A friend writes...

Hello,
 
You sir are a moron.  Your criticism of the 10 worst Adam Sandler movies is well at best moronic.  Do people really pay you for your opinion?  If so they need to call the BBB on you cause you are ripping them off.  Seriously?  The Waterboy?  Big Daddy?  Mr. Deeds?  If you think these are some of his worst movies i would hate to see what you think of Dont Mess with the Zohan or what you think of Spanglish or any of the other truly wretched sandler flicks.  Im not gonna lie he has done some absolute terds for movies but your choices are WAY off in outer space.  Did you actually attend school when you went to college or did you just pay 50 bucks and print your diploma?  Honestly You wouldnt know what a bad movie was if it was your sister and slept with you every night.   You should give up your job as a shitty film critic and try something youre probably gonna be better at: Fry cook at Mcdonalds.  Ofcourse, you probably would fuck that up too.
 
Regards

Comments

[Andrew Bemis]

Yeah, Glenn. Get your terds straight.

You Don't Mess With the Zohan is actually not bad.

[preston]

"You wouldnt know what a bad movie was if it was your sister and slept with you every night."

Just excellent.

[Mike carmack]

Im gonna have to disagree with the waterboy being on the list I cant think of anyone who doesnt love that movie besides you.

[rotch]

Not that I agree with your friend there, but going through the mandatory msn 20-clicks-to-go-through-a-ten-item-list and not getting to read your thoughts on Reign Over Me, my most loathed Sandler flick, was kind of a letdown.

[Glenn Kenny]

Seems to have been a bit of a consensus over the years that I've just been too soft on "Reign." This could in fact be true. God knows right now I can't think of any reasons to have cut Mike Binder some slack. I'll have to go through some rigorous self-examination, or something.

Preston, my ACTUAL sister might not agree. Hee-hee.

[Jaime N. Christley]

CLICK and BEDTIME STORIES are two different movies? Christleyus Surprisibus.

[Owain Wilson]

I wondered how on earth you might compile a 10 Best Adam Sandler Movies list given what's on the 10 Worst, and then I figured both lists are probably interchangeable.

Big Daddy is rather enjoyable, though.

[jbryant]

I've been something of a Sandler apologist of late (lonely work), since I think ZOHAN, FUNNY PEOPLE, PUNCH DRUNK LOVE and THE WEDDING SINGER are quite good, and my girlfriend has convinced me of the dumb charms of BILLY MADISON. This has even led to me having a mildly positive response to JUST GO WITH IT and finding CLICK and BEDTIME STORIES middling-to-weak but not actually bad. However, I've managed to avoid most everything else on your list. Not being able to make it past 15 minutes of THE WATERBOY (hi, Mike Carmack) hasn't exactly sent me scurrying to experience MR. DEEDS, THE LONGEST YARD, BIG DADDY, et al.

[Lord Henry]

This is clearly a work of Outsider Art.

Henceforth, I will now begin every e-mail I write with the words, "You, sir, are a moron."

[David Ehrenstein]

Adam Sandler is unbearable.

[Peter Labuza]

You would think starring in "Funny People" and realizing much of the film was a meta-commentary on how awful his movie roles had become would have been a wake up for Sandler. Instead, he's only doubled-down on his awfulness.

[Owain Wilson]

We cynical Brits looked upon Reign Over Me as American cinema at its very worst and stayed away in droves. I'm not even sure it received a theatrical release. So tell me, how bad is it really?

[Brian Padian]

Great list Glenn. but how did 'spanglish' not make the cut? serious terd

[Tom Russell]

REIGN OVER ME has strong performances all around, and there's a sincere, humane writer-director at the helm. It mostly avoids being cloying, but the last act-- which has a courtroom sequence-- blows.

Nice list, Glenn, and you get at the heart of the Sandlerian mode I don't find appealing. (I'd be interested in seeing a ten-best list as well.)

[Tom Russell]

Er, let me rephrase that-- the film itself is written and directed with sincerity and humanity. (I just remembered the other Binder I've seen, which is neither of those things.)

[jbryant]

"Henceforth, I will now begin every e-mail I write with the words, 'You, sir, are a moron.'"

Lord Henry, you'll have to lose those commas if you want to be true to the original. "A friend" doesn't do commas (except the one after "Hello" and the one after "Ofcourse"(which needs to be one word from now on, ofcourse).

Brian: I actually consider SPANGLISH to be underrated, or at least over-maligned. I thought it was kinda cute. It's sort of like a sitcom by Renoir. Sandler seems uncomfortable in a couple of spots, like he's dying to break out into full Billy Madison shtick, but he mostly pulls it off. Tea Leoni, saddled with the least likable character in recent American film history, is fearless, and the supporting cast is mostly great. Some have found the film patronizing in a limousine-liberal way, but I think Brooks is really trying to get at something about cultural differences. His efforts can be clumsy, but his earnestness is thankfully minimized by his flair for comedy. I also find his rambling structure rather refreshing amid the sea of formula that Hollywood usually navigates.

[Petey]

"Im gonna have to disagree with the waterboy being on the list I cant think of anyone who doesnt love that movie besides you."

Im gonna have to concur.

The Adam Sandler filmography is chock-full of "worst movies".

If I had to pick a BEST of the sad lot, I'd go with The Waterboy or Little Nicky.

(I found Punch Drunk Love problematic for similar reasons that I found Hard Eight problematic...)

[Terry McCarty]

Thinking that Adam Sandler is overdue for the kind of film academia treatment given to Jerry Lewis.

[Petey]

"Thinking that Adam Sandler is overdue for the kind of film academia treatment given to Jerry Lewis."

Too fascile. He ain't no Jerry Lewis, but there still must be BESTS to pick out of the sad lot.

[Joe]

"Honestly You wouldnt know what a bad movie was if it was your sister and slept with you every night."

This reminds me of Frank Costanza's insult to George's boss on Festivus: "You couldn't smooth a silk sheet if you had a hot date with a babe...I lost my train of thought."

[lipranzer]

The critic at Time Out Chicago said, and I quote: "If Sandler changed his name to Nicole Holofcener, you'd be reading kinder reviews."

Kill me now.

[Claire K.]

I'm sure that was an improvement over his first draft, "You wouldn't know what a bad movie was if...something something...INCEST!"

[Petey]

"and I quote: "If Sandler changed his name to Nicole Holofcener, you'd be reading kinder reviews." Kill me now."

Honestly, You wouldnt know who Nicole Holofcener was if she was your sister and slept with you every night.

[Hubert Ausbie]

The cretin who wrote this will be the Head of Security Management at his local airport when the neo-fascists finally take over this country in 15-20 years. Laugh and mock him and his ilk now, while you have the chance. The level of illiteracy and anti-intellectualism in this country isn't so cute any more. It's starting to unnerve me.

[kdringg]

So if you rewrite the titles of your 10 Worst Sandler flicks inserting in the word 'terd' you can get more laughs than these movies delivered and some truth in advertising.

10 Big Terd
9 The Longest Terd
8 Terdproof (ironic title)
7 The Terdboy
6 Mr. Terds
5 Terd
4 Bedtime Terds (alt – Terdtime Stories, either works)
3 Just Go With Terd
2 Terdkeeper
1 Grown Terds (alt - Terd Ups)

Feels like something from the IDIOCRACY.

[Tom Russell]

Okay, Petey, I'll bite-- what was problematic for you about the two Anderson films?

[Cinemafunk]

Sandler had his hayday, but since the mid-00s, he's a waste of space. Funny People was a better vehicle for his supporting talents.

I do wish I got hate mail like that. :)

[Dan Coyle]

Signed, Jonathan Nolte, Age 45.

C'mon, we were all thinkin' it.

[Petey]

"Okay, Petey, I'll bite-- what was problematic for you about the two Anderson films?"

It's a good question.

I think PTA has made two absolutely superb films, and one damn good one. So I've wondered from time to time exactly why I disliked those two. It's not my usual pattern, as I usually find even misfires from really good directors to be interesting.

And I don't have a particularly coherent answer except that I could never engage those two movies on any real level. (Well, other than thinking that the director really wanted me to feel things I wasn't feeling.) And I did try both a second time.

In short, they left me continually bored during the viewing.

To slightly expand, all I could focus on was the creaky machinery of the films. Nothing in the films themselves was enough to distract me from that. Sorta the same feeling I have with the Elia Kazan / William Inge Splendor in the Grass. (And Kazan made some superb movies too.)

[Stephen Winer]

It is possible to love Jerry Lewis and still hate Adam Sandler. That said, I did like Punch Drunk Love and pieces of Funny People. Spanglish gets a pass from me for Cloris Leachman who gets all the good lines (okay, the only good lines) including a gem about raising children that I'd happily copy here if I could remember it word for word.