Opening This Weekend: Of Mice & Men Children

Save Milo Ventimiglia's
backside, save the world

Adam Sandler is coming out with his annual big-budget crapfest.  Say what you will about him, but he's a workhorse, comparatively speaking.  Seriously, he has starred in a comedy and/or drama every year since 2002 (half the time, two in one year).  He has few movies audiences have taken to, mostly the dramatic fare.  Out of his TWENTY-FOUR feature live-action films, only FOUR have an RT (barely) fresh rating--all of them dramas outside of modern classic The Wedding Singer.  Many people swear on Sandler being a cinematic wart on the face of today's movies, but I guess I'm juvenile enough to appreciate him (sometimes).  Don't Mess with the Zohan was hilarious and I was laughing more times than not during the extremely stupid Just Go With It, which happened to be the very first film I ever reviewed for Cinesnatch.  I was sober, so I don't know what my excuse was.

Anyway, Sandler, who usually takes on a talented actress in need of raising her commercial profile as his costar, is giving the spotlight to Andy Samberg (whose name I always have to think about typing out, to make sure I'm not mixing him up with, coincidentally, Sandler), having recently departed SNL along with Kristen Wiig.  Samberg will play his more responsible son (they have twelve years between them in real life) in a premise with a Mary Kay Letourneauesque starting off point (which explains the twelve years).  It also stars Gossip Girl Blair Waldorf's Leighton Meester and Heroes' recently roidly ripped Milo Ventimiglia.  It includes lines like "Throw it, you big vagina.  Do it."  The rule here is to keep one's expectations very low.

Also opening is Rock of Ages.  The reviews have been shockingly unforgiving.  Sometimes, I just feel way out of touch with the critics (the aforementioned Just Go, as well as Bad Teacher being recent examples).  It was really an entertaining movie with some heart and you could do much worse (*cough*Mamma Mia!*cough*Burlesque*cough*).  Seriously.  Lainey appreciated its cheese, but she wasn't shy about ripping Adam Shankman a new one.  Her reaction of his work was kind of the opposite of mine.  Also on tap is HBO Films' The Artist Is Present about the polarizing Yugoslavian Marina Abramovic.  Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap details the history of hip hop through some of its pioneers as well as cultural offspring and other celebrities.  Emily Blunt is 0/2 in 2012, but Your Sister's Sister looks quite promising.  My belief is that she will eventually catch with audiences and find higher-profile roles, but it's probably not going to happen anytime soon.  Well, that's what I'm telling myself.