Have you ever seen the void in a man’s eyes?

When’s the last time Adam Sandler smiled in a movie? Not the last time he made you, the viewer, smile — that must be decades ago by now — when’s the last time he smiled?

The now-famous walkout by four of the film’s American Indian extras, of which there were more than 100, was overblown but fully justified. However, the extras represent the group the movie is possibly the least offensive toward. Crews’ character tearfully confesses that he is half-black in one scene, and Schneider is in full Mexican-face. Also, the baseball scene has several Chinese extras for no apparent reason. It’s the least complicated and least justifiable form of racism, simply pointing at someone who isn’t white and laughing. Photos courtesy Netflix.

He looked lethargic and bored in July’s Pixels, and he looks half-dead in Netflix release The Ridiculous 6. The movie follows White Knife (Sandler, who also co-writes and co-produces), a white man raised by American Indians in the West after his mother was gunned down in front of him when he was a child. His father, Frank Stockburn (Nick Nolte), who had abandoned the family before his birth, suddenly appears, saying he is dying of tuberculosis and wants to connect with his lost son. After telling White Knife about the $50,000 he has buried in the area, he is just as suddenly abducted by his former gang, whom he promises that same stash to but leads far away, intending to die to save his son. Unable to find the real stash, White Knife resolves to steal $50,000 to save his father. Along the way, he encounters five strangers (Rob Schneider, Taylor Lautner, Jorge Garcia, Luke Wilson and Terry Crews), who all turn out to be his half-brothers.

The Ridiculous 6 isn’t a B movie. It isn’t a C or D or Z movie — it doesn’t exist on that spectrum. Bad movies, historically, have always been some of the most enjoyable for their silliness. The Ridiculous 6 is unenjoyable. The movie actively seeks sweet spots between good and bad enough to laugh at where it needs to, but mostly avoids even the risk of a slightly redeeming — or even particularly memorable — factor with its plot structure and joke choices. It is deliberately — and brilliantly — crafted against enjoyment. This is less a movie and more a plea for help from Sandler, who clearly wants his career to end but doesn’t have the nerve to do it himself.

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The Möbius strip: Big movies hover around $10 million each as the film world holds its breath

Movies raked in a total of $77.4 million this weekend, the year’s second lowest total only to traditionally glacial Halloween weekend. It’ll probably bounce back next weekend. But for now, almost every major moneymaker simply hovered around a sad $10 million. Part two of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay took its fourth weekend with $11.4 million, becoming the most disappointing movie ever to hold no. 1 for four straight weeks. New release and chronic underachiever In the Heart of the Sea brought in $11.1 million. The Ron Howard film has suffered from poor decision making from distributors and a general inability to create enthusiasm. The Good Dinosaur, Creed and Krampus round out the top five with $10.3 million, $10.1 million and $8.4 million, respectively- Box Office Mojo

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Why not just remake Moby Dick?

“…Or do the stories only exist to make us respect the sea’s dark secrets?” Photos courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.

In the Heart of the Sea tells the story of the Essex, a whaling ship that was sunk in 1820, leaving eight survivors. And hey! Did you know? The story partially inspired Moby Dick!

The movie follows Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth), first mate to George Pollard, Jr. (Benjamin Walker) aboard the Essex. Pollard received his station because of his family ties in Nantucket, a fact which becomes a source of tension between him and Chase, who was promised his own captaincy but instead is asked to babysit Pollard. After some risky sailing in an attempt to be rid of each other faster, Pollard and Chase come upon a field of sperm whales thousands of miles off the coast of South America, but are sunk by a monsterous specimen, scarred by several encounters with whalers, which displays keen insight in attacking their ship. Marooned, they must drift in the longboats back home from the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Also! Thirty years later, innkeeper Thomas Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson, Tom Holland in his scenes as a teenager), a survivor of the Essex, is visited by Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw), the very same now-famous author who penned American classic Moby Dick! Because, if you didn’t know, that book is partially based on the tale of the Essex. 

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A less chaotic state: Star Wars

This article has been written several times in several places, I’m just going to try to put it all in one place.

Star Wars is the single most influential movie of all time. Starting from a minute 40-theater release in May 1977, the film was so well-received that it forced its way not only into an international release, but international re-releases in ’78, ’79, ’81 and ’82. Altogether, the film turned an $11 million budget into a $775.4 million smash hit, almost doubling the box office record set by Jaws two years earlier. An instant classic in every sense of the word, there’s a myriad of things that just wouldn’t exist in Hollywood without this movie’s success.

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Movie about one of Hollywood’s best writers poorly written

One really great thing this movie did was hire Louis C.K. and Alan Tudyk. More movies should do that. Photo courtesy Bleeker Street.

Trumbo can easily be reduced to one word, and that word is “ironic.”

The film tells the relatively true story of Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston), a communist screenwriter who won two academy awards for Roman Holiday and The Brave One despite being blacklisted from Hollywood as a result of the red scare at the time. The film details his refusal to cooperate with Congress, his 11-month prison stint and his return to Hollywood work through the use of pseudonyms with King Brothers Productions. He eventually revealed that he had been working the entire time he was on the Hollywood blacklist in a move that invalidated it and eventually lead to its dissolution.

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