I disagree by @stiles_mcfly #thisishowiwin
By Kevin Dranoff
There is a movie that came out called, Uncut Gems, that is extraordinary in a number of ways. I am a “Mark” for Chris Jericho. If you don’t know who he is, he is a wrestler from WWE and made me jump out of my chair the last couple of years with Kevin Owens and their anxiety inducing hijinks.
The term “Mark” means you are a fan who idolizes a particular wrestler. Even further, a Mark goes back to the Carnival days where a customer is marked with chalk to show that he has money and should be suckered into playing the games. To take this concept into a Hollywood movie… I am a Mark for Adam Sandler. He is one of my favorite actors and I am obsessed with most of his work. I love when he tries to crossover into a dramatic role since the two genres I like most in movies are comedy and drama. I am over the moon with his role as Howard Ratner, a neurotic Jewish jeweler who is a masochist. A masochist is a term often used in psychology that describes a person who has learned to equate love with punishment. Not one review of Uncut Gems does somebody really say that.
The last time I’ve seen this kind of punishment was when Heath Ledger played the Joker. I just finished watching Joker and because I am not a fan of Joaquin Phoenix it doesn’t hold my excitement for a sequel. I don’t like Star Wars and I’m not over the moon for another Ghostbusters. But if Adam Sandler is done with movies than I am just so upset with Hollywood. I don’t want more Marvel movies and sci fi movies. I want more Jason Bateman and Adam Sandler. I want Ozark and Sandy Wexler to win.
I am tired of the over-hyped delusional stuff. I want something that is going to warm my heart and make me laugh while I eat cheesecake. I want more Rah Digga and Will Smith and less Tom Cruise and Robert De Niro. I want more Bernie Sanders and less Donald Trump. I want action coupled with relaxation. I’m done with the heroin overdoses in New Jersey. I want more basketball and less football. I want more kindness and less brutality.
Chris D’ Elia says in his stand up comedy on Netflix “You’re not the man on fire!”… I find that sometimes I’m the man on fire. So when we want to lose ourselves in a movie we choose our avatar that we can link in with and hide behind. For a couple of hours I’d like to get lost in a movie and Uncut Gems does something so unique to me. This is how I win in New Jersey.
I went to college in Massachusetts and was around the Celtics and Patriots, but Adam Sandler brings me back to my dipset Cam’ron fugees New York Knicks’ Madison Square Garden temple where I can fight on my own soil. This is who I am. This is how I win. I am a neurotic Jewish gambler from Livingston, New Jersey and I’ve been chased, beaten up, chewed up and spit out only to rely on my resilience and win again. You can shoot me down and tell me I’m a loser. I say it myself all the time. But what I see is a new world order takeover.
Sandman, please don’t give up on the dramedy and keep fighting the good fight. You’ve made me laugh for so many years. Now I really want the laughing and crying. I want you to keep beating the shit out of me until I’m dead and buried.
Julia Fox, I was following you on instagram because of Cole Schnieder, and it was so good to see you win. Kevin Garnett is done with basketball but I hope you keep acting and tearing the roof off you big dawg. Succession’s Eric Bogosian brings it on with the goons.
Martin Scorsese knows where to put his money in producing. The lighting in the movie and the light touch of Tarantino musk to top it off is just the dessert to leave me sleeping like a baby. Idina Menzel strikes, as always, with the punch a self deprecation that Larry David would want. The A24 is just oozing with readiness to takeover Hollywood. This is exactly what I need for 2020.