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Santa Clarita Diet - Season 2
Santa Clarita Diet - Season 2
2018 | Comedy, Horror
Funny, cast is excellent, zombie comedy is awesome (0 more)
CANCELLED!!!?? (0 more)
Love this show
Contains spoilers, click to show
This show was so good and Netflix made an awful mistake by canceling it after 3 seasons. Timothy Olyphant and Drew Barrymore had amazing chemistry and I really wanted to see what zombie Joel would be like. First thing I said when season 3 ended was damn cant wait for the next season. Then Netflix was like Haha you will never know. If it wasnt for Stranger Things and Supernatural I wouldve cancelled.
  
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Amy Curtis (49 KP) rated Blended (2014) in Movies

Jan 30, 2019 (Updated Jan 30, 2019)  
Blended (2014)
Blended (2014)
2014 | Comedy
8
6.4 (8 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Feel good comedy
This is one of those film's that you can put on for a bit of easy watching. I've always been a fan of Adam Sandler anyway but it is undeniable that he is best when working with Drew Barrymore. I was giggling throughout this film and whilst Sandler is critiqued for working on the same type of film's, I don't think that's a bad thing. Stick to what you know right? I did think that the character Ginger was going to irritate me but by the end of the film she grew on me. Overall, a good clean cut film.
  
Santa Clarita Diet  - Season 1
Santa Clarita Diet - Season 1
2017 | Comedy
Timothy Olyphant (0 more)
A comedy with bite
My wife watched this when it first came out and I didn't bother. Kinda looked like a lame rom com. That was until I caught the end of a season 3 episode she was watching and laughed my arse off. So I went and watched season 1 in 2 days - its soooooo good. IRS the story of a nice suburban family Drew Barrymore & Timothy Olyphant with their teenage daughter. They are real estate agents and have a good if simple life. This all changes when Barrymore, after feeling a bit unwell, vomits (A Lot) during a house viewing. So much so she dies however then comes back to life - except shes now undead and can only eat human flesh. The star of the show is Olyphant. He has never really been a comedic actor but he is hilarious as Joel coming to terms with his wife's new condition and (trying) to help her find food is brilliant. Also there is a lot of really good gore. Like REALLY good and is often unexpected which adds to the comedy. At 30 mins an episode this is perfect for binge watching and will leave you hungry for more!!
  
Blended (2014)
Blended (2014)
2014 | Comedy
6
6.4 (8 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Sandler and Barrymore still have wonderful chemistry. (1 more)
Blended makes a big recovery by showing a lot of heart.
The first half-hour of the film is almost unbearably bad. (2 more)
The African setting is a lot of fun, but also feels somewhat racist.
It has some pretty good laughs but it may be too cheesy for some.
Blended requires some patience to get through its torturous start but it makes a respectable comeback as Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore prove that they’re still a delightful comedic duo.
Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore once again reunite for the romantic comedy Blended. Previously the pair starred together in The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates, and while the two of them have sincerely compelling chemistry, Blended is unfortunately their worst pairing to-date. The premise of the film revolves around the idea of two single parents falling in love and blending each of their families together as one, à la The Brady Bunch. It’s interesting then that the film itself seems to parallel a predictable process of blending as a family. At first, it’s an unwelcome and uncomfortable experience, but as time goes by it becomes more agreeable, and eventually it becomes acceptable and even enjoyable. The same can be said of Blended, which suffers from a dreadful beginning, but gradually gets better, and by the end becomes a pretty good family-friendly film overall.

Blended face-plants in spectacular fashion right out of the gate as we first meet Jim (Sandler) and Lauren (Barrymore) on a disastrous blind date at Hooters that’s incredibly uncomfortable to watch. Sandler’s character Jim initially comes off appearing remarkably repulsive and immature, while Barrymore’s Lauren is uptight and unlikeable. Things become even more unbearable when the two of them run into each other soon later at a grocery store, in a lifeless scene that is outrageously awkward. There’s also a glaring absence of music throughout the beginning of the movie, which only seems to emphasize the bad dialogue and unpleasant situations. The first half hour of the film is dull, dry, and devoid of any laughs. However, if you can endure Blended’s horrendous beginning, you’ll find that it makes up for its missteps by being a fun movie with a lot of heart.

The film finally finds its footing when Jim and Lauren unintentionally find themselves sharing a vacation in Africa. Since both of them struggle to understand and connect with their children, they each jump on an opportunity to reward their families with a trip to Africa, while being entirely unaware that the other is doing the same thing. As a result, Jim and Lauren and their respective children are all forced together, as their trip entails sharing a hotel room at the extravagant Sun City Resort in South Africa, which is hosting a special weekend event for blended families. While this involuntary blending is initially met with great opposition, the two families gradually learn to put aside their differences and begin to care for each other. Furthermore, it turns out that while Lauren and Jim are each somewhat oblivious with raising their own kids, they’re perfectly suited to teach each other’s kids. As a dainty, goody-two-shoes mom, Lauren has difficulty controlling her two wild young boys, but she knows how to care for Jim’s daughters with a much-needed womanly touch. Equally convenient is how sports-obsessed Jim is able to instill discipline and respect in Lauren’s reckless children. Sure, it’s a bit cheesy and predictable, but it works, and does so without feeling completely contrived.

The African setting in Blended is exciting and beautifully represented, although its depiction does seem mildly racist. It just feels a little wrong to have an African resort where rich white people can go on vacation and be catered to by Africans that are portrayed as being relatively primitive. Even Sun City Resort feels less like a resort and more like an amusement park, albeit one that I’d love to visit. It serves as an appealing setting and looks like a whole lot of fun. Perhaps it’s unsurprising then that Adam Sandler recently confessed that he chooses his movies based on where he wants to go on vacation. It may be something of a devious strategy, but he’s managed to make himself a very successful career in doing it. He’s a guy who knows how to have fun, and I think that’s where Blended really shines. Even though it gets started off on the wrong foot, it’s a film that ends up offering a fair amount of laughs, while being a fun movie-going experience.

The performances in Blended are a bit typical, but they’re certainly not bad. Adam Sandler plays his usual good-intentioned-but-misunderstood man-child self. Meanwhile, Drew Barrymore adds a lot of fun to her role as the sweet, geeky mom who’s trying hard to be cool. Terry Crews represents the head of the singing entertainment at the resort who repeatedly appears to interrupt in song. He brings in a good dose of humor and had me really cracking up in one scene. Kevin Nealon seems to be channeling his character from Happy Gilmore in this movie, and is part of another blended couple vacationing in Africa. His blonde trophy girlfriend played by Jessica Lowe is a real stand-out. She does a remarkable job creating laughs as a stereotypical bimbo. Her hot and heavy relationship with Nealon is truly comical, even if slightly sickening. As for the children, their performances are mostly adequate, with Jim’s daughters being the best of the bunch. Disney star Bella Thorne is wonderful as Hilary, who like all of Jim’s children, has unconsciously been raised like a boy, even to the extent of being nicknamed Larry. Additionally, the young Emma Fuhrmann, who plays Jim’s middle daughter, can be surprisingly effective at evoking genuine heart-felt emotion into her scenes. Of course, this wouldn’t be an Adam Sandler without some cameos from his buddies, although the ones in Blended fail to be very funny at all.

All in all, Blended requires some patience to get through its torturous start, and it gets pretty heavy on the cheesiness later in the film, but it makes a respectable comeback overall. It even manages to touch on aspects of the awful beginning and effectively incorporate them into the grand scheme of things later on. In the end, everything ends up blending together nicely to create a pretty decent comedy, while Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore prove that they’re still a delightful comedic duo.

(This review was originally posted at 5mmg.com on 6.16.14.)