last night I finally watched punch drunk love after it's been sitting on my to-watch list forever. and wow did this movie give me anxiety. the entire first act of the movie seems like is was really made to make you feel uncomfortable, and it almost definitely didn't help that I also smoked before watching.

anyway, this got me looking up threads about the movie on reddit because I was curious if anyone felt the same way I did, and I saw a really interesting take about the movie. Someone was mentioning how Paul Thomas Anderson (the director) wanted to put Adam Sandler in a movie where he was playing the same character he usually played during his earlier movies, but instead have his actions occur in a more realistic setting, where he wouldn't be as accepted. So basically "what would happen if you threw Happy Gilmore into real life" or something along those lines:

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/3l8c3s/comment/cv48orx/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

This could be total bullshit, but I did see another comment saying somewhere the Paul Thomas Anderson did love watching Sandler movies, so maybe there's some truth to it?

Regardless, did anyone else here grow up on Sandler's comedies/humor? He got his start on SNL, and I remember watching his best-of skits religiously because I used to own the best-of Adam Sandler SNL on DVD (which is one of the few DVDs I ever had), and naturally I loved all his feature films during the first act of his career. Big Daddy is still one of my favs today.

He's not hitting as much as he used to, but I don't think all his recent movies are necessarily bad films, they're just simple and not necessarily what I prefer to watch these days.

I did not have the best of DVD, but The Waterboy was probably my 3rd DVD purchase (or at least in the first 10). Yeah, I liked those early movies and grew up with him on SNL.

I can say I do remember liking Punch Drunk Love, even if I haven't seen it in a while, and back to discs, there's going to be a UHD in the next Paramount Classics boxed set, so I'm looking forward to that early next year.

I'm guessing I should revisit his early movies for the lead up, I just need to locate a copy of Going Overboard.

Have you ever seen Shakes the Clown, it's a Bobcat Goldthwait movie, but it's an early role for the Sandman

I used to love Little Nicky & The Waterboy, but I watched Uncut Gems recently and boy was that a change of pace. Really, really good, though.

loved waterboy too. i haven't seen Shakes the clown, but that is an insane-looking cast so now i'm interestedz maybe i'll get it up on my plex server if i can't find it streaming anywhere

uncut gems is one i feel like people love to death, but i thought it was just okay. i feel like i might need to re-watch it again because i never heard of its praises until after i saw it.

I'm a sucker for those sustained anxiety dream movies anyway. I think it helped that it's the first sort of serious Adam Sandler role I'd seen, so there was a lot of novelty there.

i was getting tattooed the other day and was telling my artist that punch drunk love made me so uncomfortable, and he said if i'm into anxiety-inducing movies, Beau is Afraid is a good one, so I'll pass that suggestion onto you lol.

I think the only Adam Sandler movie I recall watching more than once was Happy Gilmore.

If you're looking for more movies with Adam Sandler in it, I recommend Reign Over Me from 2007.