I find it hilarious that "The Heat" has 64% on Rotten Tomatoes with $14M but Grown Ups 2 has 7% with 42.2M. I heard a reviewer on a podcast discuss how certain reviewers look forward to trashing certain movies before the movies actually come out. They have something against a director/actor/studio and are excited to write a scathing review. Apparently Grown Ups 2 may have fallen victim to that.
Grown Ups 2 sounds like the worst movie ever. Just a total shit pile that somehow made money based on a cast of guys who were popular on SNL in the 90's and Kevin James. My theory is Adam Sandler has an ongoing bet with someone that he can make just absolute giant piles of shit, and still gross over 100 million, and he seems to continually be right.
Re: Re: Recent Movie Review Thread It's like a running joke on middle America, EVERYONE knows these are shit movies yet they still make tons of cash, GU2 made more than Pacific Rim.
I thought Adam Sandler has had a string of horrible flops? I mean Jack and Jill didn't make no 100 million. Also, I hope Pacific Rim gets a decent word of mouth buzz going. maybe avoid the usual 50% drop off. The movie was fun and a visual delight. People need to support movies like this....
Re: Re: Recent Movie Review Thread Jack and Jill made 149 million worldwide, with a 79 million dollar budget, Sandler is making shit all the way to the bank.
Adam Sandler movies make money because the lowest common denominator dominates what is a hit. This is the same reason why Meet The Spartans, Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Tyler Perry movies debut at number one: most people don't take much to please. Adam Sandler could shriek into a bag of his own feces and it would turn huge profits.
Not to mention the product placement in Sandlers' movies. Now I know you all are going to say "but every movie has product placement Slappy", and you'd be right. But take a look at Sandlers' movies, they are like a 90 minute running commercial.
The best job in Hollywood must be Adam Sandler's friend. Then you'll get to star in HIS movies (guaranteed to make money) plus you'll get to star in other giant turds. There is literally no other way to explain Nick Swardson's career.
I also found Mama's Boy to be a giant turd, despite what others I know say. Not. Funny. Once. Sandlers movies are shameless corporate shills. I don't get why a guy who already has millions needs even more millions by turning Happy Gilmore and Big Daddy into 90 minute commercials.
What's sad is that, for a while, you could make a case that Sandler poked fun at formulaic movies by making a formula out of being anti-formula, to some extent. I mean (spoilers), in Billy Madison, the guy doesn't win the challenge and doesn't take over his Dad's company, Happy Gilmore he "wins" in a personal challenge, not the set goal of the actual golf tournament, Big Daddy he loses the big court case and doesn't take custody of the child, 50 First Dates she doesn't get her memory back, etc, etc. I mean, they all have "happy endings," but the kind that veer off from the usual plot climax. But with the last however many movies, whatever value you could find in them has evaporated. But fuck all that, and fuck every bad review of Pacific Rim. It's like the first time since The Matrix that anime has been brought to life, and I'm talking especially about the human drama moments more than the action scenes even, the cheesy quality is on a par with Japanese videogames like Metal Gear Solid or Final Fantasy, only with accomplished actors. It doesn't re-invent the wheel, but it gets the wheel fucking right for once, and by this point, that's all I ask. Oh, and Americans be proud that one of yours does an Aussie accent better than the Brit that plays the son. It's not perfect, but it wavers between 70-90%, when the Hollywood standard is normally 20-40%.
The reason I hate Sandler is that he demands to be God in everything he stars in. He plays characters impossible to root for, yet people do. In these films he gets with women ten light years out of his league despite the fact he's fucking ugly and almost always immeasurably irritating. He can kick anyone and everyone's ass, even though he's horribly built, paunchy and slumped. His "voices" are nails across a chalkboard in hell yet he's "hilarious" to everyone. His SNL days his obnoxious characters were deified and I just. Don't. Get it. He tried dramatic movies like Rain On Me and they were melodramatic failures and rightfully so. And despite that he doesn't have"conventional" happy endings, it still always is happy for his characters and with the exception of The Wedding Singer those happy ending are undeserved.
Pacific Rim If you go in hoping for character development and good storytelling, you'll probably be disappointed. If you were enthralled by the special effects and action sequences in the trailer and are hoping for a great summer popcorn flick, this is your movie. As has been mentioned, the visuals and sound are incredible - this really is just unadulterated entertainment. It features themes and imagery akin to Godzilla, Power Rangers, Avatar, and the end reminded me a ton of Independence Day. I feel it could have used a more A-list actor to play the role of Raleigh, the protagonist. As someone who does not watch Sons of Anarchy, it was a bit hard for me to follow Charlie Hunnam. All in all, Pacific Rim is the most fun I've had watching a movie since the Peter Jackson remake of King Kong. Again, if you can see it in 3D, you should definitely spend the extra bucks.
The World's End The final chapter in the 'Three flavours Cornetto' trilogy-the other two being 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz'. Holy shit, did they save the best for last. I cannot do justice to how funny this film is-five friends reunite to attempt a famous pub crawl that they failed to complete when they were teenagers, and find themselves in the middle of an alien takeover (it's shown in the trailer so no bitching about spoilers). Simon Pegg is hilarious as always, but for me it was Nick Frost who stole the show. They flipped their traditional roles and had Frost as the straight man, and he does it really well. It has its dark moments, but they only serve to strengthen the story and show that this isn't just a comedy, but a well written take on the old theme that life doesn't always take us where we expect it to. It's very touching in parts, without being over the top or ham fisted in anyway. There were so many lines that had me and my friends burst out laughing, but the one line that will end up stamped into everyone's brain is: Spoiler When Gary (Pegg) is arguing with the alien leader, and shouts "Get in your rocket and fuck off back to Legoland you cunt!" 10/10
The Wolverine. Eh, skip it. I can say that I saw this without subtitles for the parts in Japanese, so I missed out a lot on that dialog, but I would be immensely surprised if any of that actually contributed to making a better movie. I dunno what I was expecting, but what I got was shit on. This wasn't any better than the 2009 film, which was, plot-wise, awful. The whole thing was meh. Save it for Netflix, it won't be long. The good: the Japanese scenery was pretty well done. The bad: seriously, everything else, down to the music. The action sequences were impossible to see, the physics were retarded, the acting was wooden and the plot made no sense. It treated the Japanese characters in a ham-fisted way and didn't really bother with character development. Again, meh.
Wolverine What you guys said meh. Meh was exactly what me and my wife said to each other when we left the theater. And we got her mom to baby sit for us too. Save yourself the ticket price even on cheap night. Spoiler really what the fuck was with him losing his adamantium claws at the end?
The Conjuring. Nice old-school horror flick: not about shock, but dread. Best part was how the teens in our theater started off laughing, then laughing nervously, then not laughing anymore.
The To Do List Solid comedy, great awkward cringeworthy humor, well worth a afternoon ticket price. 8/10