Pixels (2015)

[IMAHUGEHDTGMFAN 1837]

A bunch of sites are reporting on this review of "Pixels" (2015)

 

Thoughts?

 

Warning NSFW language!!! and Mayor Spoilers

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFD2293oGvA

[Protoman 117]

MovieBob's review was perfect, love his old comicbook videos on Escapist

[RyanSz 3140]

Thank you for affirming that his earlier work was not bad. I broke up with a girl once for owning Grownups on DVD... or she might have been crazy it was one or the other.

 

I had a discussion with some coworkers/friends about how I can't stand any of Sandler's work after The Waterboy while they have liked various pieces of his recent work. I explained that when Sandler made Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison he was 29-30 where it made sense that he acted as a doofy, foul-mouthed frat boy, especially considering at that point he had two amazing comedy albums out which he based a bunch of his characters and side characters on in his films. Then he did Big Daddy and started to try and segue into more serious roles that occasionally would have bathroom humor and they just didn't work for me as I don't need a message in my Adam Sandler films. When it became apparent no one was going to take him as a serious actor he went back to full on bathroom humor which now at nearly 50, is kinda sad. If this movie had been done 15 years ago, it probably would have worked better for Sandler, or if they did it today without Sandler, I think this movie would be a lot better.

 

And if you haven't heard them yet I strongly recommend listening to Adam Sandler's comedy albums, mainly the first two and Stan and Judy's Kid because it is an amazing comparison to the work he is known for now and the material he was putting on those albums with the cast of comedians that he was using, especially the Stan and Judy Album which had a few long scenes that are hilarious slow burn humor scenes.

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

Big Daddy and Mr. Deeds were pretty bad. I do love Punch Drunk Love though, it really is one of my favorite movies of all time. And its bums me the fuck out that he could be so goddamn amazing in that movie and then just going back to doing horrible movies instead of actively picking out more interesting roles.

 

Reign Over Me was solid too. Funny People annoyed me because it had an great premise and start but just devolved into asinine plot points and much weaker second half.

[RyanSz 3140]

I had high hopes for Funny People too as it looked to be a great look at the life of standup comedians, rather than a lampooning of Sandler's career. It's second half is just indicative of Judd Apatow's film structure, because while he can create a decent first half, he almost always makes his movies 30 minutes too long and a final half which takes a turn from comedic to fairly serious. His movies even feature some of the same scenes like in 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Trainwreck, and Get Him to the Greek (which he produced) there is an awkward board room scene/boss meeting which features a coworker of the main character having a nervous freakout in front of the dick boss. The second halves also feature some serious moment that causes a turn for the characters which is ultimately resolved 15 minutes later.

[seanotron 2307]

I have to admit I remember laughing pretty frequently during Zohan, though much like Roger Ebert I was ashamed of myself for doing so. And in my defense, it was also my last Sandler movie.

[OfficerMooney 13]

How did this get made? Because Adam Sandler and company decided to make it, and Sony has nothing better to release. Done.

 

I feel at this point, Sandler movies are low hanging fruit and aren't worth the time discussing. However, there is an article on the Atlantic that reviews Pixels, and asks the questions we most likely would have gotten if HDTGM picked this up. Questions such as:

• Was there originally a part of the script that explained to audiences exactly how the aliens were able to render two-dimensional picture elements as three-dimensional blocks of light, and was that part maybe accidentally cut in the editing process?
  
• How can those blocks of light crash around and damage things?
  
• Does this movie understand what light is?
  
• Oh, also, was there originally a part explaining how Kevin James became president of the United States? Or was the jarring cut between him as a nerdy, arcade game-obsessed tween and him as the Commander in Chief maybe meant as a canny commentary on the reach of executive power?
  

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/07/pixels-review-adam-sandler-why/399521/

[seanotron 2307]

It was easier to buy Tiny Lister as President of the Federated Territories in The Fifth Element than to buy Kevin James as POTUS.

[RyanSz 3140]

Well let's be fair, Lister seemed like a more reasonable and approachable President because if you had to tell him something he gave you twenty seconds to get your point across, rather than ten. Doubt you would get that from James, who from the trailer shoots a Smurf while it is mid-dance.