Catching an afternoon screening of Iron Man last weekend, the questionably denigrating representations of Afghani villains bugged me less than the bizarre cultural references in the trailers preceding it -- especially when it came to accents. Three previews in a row contained characters speaking intentionally mangled English, a fact all the more recognizable because all of them were played by well-known actors. You Don't Mess With Zohan showed Adam Sandler as a tough Israeli hair stylist. The Love Guru preview found Mike Myers blabbering on with South Asian inflections. Rounding things out in perhaps the most innocuous case, Cate Blanchett popped up as a Communist baddie in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Are these gross caricatures or fair play?

We've touched on this issue before, but it looks like each month the trend gets a little stronger. There's edgy and there's a line: Borat may or may not send the wrong message, but the character's faux Kazakh accent tells you a lot about the way Americans tend to judge foreigners on the basis of their less-than-perfect English. The specific nature of the satire gives Cohen's performance an underlying purpose -- unlike, say, Love Guru, which seems more like a chance to ignorantly marvel at Myers' ability to turn Indians into a continuous punchline. Recently, a few Hindu groups launched protests against the film. This could mark uncharted terrain for Myers, who did not, as far as I know, get lambasted by any hippies after the first Austin Powers.

Before I get started, I just wanted to say that anyone who was undecided as to whether or not Knocked Up was sexist, probably wasn't really paying too close attention to Leslie Mann's performance. Mann's portrayal of a woman forced into being the bad cop because her husband isn't into the whole 'grown up' thing was one of the best things about that film. Now she's heading for another 'wronged wife' role, and The Hollywood Reporter announced that Mann has joined the cast of I Love You, Phillip Morris.

Phillip Morris is based on the true life story of Steven Russell (as played by Jim Carrey). Russell was a married family man whose criminal exploits landed him in the Texas prison system. While incarcerated, Russell fell in love with his cell mate, Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). After Morris' release, Russell concocted a variety of bizarre escape attempts in hopes of reuniting with the love of his life.

I used to love Adam Sandler. For a few years, his movies even became a ritual for my mother and I, ever since we went to see Airheads on the big screen. Mixed Nuts. Billy Madison. Happy Gilmore. (We missed Bulletproof.) The Wedding Singer. Between those films and listening to "Lunchlady Land" on repeat, I was pretty hooked on the dude. And then my interest plateaued. One would think that working with Judd Apatow would bring it back, but after the the first trailer for You Don't Mess with the Zohan, that Erik directed us to in December, I wasn't so sure. It looked like a pale imitation of Zoolander mixed with hair and the Hebrew Hammer.

Now a new trailer is up over at JoBlo. Is it any better than the last? I'd say so. The editing on this one certainly helps it, but now Zohan seems like a dance fest rather than a movie about styling hair and Israeli counterterrorists. Also, considering the amount of dancing in this trailer, methinks you can expect at least one retro montage, sort of like 40-Year-Old Virgin, somewhere in there. However, instead of spurning me to bounce along, I am just thinking how happy I am that my hair stylist isn't a weird man who gyrates his crotch next to my face.

Recently, I watched the old Judd Apatow series Undeclared. It was both a blast from the past and a reminder that Adam Sandler used to be pretty darned popular. He gets knocked a lot these days; but really, he is still around and kicking. However, the big question is: What happens when you team him up with the super-popular Apatow? They're already testing that question with the upcoming Don't Mess with the Zohan, and now Variety reports that the two are teaming up again.

This time, Apatow has written a currently untitled comedy that will star Sandler, Seth Rogen, and Leslie Mann, and will be a co-project between Universal and Sony. While production is set to begin later this year, Judd is keeping the plot under wraps. Argh! That's so annoying.

Since we can't talk about what the movie will be about, other than to muse about what sort of movie would require that trio, what do you think about this Sandler/Apatow pairing? At the very least, it looks like Sandler is now one of Apatow's talent pool.

Most Adam Sandler fans are probably more than a little relieved that he has left some of the 'earnest' comedy behind and is now headed back to a sillier state of mind with You Don't Mess with the Zohan. But don't get too comfortable; it looks like there's more family-friendly fare on the horizon. ComingSoon.net recently got the chance to speak with Adam Shankman on the set of his latest flick, Seventeen (starring the 'dreamy' Zac Efron) to talk about his upcoming directing gig with Sandler in Bedtime Stories.

Shankman told Coming Soon that the release date of December 25th is foremost in his mind and that production is going to have to work, "Unbelievably fast, because I'm going till mid-June; it's a long schedule. Then, I have to be out in theaters December 25th. And there's a ton of CG, so I'm excited." Sure, he sounds excited, but why am I suddenly worried that this film is going to be the Jumanji of 2008?

The family comedy was written by Matt Lopez, a relative newcomer who only has a few credits to his name -- one of which is the upcoming remake of Witch Mountain. Stories stars Sandler as a guy whose life is forever changed when the stories that he tells his nephew at bedtime start to become real. Keri Russell (Waitress) also stars, although there is no description of her part. The smart money is that Russell will get the thankless role of 'love interest'. Shooting is set to begin in the next three weeks and keep your fingers crossed that Shankman can keep on schedule.

I can just see Eli Roth grinning ear to ear about this news (you can too, look at the photo). I've never agreed with claims that violent movies influence violent behavior, but I also don't imagine violent movies are necessarily good for people who already have violent tendencies. Yet a new study argues that violent movies do in fact help to lower crime rates. According to the New York Times, a research paper was just presented to the American Economic Association concluding that "would-be assailants" choose to go see violent movies instead of performing violent acts themselves. That's right, murderers, rapists, muggers and the like apparently get their rocks off by watching actors perform their favorite bad deeds. Then, not only have they been kept out of trouble for two hours; they are also satisfied for days afterward. The reasoning behind this conclusion is based on data that shows crime rates are way down on weekends when a new violent movie is in theaters, and they stay down for a good period of time beyond that opening weekend.

That could be a neat coincidence. But how does the study indicate that the "would-be assailants" are actually part of that movie's audience? It seems a little too easy to think that violent people are pacified by violent movies. Attracted to them? Sure. Influenced by them? It can be argued. Subdued by them? I doubt it. At least not most of them, anyway. One of the economists who wrote the paper, Professor Gordon Dahl, pointed out that young men attending a movie have chosen that activity over drinking alcohol and/or taking drugs, either of which might have led to violent acts. He went on, however, to argue that Hollywood should actually be making less violent movies that still have the same appeal ... such as Adam Sandler movies over gory horror movies. The New York Times makes sure to let us know that Dahl is in fact a Mormon who doesn't allow his kids to watch violent movies; he even just bought one of those DVD players that cuts out offensive content. I have to agree with Melissa Henson of the Parents Television Council and say that this is one of the goofiest studies I've read about in a long time.

[via Fark.com]

Once upon a time, back when I started out this line of work, it was my aim to see every movie ever made. Then came the VHS player. Once the direct-to-video market began, numerous filmmakers stopped thinking of the pleasures and rigors of making films for the big screen. Instead, they started thinking of a quick payoff. VHS financed the rise of the indie movie for good (or often, ill). It all added up to a huge increase in the number of films released. Eventually, I realized if I wanted to do some ordinary things--hoisting an ale, listening to music, reading a book--I was going to have to let a few films slide. Coming attractions have been a huge help in picking which ones to avoid, particularly the ones that reveal every single plot point and the most likely resolution of the problem. So how can I really do a worst of 2007 list? I ducked a lot of contenders. Underdog, for instance.

I missed P.U., I Hate You, as those slashing wits at Cracked magazine will be calling it, but I really felt James Rocchi's personal agony at witnessing the last of Hilary Swank's trio of evil movies this year. Though some would call it a duo; some people fell for Freedom Writers. Maybe this kind of story can be told without Room 222-levels of obviousness and manipulation...perhaps from the POV of one of the students, instead of the earnest white teacher? I'm not going to get any prizes for prescience by saying Swank's agent needs to be renditioned to some country with deep dark dungeons. Swank's Lost Year has already been celebrated elsewhere.

But The Reaping (#1) was the worst of the three; no one wants to see this actress's career reaped anymore. The low-water mark of this swamps-of-blood Christian thriller was the scene where Swank is told by a yokel, "Some people just don't want to go to heaven." Meaning her, and the atheists, agnostics, and Odin-worshippers in the audience.

Strange Wilderness is a new comedy starring Steve Zahn as the host of a wilderness television show with plummeting ratings. To increase viewership, he assembles a motley crew and sets out on an expedition to find Bigfoot. The cast includes Jonah Hill, Justin Long, Ashley Scott, Peter Dante, Jeff Garlin, and -- believe it or not -- Ernest Borgnine! The red band trailer for Wilderness just hit the internet. (Need a little incentive to check it out? There's nudity. You're welcome.) Cinematical spoke with two of the film's stars -- Kevin Heffernan (of Broken Lizard fame) and Allen Covert (pretty much every Adam Sandler movie, Grandma's Boy) -- about this film and their careers. First up is Kevin Heffernan...

Cinematical: Who do you play in the film?

Kevin Heffernan: I play a character named Whitaker. When they go out on this trip, they need to hire an animal wrangler. I'm a car mechanic and I have no animal wrangling experience. Basically, I'm just looking for a job. So I go and interview with them and I win the job but I have no knowledge of animals. I don't even like them that much really! It's got this great ensemble cast and some great cameos...

Cinematical: It does have such a great comedy cast, was improvisation encouraged on the set?

KH: Yeah man. The script was so good, I mean it was written by Fred Wolf and Peter Gaulke who have a lot of comedy writing experience, but it was just one of those kind of movies where there's always like six or seven people on the screen. And they left it free for us to do the improv stuff that we all love to do. So there were a lot of people going off, and they had to kind of pull you back to the script a little bit.

Variety is reporting that Keri Russell will follow in the footsteps of such beautiful actresses as Drew Barrymore, Winona Ryder, and Jessica Biel. In Disney's Bedtime Stories, Russell will romance Adam Sandler. She'll play "a potential love interest for Sandler's character, a harried real estate developer whose life is suddenly turned upside down when the lavish bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew become real." Adam Shankman, a director who totally underwhelmed me until Hairspray, will direct. Matt Lopez (the upcoming Witch Mountain) wrote the script.

It might not be the most challenging role Russell could tackle -- women in Sandler comedies historically don't have much to do other than laugh at the star. But I'll be thrilled if appearing in the film bumps Russell into the stardom that has bafflingly eluded her all these years. I was a big Felicity fan, I've enjoyed her in pretty much everything else, and she was just wonderful in this year's Waitress, now on DVD. Her lovely performance in Adrienne Shelly's romantic comedy just might snag her an Academy Award nomination. And here's hoping this gets Sandler comedy back on track. I'm not expecting another Happy Gilmore, but I can't sit through another Click. Get ready for your Bedtime Stories next year at Christmas.

I really loved the early Adam Sandler comedies, but his comedic output has been pretty grim lately. I expected better things from I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry for two reasons: co-screenwriters Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor. Along with the involvement of Steve Buscemi (and I'll be honest, the Jessica Biel underwear shot in the trailer), seeing Payne and Taylor's names in the credits had me downright excited to see the film. They're two of my favorite screenwriters -- Citizen Ruth, Election, Sideways, the beautiful About Schmidt -- these dudes can write. They did an uncredited polish on one of my favorite comedies of this decade -- Meet the Parents -- and I had high hopes that they'd take the struggling Sandler formula into similar territory. I hoped they'd make Chuck and Larry darker, more interesting, more truthful. And apparently they did. You just won't see that version on the screen. Over at Hollywood Elsewhere, Jeffrey Wells discusses the Payne/Taylor draft of the film.

According to Wells, the Payne/Taylor version "is way more invested in realism -- recognizable human behavior, logical bits and plot turns, real-seeming textures. It's obviously a "comedy" but the tone is less slap-sticky, more naturalistic." Wells discusses a lot of differences between the Payne/Taylor script and what wound up in theaters (like a Sandler/James kiss that didn't make it to the final cut), and closes by writing "I've thought and thought about this, and I know a Payne-Taylor version would have gone over better than the one opening on Friday. I know it. Certainly with the critics and the genuinely serious comedy fans (i.e., the ones who own DVDs of Some Like It Hot and Tootsie and Flirting With Disaster)." I do often wonder how many Hollywood movies start out in script form as strong and original and different and weird, and wind up lifeless and unimaginative and boring and stale. I'd imagine a whole lot of crappy films started out great on the page. I hear all these horror stories from writers who had their visions massacred by studios and executives, stars and directors, and it makes me sad. I'll still see the film (hey, it's got to be better than Click, right?), but with lowered expectations. If you get Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor to work on your script, doesn't it make sense to listen to absolutely everything they have to say?

You know, that new Adam Sandler movie where he's an Australian visiting New York? Just kidding. Once again we mislead you with that headline to bring you something more interesting, less ridiculous. Apparently Sandler's actual new movie, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, might be a rip off of an Australian pic titled Strange Bedfellows, which stars Paul 'Crocodile Dundee' Hogan. Bedfellows came out in 2004 and was that year's biggest Australian production, both Down Under and abroad (note: it still only placed 57th at the Australian box office that year -- after a lot of Hollywood fare). Like Chuck and Larry, Bedfellows is about two guys who pretend they're gay in order to reap financial benefits. Unlike Chuck and Larry, the guys in Bedfellows (Hogan and Michael Caton) are old and aren't firefighters -- they don't even work together. Still too alike? That has yet to be decided.

Nobody involved with Strange Bedfellows has seen the new movie yet, but they're hearing from a lot of people who've seen the trailer, and who see the obvious similarities on the surface. Bedfellows co-writer/director Dean Murphy is especially concerned, having heard strangers mention the likeness between the films after seeing the Chuck and Larry trailer himself. However, until he or the film's American distributor, Screen Media Films, see the whole movie, there won't be any official accusations or legal action. One thing that makes the case more interesting is that Caton claims to have given a copy of Bedfellows to Rob Schneider, who he worked with on The Animal. Schneider plays a bit role in Chuck and Larry, and everyone knows he and Sandler are good buddies. Did Schneider loan his DVD to Sandler, who did produce but did not co-write Chuck and Larry? It's also important to note that Chuck and Larry has been in development for a good six years now, long before Bedfellows even went into production. So, who's ripping off who? I guess we'll find out this weekend, when the new movie opens in theaters -- hopefully some of our readers have seen or will see both movies and will give us some opinions. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry will hit Australian cinemas next month.

Columnist turned author Mitch Albom is about to add another title to his resumé: that of screenwriter. (OK, he adapted a few of his books for television but I'm talking about screenwriting) According to Variety, Adam Sandler's Happy Madison shingle has bought a baseball-related pitch from the author ... and yes, the project is being set up by Sony as a vehicle for Mr. Sandler. Because he hasn't done enough sports comedies yet. (Nothing against Sandler, but he hasn't made a funny movie since The Wedding Singer, if it's me you're asking.)

Described as a "comedy with emotional elements set in the world of baseball," the as-yet-untitled film will mark the very first collaboration between the author of The Five People You Meet in Heaven and Tuesdays with Morrie and the star of Big Daddy, Little Nicky and Anger Management. Can't wait for those "emotional elements." If Click taught us anything, it's that Sandler and "emotional elements" are a really effective combination. For torture.

So let's take some bets: Who thinks the movie will be about an aging bench-player who gets one last shot at stardom? Or maybe it's about a harried dad who begrudgingly takes a job as his son's little league coach ... only to learn several valuable lessons. Oh, I know! A selfish superstar gets bopped on the head during batting practice and starts being really nice to everyone. Sandler + Albom + Baseball = This stuff writes itself.

If you happen to be a fan of comedies where two guys pretend to be gay so they can get health benefits, than the upcoming Adam Sandler comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry is just what you've been looking for. I tend to think of the film as Bosom Buddies with firemen, an Adam Sandler "twist" and no dresses. I hope references to somewhat obscure 80s sitcoms will help you understand the film, but if not, a trailer for the film recently appeared on the net and, for me at least, generated very little interest -- except for the points where Jessica Biel appears in various states of undress. Other than that, it left me a bit, well, underwhelmed. And now, in addition to the trailer, we also have a poster for the film too.

Sadly, the poster does nothing to change my feeling towards the film. In fact, I question the design of a poster that features a grinning Kevin James carrying a less-than-enthusiastic Adam Sandler over an imaginary threshold that doesn't prominently display the hotness that is Jessica Biel. Sure, the movie marketing department needs to make sure the poster plays to the perceived strengths of the film -- Adam Sandler, comedy, fireman, homophobia, etc. But it seems like they're ignoring an important fact about their potential audience of young male viewers ages 18-24. Young male viewers like to see hot girls in underwear. Its a fact. Perhaps in a later poster this tragic error will be rectified. I certainly hope so. Until then, at least we still have the trailer -- such as it is.

Is it me, or did M. Night Shyamalan just get bitch-slapped? And by Mickey Mouse, no less. Variety reports that Disney has just signed Adam Sandler to star in Bedtime Stories (a.k.a. The Film M. Night Could've Helmed for Disney if He Didn't Throw a Hissy Fit, Run to Warner Bros. and Shell Out the Craptastic Lady in the Water), to be directed by Adam Shankman. The film will jump into production later this year, with Disney eying a 2008 holiday release. And, based on the pic's description, it seems someone wants to have their own Night at the Museum ... minus The Stiller. For Shankman, this will be his third film for Disney, having already proven he can helm hits (Bringing Down the House and The Pacifier) ... even though both films missed my sense of humor by a mile.

Written by Matt Lopez, Stories follows a real-estate developer (Sandler) whose life is turned upside down when the outrageous bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew suddenly become true. Based on how well Sandler's last high-concept comedy clicked at the box office -- coupled with the fact that those over-achievers at Disney want to rule the holiday season -- I imagine this sucker will be huge. Huge, I say! Pic also marks the first time Sandler has ever starred in a film for Walt Disney Pictures; back in 1998, Touchstone released The Waterboy. So, here's the big question: Can Adam Sandler handle some innocent family fun? Will he lose some of his edge when all the filthy, perverted jokes are stripped from his comedic repertoire? Thoughts?

Everyone knows that kids rule Hollywood. Without them a lot of movies wouldn't be made, wouldn't make millions and wouldn't sell a ton of merchandise. When studios aren't thinking of how to do well in foreign markets, they're thinking of how to succeed with the little ones. For the past twenty years, the Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards have been showing us what the kids apparently prefer, and on Saturday they honored some more predictable favorites.

The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was the choice for favorite movie of the year, though surprisingly Johnny Depp was not the favorite actor. Instead the kids picked now-7-time-winner Adam Sandler, who also beat out Will Smith and Jack Black. The favorite actress was Dakota Fanning, despite the fact that kids didn't go crazy for her Charlotte's Web last year. Her competition was Halle Berry, Keira Knightley and Sarah Jessica Parker. Happy Feet won for favorite animated film, though it wasn't even nominated for favorite voice from an animated film, a category won by Queen Latifah for Ice Age 2: The Meltdown. Rounding out the movie-related awards this weekend was a special honor given to Ben Stiller, who received the "Wannabe" Award for being the person who kids most want to be like. Of course, they probably just want to be in the Museum of Natural History after dark.