I'll throw down some answers to the obvious questions here.
Why would you ever waste your time on this?
I had the idea a few months ago to take a writer/director/actor and look at their movies critically one at a time. A few things that were important are that they...
A: Were popular enough and with a big enough collection of movies that it would be able to last a while.
B: Had made both great movies and terrible flops that we could compare to one another. Preferably someone who went from popular to unpopular or the other way around.
C: Made movies that were fun enough to talk about that we could make jokes about them without feeling bad. (Probably not serious dramas.
In the end, the idea of having serious critical discussions of Adam Sandler movies where we break down story structure and talk about what works and what doesn't was kind of hilarious to me.
*How long are you planning on doing the show?
I'd say at least 40 of his movies are worth talking about for a full hour. We're also planning on doing episodes on movies he's produced, so this could potentially last an entire year.
How do you feel about his recent movies? Do they all suck? What do you think of the Sandler circlejerk?
We try and avoid letting the popular opinion on a movie inform how we feel about it. I personally felt like The Waterboy wasn't that great of a movie, despite it being pretty popular with people who grew up watching it. We try and be neutral on a movie before seeing it, whether it came out in the Sandler heyday or it came out this year.
I think the circlejerk is fair. He's lost some of his passion for making great movies and has really just started to cash in a paycheck and that kind of sucks, but I feel like he has some genuinely great looking movies coming out in the next few years. Pixels is directed by Chris Columbus and looks like it could be really fun!
What's your favorite Adam Sandler movie?
Comedy has to be Wedding Singer. I grew up watching that movie and it's etched into my brain. It's got some great heart and the comedy doesn't suck. The one I watch the most is Punch Drunk Love. Paul Thomas Anderson is an amazing filmmaker and Sandler just went along for the ride. I think Eric would say The Waterboy, even if he realizes it isn't the best one. He's a sucker for football movies and this was the one he watched the most growing up.
What do you hope to get out of this by the end?
We want to find some greater truth in a place no one expects to find it. If we can break down a movie like Grown Ups or The Cobbler and get something meaningful out of it, I think we will have accomplished our goal.