Review: The Blind Side (7/10) - 2009: A True Story About Compassion, Values And A Little Bit Of American Football

There seems to be an unusual running trend for me writing praise for Sandra Bullock in recent times. She is someone who I openly criticised as a wooden, talentless individual (but nowhere NEAR as bad as Julia Roberts obviously). Her movie career spawned (in my opinion) abysmal films such as Miss Congeniality, Two Weeks Notice, and a list of films I don't think I've ever heard of according to IMDB (do they even exist?!).

Sandra Bullock however, is also someone who gracefully turned up at the Golden Raspberry Awards to pick up the worst actress prize for "All About Steve" (A film she co-produced), and as a goodwill gesture, arrived with a trailer filled with DVDs of the film to give to the audience.

"Something tells me you all didn't watch the film because I wouldn't be here if you really, really watched it and understood what I was trying to say," she said. As she handed out the DVD's to the cheering crowd, she went on to say; "I will show up next year if you promise to watch the movie and really consider if it was truly the worst performance. If you're willing to watch, I'll come back next year and give back the Razzie." (Click here to read more).

This was just one day before she was expected to win an Oscar for The Blind Side...which she did, and up against stiff competition in Carey Mulligan's performance in "An Education", not to mention the everlasting Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia; the "Queen" Helen Mirren in The Last Station; and the undiscovered Gabourey Sidibe in Precious. (Click here for more information on the Oscar winners).

"The Blind Side" depicts the true story of Michael "Big Mike" Oher (Quinton Aaron), a quiet, homeless teenage African-American youngster who hails from a broken home in a rough neighbourhood. Michael does not know who his father is and his mother is a drug addict of whom the State has previously taken custody of her other children. Michael has had little formal education and very few skills or motivation to help him learn, due to the societal dangers area of his upbringing.

Leigh Anne (Sandra Bullock) and Sean Tuohy (Tim McGraw), a well-to-do white family take him in as part of their family due to his unfortunate circumstances, with Michael's presence in the family's lives leading them to some insightful self-discoveries of their own. Living in his new environment, Michael faces a completely different set of challenges to overcome, both academically and physically, accidentally getting involved with American Football due to his natural, raw talent. Working hard to protect his family and with the help of his coaches and new environment, an All-American legend was born.

Click below watch the film's official trailer:



For those of you out there who think that this will be a sports film would be wrong as, in my opinion, it lacks the gritty action that would pick up the tempo of the film. I found myself becoming increasingly interested and excited as soon as there was a sports scene (but then again, I do enjoy sports). This film is more about the emotional attachment between Michael and Leigh Anne, and how they in turn, helped each other.

Once again, as with "The Proposal", I find myself complimenting Bullock's talented performance as both a tough business woman, and emotional mother figure. Quinton Aaron didn't particularly have many lines to learn for this film and his expression remained the same throughout the film, however it was very convincing in the sense that Michael was a quiet individual who did what he was told, and this came across very well. Tim McGraw's performance as the doting husband was very believable and SJ Tuohy (Jae Head), the younger son of Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, was a fairly convincing performance from this youngster. Collins Tuohy (Lily Collins), SJ's older sister, also put on a very good performance. One criticism can be made of Adriane Lenox, who played Michael's drug-addicted mother, as she did not act or give the impression that she was constantly under the influence. This can also be attributed to a fairly clean interior house set for a "junkie," and a lack of make-up.

Nevertheless, I have rated this heartwarming 129 minute-long film 7/10 and it is one that I definitely recommend that you go and watch. I believe that it required some more action, however the remaining aspects of the film were exceptional. A special mention needs to be made to the casting director (Ronna Kress), who picked a very similar cast aesthetically to the original individuals.

Review: Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past (7/10) - 2009: Presently Funny

Forgive me for not posting a review in a while, but I have been extremely busy with summer in Cyprus and the limited time I have left this year to enjoy the finer things in life such as sun, sea, friends, family and Greek food. Anyway, when I was offered the chance to watch Matthew McConaughey in another "chick-flick" I almost threw up a little and wanted to almost go back on my plans to go to the cinema.


The thought of sitting through 100 minutes of his usual drivel disgusted me, however I always looked at Jennifer Garner as a pleasing bit of eye-candy. (Please excuse the male-ness in my tone, but it's true, she's pretty). In all, I had the choice to sit through this movie or watch GI Joe, and after hearing poor reviews about that movie, and good ones about this one (mainly from the beautiful Natalia), (not to mention that GI Joe had started already), I accepted my fate, took a big breath and walked into the cinema.

Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past was originally set up at Walt Disney Pictures with Ben Affleck selected to play the lead character. However, budgetary issues, and the failure of Gigli (2003) forced the studio to cancel filming one month prior to shooting (IMDB).

The movie is based on Charles Dickens' age-old fairy tale "A Christmas Carol" about Scrooge at Christmas who is visited by three ghosts (Past, Present and Future). The twist in the story follows Connor Mead (McConaughey) who is infact a modern day Hugh Heffner, with beautiful women on the end of his fingertips (with direct connotations to Scrooge and his money). McConaughey plays the role of a famous photographer who has the ability to use and disgard women as he pleases (an ability every man forced to watch this movie at the cinema will eventually learn to love and even inadvertently learn from).

His brother Paul Conner (played by Breckin Meyer) is about to get married and as taught by his late uncle (Michael Douglas) about weddings and love being superficial and nonexistent entities of life, McConaughey seeks out to "save" his brother from making the mistake of his life. The mistake being that being married, he would succumb to a life of manogamy, a concept of which McConaughey finds both disturbing and impossible to comprehend. He would then revisit his past, present and future to learn the errors of his ways and discover why he ended up the way he did, with the ultimate chance to change as a person for the better.

The following is the film's official trailer:


Now I'm not going to lie... I was virtually dragged kicking and screaming into the cinema to watch this film and I will hold my hand up and say that I actually enjoyed it. My views on McConaughey have dramatically changed and his role as suave ladies-man was a cross between Ryan Reynolds' wit and charm, with Owen Wilson's dry, relaxed style of talking. I found myself laughing at the pickup routines, come-backs and general banter that danced to and fro between Garner and McConaughey. Douglas' role made me (as well as the audience) laugh in almost every scene and played the role of the ultimate ladies-man guru extremely well.

I believe that Garner's acting was slightly wooden and quite similar to her other movies, however this did not deter the movie in the slightest and why I have awarded it an impressive 7/10. I believe the movie would have been a flop if Ben Affleck had taken the reigns as he does not fill the role as well as McConaughey in my opinion. I do recommend watching this movie if you enjoyed the Proposal or Wedding Crashers.

Indie Review: Funny Games (7/10) - 2007: Watt's So Funny?

When scouring the local Blockbuster with another avid movie-addict I know, it's almost an impossible task to find a DVD both of us haven't seen. After scanning the shelves for a good thirty minutes or so, Samantha picked up "Funny Games". Now it seemed like a very unusual name for a movie, especially after reading the disturbing synopsis on the back, but we decided to give it a go under the notion that if it was a bad movie, that would be the last time she chose a movie with me. Harsh? Maybe, but it was all in good fun. (Incidentally, I picked the worst movie of the night so I'll keep that bit quiet).

When you read of a movie which has been re-released under the same name, by the same director (Michael Haneke), it should raise alarm bells with questions such as: Was it not successful the first time? Is someone that creatively challenged that they need to copy their own work?

However, after some research the original (1997) was an Austrian-release, compared to the new U.S. version starring surprisingly Naomi Watts (from The Ring). This surprised us due to the seemingly very low budget of the film, with fairly unknown actors involved aside from her, yet almost convinced Sam and I to rent it, rather than leave it on the shelves to collect dust.

IMDB indicate that the production crew used the blueprints from the original movie to create a shot-by-shot remake, including using the same proportions for the set of the house in 2007 as that of the set in 1997.

The movie is intended to represent how media influences violence in society, where a white, middle-class family are subjected to horrendous torture (both psychological and physical) and violence in the form of a "game" by two young visitors at the family's remote holiday home by the lake. The subject of this film is one that director Michael Haneke is quite passionate about.

Naomi Watt's performance is superb, as are all of the actors, with Tim Roth making a very convincing husband. The cold-hearted ruthlessness of Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet, leave a spine-tingling, shuddering concept of the capabilities of youths of today, possibly influenced through the media, and the whole concept of the movie. There are numerous scenes leaving you on the edge of your seat, including one with Devon Gearhart (the son of Watt's and Roth in the movie), wondering what exactly is going to happen next, like that of a Quentin Tarantino movie.

I must warn you that this is not your average slasher movie, and is edited in a very unique way. This includes characters communicating between themselves and the viewer. Some scenes like this may come across as confusing in the wider context, however this could simply be put down to the director who aims to provide an experience different to one that a viewer has ever experienced before, whilst succeeding at doing so.

The following trailer indicate the style of movie explained, but don't let the light-hearted soundtrack fool you:



I've rated this movie 7/10 and I highly recommend it for anyone who wish to be left shocked, disturbed and confused by the end credits. To give you an idea of the kind of movie it is claimed that during the film's screening at Cannes in 1997, it shocked the audience so badly that many viewers and film critics alike, walked out of the screening itself.

Very few movies leave you speechless and unable to comprehend the brutality they just witnessed, so the director can be credited on this. All I know is, that if anyone ever rings my doorbell mentioning their aunt sending them to fetch some eggs... I know where I'll tell them to go. (I'll also lock up my house, carry a knife in each hand, and hide in my locked room)... Sound a bit extreme? Then watch this movie...enough said!

Review - The Proposal (7/10) - 2009: Sandra Bullock Proposing More Laughs Than Usual

I am an avid fan of Ryan Reynolds and know that no matter what movie he's in, I'm guaranteed his quick-witted humour and laughing until my sides hurt (See Just Friends, Van Wilder, and Two Guys, A Girl And A Pizza Place to name a few). However the dilemma for me was the simple fact that Sandra Bullock would be co-starring in a movie with primarily two characters.



The reason the movie "Crash" didn't affect affect me so badly was the fact she only starred in about 2-3 scenes. She is the same, whiney actress in nearly everything she does and I was almost debating giving the movie a miss because of it. You may think it's harsh, but I'm really not a fan.

I'd like to think that I'm right a lot of the time, but on this occasion, her performance was superb. This could be down to the fact that her role was a stuck up ice-queen Margaret Tate, an executive editor-in-chief of a major book publishing company...but this is besides the point. The movie surrounds Bullock, a Canadian-national working in America, who's visa has expired and suddenly faces deportation.

Her plan includes blackmailing her personal assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her in order to avoid the deportation process, therefore making her a legal American Citizen. He grudgingly accepts, under the condition that he is promoted to the position of editor. The story continues with Reynolds' trip to Alaska for his grandma's 90th birthday party where the "couple" aim to announce their "engagement". As always, Reynolds performs solidly with numerous facial expressions, catch-phrases, and actions to make this a very enjoyable Romantic Comedy.

The following movie trailer indicates things to come throughout the movie:



It was reported that Reynolds was shocked to discover that he would be sharing an exposing scene with Bullock at one point within the movie. He initially believed that the script would be re-written to exclude the scene, as he didn't think she would agree to filming it.

I'd like to mention however that this movie was not as successful as Just Married for example as the missing ingredient was Reynolds' dialogue. I don't believe that he was provided with a completely solid script, in the sense that his humour almost seemed forced and trying to compete with roles in previous movies. Nevertheless, I rate this movie 7/10 and found it an extremely enjoyable romantic comedy and highly recommend it for a good night in with the other-half (or lots of popcorn and ice-cream if you're on your own).