Adam Sandler Ruins French Short Film, Wrecks New York

A few things that are getting tiresome: ’80s nostalgia, Adam Sandler comedies, and movies where New York is under attack. So when the trailerfor the new movie Pixels went online lastweek, the reactiononline was so-so. The premise?A time capsule was sent into space in 1982 fullof arcade games. Aliens misinterpreted itas a message of war. So now they’re attacking us with Pac Man, Donkey Kong, and Space Invaders.

But it turns outPixels is adapted from a short film by French filmmaker Patrick Jean, who works at the Parisian visual effects studio One More. Pixels was his first solo project and it gained a million views in the first 24 hours after it went online. While the Hollywood version feels gimmicky, theshort film is mysterious. The pixels simply emerge from a broken old TV set by the side of the road. There’s no dialogue, and no happy ending. It’s kind of mesmerizing.

After the success of Pixels, Jean was flooded with offers from Hollywood to adapt it into a feature. More recently, he’s been working on other shorts. His latest is Motorville, where Los Angeles is embodied by an oil-starved Google Maps monster. For a Frenchmanwho is so keen on American iconography, it’sa little odd that he makesone big mistake –he places New York Cityoff the coast of Virginia. Butat least this time themonster doesn’t destroy it.