Growing up I used to watch Sandler as Opera Man on Saturday Night Live. I was really taken back by the Hanukkah song. Growing up as a Jewish child there weren’t really any Hanukah songs. So now Adam Sandler comes up with a song that is not only hilarious but it is brilliant. I respect him and admire him. My dream was always to have a production company and work with friends on my films, and that is what Adam does.

As with the previous “Twilight” films, the plotting is lightweight, the execution is melodramatic and the special effects are subpar. All these flaws are out of character for director Bill Condon (“Dreamgirls,” “Gods and Monsters”), but even great filmmakers can stumble when saddled with weak material.  It doesn’t help that Stewart’s reading of Bella hasn’t improved over the years. The supposedly beguiling heroine never comes across as more than a sulky teen who has difficulties expressing emotion. 

“The Master” was at the center of the Academy Awards race, having received a best actor nomination for its star, Joaquin Phoenix, and supporting actor nods for co-stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. While the performances are unquestionably fine, it’s hard to get behind the movie as a whole because of its wandering plot and unlikable characters. 

“Having 10 Best Picture nominees will allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize," AMPS President Sid Ganis said at a press conference.  While the expansion of the Best Picture category at the Oscars allows for more movies to receive the recognition they deserve, it does not change the fact that the voters lean towards awarding similar themes and performances every year.  They love dramas, lengthy historical epics, and tales of patriotism, controversy, and triumph over adversity.

While strong female protagonists have been all but invisible in conventional war genre films (Jarhead, Hurt Locker, Black Hawk Down, Restrepo), a new sub-genre has cropped up that puts women at the center of military defense politics. From Alias and Salt to Homeland and the Oscar-nominated Zero Dark Thirty, we have witnessed the emergence of a contemporary screen obsession with watching ass-kicking female CIA agents hunting the world’s most elusive political terrorists. 

Grohl has assembled an assortment of diverse music legends for interviews throughout the movie, including Stevie Nicks, Trent Reznor, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Rick Springfield and Barry Manilow.  All these artists and more, including Fleetwood Mac, have recorded at the now defunct Sound City Studios, a run down, hole-in-the-wall recording studio in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles that contained a unique soundboard, the Neve console, in the age before digital recordings.  

This is one case where the hype is deserved because the movie, directed by its star, Ben Affleck, is a remarkable real-life drama. Set during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, the picture focuses on six American diplomats who escape a siege of the U.S. embassy in Iran only to find themselves trapped in the hostile country. Realizing the refugees are in danger, U.S. officials authorize an improbable rescue helmed by CIA specialist Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck).

President’s Day, or February 18^th as the good people residing in Bhutan may call it, is a second-tier holiday. Most get the day off, a few buy a mattress and everyone else is looking ways to kill the time on a Winter day. No parades, no festival of lights, or even sparklers. What better way to honor the men (sorry ladies) that have served as the lone executive to the United States and spruce up the holiday than watching a movie with a President in the starring role?

Denzel Washington earned his sixth Oscar nomination for “Flight,” a film in which he delivers a brilliant portrayal of a booze-and-drug-addled pilot who crash lands a disabled airplane. The great thing about Washington is his characters always have enough depth to move beyond movie archetypes, and his drunken pilot – Whip Whitaker – is no exception.  Ultimately, “Flight” isn’t about an aircraft crash. It’s about Whip’s demons, and the movie offers a surprisingly realistic view of addiction. 

Al Pacino plays a just released “gangster” who has all the exaggerated manners of Pacino, circa someone impersonating Pacino in Scent of Woman with a dash of Al Pacino from Heat. Christopher Walken plays Christopher Walken circa numerous Saturday Night Live appearances and one particular Fat Boy Slim video. For popcorn entertainment purposes this not a bad thing. Walken could read bird bath installation instructions on the big screen for two hours and elicit more than a few chuckles. The movie is at its best with Arkin serving as an emotional fulcrum and delivering dry one-liners to extinguish Pacino’s over-acting.