I'll do the movie reviews first.

50 FIRST DATES: Adam Sandler has, in a light sense of the word, matured in his films and with this entry has become a sort of American romantic movie hero. This is the type of film that critics will give the obligatory 2 1/2-3 star rating, citing it's better than the days of BILLY MADISON and HAPPY GILMORE. But man, did I love the looniness of those movies, because anything went into those pictures. The ridiculous, much more than even my beloved AIRPLANE! and NAKED GUN movies, was told in such a straightforward manner that you wondered if you actually saw what you just saw--making it all the funnier. Then THE WEDDING SINGER came along, showing a new "straighter" Sandler and he has sort of transformed himself, unknowingly or purposely, into the comic foil, a role that Ben Stiller has been playing to perfection for that past several years. ANGER MANAGEMENT continued his newfound role, as he played the foil to Jack Nicholson. In this, Sandler plays the straight man to Drew Barrymore, who puts in her best performance ever as a woman who develops 24-hour amnesia, a funny comic device for Sandler to attempt to make her become interested in him every day, but a devastating dramatic device because you can tell how intelligent and fun Barrymore's character is. It's that perfect date movie, a sweetness resounding throughout the film where everyone leaves feeling good. For me, I'm a bit jaded at this type of picture. The looniness has been muted for the most part, Rob Schneider plays the all-out comical character in an important but limited role, and therefore I didn't find myself doubled over with laughter too often, which for me is the sign of a good comedy. I can't say much too bad about this, other than I wish some of that crazy Sandler could come back occasionally.

WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT: I may have seen an episode or two in syndication of EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, and I didn't see much of Ray Romano's stand-up act before he hit it big, so this is a fairly fresh introduction into his comedy, which much like the aforementioned 50 FIRST DATES, doesn't have much to laugh at. The movie is about Gene Hackman, a man who has just served two terms as one of the most popular presidents in history (since there are references to Clinton, we can only assume the movie takes place in the year 2008 or later) coming to small-town Mooseport to spend his post-Presidential years earning money writing books and making speeches, but is asked to run for mayor. You know what the trailer tells you: Conflict ensues when Hackman asks Romano's girlfriend, Maura Tierney, out on a date not knowing she is his girlfriend. Much of the film is devoted to the always-neglected-girlfriend-in-movies Maura Tierney (she played this role in LIAR, LIAR and FORCES OF NATURE) and her disgust at Romano's inability to commit and the media circus surrounding the "love triangle." I don't remember Romano making very many jokes before this line is spouted to Hackman by his advisors: Well, he's got that being-funny thing going for him...you don't do well with funny. The line seems manufactured, as if the mere appearance of Romano means his character is inherently funny--it is a line written knowing that most people know who Ray Romano is. Within the text of the movie though, this line didn't make any sense. The movie is quite muddled, and can't build much comic steam, and I believe they missed out on several opportunities to satirize politics to focus on the love story. They also throw in all these characters, Fred Savage, Marcia Gay Harden, Christine Baranski, and Rip Torn who are unable to lend support to the film's tunnel vision. What a surprise, directed by Donald Petrie, who has the following list of films on his resume: HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS (was on my worst list of 2003), MISS CONGENIALITY, MY FAVORITE MARTIAN, THE ASSOCIATE (that awful gender-switching Whoopi Goldberg movie), RICHIE RICH, THE FAVOR, GRUMPY OLD MEN, and OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS. He also did MYSTIC PIZZA, which was his directorial debut and I can say has to be his most critically-acclaimed film. Hackman is fun to watch, and Romano occasionally has a moment or two, but I did not like this film.