Paradise, The Finals & American Gangster

The weekend has been a lot of fun, but way too fast.  I'm not too worried about it, because my vacation is coming up soon!  Me & Whitney are going to go to Memphis, TN, for a CBF conference and then to Nashville to hang out with some extended family.  We'll also get to see my sis and brother-in-law in Little Rock.  A long road trip, friends & family, relaxation, what else can you ask for?

It's half-time right now in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.  It's the classic match-up between the Celtics and the Lakers.  It's been over 21 years since they last met and Game 1 was really entertaining.  I'm hoping this second one turns out the same.  If you know me at all, I hate the Lakers, so I hope the Celtics win.  Regardless, it's a great match-up... one of the best offensive teams versus one of the best defensive teams.

You probably don't care about that... so I'll tell you about American Gangster.  Me & Whitney went up to Paradise, TX, to visit Claire and David.  It's always a blast to see them and  going way out in the country forces you to not do anything, which is always great for you.  We ate at some great hole-in-the wall places and we got to lounge around on Saturday and watch the movie.  It was a real interesting movie, especially for a "gangster" film.  Don't go into expecting a lot of action, it's more just a narrative story-line, but an interesting one.  I feel like it could've been a lot shorter than it was, but if you are interested in a dark true story about one of the most mellow drug lords in the 70's, you should check it out.

Nathan on The Mungle Show!

Matt was kind enough to bring me on his show today to talk about You Don't Mess with the Zohan.  I was really excited because I've never done a phone interview before!

To listen to it, click on the link below:

The Mungle Show - 6/6/08

Matt also talked about the new Jack Black animated film, Kung Fu Panda.  You can read both of our reviews by visiting:

The Mungles on Movies

You Don't Mess with the Zohan

I'm all for a good stupid comedy. I believe whole heartily in the importance of some films allowing you to stop thinking and to just sit back and laugh. You Don't Mess with the Zohan decides to take this route, but also tries to infuse some intelligence in its writing by interweaving some political debate. Usually one would not expect this from an Adam Sandler vehicle, but don't hold your breath. 'Zohan's' jokes and gags get to the point of being so juvenile and have so little thought behind them that when it does try to incorporate its solution to the world's problems, it doesn't have a leg to stand on.

Zohan (Adam Sandler) is Israel's number one answer when it comes to taking down any threat. His unexplained superhuman ability to eliminate any terrorist is adored by his nation but is not enough to stop him from going into hiding to pursue his life's dream; hairstyling. As Zohan tries to reinvent himself in a struggling salon in New York City, word of mouth quickly spreads about his unorthodox method of cutting hair, especially amongst the ladies. As fellow Arabs try to sniff out his true identity, Zohan is forced to defend the destruction of the salon from an overzealous mall tycoon without others discovering his renegade past.

This is one of the first films I have seen that explores the Arab-American community from their perspective, but it really just comes off as crass when Sandler, Rob Schneider and John Turturro are lamenting about the hate-driven feud between the Israelites and the Palestinians. I'm not questioning their Jewish faith at all, but can you really be taken seriously when you bring up such issues in the dialogue and then have an action sequence where the bad guys get hosed down by large amounts of humus? You can certainly blend comedy with hard-hitting issues, but this film treats its topic with severe disrespect.

I cringe when I see Sandler in these types of roles. He has so much potential and has shown it in other films (Punch-Drunk Love, Spanglish). I believe when he is lackadaisical in roles like this one, he's still good. I just know he could bring some originality to the table, but he lets this movie unfold into adolescent antics. Cameos in comedies always bring a real world familiarity to a nonsensical plot, but instead of a throw away laugh, the celebrity appearances in this film are either not funny or just don't make any sense.

This is one of the most sexually charged PG-13 rated movies I've seen in a long time. All the bare backsides and sexual innuendo are meant solely for laughs, but the scenes just makes you cringe with embarrassment for all the wrong reasons. There is also some language and comic-like violence, but it's the sexual vulgarity that would make me uncomfortable taking any teenager too. Writers Sandler, Robert Smigel (Triumph the Insult Comic Dog) and Judd Apatow (Knocked Up) are to blame for this mess of a script. If you didn't know that Hollywood comedic talents in their 40's were behind this project, you would have thought this came out of the boy's bathroom stall from your local high school. I give 'Zohan' 1 out of 5 Mariah Carey T-shirts.

MOHs, space kids & bloody mayhem

I just wanted to catch you up on some of the films that I've seen in the past couple of days.

Whitney & I had a great time catching up with our friends Ben & Becca.  After a fun meal at the Cheesecake Factory (get something other than a hamburger, it was good but I've had so much better stuff there) we went and saw Made of Honor.  I thought it was ok (2.5 out of 5).  I think Ben felt the same way as I did, but Becca & Whitney had a lot of fun with it and was able to embrace some of its cheesy moments.  It was actually a bit crowded in the theater, so I had to sit down right by this random guy.  He moved one seat down and the girls thought it was because I smelled.  I thought it was because he freaked out when I accidently put my hand on his knee instead of Whitney's (just kidding). 

Many of you know that I write for The Mungleshow, and one of the writers is Leslie, so I thought you would be interested in what she had to say about Made of Honor.

After a fun and relaxing dinner with Jennifer, we popped in Martian Child with John Cusack Sunday night.  This too was just an ok movie for me.  It wasn't bad at all but it just wasn't that interesting to me.  I didn't think the kid was the greatest of actors and John Cusack had to carry pretty much the whole movie.  It's meant for the family and for kids, but I can see kids just getting absolutely bored by this one.

I decided to erase any kind of innocence I may have received from Martian Child by watching the fourth installment of Rambo with Jonathan Monday night.  Now, I've never seen the other three, so I don't know how to compare this one to the others, but it was perhaps the bloodiest movie I've seen in a long time.  Did it keep me from channeling my masculine inner-self?  Of course not!  It was very over-the-top and really campy at points, but it was quite entertaining.  I can't see many girls enjoying this one, unless you just enjoy seeing a 60-year old man on HGH hand-making machetes and taking out a 100-man army single handily.  But we had a lot of fun with it.

Be on the look out for my review of the new Adam Sandler comedy "Don't Mess with the Zohan" on Friday.  I'll keep you posted.