My students who are 12 years old all love Adam Sandler and shared their favorite movies

Listen, I love Adam Sandler. You love Adam Sandler. We All I love Adam Sandler!

So why was I so shocked to discover that my students, who are about 12 years old, also love Sandler? It all happened because several of them interrupted my lesson to ask if I knew he had been to their local park recently.

Now I don’t know how accurate this observation is (maybe if he was at my school he could look for a place for one of his upcoming movies). But, needless to say, I was stunned that they even knew who Sandler was, let alone “loved” him. When I asked them which of his movies they loved, these were the ones they told me.

(Photo Source: Netflix)

Lion

When Sandler Made a $250 Million Deal with Netflix back in 2014I never imagined that ten years later this number would increase so much.

I also never imagined that one of the films produced by Netflix would be an animated film in 2023. Lion.

Lionstarring Philip Sledge from CinemaBlend surprised at how much he liked itis the story of a class pet who suddenly discovers that his life may be over sooner rather than later. He decides to escape from his prison, only to find out that he might be better off back where he started.

Several of my students have told me that this was their introduction to Adam Sandler and that they first loved the story and then wondered whose voice was the lizard’s. It also makes sense that my high school students would enjoy it this movie is for the whole familybecause it’s a stupid idea if you have the right amount of sweets.

Plus, the enemy is a grumpy old substitute teacher, so I assume this applies to some of my students, since they’ve definitely been dealing with them while I’ve been gone.

(Photo source: Sony)

Hotel Transylvania

Okay, so Lion was a bit surprising to me since some of my students were familiar with Sandler, but it was completely understandable that most of them learned about Mr. Opera himself through his animated series, Hotel Transylvania.

That’s because Hotel Transyvania movies (three of them voiced by Sandler) is a hugely popular series with four films featuring famous Hollywood monsters in hilarious situations. What more could you want?

All the movies are a little different, but the basic premise is that Dracula owns a hotel for monsters, and that world is turned upside down when his secluded daughter falls in love with a human. Misfortunes ensue. I can’t blame my students for enjoying this series, because I do too!

(Photo credit: Sony Pictures Releasing)

Pixels

In this 2015 Chris Columbus film, Sandler and others battle aliens that have taken forms from old video games like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, etc. In the scene after the storyit’s implied that Josh Gad’s character has kids with Q*Bert. That’s… interesting.

But what is also surprising to me is that 1) my students even saw Pixelsand 2) some of them consider it their favorite Adam Sandler movie. We were especially kind to the movie in our reviewbut many critics he ruined the movie. Still, some of my students really love it, so that definitely has its benefits.

(Photo Source: Netflix)

Hubie Halloween

In this modern classic Halloween story, the actor plays someone many people would consider a loser (something Sandler starred in his best and worst movies quite well over his long career). He loves his town, but most people don’t reciprocate his feelings. In fact, they openly mock him, which is why they don’t believe him when he thinks a werewolf is on the loose. But by the end of this silly horror comedy, things work out.

I’ll be honest with you, not all of them Hubie Halloween works, but once it does, This Really does. In fact, the only student who chose this movie as her favorite Adam Sandler movie said she watches it every year for Halloween. She finds it “scary, but not too scary,” which I think is the hallmark of any good horror comedy.

(Photo Source: Universal Pictures)

Happy Gilmore

If you’re of a certain age, you’ve probably seen this 1996 classic. In it, Sandler plays a hockey player who also has a knack for hitting golf balls like a pro. This of course annoys the cocky “real” golfers who don’t like him invading their sport with his brash and unorthodox ways. The film also stars Carl Weathers. Rest in peace, Derick “Chubbs” Peterson.

If it surprised me that my students loved Sandler, it surprised me even more that several of them actually adored him. Happy Gilmoreconsidering that it was way before their time. When I asked them how they saw it, they had similar answers: Their fathers I liked this movie.

And you know what? That’s fine by me. As a father, I can definitely see myself showing my kids Happy Gilmore one day. But only when they are older.

(Photo credit: Sony Pictures Releasing)

Adults

I’m not the first person to think this way, but Adults looks like the kind of movie that’s made by a star who can do whatever she wants and decides she just wants to make a movie with her friends.

How else can you describe this 2010 film, whose thin plot involves the death of a coach and all the childhood friends getting together to tell jokes for a little over an hour and a half?

Adults (which got a sequel in 2013) was one of my student’s favorite Sandler movies, and what he liked most about it wasn’t even the star, but rather Kevin James (not even Chris Rock!), whom he found incredibly funny (he also really likes The boom is coming). So I think this student really likes Sandler just by association, which is cool, I guess.

(Photo credit: Sony Pictures Releasing)

Crash

Crash is an exceptional film, even by Adam Sandler standards. It’s the story of a workaholic who goes to Bed Bath & Beyond and buys a magic remote that he can use to alter reality. Think of it as one of Thanos’ infinity stones, but much more down-to-earth. With this power, he fast-forwards through the things he doesn’t like, only to realize that life – even if it sucks – is still worth living.

Many students stated that Crash was their favorite choice and so on Hotel Translyvaniait’s not hard to see why. The magical element makes it an interesting film, but it also has a nice message about not wanting to rush life and not wanting to rush things. It’s a good film.

(Photo credit: Sony Pictures Releasing)

Big Daddy

Finally, my favorite Sandler movie (this is not Diamonds in the rough)Is Big Daddywhich is the story of a boy whose girlfriend thinks he’s not mature enough, so he adopts a child to prove her wrong, but ends up becoming even more mature.

I’ll be honest with you – Big Daddy may not work as well today as it did in the late 90s (a bit like Hall tiles early 2000s) because it seems a little misogynistic these days. But I still have a certain nostalgic love for the movie.

So it was strange to me that one of my students liked it too, even though he couldn’t put into words what he liked about it, other than the fact that he thought it was funny. And I agree!

Big Daddydespite all its flaws, it’s still a very entertaining film that I think could be a good choice for a list of favorite Sandler films.

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