - I had low expectations. Sandler's accent is a laugh, but pretty much everyone who had to pretend to do an accent did it pretty awful.

There were also the cameos throughout the film, like Chris Rock, Kevin James and John McEnroe. Missing, however, were Sandler's usual compadres Peter Dante, Allen Covert and Jonathan Loughran.

Another person I was not expecting to see - Dave Matthews as a redneck racist, gaybasher. His roll was pretty hilarious - especially the final scene.

Is this Sandler's best work? No, but it was a pretty good watch for the most part.

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