90s Movie Review - Happy Gilmore

Director: Dennis Dugan
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 92 minutes
Year: 1996
Starring: Adam Sandler, Carl Weathers, Julie Bowen, Christopher McDonald, Kevin Nealon, Allan Covert

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2024 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 13: A FILM FROM THE 1990S
 
Description: After his grandmother’s house is repossesses by the IRS, bad tempered hockey player Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) takes his talents to golf to earn the big bucks and get his grandmother’s house back.

Review: Adam Sandler can always pleasantly surprise you. He is not considered one of the best actors out there, but her has proven his acting cops several times. I have to say that “Happy Gilmore” is not one of those films, but it is one of the funniest Sandler films I have ever seen.

Sandler plays hockey player Happy Gilmore, who tries his luck at golf after his grandmother’s house has been repossessed by the IRS. He wants to make easy money. “Happy Gilmore” has a high entertainment value and is absolute worth watching. I love Adam Sandler’s hot tempered character, I somehow always find it funny when he start yelling.

I can honestly say that “Happy Gilmore” is a real good time and a good comedy.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Movie Review - Murder Mystery 2

Director: Jeremy Garelick
Genre: Comedy/ Adventure/ Mystery/ Action
Runtime: 90 minutes
Year: 2023
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Adam Sandler, Melanie Laurent, Mark Strong
 
Description: Full-time detectives Nick (Adam Sandler) and Audrey (Jennifer Aniston) are struggling to get their private eye agency off the ground. They find themselves at the center of international abduction when their friend is kidnapped at his own wedding.

Review: In “Murder Mystery” (2019) Nick and Audrey accidentally ended up in a murder mystery. In the sequel, “Murder Mystery 2”, they are working as private investigators, but aren’t very successful. When a rich friend invites them to a wedding on his private island, they decide to take some time off to enjoy a vacation. But their friend goes missing, meaning Nick and Audrey have to investigate again.

I really enjoyed the first film. It wasn’t great, but it was funny and surprisingly entertaining. I had a good time watching it and I loved the concept of the murder mystery. A lot is wrong with the second installment. For starters, the mystery itself. The movie is called “Murder Mystery 2”and while there are people being murdered in this movie, the actual mystery is a kidnapping, the murders are just collateral damage and the characters don’t seem to care about these people.

Second, the film isn’t that funny and both Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler act like this is a routine job. The movie feels uninspired. Literally so much can be done with murder mystery in your film title, and then they are using a kidnapping as your main plot. And I love Aniston and Sandler, also as a duo. But this movie is not it. I barely remember any details, and I watched it yesterday. A waste of time, talent and concept.

Rating: 2/ 5

Movie Review - Hustle

Director: Jeremiah Zagr
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 117 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Adam Sandler, Queen Latifah, Juancho Hernandez, Ben Foster, Kenny Smith, Robert Duvall,
 
Description: A basketball scout (Adam Sandler) discovers a phenomenal street ball player while in Spain and sees the prospect as his opportunity to get back into the NBA.

Review: In “Hustle”, Adam Sandler can express his love for basketball as a talent scout and aspiring assistan coach for the Philadelphia 76ers. Produced by himself and baskets player LeBron James, the film can count on many cameos by NBA players. It’s a colorful affair with many beautiful shots. The story is not spectacular or new, but has enough layers to get you invested.

The film is great for basketball fans. If you have no affinity with the sport whatsoever, you might not like it as much. Sandler plays basketball scout Stanley Sugarman, who discovers a talented street basketball player in Spain (played by real-life NBA player Juancho Hernangómez, currently playing for the San Antonio Spurs).

Stanley spends most of his life on a plane and missing his daughter’s birthday. To prove himself as a coach and be allowed to be home more, he tries to get his newfound talent Bo Cruz from Spain to level up enough within a month and a half to play in the NBA.

Adam Sandler portrays a believable and heartfelt role as the bratty and failed former athlete Stanley, slightly disappointed with his life but still filled with his passion for the sport. The role sits well with the new line of Sandler’s career, which since “Uncut Gems” has shown that he has much more going for him than bland jokes. Because the featured player in this film have more experience in the sport than in the acting game, the heavy burden falls solely on Sandler’s shoulders to carry the story. He does manage to do so.

 I’m really loving this Adam Sandler and think “Hustle” is a great movie. Definitely if you’re a basketball fan.

Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Review - Hubie Halloween

Director: Steve Brill
Genre: Comedy/ Horror
Runtime: 102 minutes
Year: 2020
Starring: Adam Sandler, Julie Bowen, Kevin James, Rob Scheider, Steve Buscemi, Ray Liotta, June Squibb, Noah Schnapp, Maya Rudolph, Tim Meadows, Michael Chiklis, Kenan Thompson, Shaquille O’Neill, Ben Stiller, Jackie Sandler, Sadie Sandler, Sunny Sandler

Description: Despite his devotion to his hometown of Salem, Hubie Dubois (Adam Sandler) is a figure of mockery for kids and adults alike. But this year, something is going bump in the night, and it’s up to Hubie to save Halloween.  

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2020 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 43: A HORROR COMEDY

Review: Adam Sandler joked that if he didn’t get an Oscar for “Uncut Gems” he would intentionally make a bad comedy. He kept his word, because here is “Hubie Halloween”.
Every now and then Adam Sandler makes a serious movie and shows everyone what a good actor he can be. With movies like “Punch-Drunk Love”, “Funny People” and “The Meyerowitz Stories” he won the hearts of the critics. With “Uncut Gems”, which is probably his best performance and movie to date, he even had a chance to win an Oscar. On Howard Stern’s radio show, Sandler joked that he would take revenge with a really bad movie, if he didn’t win. Sandler never even got a nomination, which is a damn shame. So out of ‘vengeance’, he made “Hubie Halloween”.
It is a typical Adam Sandler comedy. Weird mouth, funny voice, poop jokes and all of his actor friends.
In terms of story, “Hubie Halloween” isn’t much either. Sandler plays adult child Hubie Dubois, the village idiot. He is seen as annoying and a loser and hated by the entire town, when he is actually one of the nicest people out there. Hubie doesn’t care about what others think and always wants to help people. And with his favorite holiday Halloween coming up, he’s got his eyes open. Because things will get freaky this year, but no one believes Hubie.
An old acquaintance of Hubie has escaped from the madhouse, his new neighbor has a dark secret and several residents of Salem are kidnapped. Hubie alerts the police, but no one takes him seriously. So Hubie has to solve it himself.
“Hubie Halloween” is a wink to some of Sandler’s other movies. Ben Stiller is in the opening scene, as the mean nurse from “Happy Gilmore” and his former co-star Julie Bowen from that same movie is also in it. There is a reference to Canteen Boy, a character he played on “Saturday Night Live”, and the film is filled with many of Sandler’s friends: Steve Buscemi, Rob Schneider, Kevin James. Even his wife and kids have roles.
Don’t take it all to seriously, then “Hubie Halloween” might be more enjoyable. It has some funny details, like the running gag of Hubie’s mother’s obscene shirts and women dressing up as Harley Quinn. But apart from that, the humor never exceeds the level of a screaming Adam Sandler.
It's not one of his worst movies, but Adam Sandler sure as hell made a lot better comedies. “Hubie Halloween” just feels effortless. I think, with a better script and jokes it could have been a lot funnier.

Rating: 2 / 5

10s Movie Review - Murder Mystery

Director: Kyle Newacheck
Genre: Comedy/ Crime/ Mystery
Runtime: 97 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Adam Sandler, Luke Evans, Gemma Arterton, Terence Stamp

Description: New York cop Nick (Adam Sandler) and his wife Audrey (Jennifer Aniston) go on a Europe vacation to reinvigorate the spark in their marriage, but end up getting framed and on the run for the death of an elderly billionaire.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2020 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 9: A GUILTY PLEASURE MOVIE

Review: “Murder Mystery”, starring Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler, is as the title might spoil, a murder mystery or a so-called whodunit. But with a comical twist.
Aniston and Sandler teamed up before, for the comedy “Just Go With It” and both are very experienced in the comedy department. But for both this is their first mystery film.
They play married couple Nick and Audrey Spitz. He is a New York cop, she a hairdresser and they are about to celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary. When they got married, Nick promised Audrey to take her to Europe someday, but he never did. Audrey confronts him with that, and Nick books a last-minute trip to Spain, telling her he had it all planned for her. On board of the plane, Audrey meets the charming Charles Cavendish, who invites them on his uncle’s yacht. When a murder occurs, Audrey, who loves reading murder mysteries, and Nick, a wannabe detective, are wanted for that murder. But they try to solve the crime themselves while on the run from Interpol.
Take an Agatha Christie book, set it in the 21st century, add some self-mockery and clichés and that’s the base of “Murder Mystery”.
This is your typical guilty pleasure film and a good time. Because of the perfect comedic timing of both Aniston and Sandler and how well they work together, most of the jokes work. The film is aware of its clichés and the story is actually pretty simple and not very original.
“Murder Mystery” is a definite fun time and the film is a quick and easy view.

Rating: 3 / 5

Movie Reviews - Uncut Gems

Director: Bennie Safdie, Josh Safdie
Genre: Drama/ Crime
Runtime: 135 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Adam Sandler, Keith Williams Richards, Lakeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel

Description: A charismatic New York City jeweler always on the lookout for the next big score makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime. Howard (Adam Sandler) must perform a precarious high-wire act, balancing business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win.

Review: Because of lies and making the wrong choices, jeweler Howard Ratner gets increasingly cornered in the Netflix-original film “Uncut Gems”. Adam Sandler in a completely different type of role, the best he has been. If you want to be taken seriously as a comedian, you have to also take on serious roles. That’s when you win prizes. Look at Jim Carrey, who took a turn for the serious roles in movies like “The Truman Show” or “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, or Robin Williams, who won an Oscar for his role in “Good Will Hunting” and earned a nomination for “Dead Poets Society”. This time it’s Adam Sandler, the uncrowned king of juvenile comedy, who proofs he has a serious side. In “Uncut Gems” he plays the gambling addicted jeweler and it’s the best he has ever been. And only an awkward nervous laugh is what you get, when you see him Sandler’s Howard Ratner get into trouble again.
Showing of a lot of bling, with his fake teeth and leather jacket. Howard is unreliable and so unsympathetic that it is hard to sympathize with him. The film has chosen a different path and avoids all the standards you would expect in a film like this. The style it is filmed in has a nervous touch and this tension is only added more with the soundtrack.
“Uncut Gems” is a surprising and entertaining film, filled with nervous energy. It is a bit long with over 2 hours of runtime. Adam Sandler gives a fantastic performance, even though the Academy Awards completely ignored him. I hope he decides to take on more roles like this.

Rating: 4 / 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 94: Hotel Transylvania 2

Director: Genndy Tartakovsky
Genre: Animation/ Comedy/ Fantasy/ Adventure
Runtime: 89 minutes
Year: 2015
Starring: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, Keegan-Michael Key, Fran Drescher, Molly Shannon, Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman, Dana Carvey, Rob Riggle, Mel Brooks, Chris Kattan, Jon Lovitz

Description: Dracula (Adam Sandler) and his friends try to bring out the monster in his half human, half vampire grandson in order to keep Mavis (Selene Gomez) from leaving the hotel.

Review: A couple of years ago Sony brought us “Hotel Transylvania”, not one of the best animations, but successful and very enjoyable. And because the young audience liked it, the inevitable happened: a sequel.
At the end of “Hotel Transylvania” hotel ownder Dracula realizes that he has to let his daughter go and let her live her own life. In this second film, it looks like he has taken a step back. Mavis marries Johnny and together they have a son. Dracula doesn’t want little Dennis to grow up in the ‘normal’ world, but as a monster.
The opening of the film is a bit rushed, a lot happens in the first half hour. The film is beautifully animated and has some really good jokes. And although “Hotel Transalvania 2” is entertaining, it brings us nothing really new or memorable.

Rating: 2,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 49: Little Nicky

Director: Steven Brill
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 90 minutes
Year: 2000
Starring: Adam Sandler, Harvey Keitel, Patricia Arquette, Rhys Ifans, Rodney Dangerfield, Reese Witherspoon, Michael McKean, Rob Schneider, Henry Winkler, Peter Dante, Alan Covert, Kevin Nealon, Dana Carvey, Jon Lovitz

Description: After two of the devil's three sons escape Hell to wreak havoc on Earth, the devil (Harvey Keitel) must send his third son, the mild-mannered Nicky (Adam Sandler), to bring them back before it's too late.

Review: Adam Sandler doesn’t have the best reputation, but he has made some great memorable comedies like “Billy Madison”, “The Wedding Singer” and “Happy Gilmore”. “Little Nicky” unfortunately isn’t one of them.
Sandler plays one of Satan’s three sons, who has to stop his two other borhters from creating a battlefield on Earth. This character, Nicky, has a major speech impediment and is actually a more kind hearted guy.
The movie is filled with bad jokes and there is way too much going on. Sandler’s jokes are often bad, but bearable and still funny. Here in “Little Nicky” I didn’t really laugh a lot and I was a bit annoyed with the film.
“Little Nicky” is probably one of Sandler’s worst films.

Rating: 1/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 47: Pixels

Director: Chris Columbus
Genre: Action/ Comedy/ Science Fictions
Runtime: 106 minutes
Year: 2015
Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad, Brian Cox, Sean Bean, Jane Krakowski, Dan Aykroyd, Ashley Benson

Description: When aliens misinterpret video feeds of classic arcade games as a declaration of war, they attack the Earth in the form of the video games.

Review: The promising future that Will Cooper predicted for his video game champion friend Sam Brenner didn’t really come true. The roles are actually reversed when they grow up. Sam has to wear an emberrasing orange outfit and installs audio and video equipement, while Will is the president of the United States (played by Kevin James, are you following me?). Being the president isn’t completely going smoothly either and you wonder how he ever got to be president. Their friendship started when they were still playing arcadegames like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Galaga. One day this love for video games comes in handy, when aliens attack earth with classic arcade games.
The first part of the film isn’t all that interesting. An introduction to the characters, that you never really care about. The fact that nerds are actually supercool isn’t that believable here, like for instance in “The Big Bang Theory”.
The second act of “Pixels” is a lot more entertaining. This is where all the videogames come to life and a group of videogame nerds fight them. The idea behind “Pixels” is as bizarre as it is interesting. That makes it extra sad that this film isn’t that great. “Pixels” is only fun the second half

Rating: 2/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 126: Hotel Transylvania

Director: Genndy Tartakovsky

Genre: Animation/ Comedy/ Family

Runtime: 91 minutes

Year: 2012

Starring: Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Steve Buscemi, Kevin James, Andy Samberg, David Spade, Fran Drescher, Jon Lovitz, Molly Shannon, Cee-Lo Green, Rob Riggle, Chris Parnell

Description: Dracula (Adan Sandler), who operates a high-end resort away from the human world, goes into overprotective mode when a boy (Andy Samberg) discovers the resort and falls for the count's teen-aged daughter (Selena Gomez).

Review: Prejudices are everywhere: in our society kids are afraid of monster, but in the monster society kids are thought the be afraid of people. And not without reason, because the men armed with pitchforks and fire are a true threat to vampires, werewolves and zombies. But times change. Dracula, who is a lot nicer than you might think, build a giant castle behind a haunted forest and a creepy cemetery and turned it into Hotel Transylvania. Monsters can come over but it’s human-free.

Besides the owner of a hotel, Dracula is a single dad of Mavis, who just turned 118. This means not only a big party, but Mavis is a grown up now. And she is allowed to go outside and discover the world. Dracula pulled off some tricks so that Mavis will never go outside again. When this works, Dracula is glad that he succeeded in protecting Mavis. That is until they are visited by Jonathan, a human backpacker.

The animation by Sony doesn’t only look good, the humor is outstanding and well dosed and it’s enjoyable for the entire family. Some jokes are a bit easy, but the overall humor is great. The story might be predictable, but who cares. “Hotel Transylvania” is a very entertaining amination, perfect for some quality time with the family. Or just for fun off course.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 77: Men, Women & Children

Director: Jason Reitman

Genre: Drama

Runtime: 119 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Rosemarie DeWitt, Adam Sandler, Jennifer Garner, Dean Norris, Judy Greer, Emma Thompson, Ansel Elgort, J.K. Simmons, Dennis Haysbert

Description: A group of high school teenagers and their parents attempt to navigate the many ways the Internet has changed their relationships, their communication, their self-image, and their love lives.

Review: Fifteen years after “American Beauty”, little has changed with the relational problems of seeking teens and their disillusioned parents in the suburbs. Only nowadays many of it goes through social media. At least for the characters in “Men, Women & Children”. Director Jason Reitman zooms in on a small group of American men, women and children and how they deal with the temptations of the internet.

Supported by the narration of an ironic Emma Thompson, an above average cast including a very modest Adam Sandler, the movie shows us a disturbing image of the effect of the new media. On sexuality in the modern society: boys grow up with internet porn, girls want to live up to a certain standard and parents that commit adultery. Reitman shows us how today’s teenage life integrates with the smartphone. It’s like real life doesn’t matter anymore, when the real problems happen in real life.

“Men, Women & Children” wants to tell a lot of stories in two hours’ time. For themes like gaming addiction and anorexia there is just not enough time. And because we follow multiple storylines, it’s hard to focus on all of them. Some characters are also in contrast too much. When Judy Greer’s characters publicly ‘sells’ her daughter by posting promiscuous pictures of her daughter online, so she can have a career in Hollywood, Jennifer Garner’s character is obsessed with the incoming and outgoing computer data of her daughter. The acting in the movie is good, it’s especially fun to see Adam Sandler in a more serious role again.

“Men, Women & Children” is not bad, because the concept is good. The movie is just a little to melodramatic, has too many storylines and lacks subtlety.

Rating: 2,5/ 5

Top 5 Thursday: Saturday Night Live Cast Members

“Saturday Night Live” is still the most popular sketch show in America and it has brought us some of today’s favourite comedians and actors. Here are my favourite SNL Cast member of all time.

5. Jason Sudeikis

I don’t know why, but he always stuck. He didn’t really cross any lines, but he was always present and hard to overlook somehow. I especially liked him in combination with Kristen Wiig.

 

4. Adam Sandler

Maybe not the best actor, but a great comedian. I especially loved him as Opera Man, where he sang the most ridiculous songs about even more ridiculous subjects.

 

3. Dan Aykroyd

Dan Aykroyd was a part of the cast in the first four seasons. His humor was intelligent, he could easily join the Monty Python crew. He was one of the Coneheads, the Blues Brothers and off course his perfect impersonation of Julia Child.

 

 

2. Will Ferrell

Will Ferrell is very versatile. He could play characters from George W. Bush, to Alex Trebek and Steve Butabi. And don’t forget the cheerleader and the cowbell guy.

 

 

 

1. Kristen Wiig

Kristen Wiig was one of the most vital females of SNL history. She could be glamorous, over the top and often very awkward. As the female A-hole and one of the Fingerlakes siters, but also very annoying and absurd characters like Penelope, Gilly and the Target lady. Who doesn’t love Kristen?

 

They Almost Made the Top 5: John Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Steve Martin, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Chris Farley

Top 5 Thursday: Funny Guys

I made a list for funny ladies a long time a go, so it was about time I made one for the guys. So here they are.

5. Adam Sandler
This was my go-to-guy when I needed a laugh. But now his movies are a little bit too silly. But I can still melt when I hear him sing “Grow Old with You” from “The Wedding Singer” or when he pees his pants in “Billy Madison” (I never thought I would say that).

4. Steve Carell
Steve Carell got his fame through “The Office”, which is one of my favorite shows. He is funny because of his goofy, loser-like and nerdy roles. His characters are never the luckiest guys n the planet.

3. Jerry Seinfeld
He had his best days, but I still love watching “Seinfeld”. His jokes are all so logical, he just thought it through.

2. Seth MacFarlane
He’s funny and we hardly ever see him.He’s a man of a thousand voices and I love “Family Guy” and “Ted”. And man did I enjoy him on “SNL”.

1. Will Ferrell
Just looking at him makes me laugh. I don’t know what it is, but it doesn’t matter if the film is good or not, he makes me laugh anyway.

They almost made the top 5: Jeff Dunham, Tim Allen, Eddie Murphy, Jon Cryer, Kevin James, Owen Wilson

Best of... Adam Sandler

Adam Sandler is one of the funniest actors ever. Most movie don't get that much credit, but I love 'em. Here are my favorites.

"The Wedding Singer"
My ultimate favorite Sandler film. It's set in the 80's and has great songs in it. Sung by Adam. Especially the one he wrote about his ex. The song he sings for Drew Barrymore is so super sweet. Who doesn't love Robbie Hart?

"Funny People"
A great combination of humor and a light form of drama. I really liked Adam in this film. Although he sometimes acts like a jerk, you sympathize him. And the part were he hears that song, that Seth Rogen downloaded for him, it was really touching.

"I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry"
I have to say that I didn't think much of it at first, but this movie made me laugh. Adam Sandler is great, but together with Kevin James he's even funnier. Who thought that could happen?

"Big Daddy"
This is one of the first Sandler films I saw. Adam plays daddy Sonny Koufax. I actually had a crush on him after seeing him in "Big Daddy".

"Punch- Drunk Love"
The first time we saw Adam in a serious role. I kinda felt sorry for him here. He's so endeering and sweet. But everyone thinks he's kinda crazy, when in real life he was actually a very smart and caring man. I liked this Adam.

"Billy Madison"
His childish aditutde kind of attracted me. He was so cute in this movie. He had to repeat all the grades in school, so he could take over his dads company. Silly story, but who cares? It's Adam Sandler!!!

"Anger Management"
The combo sounded strange: Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler, that can't work. But it did. Goosefraba!