“Be Kind Rewind”
New Line
Zippy, colorful and genuinely funny-looking, this trailer for the new film from the director of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” looks to be the next big indie comedy hit. A scene with Jack Black (“Shallow Hal”) dressed in a flowery, old woman’s dress, hitting co-star Mos Def (“16 Blocks”) over the head with his purse would seem like typical banal slapstick if it weren’t for the fact it was a spoof of the sappy Oscar-winner “Driving Miss Daisy.” Finally, just what we need: a well-earned punch in the arm to the all the heartless and overindulgent prestige films Hollywood’s given us.
BRANDON CONRADIS
“You Don’t mess with Zohan”
Columbia
The trailer for Judd Apatow’s “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” assures comedy fans they’re in for yet another forced, meekly amusing picture starring a funnyman fallen from grace, played by Adam Sandler in this case. In the trailer alone, Zohan (Sandler) an ex-Mossad agent who’s fled to New York to style hair and fornicate with his clients, epitomizes a handful of disparaging stereotypes of Middle Eastern immigrants while somehow managing to remain entirely unfunny. Even that which is meant to be edgy and off-color seems recycled. Apatow’s brand of humor apparently doesn’t translate when forced through the grind of a terrible accent and an even worse haircut.
Noah Dean Stahl
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