Tag Archives: Adam Sandler

FilmWonk Podcast – Episode #161 – “Little Women” (dir. Greta Gerwig), “Uncut Gems” (dir. Josh and Benny Safdie)

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Poster for "Little Women" (2019 film)

On this week’s podcast, Glenn and Daniel (with special guest Erika Spoden) descend into the darkness of consummate gambler and exhausting presence Howard Ratner, played with once-per-decade skill by Adam Sandler. Then we cleanse our palates with the thoughtful and colorful delights of Greta Gerwig‘s bold new adaptation of Louisa May Alcott‘s Little Women (01:06:39).

Still from "Uncut Gems"

May contain NSFW language.

FilmWonk rating (Uncut Gems): 8/10 (Erika), 9/10 (Glenn and Daniel)
FilmWonk rating (Little Women): 8.5/10 (Erika and Glenn), 8/10 (Daniel)

Show notes:

  • [02:21] Review: Uncut Gems
  • [17:14] Spoilers: Uncut Gems
  • [38:39] Review: Little Women
  • Music for this episode is the track “The Stranger” by Billy Joel and “The Morning” by The Weeknd, from the soundtrack to Uncut Gems.
  • CORRECTION: While discussing Kevin Garnett‘s appearance in Uncut Gems, we referred to a previous casting of an NBA player in the 2015 film Trainwreck, and mistakenly said that it was Kobe Bryant playing a version of himself in that film. It was in fact LeBron James.

Listen above, or download: Little Women, Uncut Gems (right-click, save as, or click/tap to play on a non-flash browser)

FilmWonk Podcast – Episode #48 – “Blended” (dir. Frank Coraci)

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This week on the podcast, Glenn and Daniel take a break from their SIFF coverage to revisit some old cinematic friends from their teenage years, Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, who regroup for a zany family rom-com set in South Africa. Sure. Why not?

Several reasons, as it turns out (24:56).

May contain NSFW language.

FilmWonk rating: 4 out of 10

Show notes:

  • Music for tonight’s episode includes the track “Hasa Diga Eebowai“, from the original cast recording of “Book of Mormon: The Musical”, and “Hakuna Matata” from “The Lion King”.
  • We speculated about the security arrangements at Sun City, and apparently it does have armed guards (who engaged in a shootout with heavily armed casino robbers in 2010). I’m sure they’re at least as well-armed as Disneyland must be. A 2005 review in The Independent referred to Sun City as “South Africa-lite“, which was pretty much our assessment as well.
  • Correction: Sandler’s age as of this writing is 47, not 50.

Listen above, or download: Blended (right-click, save as, or click/tap to play on a non-flash browser)