Adam Sandler's movies haver never represented the apex of cultural awareness, but they do tend to grapple, if somewhat brashly, with the finer points of human relations. In his latest raunchfest, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, the insolent comic creates "his stupidest character ever" (as an audience member muttered five minutes into last night's New York preview screening), but it's also his most symbolic one: Sporting a hyperbolic flair for disco music and using hummus as toothpaste, hardened Israeli soldier Zohan is a bloated creature of Semitic extremes.

Overall, however, the movie uses metaphors more than stereotypes. When Zohan and a furious Palestinian terrorist (John Turturro) use paddles to bat a live grenade back and forth, the result is a lowbrow editorial cartoon.

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.

With the South by Southwest Film Festival only a short ten days away, you'd think the programmers would be taking it easy. Wrong-o. Nobody rests on their laurels down in Austin, which explains why the SXSW crew keeps adding new movies, panelists and special guests! Here's the most-recent (although probably not final) batch of late additions:

Pop star James Blunt will attend the world premiere of James Blunt: Return to Kosovo, so be sure to bring those autograph books, ladies!

Director D.J. Caruso and "hot young" actor Shia LaBeouf will be in attendance for the world premiere of their Disturbia thriller, and will probably be talked into a post-movie Q & A session.

Actress Connie Britton and director Sarah Kelly will be here to introduce their cool-looking '80s-centric movie The Lather Effect, which also stars Tate Donovan, Eric Stoltz, Ione Skye, Peter Facinelli and Monica Keena.

Producer Elizabeth Avellan will stop by for a panel discussion on March 14th, and considering she's worked on movies like Sin City, Spy Kids and Grindhouse ... I just might have to stop by and have a listen.

Reign Over Me, a flick that sure looks like a true-blue "tearjerker for guys," will have its world premiere at SXSW on Wednesday, March 14. Written and directed by Mike Binder (The Upside of Anger), it stars Don Cheadle and Adam Sandler as former college roommates whose lives took off in decidedly ... different directions. (UPDATE: Both Cheadle and Sandler will be in attendance at this screening.)

More SXSW updates as they become available. And get ready for some serious wall-to-wall coverage of America's finest flm festival once March 9 hits the calendar.

OK, I know I should take this seriously. We're about to discuss a serious movie that deals with the aftermath of 9/11, the loss of a family, and one man's descent into madness. We also know that Reign Over Me comes from Mike Binder, the fine filmmaker behind The Upside of Anger, Indian Summer and, well um, ok, Blankman. But having said all that, I still have to admit that this new trailer kinda made me chortle ... and Reign Over Me is not a comedy.

Based on the trailer, it seems that Don Cheadle is a successful professional whose life is thrown into disarray when he crosses paths with his old college roommate (Adam Sandler), a mildly wacko loner whose family was killed in the World Trade Center. The film looks to be very somber, very sincere and very sober.

So why does the idea of Adam Sandler going "wide-eyed kooky" make me want to chuckle? And not in a Happy Gilmore sort of way, but in an I Am Sam sort of way. Obviously it's not cool to judge a movie solely by its marketing clips, but this trailer gave me a case of the guilty giggles. Hate to say it, but Sandler's funnier by accident these days than he is on purpose.

Still, Binder deserves a benefit of the doubt after the rather solid Upside, so please feel free to dismiss my disdain at your convenience. Unless you agree with me. ...