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Most actors start with menial roles, often uncredited. Once they have a few jobs under their belts, they choose a path of movies or TV shows.

Sometimes both.

Adam Sandler has made a name for himself as a low-key celebrity loyal to his friends.

His unique slapstick humor appeals to a wide range of ages, making him a family-friendly actor with a dark side.

His first TV appearance was as an extra in The Cosby Show. He's also been in shows like The King of Queens and Kevin Can Wait featuring Kevin James, The Chris Rock Show, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Essential Viewing: 11 Elisabeth Moss Movies & TV Shows You Must See

Since launching his movie career, Sandler has also started his own production company and has a string of actors in his movies.

You can expect to see at least one or more of the same names in any film. He often has his real-life wife,...

If you enjoyed Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and are yearning for more whodunnit comedy set in exotic locales, Netflix has your back as the streaming service has just released the trailer for the sequel to Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston‘s 2019 comedy, Murder Mystery. Murder Mystery 2 reunites Sandler with Aniston on their third collaboration after Just Go with It and the first Murder Mystery. This time, the mystery ends up taking our duo to Paris and will feature an all-new ensemble cast.

The official Netflix synopsis reads,

“Four years after solving their first murder mystery, Nick and Audrey Spitz are now full-time detectives struggling to get their private eye agency off the ground when they’re invited to celebrate the wedding of their friend the Maharaja (Adeel Akhtar) on his private island. But trouble follows the Spitzes again when the groom is kidnapped for ransom soon after...

Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston are (back) on the case.

The stars of Netflix’s aptly titled “Murder Mystery” action-comedy return for the sequel, which charts a kidnapping from a private island to Paris. The official synopsis of “Murder Mystery 2” reads: Four years after solving their first murder mystery, Nick and Audrey Spitz (Sandler and Aniston) are now full-time detectives struggling to get their private eye agency off the ground when they’re invited to celebrate the wedding of their friend the Maharaja (Adeel Akhtar) on his private island. But trouble follows the Spitzes again when the groom is kidnapped for ransom soon after the festivities begin — making each glamorous guest, family member, and the bride herself a suspect.

“Murder Mystery 2” sends Nick and Audrey Spitz on a high-stakes case that finally gives them everything they’ve ever dreamed of: a shot at their detective agency finally becoming successful…...

Adam Sandler is reflecting on his decades-long career in comedy.

The “Hustle” actor and mega-producer said that he’s “calmer than I used to be” now after undergoing therapy, and is now able to recognize the talents of fellow comedians.

“Looking back on relationships, I could be an ass. I was selfish. I was competitive with other comedians and stuff,” Sandler told AARP Magazine. “I used to go nuts. I had a quick temper, quick reactions. I made a lot of dumb mistakes and said a lot of stupid things.”

While Sandler has collaborated with former “SNL” co-stars Rob Schneider, David Spade, pal Steve Buscemi, and ex-assistant Jonathan Loughran on a slew of films, Sandler admitted to feeling pressure to be the funniest in the room. To note, Schneider has been in 18 Sandler films, Buscemi in 15, Spade in 12, and Loughran in over 40 movies.

Sandler shared that bad reviews for his comedies,...

Emily Blunt and Jamie Dornan have a very Irish romance in the brand new trailer for “Wild Mountain Thyme,” released on Tuesday.

Set in Ireland, the movie centers on Anthony (Dornan), who works in the fields under the constant belittling of his father (Christopher Walken), who has threatened to leave the family farm to Anthony’s American cousin Adam (Jon Hamm). A shy and worn-down Anthony doesn’t notice that Rosemary (Blunt), a childhood friend, has been attracted to him for years, despite feeling resentment for having been shamed by Anthony earlier. Caught between their families’ land dispute, sparks fly between the couple. Meanwhile, Rosemary’s mother, Aoife (Dearbhla Molloy), strives to unite the families before it is too late.

“Wild Mountain Thyme” is directed by John Patrick Shanley, and the film is adapted from his Broadway play “Outside Mullingar” from 2014. The original play starred Brian F. O’Byrne, Dearbhla Molloy,...

Emily Blunt has joined “Wild Mountain Thyme” as Jamie Dornan’s star-crossed love interest in John Patrick Shanley’s adaptation of his Broadway smash hit, “Outside Mullingar.” Blunt replaces Holliday Grainger, who was previously announced as Dornan’s co-star in May.

Jon Hamm, Dearbhla Molloy, and Christopher Walken have also signed on for the movie, which starts shooting at the end of the month.

Bleecker Street has already acquired the U.S. rights for the film, and Lionsgate U.K. has Britain.

The film, which is set in Ireland, follows Anthony (Dornan), who is always out in the fields working and is worn down by the constant belittling from his father (Walken). His father has threatened to bequeath the family farm to his American cousin Adam (Hamm). Rosemary (Blunt) holds a grudge for having been shamed by Anthony in childhood, and the sparks between them fly. Her mother, Aoife (Molloy...

Bleecker Street has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to “Wild Mountain Thyme,” a lyrical romance that will star Emily Blunt and Jamie Dornan playing star-crossed lovers, the distributor announced Monday.

Lionsgate UK has also acquired the U.K. rights to “Wild Mountain Thyme,” which is based on the play “Outside Mullingar” by John Patrick Shanley. Shanley is writing and directing the film that will begin principal photography on Sept. 30 and will shoot on location in Ireland.

Blunt and Dornan star as lovers whose families are caught up in a feud over a hotly contested patch of land that separates their two farms. The film also stars Jon Hamm, Dearbhla Molloy and Christopher Walken. Holliday Grainger was originally attached to star in Blunt’s role.

Here’s the synopsis:

Anthony (Dornan) always seems to...

IFC Films has acquired U.S. rights to Black 47, director Lance Daly’s Irish historical thriller making its North American premiere at next month’s Toronto Film Festival.

Black 47, starring James Frecheville as an Irish ex-soldier waging a bloody crusade against the British in 1847, made its debut at the Berlin Film Festival. IFC will be released theatrically in the U.S. on September 28.

A premiere in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is set for Sept. 5 through Wildcard Distribution. Altitude Film Distribution will release the film in mainland Britain on Sept. 28.

Said director Daly, “I’m really looking forward to collaborating with IFC, in reaching out to both Irish-American audiences who will find so much personal relevance in the story behind the Irish exodus to north America, and to their wider audience (who can also claim part-Irishness after seeing this movie!).”

Daly said Black 47 marks the “the first...

Pierce Brosnan will star in Terry Loan's film adaptation of Stuart Neville's revenge thriller novel "The Twelve" at Ealing Metro.

The story follows a former Ira hitman who, released from prison after serving twenty years for murder, is haunted by the memory of his victims.

He can find no peace until he takes revenge on their behalf. CBS late-night talk show host Craig Ferguson co-wrote the script with Ted Mulkerin.

Ferguson, Steve Clark-Hall, Beau St. Clair, Rebecca Tucker and Jonathan Loughran will produce with filming to begin later this year.

Source: THR...

When we’re watching an awesome action movie, often the action is so exciting that we either can’t or won’t stop to think about the actual consequences of all that property destruction and mass murder. Of course, these sorts of movies are supposed to primarily be regarded as entertainment, apparently justifying the flippant regard to any exterior consequences of an awesome explosion or kick-ass shoot-out However, when you’ve seen a film enough times, it’s hard not to start thinking about it on a deeper level, be it the film’s philosophical content, or the sheer amount filmmakers can actually get away with by using some heroic bloodshed to pull the wool over our eyes; behind each of these excellent set-ups is a lot more suffering and tragedy than we would care to admit.

Here are 10 awesome movie moments with disastrous off-screen consequences.

10. Death Proof – Lee And...

Filed under: Movie News

When it comes to his circle of friends, Adam Sandler is like Oprah Winfrey: You get a role in my new film! You get a role in my new film! For a lucky pal like Nick Swardson, sometimes that even means getting your very own film: Swardson stars as the titular Bucky Larson in 'Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star,' the latest comedy from Sandler's Happy Madison production company. Ahead, see if you can separate Swardson from other Sandler pals Allen Covert, Peter Dante and Jonathan Loughran in Moviefone's first (and probably only) Adam Sandler Crony Quiz.

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"Undeclared" is now airing on IFC, and we thought we'd take this opportunity to revisit the show that further cemented broadcast television's inability to recognize the genius of Judd Apatow. Every week, Matt Singer and Alison Willmore will be offering their thoughts on that night's episode.

Episode 5

Sick in the Head

Written by Seth Rogen

Directed by Greg Mottola

Episode 6

The Assistant

Written by Judd Apatow & Seth Rogen & Nicholas Stoller

Directed by Judd Apatow

"He's Adam Sandler! Why would you become Adam Sandler? So you could not have sex with Lizzie?" -- Ron

We've been having trouble separating "Undeclared" from Judd Apatow's later work in this column and this week is no exception. Apatow's last movie, "Funny People," was, amongst other things, about the relationship between a cold movie star (Adam Sandler) and a young kid who idolized him (Seth Rogen). And that's basically the plot of our second episode this week,...

Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

In Grown Ups, Adam Sandler finally figures out how to write a full comedic movie once again.  In this reviewer's opinion, his last solid effort was Big Daddy.  Sure many of the Happy Madison productions have their moments.  The crew also knows how to screw up the seemingly impossible (i.e. Anger Management).  This 101 minute feature brings plenty of entertainment to the table.

Lately, the trailers for an Adam Sandler flick are misleading.  They give you the funny lines and brainwash moviegoers into seeing a comedy.  Most of them walkout disappointed.  With Grown Ups, what you see via the trailer is on par with the tone for the entire feature.  And then some.

After the death of their childhood basketball coach (Blake Clark), five close friends (Adam Sandler, Kevin James, David Spade, Chris Rock, and Rob Schneider) all reunite at the funeral.  They decide to go...

Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

In Grown Ups, Adam Sandler finally figures out how to write a full comedic movie once again.  In this reviewer's opinion, his last solid effort was Big Daddy.  Sure many of the Happy Madison productions have their moments.  The crew also knows how to screw up the seemingly impossible (i.e. Anger Management).  This 101 minute feature brings plenty of entertainment to the table.

Lately, the trailers for an Adam Sandler flick are misleading.  They give you the funny lines and brainwash moviegoers into seeing a comedy.  Most of them walkout disappointed.  With Grown Ups, what you see via the trailer is on par with the tone for the entire feature.  And then some.

After the death of their childhood basketball coach (Blake Clark), five close friends (Adam Sandler, Kevin James, David Spade, Chris Rock, and Rob Schneider) all reunite at the funeral.  They decide to go...

Lawrence "Larry" Gordon got his first producing credit 37 years ago. His productions have included such blockbusters as "48 Hrs.," "Die Hard" and "Watchmen," so he was a natural to fill in when a panelist dropped out of "Producing Blockbusters," one of more than two dozen panels at the Producers Guild of America's Produced By 2010 Conference during the weekend at Fox Studios.

Gordon was joined by industry veterans Mark Johnson and Richard Zanuck, who noted they were in an auditorium named after his father, legendary studio boss Darryl F. Zanuck.

It soon was clear that when producers talk among themselves, the conversations get candid. A frustrated Gordon said it's rougher than ever before being a top Hollywood producer.

"I've had some really bad experiences on the last two or three movies," he said. "I've just about had enough. It's pretty tough. I don't like it."

Gordon stayed afloat on "Waterworld," when studio...

The top 10 best Adam Sandler movies. Comedian. Actor. Musician. Singer. Writer. Producer. Swell guy (probably). The sum of all these parts makes Adam Sander who he is today; a much loved and much viewed working entertainer. He makes us laugh. He makes it look easy. There are few comedic actors when have been at the top of the box office for as long as The Sandman, so let’s appreciate this multi-talented dude.

10. 50 First Dates (2004)

50 First Dates (not to be confused with the similar-sounding 51st State starring Samuel L. Jackson) is the 2nd collaboration between the Sandman and Drew Barrymore after The Wedding Singer.

Set in Hawaii, Sandler is Henry Roth, a ladies man (!) who falls for Drew’s character Lucy Whitmore. After managing to romance her, he wakes up the next morning to find she has forgotten who he is and has no prior knowledge of the previous day’s events.

Irish President Mary McAleese hailed the long association between Ireland and Hollywood while highlighting the latest round of financial boosts for filming in Ireland during a state visit to Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank on Monday night.

McAleese included her Hollywood visit as part of a larger California tour to boost Ireland's profile on the West Coast. The event at Warner Bros. was organized by the Irish Film Board and Enterprise Ireland. McAleese quipped that so popular have Hollywood films been in Ireland for so long that she suspected her children would prefer her to be president of Warner Bros. rather than president of Ireland.

Jonathan Loughran of the Irish Film Board's Los Angeles office noted that the presidential visit came at an important and exciting time for the Irish film industry.

"Our indigenous film sector is booming with 25 feature films funded this year alone by the Ifb and on the incoming production side,...

Declan Recks' "Eden" has been selected to screen as the opening night film of the first Irish Film Festival of Los Angeles, which kicks off at the Clarity Theater in Beverly Hills on Oct. 2.

"Eden," starring Eileen Walsh and Aidan Kelly, is the portrait of a married couple that Eugene O'Brien adapted from his play of the same name.

The closing night special event on Oct. 5 will include two rare Irish silent films accompanied by a live orchestra with an original contemporary score composed by Eimear Noone, Irish film composer and conductor of the Los Angeles Ballet.

The festival will also screen Tom Collins' "Kings," the first Irish-language film ever submitted in the best foreign-language category for an Academy Award.

Other titles in the lineup include "Grandpa...Speak to Me in Russian," directed by Louis Lentin; "Shalom Ireland," directed by Valerie Lapin; "Learning Gravity" (aka "The Undertaking"), directed...

LONDON -- The Irish Film Board said Monday it has appointed Jonathan Loughran to head up its start-up office in Los Angeles, plans for which were unveiled during this year's Festival de Cannes by Irish Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism John O'Donoghue. The office will be called the Irish Film Commission U.S. and will focus on attracting an increased range of U.S. feature film and television drama to shoot in Ireland. Loughran previously worked with Enterprise Ireland, the Irish government's trade and technology agency in Los Angeles. "Our new office in the heart of Hollywood will enable us to better compete for mobile U.S. film and television production, creating new business opportunities for the Irish film industry," IFB film commissioner Naoise Barry said in a statement. "Jonathan's central focus will be targeting U.S. producers and building on existing relationships that have already been established over the past ten years."...

A sign of the times. Mainstream media outlets wouldn't dare accurately describe all of the PG-13 humor in "Little Nicky", the new Adam Sandler comedy about hell and the devil's three sons let loose on Earth. And there's not much point in writing up and printing such a lengthy list when audiences are primed for this kind of comic bombshell.

With a large, hilariously eclectic cast and eruptions of gags that will have some audiences laughing their heads off, the wide New Line release, directed by Steven Brill, has all the makings of another big hit for Sandler. While critics will be mostly unimpressed, "Nicky" won't need a lot of help accumulating piles of boxoffice scratch and post-theatrical loot. Sandler and regular writing partner Tim Herlihy have collaborated with Brill ("Late Last Night") on a relatively cohesive screenplay that imagines hell as a subterranean world that departing souls reach via a tunnel ending in a flaming portal. The film opens with a peeping Tom (Jon Lovitz) joking that he's a big horny bird on a branch and then falling to his death. When he's dumped into hell, there's a big horny bird waiting for him.

With horns and a big throne, the devil (Harvey Keitel) has been ruling hell for 10,000 years and gathers his three sons to name an heir. But when he looks over scheming Adrian (Rhys Ifans), big brute Cassius (Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr.) and speech-impaired goofball Nicky (Sandler), Dad changes his mind and decides to stay on the throne. Adrian and Cassius have other plans, and their departure to rule on Earth causes the gate to hell to close.

With the inflow of souls stopped, Dad starts losing body parts, and it becomes Nicky's mission to track down his brothers -- who can possess the bodies of humans as well as communicate telepathically and exert mind control -- and somehow trap them in a magic flask. Shambling like Quasimodo, talking with a slur and wheezily laughing over private jokes, with his dark hair falling messily over his face and unfamiliar with basic human functions like eating and avoiding accidents, Nicky is sent tumbling back home several times by subway trains and other fatal encounters.

But with the help of a talking dog named Beefy (voiced by Robert Smigel), two enthusiastic disciples (Peter Dante, Jonathan Loughran) and sweet city girl Valerie (Patricia Arquette), whom he meets in the park, Nicky rises to the occasion, getting in touch with his inner evil as Adrian and Cassius cause major havoc in the city by possessing public figures and transforming society for the worse with little opposition.

Jammed wall to wall with jokes, many of which work and many of which are not original, "Nicky" frequently takes off on tangents for quick laughs and has several ongoing gags, such as the falling-apart of Keitel's character until only his arms and mouth remain. There's also a winning lineup of cameo players, including Dana Carvey as a possessed basketball coach in a freaky Harlem Globetrotters game, Quentin Tarantino as a blind preacher subject to increasingly harmful accidents, Rodney Dangerfield as Nicky's granddad Lucifer, Allen Covert as the lead's roommate on Earth and Reese Witherspoon as a surprise member of the family.

Other participants include Carl Weathers, George Wallace, Kevin Nealon as the guy who becomes known as "tit head" and, as themselves, Henry Winkler, Ozzy Osbourne and Regis Philbin. Sandler manages to pull off his character rather well, while veterans Keitel and Arquette are not exactly comic geniuses but keep pace handily. With tons of inventive special effects, a commercially potent soundtrack album and top-notch production values, "Nicky" ultimately wins one over in a flurry of belly laughs to go along with the occasional frowns at some of the more offensive material.

LITTLE NICKY

New Line Cinema

A Happy Madison production

in association with RSC Media

Director: Steven Brill

Screenwriters: Tim Herlihy, Adam Sandler, Steven Brill

Producers: Robert Simonds, Jack Giarraputo

Executive producers: Robert Engelman, Adam Sandler, Michael De Luca, Brian Witten

Director of photography: Theo Van De Sande

Production designer: Perry Andelin Blake

Editor: Jeff Gourson

Costume designer: Ellen Lutter

Visual effects supervisor: John Sullivan

Music: Teddy Castellucci

Casting: Roger Mussenden

Color/stereo

Cast:

Nicky: Adam Sandler

Valerie: Patricia Arquette

Dad: Harvey Keitel

Adrian: Rhys Ifans

Cassius: Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr.

Lucifer: Rodney Dangerfield

Todd: Allen Covert

Running time - 90 minutes

MPAA rating: PG-13...