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June 6, 2008

Weekend Movie Guide: You don't go to the Zohan

Adam Sandler Is it me or is Adam Sandler the natural successor to Noel Coward? | Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

I understand the appeal of Steven Seagal far more than I ever will that of Adam Sandler. I've hated him in his comedies just as much as I have in his dramas. In fact, I've yet to make it through the entirety of Punch Drunk Love even though Paul Thomas Anderson is high on my list of favorite directors. Considering all that, there's obviously no chance that I'll be seeing You Don't Mess with the Zohan.

It's weird--I typically rush out to see every Pixar movie but I'm barely interested in Kung Fu Panda. DreamWorks Animation just seems like they're churning out junior-grade stuff when compared to the magic made at the House of Lasseter. I'm also at the point where I've officially checked out on Angelina Jolie. Sure, she's talented and beautiful and all, but doesn't she just seem sort of...annoying to everyone?

Seann William Scott and John C. Reilly Stifler hanging out with Dewey Cox. | Photo courtesy of The Weinstein Company

Who would have thought after the first American Pie movie that Stifler would be the last one standing? For awhile it seemed like Jason Biggs, Chris Klein and Mena Suvari would be the big breakouts from that cast, but who sees them in quality material anymore? Sean William Scott, on the other hand, is sharing the screen with John C. Reilly in The Promotion, a film about two clerks competing for a promotion at a grocery store. Funny.

Say what you will about Hollywood's bloated blockbusters, but one thing all that money does buy is great special effects. In lesser-budgeted, foreign epics like Mongol the relatively cheap (and cheap-looking) effects constantly pull you out of the story. Russian auteur Sergei Bodrov helms this film that recounts the tale of the legendary Genghis Khan. Turns out he was a very sensitive bloodthirsty tyrant.

Just in time for Father's Day, And When Did You Last See Your Father? tells the story of a son who attends to his dying father in the last two weeks before his death. Powerhouse actors Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth star as, respectively, the father and the son. Anand Tucker directs Blake Morrison's adaptation of his own memoir. This sounds like a high-caliber, finely-crafted weeper. You know, the kind American studios no longer make.

Tickets & Showtimes

You Don't Mess with the Zohan
Kung Fu Panda
The Promotion
Mongol
And When Did You Last See Your Father?

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You Don't Mess with the Zohan
Kung Fu Panda
The Promotion
Mongol
And When Did You Last See Your Father?

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You Don't Mess with the Zohan

Kung Fu Panda

The Promotion

Mongol

And When Did You Last See Your Father?

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Comments (4) [rss]

I hate everything Adam Sandler. I always have, and I think I always will. I don't know what it is, but that guy brings out the angry in me.

 

I would not expect someone who actually pays money to see Pixar films to understand the GENIUS of BILLY MADISON or HAPPY GILMORE.

Granted, he blew his comedic wad on those two movies and hasn't made anything worth seeing since.

I guess clever assholes "get" Sandler, and Pixar-loving unicorns don't.

 

"Sean William Scott, on the other hand, is sharing the screen with John C. Reilly in The Promotion, a film about two clerks competing for a promotion at a grocery store. Funny." Subtle sarcasm is hard to find in text.

 

A review on Rotten Tomatoes: "You don't laugh at the Zohan, either".

Ouch.

Full disclosure: I do like a few Sandler movies: Happy Gilmore, Wedding Singer & 50 First Dates. The rest could be burned in a Universal fire, and I wouldn't miss them. I actually has hoping for good things with this movie, after Indy 4 left such a horrible taste in my mouth.

 
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