My Year with Adam is a series of essays that I will post throughout this year. The essays will be deep dives into a film starring Adam Sandler. They will not be traditional reviews, but an exploration of theme and what is conveyed by the central message of the film. Or, really, whatever about the film strikes me the most while watching it. As these are deep dives, no aspect, plot point or quote from the film is off limits, so if you haven't seen the film before and are sensitive to a viewing experience in which you know nothing, then watch the film and come back to the essay. The essays will appear in February, May, August, and November. The Wedding Singer, directed by Frank Coraci and writt
Chemical Hearts is about Henry, a high school senior, who is excited to be editor in chief for the school paper for his senior year. He's asked to join forces with recent transfer student, Grace, who is standoffish at first. Grace and Henry grow closer through Henry's persistence. Yet, while Henry is falling in love, Grace is finding it hard to move on from her boyfriend who died in the car crash that causes her to walk with a cane. The film stars Austin Abrams, Lili Reinhart, Sarah Jones, Kara Young, Coral Peña, C.J. Hoff, Shannon Walsh, Bruce Altman, Meg Gibson, and Adhir Kalyan. It is written and directed by Richard Tanne. The film is streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime. Readers should
Project Power is about Robin, a low level dealer of the new craze, Power, which gives the user a unique superpower for five minutes. She interacts with police detective Frank as he uses the drug to get on a level playing field with the criminals and find out why the feds put a hamper on any investigation the police try in connection to the drug. She also is enlisted by Art, a mysterious player who only wants his daughter back after she is kidnapped by the forces behind the drug. The film stars Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dominique Fishback, Rodrigo Santoro, Machine Gun Kelly, Amy Landecker, and Courtney B. Vance. It is directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman and written by Mattson T
An American Pickle is the story of Herschel Greenbaum, a Jewish immigrant who comes to the United States in the early 20th century searching for a better life. He gets a job at a pickle factory and unfortunately falls into a brine and is sealed in for 100 years. He wakes up in the present and finds he has a living relative and tries to make it big in this new world he's found himself in. The film stars Seth Rogen, Sarah Snook, Molly Evensen, Eliot Glazer, Kalen Allen, Sean Whalen, Geoffrey Cantor, Carol Leifer, and Jorma Taccone. It is directed by Brandon Trost and is written by Simon Rich. The film is a Max Original, streaming exclusively on HBO Max. What I like most about An American Pickl
This review will likely contain "spoilers" for this 13 year old movie. If you are sensitive to that and have not watched Superbad, come back to this after you've watched it. Superbad is about best friends Seth and Evan, with their tagalong Fogell, who are on a quest. They want to impress the girls they've been crushing on and maybe get them interested, or drunk enough, to have sex with them at a party. The night doesn't go as planned and when the pair finally make it to the party, there's a rift between them that looks like it may never heal. The film stars Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader, Seth Rogen, Martha MacIsaac, Aviva Baumann, and Emma Stone. It is direct