{"id":127540,"date":"2026-01-10T02:41:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T02:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/127540\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T02:41:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T02:41:19","slug":"how-adam-sandler-got-so-good-plus-the-best-movies-in-l-a-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/127540\/","title":{"rendered":"How Adam Sandler got so good, plus the best movies in L.A. this week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hello! I\u2019m Mark Olsen<\/a>. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.<\/p>\n

A few of the movies that received abbreviated awards qualifying runs late last year are now getting their proper release. Directed by Gus Van Sant, \u201cDead Man\u2019s Wire\u201d tells the true-life story of how a man in 1977 Indianapolis, Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsg\u00e5rd), took his mortgage banker (Dacre Montgomery) hostage after he felt he was swindled out of his money. It turned into a media circus that was broadcast on live TV.<\/p>\n

In her review<\/a>, Amy Nicholson compared the film to some of Van Sant\u2019s other true-crime adaptations, including \u201cTo Die For,\u201d \u201cMilk\u201d and \u201cElephant,\u201d noting, \u201cBut this time, Van Sant seems more interested in the period-piece d\u00e9cor and the aesthetics of early video footage (the cinematography is by Arnaud Potier) than he is in the bleak humor of Kiritsis\u2019 televised tirade cutting to a burger commercial. The result is a faintly comic curio that hurtles along without much impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Lee Byung Hun in the movie \u201cNo Other Choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Neon)<\/p>\n

Tim Grierson reviewed<\/a> \u201cNo Other Choice,\u201d Park Chan Wook\u2019s adaptation of Donald Westlake\u2019s novel \u201cThe Ax\u201d that transports the story to South Korea. After being laid off from his longtime job at a paper mill, Man-su (Lee Byung Hun) creates an elaborate scheme to murder his potential competitors for another job.<\/p>\n

\u201cPark\u2019s approach may be pleasingly shocking, but it isn\u2019t always novel,\u201d Grierson notes. \u201c \u2018No Other Choice\u2019 bluntly depicts a contemporary workforce decimated by AI and cost-cutting, but its view of alienated labor and thwarted masculinity has roots in indelible works such as \u2018Parasite\u2019<\/a> and \u2018Breaking Bad.\u2019<\/a> And for all its dark comedy, the movie is most cutting when it moves away from the big set pieces and, instead, examines the small ways that employees lose their humanity to a capitalist system that\u2019s out to destroy them. Like the trees cut down and pulverized to make Man-su\u2019s beloved paper products, ultimately we\u2019re all being fed into the shredder.\u201d<\/p>\n

I reviewed<\/a> Mona Fastvold\u2019s \u201cThe Testament of Ann Lee,\u201d which stars Amanda Seyfried as the woman who led the nascent religious movement known as the Shakers from England to America in the 1700s. Song and movement were part of their spiritual practice, and so the movie is something of an unusual musical.<\/p>\n

\u201c \u2018The Testament of Ann Lee\u2019 is held together by the resonant and committed performance of Seyfried, who continues to prove herself an actor of astonishing depth,\u201d I wrote.<\/p>\n

Lav Diaz will appear at the Nuart on Friday for a Q&A after his new \u201cMagellan,\u201d starring Gael Garc\u00eda Bernal. And Kristen Stewart will pop up around town for intros and Q&As of her feature directing debut, \u201cThe Chronology of Water,\u201d starring Imogen Poots.<\/p>\n

Adam Sandler\u2019s dramatic arc \"A <\/p>\n

Adam Sandler in the movie \u201cUncut Gems.\u201d<\/p>\n

(A24)<\/p>\n

This week the Egyptian Theatre will put on a mini festival that charts the growth of Adam Sandler\u2019s more dramatic roles, under the title \u201cSeriously Sandler.\u201d<\/a> Over the years he has become a deeply sensitive actor, capable of conveying real emotions and a lived-in sadness. While it is looking less likely that his turn in Noah Baumbach\u2019s \u201cJay Kelly\u201d will finally be the one to net him an Oscar nomination, having this program designed to bolster recognition for his work is still pretty great. (We will leave the quibbling over excluding James L. Brooks\u2019 \u201cSpanglish\u201d<\/a> for another time.)<\/p>\n

On Monday there will be screenings of Baumbach\u2019s \u201cThe Meyerowitz Stories (New and Collected),\u201d his first collaboration with Sandler, and Mike Binder\u2019s 2007 \u201cReign Over Me.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cMeyerowitz\u201d casts Sandler alongside Ben Stiller and Elizabeth Marvel as the troubled children of an artist played by Dustin Hoffman. In his review of the film<\/a>, Kenneth Turan noted, \u201cSandler\u2019s performance is, frankly, a revelation. Almost nothing he has done, not even his fine work in \u2018Punch-Drunk Love,\u2019 prepares you for the moving, completely unmannered and heartfelt portrait he creates here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Three <\/p>\n

Ben Stiller, left, Adam Sandler and Elizabeth Marvel in the movie \u201cThe Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected).\u201d<\/p>\n

(Atsushi Nishijima \/ Netflix)<\/p>\n

Tuesday will see a 35mm screening of Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s 2002 \u201cPunch-Drunk Love,\u201d<\/a> among the first times Sandler stretched into something different: a serio-comic romance set, not surprisingly, in the San Fernando Valley (with an interlude in Honolulu).<\/p>\n

Also on Tuesday is a screening of Judd Apatow\u2019s 2009 \u201cFunny People,\u201d<\/a> in which Sandler plays a movie star and comedian grappling with his own mortality. The supporting cast includes Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Jason Schwartzman, Jonah Hill and Aubrey Plaza.<\/p>\n

Wednesday brings a 35mm screening of Josh and Benny Sadie\u2019s \u201cUncut Gems\u201d<\/a> as well as Jeremiah Zagar\u2019s sports dramedy \u201cHustle.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n

In his review of \u201cUncut Gems,\u201d<\/a> Justin Chang wrote about Sandler\u2019s performance as reckless gambler Howard Ratner by saying, \u201c\u2018Uncut Gems\u2019 reignites his fires and then some, partly because he\u2019s playing someone so driven, who adores the thrill of the chase and takes an almost sexual ecstasy in every payoff. But it\u2019s also partly because Howard \u2014 flamboyant, shameless, loathsome and intermittently lovable \u2014 charges so many of Sandler\u2019s familiar expressions and gestures with searing new energy and purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Adam Sandler as Stanley Sugerman in the movie \u201cHustle.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Scott Yamano \/ Netflix)<\/p>\n

Speaking about working with Sandler<\/a>, Zagar said, \u201cHe\u2019s just incredible and wonderful to watch. He is that guy and he did it perfect every time. One of the cool things about watching Adam act is there aren\u2019t bad takes. They\u2019re just good in different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked in a 2017 screening Q&A<\/a> whether he approaches his dramatic acting differently from the broader comedic roles on which he first made his name, Sandler replied, \u201cAbsolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cI mean, one thing in common is I work as hard as I can possibly work. I believe in everything I do. My process is just a lot of hours. I\u2019m consumed with making sure I don\u2019t feel any regret at the end of a work day. And of course you do \u2014 you go home and think, \u2018Oh, I should have done this or that,\u2019 but I go in with full intent to do my best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Points of interest<\/p>\n

\u2018The Long Goodbye\u2019 and \u2018Night Moves\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Elliott <\/p>\n

Elliott Gould in the \u201cLong Goodbye.\u201d<\/p>\n

(United Artists)<\/p>\n

Two of the best examples of 1970s neo-noir will play as a double bill in 35mm at the New Beverly Cinema<\/a> Tuesday through Thursday: Robert Altman\u2019s 1973 \u201cThe Long Goodbye\u201d<\/a> and Arthur Penn\u2019s 1975 \u201cNight Moves.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n

Adapted by Leigh Brackett and starring Elliott Gould as detective Phillip Marlowe, \u201cThe Long Goodbye\u201d relocates Raymond Chandler\u2019s novel to 1970s Los Angeles. After giving an old friend a ride to Mexico, Marlowe finds himself swept up in a complex tale of infidelity, gangsters and murder.<\/p>\n

Though it has grown in stature to become much beloved \u2014 it is unabashedly one of my all-time favorite movies \u2014 at the time, the mash-up of sensibilities created by Altman was confounding and even upsetting to many people. <\/p>\n

In his original review, Charles Champlin admitted he couldn\u2019t get past his own preconceptions about the character, writing, \u201cHe is not Chandler\u2019s Marlowe, or mine, and I can\u2019t find him interesting, sympathetic or amusing and I can\u2019t be sure who will.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Gene Hackman in the movie \u201cNight Moves.\u201d<\/p>\n

(United Archives via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Written by Alan Sharp, \u201cNight Moves\u201d stars Gene Hackman<\/a> in one of his greatest performances as Harry Moseby, a former football player turned private detective in Los Angeles. Looking for a missing teenager, he winds up in Florida, where he becomes embroiled in a mystery around the smuggling of rare artifacts.<\/p>\n

Reviewing the movie at the time, Kevin Thomas aptly described the film as \u201ca tough yet vulnerable private eye\u2019s investigation of a murder [that] becomes a quest for his own identity and a pursuit for the truth that cuts through many layers of social strata and ends with a wry sense of irony over the eternal treachery of human nature and one\u2019s own illusions. Lest all this sound pretentious and therefore off-putting, let it hastily be said that \u2018Night Moves\u2019 is also a fast, often funny movie with lots of compassionately observed real, living, breathing people. \u2026 \u2018Night Moves\u2019 is a tribute to the Hollywood genre movie at its reflective, revealing best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visconti\u2019s \u2018The Damned\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Three <\/p>\n

Reinhard Kolldehoff, left, Helmut Berger and Dirk Bogarde in the movie \u201cThe Damned.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Sunset Boulevard \/ Corbis via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Vidiots<\/a> will host a rare screening of Luchino Visconti\u2019s 1969 drama \u201cThe Damned,\u201d starrng Charlotte Rampling, Dirk Bogarde, Ingird Thulin and Helmut Berger. Tying together bourgeoise decadence and the rise of nazism in the 1930s, the story follows a wealthy industrialist who begins doing business with the Nazi party, even as a member of his family finds his queer lifestyle at odds with their strict codes of behavior.<\/p>\n

In his original Dec. 26, 1969 review \u2014 imagine \u201cThe Damned\u201d as a holiday release \u2014 Kevin Thomas called it \u201cLuchino Visconti\u2019s masterpiece and the most powerful indictment of Nazi Germany ever filmed.\u201d He added, \u201cEverything converges to make the movie\u2019s major point: that Hitlers don\u2019t rise to power without the backing of the captains of industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

De Palma\u2019s \u2018Obsession\u2019<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Genevi\u00e8ve Bujold and Cliff Robertson in Brian De Palma\u2019s \u201cObsession.\u201d<\/p>\n

(United Archives)<\/p>\n

On Friday night, the American Cinematheque<\/a> at the Egyptian Theatre will host a 50th anniversary screening of \u201cObesession,\u201d<\/a> directed by Brian De Palma from a script by Paul Schrader. Not surprisingly, the film plays like a couple of huge Hitchcock fans having a blast riffing on the master \u2014 a score by Bernard Herrmann only adds to the feeling.<\/p>\n

Gleefully pulling from \u201cVertigo\u201d and \u201cRebecca,\u201d the story is about a New Orleans businessman (Cliff Robertson) who loses his wife and daughter after they are kidnapped and a ransom exchange goes wrong. Later he meets a woman (Genevi\u00e8ve Bujold) who reminds him of his late wife. As they plan to marry, she also gets kidnapped.<\/p>\n

Reviewing the film when it was originally released, Kevin Thomas called it \u201ca heady homage to full-blown melodrama in all its unbridled romanticism.\u201d He added, \u201cBy sheer dint of bravura style and intense passion, it can sweep the willing viewer right along with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other news<\/p>\n

Farewell to B\u00e9la Tarr<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

B\u00e9la Tarr, photographed at the Aero Theatre in 2023.<\/p>\n

(Dania Maxwell \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Hungarian filmmaker B\u00e9la Tarr died this week at age 70<\/a>, leaving behind a legacy of films such as \u201cS\u00e1t\u00e1ntang\u00f3,\u201d \u201cWerckmeister Harmonies\u201d and \u201cThe Turin Horse.\u201d Known for his spare, unforgiving style and darkly comic fatalistic sensibility, along with his penchant for leather jackets, lots of smoking and a deadpan sense of humor, Tarr was a quintessential arthouse filmmaker.<\/p>\n

Carlos Aguilar spoke to Tarr<\/a> on what turned out to be his final visit to Los Angeles in 2023, for an extended tribute series as part of the American Cinematheque\u2019s \u201cBleak Week\u201d festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to say they are depressing or bleak, but it\u2019s not about that,\u201d Tarr said of his films. \u201cHuman beings are very complex, and when you are doing a movie, or any kind of art, you have to try to have empathy for people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our John Penner wrote a tribute to Tarr<\/a>, noting, \u201cHis stark black-and-white imagery in assiduously long takes with creeping camera movements demanded that the viewer pause to look, to see, as one might in regarding a Picasso or a Bruegel. Tarr\u2019s revolution in form, however, cannot be separated from the radical humanity of his filmmaking. In a concentrated collection of 10 features over less than four decades, his gaze was fixed on the resolute dignity of his marginalized and downtrodden characters, which elevated his work beyond the realm of cinephile rumination.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hello! I\u2019m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127541,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[9628,9629,9631,2790,2242,9630,9632,5686,48,52,51,47,50,49,63,9626,4287,425,9627,1791,8074],"class_list":["post-127540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-angelina-jolie","tag-barry-jenkins","tag-david","tag-dead","tag-drama","tag-evil","tag-good-work","tag-killing","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-lovers","tag-movie","tag-series","tag-short-film","tag-times","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}