The Blind Side

Director: John Lee Hancock (The Alamo and The Rookie)

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron and Kathy Bates

MPAA - Rated PG-13 for one scene involving brief violence, drug and sexual references.

A near perfect film, “The Blind Side” is a wonderful true story that had my wife choking up about every five minutes. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and thought how great it was to see a film with so much heart and not much that could be considered offensive. We felt like we were watching one of those Christian movies except this one had a plot, acting, and decent dialogue.

Sandra Bullock was fantastic. She was so different compared to the many romantic comedy roles she has previously been in. I have always loved her movies, though this new one, “All about Steve,” looks like a serious looser, but in general she is great. I have never really seen her stretch much in a role, but in this one she was really good. I am not saying she was so good that she beat out Merrill Streep in “Julia and Julia”, no one’s performance last year matched Streep’s Julia Child, but Bullock was really good. She was the sassy, sexy, and very confident Leigh Anne Tuohy; a woman who steps out of her comfort zone and breaks social norms by befriending a homeless black teenager (Quinton Aaron’s Michael Oher) and makes him part of the family.



The unfortunate part to Bullock’s superb acting was that she dwarfed everyone on screen the way Oher does on the football field. She was almost too good for the rest of the cast. The only one who was nearly as good as her was Jae Head playing the nine-year-old son. He was actually very good, reminiscent of “Squints”, from the classic tale of baseball and boyhood “The Sandlot”. This was an excellent role for the mouthy little kid; full of information and funny as heck.



Quinton Aaron was okay. His towering physique mad him perfect for the role of NFL star Michael Oher, but he is not yet as developed an actor, someone a little more experienced may have been better for the role, but maybe not. He was still a loveable giant, looking for acceptance and respect like all teenagers. Aaron held his own, and pulled the part off.

Earlier I said “The Blind Side” was a near perfect film, and it was. I’d give it a good 8.7 out of 10, but I felt like something was missing to really push the movie to be extraordinary. We have a lot of football movies littering the screen, some are good, some garbage, but one stands supreme in the realm of sports movies, “Remember the Titans.” A movie so good that it’s equal will have to pack some pretty amazing stuff into it to get there, and “The Blind Side” fell a bit short.



It succeeded in being a warm movie about family and love, and built loveable characters in situations that could just break someone’s heart, but it hit the same roadblocks as Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus.” The film climaxed a bit and there was a point of emotional stress for the characters, but it was not passed on to the audience very well. We all felt bad but we didn’t get that gut churning emotional roller coaster that we experienced with “Remember the Titans”. That was the only drawback to the film; it was just not quite intense enough.

But on a whole it is a film to remember. What the director has sculpted is a feel good film about families and good Christian ethics. Like “The Rookie” and many other sports movies, “The Blind Side” is a winner and one you won’t regret seeing.



Sex/Nudity – 3 out of 10 – There is some sexual dialogue among teenagers and gang bangers. A man and a woman lie in bed together and the man rolls on top of the woman and kisses her, you could infer they are going to have sex but the scene ends. A woman shows cleavage in a lot of scenes.

Violence/Gore – 5 out of 10 – There is a fight in one scene where young men are tossed around a room, some punching and a gun goes off. A lot of furniture is broken and a crib is knocked over, a baby starts crying. There are some hard hits in football practices and games. References to boys dying in gang fights and other gang violence is mentioned. There is nothing gory or distasteful for anyone over the age of 10 or so.

Profanity – The “B” word is used a few times, the “N” word as well, and a few religious exclamations. Some sexual dialogue and name calling.

500 Days of Summer

Director – Marc Webb

Starring – Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel

MPAA – Rated PG-13 for sexual material and language.

A film spiced with witty humor, flavored with fun and interesting actors, and frosted with a unique indie soundtrack, 500 Days of Summer is a flavorful alternative to the shoddy array of romantic comedy genre trash littering the shelves of video stores today. This film is done in the style of “Away We Go”, another witty film that does not mold to the contemporary romances pumping out of the film factory these days. It also reminds me of hits such as “Juno” and “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.” All of these films had the feel of an independent movie, a little more laid back, better scripts, and sharp humor based on dialogue as opposed to over the top situational farce.

I was reminded of the sharp wit displayed in Oscar Wilde’s masterpieces as I watched this brilliant little film. This is one of those rare gems of its genre that sparkles a little bit and is different. It is a more mature comedy, a little like “Its Complicated”; I enjoy films about adult relationships, and I love movie where the ending is so different from the average films. Others were disappointed by the films choice but I will tell you now the beginning of the movie tell your right up front that this is not a love story.



Joseph Gordon-Levitt earns his Golden Globe nomination as the love sick Tom Hansen. He has grown up a lot since “Angels in the Outfield” and it is fun to see that his comedic timing has been sharpened to a point. Zooey Deschanel is hilarious as well as Summer, the girl of Tom’s dreams. She has a vicious sense of satirical comedy that makes her so much fun to watch. Her performance was fantastic and she should have scored a nomination as well. Summer does not believe in true love, un-like Tom, and so as the two of them embark on a “casual relationship” we see how much chemistry they really do have.



Tom’s friends make for colorful side characters, which always makes a movie more interesting. The best though is how Tom always turns to his nine-year-old sister (Chloe Moretz) for romantic guidance. She is the go to girl and has some of the best lines in the movie. I guess she is in the new movie “Kick-Ass” and she is supposed to be pretty funny there too, it seems she is going to be an actress to be reckoned with.



Over all 500 Days of Summer is a first class movie. It easily gets a 9 out of 10 in my book. I loved the smart dialogue and the fun characters. The film has enough twists to keep you guessing, and it uses flashbacks a lot to make an interestingly developed plot. I highly recommend this film for those seeking a reprise from the below average romances forced upon film-goers.



Sex/Nudity – 6 out of 10 – We see a woman (presumably naked) from the back lying in bed waiting for a man to come out of the bathroom. It is assumed they have sex. A man and a woman rent and watch an adult video. We see a shower with an opaque curtain. We hear a couple attempting to have sex in the shower, we see a hand grab the curtain and accidently pull it down on top of them. We see a zoomed in picture of a man crotch and see his bulge. A man and a woman kiss passionately.

Violence/Gore – 2 out of 10 – A man punches another man and is hit back, we see him later with an ice pack. No real bruising or blood.

Profanity – 5 out of 10 – Kids-in-mind says there are “3 F-words and its derivatives.” I think there was one “F” word, some sexual dialogue, a few religious exclamations, and some other obscenities.

An Education –

Director – Lone Scheig

Starring – Olivia Williams, Peter Sarsgaard, with Alfred Molina and Emma Thompson

MPAA - Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving sexual content, and for smoking.

Nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Picture, “An Education” is a brilliant coming-of-age drama full of unpredictable twists and laced with a script worthy of its Best Adapted Screenplay nomination. Not comparable with the machine gun dialogue of “Inglourious Basterds”, An Education is a marvel in its own right.




What I liked best about this film what that I had no idea what to expect from the plot. Far from the cookie cutter romantic comedies that have laid siege to American Cinema, instead we have a twisting, weaving plot that never quite lets the audience know what they are in for; is this comedy or drama, a little of both, what? What will happen to the lovely Carey Mulligan’s Jenny, the 17-year-old school girl whose plans for Oxford may come to a screeching halt at the new lifestyle introduced to her by the smooth talking and dashing David (played by Peter Sarsgaard)?
Jenny runs into the wealthy playboy Jenny as she is walking home in a drenching downpour. He gives her a lift home and we are all charmed by his “Ewan McGregor” smile, and his gentlemanly actions. His age is undetermined but he is vastly older than Jenny by a good 10 years.



However he still wins over Jenny and her parents and introduces Jenny to a night life of extravagant luxury that seems to blind Jenny from her goals. What will happen, is this love for real, is this a Cinderella story, or is it a story in the fashion of Citizen Kane and the corruption of money? The plot takes you in both directions simultaneously charming you while arousing suspicion.

I don’t know if the performances are award winning, but they are convincing. The acting is better than most films, and the beautiful cinematography reminds us of the Audrey Hepburn classics. Jenny and David visit Paris together and all I could think about was the magic in “Sabrina” or another 60’s era film. I enjoyed this film far more than many of its Best Picture Nominee counterparts and it definitely deserved the recognition. An Education is a winner without a doubt. It takes you deep into the life of a young woman and helps us all to see the effect our decisions have on our family and others. This is a four star film, a 9 out of 10 in all respects.



Sex/Nudity – 6 out of 10 – There are a few sexual situations between a sixteen-year-old girl and a thirty-something man. One seen she takes off her top and shows him her bare breasts, we see only her bare shoulders and he puts her shirt back on. The two of them discuss having sex and her losing her virginity to him, however we only see them ever kiss once or twice. One scene we see a man laying in bed bare chested, a woman stands in a window, it is assumed they had sex a few moments before.

Violence/ Gore – None

Profanity – 4 out of 10 - Some religious exclamations, five or six mild profanities, a few racial slurs.

Knowing (a guest movie review from Slik Dawg, because I would never watch this garbage!)

KNOWING

Director – Alex Proyas
Starring Nicolas Cage and Rose Byrne

MPAA - Rated PG-13 for “13” or so “Pretty Good” special effects scenes and “Pretty Good” movie cameras used to film the movie. (okay really rated PG-13 for disaster sequences, disturbing images and brief strong language.)

SPOILER ALERT!!

Well… after watching this movie I’m so glad I came out “knowing” that everything, (creation, the world, life, universe, all that jazz) wasn’t actually The Big Man Upstairs (if you get my drift) Yup, it was actually aliens. Weird looking aliens, who stalk people, look like pale freaky vampires, wear ominous black trench-coats, whisper creepy things to kids, slick back their super bleached blond hair like roaring twenty Mobster Lords, do weird blinding flash light attacks by opening their mouths REALLY wide, don’t actually explain anything to anyone or move the plot forward other than be all around creepy, and who finally at the end of the movie turn into angelic creatures of light with shimmering glowing alien bodies and wings and actually good intentions, WHO WOULD’VE KNOWN!? They looked so eerie, and were always in the shadows, and gave the poor boy a nightmare that even I would freak out if I had it. Were they supposed to be the good guys? I COULDN’T TELL!!

If weird alien things looking like that came and told me I had to leave my Dad I would tell them exactly where they could stick that invitation. And If I were the girl, I would DEFINETELY NOT go with them… They kidnapped me from my mom and made her chase after me frantically and end up getting run over by a truck.



What was up with those rocks too? I mean, like, yes, we get it, the little black rocks are connected with the whispering scary angel/demon/alien dudes. What is it, like their calling card? It’s like they can’t actually talk (except like weird nonsense whispering to the kids which I don’t even understand HOW the kids understand what they are saying…) so they have to leave this black rocks all over the place. Was the black rock in the truck with the dying Mom (Rose Byrne) like them saying “Sorry we had to kidnap your daughter and make you chase after her and get in a car wreck and die without any explanation from us… sorry about that… here’s a little black rock to make up for it… really, you’ll like it, it’s black, like us, all black and ominous…really, we’re really sorry we can’t talk about it… Bye!”

I mean I have to give this movie props for the filming. It was SO AWESOME! Like the colors were so saturated and such a sharp image! I love that type of filming, I wish every director used the cameras they used to film Knowing, then ALL movies would be awesome! Plus the special effects were AMAZING!

But seriously, everything else was SO bad that amazing special effects and filming can’t make up for it.



The plot was just so terrible, and NOT connected. Awesome, so he gets the numbers, they are related to all these accidents, guess what IT STILL DIDN’T CHANGE ANYTHING!! Yeah Nicolas Cage got to go around trying to figure out these accidents and disasters and its all mysterious and stuff but there was NO POINT! If the whispering people were just going to come and talk to the kids anyways Nicolas Cage didn’t NEED to do anything except say goodbye to his son. And the weird/scary/freaky kid from 1959 didn’t need to see the dates and numbers in the first place cause it do anything for her either, her daughter dies in a car accident and her daughter’s daughter gets taken away anyways… so, WTF? Why the plot? Why the story?



Sorry for ranting, just... I thought it was a pretty retarded movie.

Here’s what I would have done if I directed the movie. First off, when dealing with angels and Adam and Eve and creation and heaven and God and things, NO creepy stuff. The weird whispering/sinister/alien dudes (who APPARANTLY were actually “angels”) would have come all dressed in white, directly to Nicolas Cage and sat down with him and his son to talk about what was going to happen, how they were going to take him away, and they would have not done it in a creepy way at all. AND there would be no weird alien spaceships… and… yeah, I give up, there is just too much garbage to fix up in this movie. It’s not worth the time.

Yeah, not going to lie, the ending sequence was the best part. I imagine the Earth being baptized by fire and receiving its paradisiacal glory just like that, very good special effects.

Final movie synopsis: Numbers correspond with locations and dates of disasters/accidents. Pointless Plot. Pointless running around. Pointless mystery. Pointless character buildup. Weird/creepy/demon/angel/alien/kidnapper dudes come and kidnap kids to take them to distant planets to “start over.” Everyone else dies. End of story.

Just a heads up for you reader, if you’re thinking about watching “Knowing” I think before hand you should come off knowing that I want 1 hour and 55 minutes of my life back.

SPY GAME

Spy Game
Director – Tony Scott
Starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt

MPAA - Rated R for language, some violence and brief sexuality.

This is a fantastic tale of espionage, friendship, and love. Robert Redford is an aging CIA agent who, on the eve of his retirement, learns of a young recruit’s captures in Red China. As he quickly uses his long developed contacts and skills to understand the situation, he learns of the CIA’s reluctance to help, and a secret agenda to leave the young recruit to a Chinese execution.

Robert Redford is the classic smart and witty retiree. His part has been played in many movies by many of the greats but Redford does a great job carrying the movie.
Any one hoping to see Brad Pitt in action may be a little disappointed because this is Robert Redford’s movie. Redford’s Nathan Muir maneuvers deftly through the halls of the CIA headquarters making his supervisors head spins as he plays them for information while feeding them tidbits. He is quick with good lines and makes a relatively easy script interesting and fun to listen too. Redford has a rich voice that is soothing to listen to and as he narrates a lot of scenes it is a great voice over.




Pitt is excellent as always but is only in about a third of the film. He had the challenge of making a smaller but vital role interesting and believable and he did a good job. He is a CIA operative who has a long relationship working under Nathan Muir in Vietnam, Berlin, and in Beirut. We see him grow from a Boy Scout soldier in the Jungles of Vietnam to a skilled operative falling in love with a dangerous mark in Beirut. He is an emotional character who brings in an excellent human element that the audience can connect to.



Tony Scott the director of “Man on Fire”, “Déjà vu”, and of course “Top Gun”, does a brilliant job here with stunning cinematography. The camera angles and views are not nearly as trippy as the Denzel Washington hit “Man of Fire”, but this is still a visually gripping film. In fact those made sick by the film on acid look of “Domino” and “Man on Fire” will appreciate the less explosive film-making style. There is one amazing scene done in Berlin with Redford and Pitt having coffee on the top of a building where the helicopter shots are brilliant. The two talk back and forth while the camera rotates around them showing the city in the background and really capturing the tension in the conversation with the wide shots and rotating cameras.



All in all Spy Game is a great dramatic thriller. The friendship, an almost father/son relationship, that builds up between Redford and Pitt is touching, and really helps to carry the movie. The script is a little weak and the characters are both pretty stock. We see them in many different films with fairly similar plots, but the two leads here make the movie very interesting, and there are enough twists in the plat to keep it going. I definitely recommend this film, it is not the best but the cinematography and the acting make the movie a worthy view; 7.5 out of 10.




Sex/Nudity - 2 out of 10 – A man and woman are seen asleep in bed together. It is assumed they have had sex, she is covered from the shoulders down and he is seen bare chested. We see her bare back in a pan shot. The intro to Baywatch is seen with lots of scantily clad men and women.

Violence/Gore – 7 out of 10 – A man is electrocuted when trying to plug into an outlet. People are shown getting vaccine injections. There are some gunfights and shootouts. A bomb blows up a building; some people are pulled from the wreckage some limbs missing. A man is shown being punched on the face while being interrogated. His face is very bruised and bloody. A war clinic is shown with people’s injuries being treated.

Profanity – 15 “F” words, 10 or so other uses of the “S” word, “D” word and a few religious exclamations.