MondayNightPoll Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Are you a man or a woman? That may be the essential reason why you either loved or hated Judd Apatow's Funny People, starring Adam Sandler as a comedian facing a mid-life crisis. Marketing research firm CinemaScore says that men graded the movie B+ but women only granted it C+. As reported by Los Angeles Times, that translates into: "men generally liked it ... most women did not."

Which is puzzling to me, because, as I was watching it (alone again, naturally), it didn't strike me as the kind of movie that might polarize the sexes. Now, I can understand the overall audience being smaller than something like the latest Harry Potter. Our own Eugene Novikov surmised as much in his box office summary, pointing out that attempting to market the film "as a typical Adam Sandler comedy was quixotic, and as another laugh riot from the Apatow factory only marginally less so." Yet, I would have anticipated that men and women who had seen Apatow's earlier directorial efforts, The 40-Year Old-Virgin and Knocked Up -- or any of the films of Adam Sandler -- would have a good idea what to expect, as far as the level of raunch and a view of women as generally cranky and more than a little scary. Did Funny People go too far?

Enlighten us, please. Take our poll of the sexes and let us know: Why did you like Funny People? Why didn't you like Funny People? And did you fight about it on the way home? Feel free to elaborate in the comments section.

Strictly as an outside observer, I'm always surprised / perplexed by teen sensations making the leap to the big screen. The latest examples are Miley Cyrus and Zac Efron. Are they really movie stars already? Or are they beloved by millions simply because of the character(s) they've played?

When Cinematical's Dawn Taylor recently expressed her horror at the idea that Cyrus, a "marginally talented, pudding-faced 'tween idol," would be starring in a movie written by Nicholas Sparks, commenters were divided between hating Miley and hating Dawn. Nick Schager's review of Hannah Montana: The Movie was quite negative ("enduring the film is akin to being drawn and quartered"), but fans had clearly already decided to flock to theaters no matter what the reviews said. The narrative follow-up to the 3-D Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour proves, if nothing else, that 'tweens love Hannah Montana. But do they love the actress who plays her enough to follow her in other roles?

Efron has been making an effort to demonstrate his range beyond the High School Musical movies. He took on a dramatic role in Richard Linklater's yet to be released Me and Orson Welles, decided not to dance in Footloose, and stars in the comedy 17 Again, which opens on Friday. Is he a deft comic actor? I don't know. I missed Saturday Night Live, which he hosted last weekend, and the recent Pool Party video was not very funny. He became beloved for his singing, dancing, and romancing, but will his fans follow him to comedic and dramatic roles?

Do Zac Efron and/or Miley Cyrus have what it takes to be movie stars? Take our poll and let us know.