Nobody Knows Hollywood

Year: 2015 Make no mistake about it, this is not your parents Vacation. From the opening montage sequence of awkward family photos, to the first f-bomb (less than ten minutes in from a character less than ten years old), this film makes it’s case: family “fun”, wrapped in good intention, is often weird, painful and, eventually, hysterical. Our ability to relate to the family road trip is what the Griswolds are all about. They are slightly underdog, profane and uncomfortable in almost every situation because of their simple desires to connect. I think it’s important to tip my cap to John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein, who are listed as co-Directors and co-writers on this film. Simply put: they get it. For as low-brow as the humor is, the comedic beats and attention to detail are very sharp. The actors, too, from top to bottom, all commit to their points of view and see them through to great effect. It may seem bizarre to be charmed by humor that starts or ends in th...

Yesterday, before I went to see a sneak preview of Pixels, I sincerely spent several minutes debating with a friend at work whether or not Adam Sandler’s films were worth watching anymore. I took what seems to have become the unpopular side of the argument that, yes, Sandler’s films are still worthwhile. I don’t deny the awfulness of several of the more recent arguments made in the form of Grown Ups 2, Jack and Jill and Zookeeper. My counter to the anti-Sandler crowd is usually in the form of a few films I hold dear in Click, the Wedding Singer, Punch-Drunk Love and the slew of silliness in the 90’s ranging from the broad characters on SNL to Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, et. al.. That’s the past they say. Fair enough, I say. But Pixels is a film based on the past – an area Sandler should do well in, as he did in the somewhat charming Grown Ups (the first). The set up for Pixels is great – it’s Wreck it Ralph meets Ghostbusters with a healthy dose of the epic documentary King ...