comment #1

Hickenlooper says ...

I know John Lee Hancock. Our sons were on the same Pasadena T-Ball team. John is one of the great ignored and underrated Hollywood writer/directors. His films harken back to the golden age when movies were about telling stories and not narratives littered with characters being quirky and snarky to titillate the postmodern sensibilities of the effete New York literati. The polarity of tastes that has grown between the so called fly-over states and the two coasts is not the consequence of the dumbing down of the Midwest, but rather the infantilization of New York and Los Angeles. Where high art has become confused with the puerile masturbatory self examination of stone dead emotional detachment and characters who no longer mirror real life but are rather created to titillate the cynical sensibilities of critics who have seen too many movies and are no longer emotionally engaged with reality.

comment #2

Phreaker says ...

And don't forget what's his name, the country western star - also the sports angle....and the heartland angle. Remember how much money the Passion of the Christ made?

comment #3

Bilge says ...

Happy to see John Lee Hancock have a hit. That dude is the real deal. I was alarmed by the trailers for this, but started hoping for the best after seeing that he was responsible for this.

comment #4

Eloi Manning says ...

Probably benefited from some New Moon spillover too. Dad takes son to see the football movie while Mom and daughter watch vampires.

comment #5

poseidon72 says ...

Hancock did a really good job on The Dennis Quaid sports film The Rookie.

comment #6

dinovelvet says ...

Well with this and The Proposal, she's having a good year then (everyone's forgotten about All About Steve). Not bad for a mid-40s actress. Odds of her getting an Oscar nod for this? All the pundits saying its a weak year for actresses, could be perfect for someone like her to sneak in, if there's a lot of goodwill.

comment #7

Mark says ...

Male spillover? Football aside, this appears like a soccer mom's wet dream. Coasters may all want to be Carrie Bradshaw, but the other 75% of the country all want to be the SUV-driving mother that can dominate their husband while helping the less priviledged and improving the local football team.

Don't know the breakdown of the film's success, but i would guess that it's mostly women over 30. Plus as of Thursday, it's out drawing New Moon.

Agree that the Rookie is a brilliant film. One of my favorites. It relaunched Quaid, though in hindsight that may not have been a good thing. He didn't do Hancock any favors in Alamo.

comment #8

Eloi Manning says ...

The Alamo was alright. It felt like an old-fashioned Saturday matinee. Like The Rookie in that respect. I think The Alamo was ignored because it wasn't as dynamic as some of the other historical epics of the time; the likes of Gladiator, et al. Plus it probably could have done with a bigger star in a more clearly defined lead role, as opposed to the ensemble approach it took with Thornton, Quaid, Wilson and Patric.

The Rookie and The Alamo seem to be on TBS/TNT almost every weekend.

comment #9

Gabe@ThePlaylist says ...

What the hell is in the drinking water? John Lee Hancock is a mediocre director and this is ANOTHER movie about a saintly white person taking in a barely literate black person. Only difference is, she teaches him not a humanistic skill, but a marketable one, playing football. The movie pays only bare minimum lip service to the wayward youth and lionizes the heroic white woman. Any crap about red-state-blue-state appeal neglects the idea that this is a total waste of celluloid, barely competent and ideologically backwards.

comment #10

dangovich says ...

In the sequel, she finds a young black kid with a pituitary disorder and grooms him to be the starting center for the Ole Miss basketball team.

comment #11

George Prager says ...

Don't forget that there is a large Senior Citizen contingent out there that go to a lot of movies. They tend to like movies about grown-ups acting like grown-ups without too many penis jokes. My parents are probably watching it right now.

comment #12

arturobandini2 says ...

It could be a masterpiece for all I know or care, but if there's one tired, cliched genre I've had it up to here with, it's the inspirational high school football movie.

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comment #13

berg says ...

like A PERFECT WORLD script too ... but that car wreck scene in Blind Side really pulled me out of the movie. The third act was a cameo of college football coaches rather than a resolution of his family issues (issues which peaked the movie emotionally in its second act)

comment #14

the400blows says ...

How about a TV spillover? Hopefully the audience that went to see The Blind Side in a movie theater will go home and tune in to see the brilliant Friday Night Lights on TV.

Loved A Perfect World. One of my fave Eastwood flicks. I'd put it up there with Gran Torino as his most underrated movies.

comment #15

Bilge says ...

We have truly gone through the looking glass when GRAN TORINO can be referred to as an "underrated" film.

comment #16

the400blows says ...

Well, Gran Torino wasn't nominated for a Best Picture Oscar (or even a Best Actor Oscar) so for an Eastwood film, I'd say it was underrated.

comment #17

LarryGopnik says ...

"Gran Torino" made $150 million domestic, and received generally glowing reviews, despite being one of the worst movies released in the last decade. It is NOT underrated.

"A Perfect World" is phenomenal though. Easily Eastwood's finest film.

comment #18

Josh Massey says ...

"'Gran Torino' made $150 million domestic, and received generally glowing reviews, despite being one of the worst movies released in the last decade."

A thousand times amen.

comment #19

Glenn Kenny says ...

"A Perfect World"= fantastic. "Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil," another Eastwood pic he scripted, is ACTUALLY underrated. And "The Rookie" was a pretty fine picture too.

By the way, what new bug has crawled up Hickenlooper's ass? I know he's long been something of a reactionary, but he's beginning to sound like he's auditioning for a perch at Big Hollywood or something. In that way lies madness, George...

comment #20

Gordon27 says ...

"Male spillover? Football aside, this appears like a soccer mom's wet dream."

I think you're discounting the male spillover. 'Twilight' or 'Sex in the City' don't have major spillover because most girls/women want to see them with their female friends, but this is a *total* date movie (at least above a certain age). It's based on a book that's much more male-oriented (about left tackles in football), and they're pushing the story/the guy/the movie pretty heavy in 'Sports Illustrated', from what my dad tells me.

comment #21

Gordon27 says ...

"Plus as of Thursday, it's out drawing New Moon."

That won't last; 'New Moon' is going to have a big drop on Thanksgiving because most of the audience isn't going to be able to go see a movie with their friends on Thanksgiving, but I bet Friday's total will show bounce back because of all the college freshmen who waited until they were home to see it with their high school friends.

Though it is very impressive that 'Blind Side' made as much as it did on Thanksgiving day.

comment #22

Hickenlooper says ...

Thanks for the career advice, Glenn. No worries, I'll be sure to stay at the back of the line.

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comment #24

Alvy Singer says ...

The Blind Side is a formula picture, but it's pretty irresistible. No, it's not reality (even if it is based on a true story). It's a feel good pic--think of it as the anti-Precious if you want. And yes, this hits the red state sweet spot. God, family, school, Tim McGraw, consumerism, football, cute kids, and a sassy Sandra Bullock in a tight dress. But it works. Bullock & McGraw have chemistry and you can imagine yourself having barbeque and watching football with these guys.

comment #25

thatmovieguy says ...

The most interesting aspect of the film -- which is generally well-done but a bit overlong -- is the way it not-so-subtly tells all the self-professed Christians out there that they ought to be actually practicing what they preach. The Bullock and McGraw characters are surrounded by friends and family members who joke about and question their motivations, sometimes in a decidedly racist way; the film's argument (which is not too hard to believe) is that the Tuohys did this because they took their faith seriously. In the book, they are identified as Evangelicals; I don't remember hearing any mention of that in the movie, although they do touch on the ideas of Christianity. It was a more engaging film than I expected from the trailers.

comment #26

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

"Well, Gran Torino wasn't nominated for a Best Picture Oscar (or even a Best Actor Oscar) so for an Eastwood film, I'd say it was underrated."

Neither was Every Which Was But Loose.

My idea for making money with time travel would be to go back to 1978 and bet everyone I can, at 100-1 odds, that the star of Every Which Way But Loose will eventually be up for his THIRD Best Picture Oscar with a movie... in Japanese.

comment #27

Gabe@ThePlaylist says ...

Can someone remind me, aside from financial/commercial concerns, why this movie is about the white people? This feels like the retard corrective to Precious.

comment #28

joeljrk says ...

@Gabe...It is about the entire family, not the so called "white people." it is also a very "feel-good" movie, rather than a very depressing movie as Precious is. It is pretty soft-core and I'm sure Hancock left most of the real ugly stuff out of the picture as it is a family picture, unlike Precious as well.
@Mark...Most of the audience in the auditoriums are of mixed races, genders, and age.
@Dinovelvet..Precious has those awards in the bag, no contest.

comment #29

Gordon27 says ...

"why this movie is about the white people?"

While I do agree with your point, you must admit that the white people in this story are the people who actually sacrifice anything; the football player has nothing to sacrifice. Thus, by acting selflessly, they are more easily identified as heroes.

comment #30

Krillian says ...

Coming from a two-race family, it's nice to see White Mama standing up for Black Son, because when you're in the family, it's just Mama standing up for Son.

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comment #32

Fabiola says ...

It's good that Sandra Bullock is back once again, after The Proposal. After watching Twilight, in action and love story, I wouldn't missed another next movie big hit.
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comment #33

K. Bowen says ...

As a red-stater with blue-state film tastes, I can tell you why it's popular.

1) It has a recognizable family dealing positively as a unit with a peculiar but common and manageable social issue.

The family isn't beset by some humongous depressing modern anxiety - drugs, divorce, teenage pregnancy, malaise, disaffection, etc.

That is to say that the family looks more like the typical American family to Americans than something Sam Mendes would pretend to understand.

2) It's a film about what it means for a Christian to live their beliefs. That's something that churches stress nowadays. This film will have a long life in church groups.

3) Football for the men. A dominant lead female for the ladies.

4) It's about the good in us and not about the worst.

A Perfect World is a heck of a good film.

comment #34

Hispanic party elephant says ...

Nice points K. Bowen.

Sam Mendes would look at this movie like a puppy at a screen door.

comment #35

poseidon72 says ...

WAKEUP call- NOT every movie has to be Godfather 2. Its OK to like movies like The Blindside. No need to feel guilt. LOL
P:S- I LOVE 2012- Saw it twice

comment #36

Eloi Manning says ...

"this is ANOTHER movie about a saintly white person taking in a barely literate black person."

What other movies are about that same premise? Most recent movies that attract P.C. ire are the opposite; the ones that feature a wayward white person being shown the way by a 'magical negro'. I can't think of many recent examples of the type you're complaining about.

It's also funny that people are complaining about this TRUE STORY being true, because it's racist or something. I'm sure the MILLIONAIRE Michael Oher is really upset about the racism displayed by the white family when they helped him to become a MILLIONAIRE.

Sometimes people do nice things. Get over it.

comment #37

dangovich says ...

Eloi, the fact that it's based on a true story is irrelevant to the discussion. Radio with Cuba Gooding Jr. also was based on a true story. The fact that studios choose to lavish tens of millions of dollars on these stories is what's pertinent.

comment #38

TL says ...

What other movies are about that same premise?

I think the original author was alluding more to the "magical negro" premise than specifically to the plot of Blind Side.

Either way, the fact that it's a "true story" is all the more damning, IMO, because the filmmakers chose to make a movie where the white people are the protagonists, rather than black person, who is the putative subject of the story.

comment #39

LexG says ...

Who is that striking young actresses who plays Bullock and McGraw's daughter????

It's like first seeing Jennifer Connelly back in OUTIA; You just know she's gonna be a stunner and a big star in a few years.

Liked this movie a lot in spite of myself... Spent most of the 130 minutes alternately rolling my eyes (the high school coach's TERRIBLE mugging, Bullock talking smack in the hood to some amusingly sanitized thugs) and getting choked up like a little girl.

It's absolutely the kind of thing you could take either your Mom or your Dad to if you're visiting home for the holidays, and no one's too embarrassed.

And again, Tim McGraw is a PITCH-PERFECT actor, as earnestly likable and rootable on the big screen as just about anyone and a total natural. The best musician-turned-actor since Dwight Yoakam, if not Kris Kristofferson. His heartland appeal alone, even in a supporting role like this, probably sells 10 times the number of tickets that Clooney's star power gets you, least in the Red States.

comment #40

Colin says ...

Jesus, Lex, there is no way that girl is more than 15.

comment #41

thatrader says ...

Whoops Colin. Lily Collins, daughter of Phil Collins, is already 20.

comment #42

OtownRog says ...

It's a well-written film, she's terrific in it, Hollywood is looking for an excuse to honor billion dollar Bullock, and she's going to win the Oscar.
Weak best actress field, post-Polanski Hollywood isn't giving it to Mulligan and Streep has enough.

comment #43

Colin says ...

My bad on the age thing, but Lex already comes off as a paedophile as it is.

comment #44

Gordon27 says ...

"What other movies are about that same premise?"

Eloi - you're saying that you've never noticed that, when Hollywood gets a "black" story, they try to make sure it has a white protagonist? Check out 'Blood Diamond' and 'The Last King of Scotland' for a few recent examples. Once you realize they do it, it becomes surprisingly obvious.

And "it's a true story" is no excuse; it's always a true story. 'Glory' was a true story, but it still managed to lionize the white hero.

comment #45

Gordon27 says ...

"Hollywood is looking for an excuse to honor billion dollar Bullock"

As evidenced by never nominating her, even when she was in the movie that won Best Picture.

"Weak best actress field"

There's always a weak best actress field. They still haven't nominated her yet.

"post-Polanski Hollywood isn't giving it to Mulligan"

If you're willing to say that a 20-something woman playing a legally of-age girl is the same as Polanski, I still think you're wrong; Hollywood has consistently completely supported Polanski.

"and Streep has enough. "

Yeah, enough, Meryl! You already have one of each! That's enough! What? Nicholson's in another movie? Oh, fuck, we've got to give him Oscar #4...

Your evidence boils down to, "They obviously love Bullock, since they've never nominated her, and don't like Streep, because they nominate her every single year, so Bullock will win." That's just silly.

comment #46

Chicago48 says ...

Love Bullock, I've seen more Bullock movies than Roberts movies.

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Noah Cross says ...

Haven't seen "The Blind Side", probably won't see it. But was happy to see it beat "Old Dogs" at the box office.

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