Little Birds

Little Birds

Millennium Entertainment

January 23, 2011

Drama

DVD
D

Depressing.  Elgin James wrote and directed.

Blockers

By the time it hit DVD, the "cock" symbol was dropped, but I
 think that fits because it's a sex comedy that's not just about sex.

Blockers
Universal
April 6, 2018
Comedy
DVD
B-

As with other Apatovian-but-not-Apatow comedies, this could've gone quite wrong, and certainly the gross-out humor doesn't really add anything for me.  But I found this surprisingly funny at times, with a solid cast and of course the obligatory heart-warming moments.*  I also would've expected the movie to focus more on the teens, a la Porky's, American Pie, and the rest of that losing-virginity subgenre of comedy, and less on their Gen-X parents, the Blockers of the title, but the balance mostly works.  (That Miles Robbins, son of Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, looks like a young Donny Osmond in a man-bun was just an extra layer of amusement for me.)  I also like that one of the three teens is a closeted lesbian, and her friends and father are supportive of her.

I'm not sure who in the cast to tag besides the three people I actually recognized, but I'll throw John Cena in there just in case.  This was Kay Cannon's directorial debut, but I'll tag her, too, since this blog project will take awhile and we may see her again.


*Maybe it's that I'm concurrently doing a Laverne & Shirley blog now, but I do have to wonder how much the Garry Marshall legacy of outrageous humor alternating with sentiment continues four or five decades on, although now we get jokes about butt-chugging rather than more innocent slapstick.

Big Daddy

The infamous poster

Big Daddy
Columbia
June 25, 1999
Comedy
DVD
C-

I saw this movie at the time but didn't remember much about it, unlike the previous year's The Wedding Singer, which I quite enjoyed (and now own), yes, including Sandler (who co-wrote this but not that), while here he's easily the least likable character in the first quarter hour.  Still, I have seen worse comedies, including from him. 

Dennis Dugan directed.  Note that the Sprouse twins, who play the five-year-old kid, were almost seven at the time and already acting vets, although still a year away from Friends.