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Michael Oher is a teen who through the kindness of a friend ends up in a private high school; he doesn’t have a family, a home or anyone to care about until one day Leigh Anne Tuohy spots him walking home from school in freezing weather with nothing more than a polo shirt and shorts. Leigh Anne gets Michael to come home with her for the night and soon one night turns into an extended stay as Michael works his way into the heart of her entire family. An unofficial Tuohy Michael finally becomes stable enough to try out for football and soon begins lighting up the field, the top recruit for college football programs around the country. The adversity doesn’t stop there as both Leigh Anne, Michael and the entire Tuohy family are criticized for their relationship by friends and the city at large.

The Blind Side really surprised me, I only saw it because it managed a best picture nomination. Yet somehow, I really liked it. This is a movie that’s sentimental, emotional and cliché but it all works. The story of Michael Oher and the Tuohy’s is one that’s worth telling. It’s a story about love and compassion that very few people have ever been able to experience, it’s a story about a woman and a family that cared so much about a stranger that they didn’t care about what society expected of them and they changed each other’s lives.

This is not to say there weren’t some issues with the film. I for one would have loved to see more of Michael’s back story but I know that’s not what the film was about – it was about his future – and it’s a complicated thing to decide what to tell and what not to tell seeing as everyone in the film is real and Michael now plays for the NFL. His life is not fictional and you can’t mess around with it.

The one exceptional thing about The Blind Side is the performance of Sandra Bullock. Leigh Anne Tuohy is smart, sharp tongued, self-assured & more than anything a woman who doesn’t care what others think about her and Bullock brings her to life. This is the best performance I’ve ever seen out of Sandra Bullock and it’s definitely Oscar worthy; I don’t know if she will win come March, but she’s quite a contender.

Director & Writer: John Lee Hancock
Leigh Anne Tuohy: Sandra Bullock
Sean Tuohy: Tim McGraw
Michael Oher: Quinton Aaron
S.J. Tuohy: Jae Head
Collins Tuohy: Lily Collins
Miss Sue: Kathy Bates

Sean Tuohy: Who would've thought we'd have a black son before we met a Democrat?

Paul Sheldon is a romance writer tired of writing his heroine Misery. Annie Wilkes is a former nurse who is Paul’s number one fan. After finishing up his latest non-Misery manuscript in the country he ends up in a car crash during a blizzard and Annie rescues him; Paul is badly injured and bed-ridden and Annie assures him that once the phones are restored or the roads are plowed she will get him help. However, as time wears on it becomes evident that Annie has a psychotic fixation with Paul and when she discovers that he has killed off Misery in his latest novel she holds him hostage while forcing him to write Misery’s resurrection.

Misery is one of the creepiest films I have ever seen anchored by two of the best performances I’ve ever seen. Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her depiction of Annie Wilkes and I have to say that the award was earned; Kathy reaches a level of insanity that shouldn’t be possible in a sane member of society and I think that it is up there with the performances of Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight or Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - it’s chilling.

James Caan is no slouch either. He has the equally hard task of being the victim in this film and walks between pain, paranoia, gratitude and determination with great aplomb and not a moment feels false. It is incredibly hard to play the straight man to such a irregular character like Annie Wilkes.

One thing I did not expect from Misery was the comedic elements added by the town sheriff and deputy; they are an old married couple who obviously don’t see much action in their area and instead banter like the old couple they are. I feel in love with them immediately and thought they brought a nice relief to the otherwise nail-biting story-line.

I am still in shock that the writer and director behind Misery are the writer and director behind The Princess Bride. While I think that William Goldman and Rob Reiner are immensely talented people there could not be a film more diametrically opposed to The Princess Bride than Misery.

Director: Rob Reiner
Writer: William Goldman
Paul Sheldon: James Caan
Annie Wilkes: Kathy Bates
Buster: Richard Farnsworth
Virginia: Frances Sternhagen
Marcia Sindell: Lauren Bacall

Annie: God came to me last night and told me your purpose for being here. I am going to help you write a new book.
Paul: You think I can just whip one out?
Annie: Oh, but I don't think Paul, I know.

Sam Mendes makes amazing films – films that promote discussion and thought, while somehow also managing to be a dynamic, visually stunning, intelligent film. Revolutionary Road is no exception to this rule. While, Revolutionary Road may not be a simple film it all boils down to one thing – marriage.

Revolutionary Road is about the life a husband and wife share, and the lives they still keep from each other. April and Frank Wheeler are the adorable young couple from Revolutionary Road; they have two children, Frank works in the city, April takes care of the kids, they are the life of the neighborhood. But both are miserable. Frank hates working every day at a jobs he hates where he feels unappreciated, and going home to feel still unappreciated. April spends her entire day taking care of the children, house and her husband and feels alone, unappreciated and desperate for something more. Frank and April are tired of living the life they were told they were supposed to live and they decide to change and thus reinvigorate their lives and relationship – but the problem is that by taking control of their lives they end up taking on the world.

For those looking for a uplifting, enchanting romance Revolutionary Road is not that film. Revolutionary Road is American Beauty devoid of the dark humor, and somehow more bleak. This is not to say that Revolutionary Road is not a film that you can’t enjoy; this is a movie that tells a story that few people want to tell. It is a brave film that does not pull punches or try to lie about the very real situation too many couples face – the “hopeless emptiness” as they say in the film.

In Revolutionary Road Sam Mendes, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet & the entire team that made the film have made a film that transcends time and will be talked about for generations to come. I do believe this film will be the recipient of a great many Oscar nominations this year, and will take home at least one of the golden statues.

Director: Sam Mendes
Writer: Justin Haythe
April Wheeler: Kate Winslet
Frank Wheeler: Leonardo DiCaprio
John Givings: Michael Shannon
Helen Givings: Kathy Bates

April Wheeler: So now I'm crazy because I don't love you, right? Is that the point?
Frank Wheeler: No! Wrong! You're not crazy, and you do love me. That's the point, April.

I rented Fred Claus because I wanted to see Vince Vaughn playing with some elves, I really didn’t intend to like it – but I did. I really, really did. Much more than I should like a silly Christmas movie that is all surface and fun. However, it’s in that layer of gloss and frivolity that an entertaining and enjoyable comedy waits, you just have to accept the Christmas roots and mythology that is set up in the film and if you can do that you are good to go.

The precise reason Fred Claus is so enjoyable is because it’s about the mythology behind Christmas, but it is not about Santa Claus, it’s about his older brother Fred and “naughty” children everywhere, because you see by growing up with Nicholas his saintly younger brother Fred became bitter at being overshadowed and thus became naughty himself. Fred is the black sheep, the dirty laundry that the Claus institution cannot afford to air. However, being an actual saint Nicholas has a soft spot for Fred and when Fred calls on Nick for a helping hand Nick offers him a job at the North Pole – this turns out to be the worst timing possible for Nick as Clyde an efficiency expert arrives at the North Pole and threatens to shut Santa down if he can’t meet the impossible goals Clyde sets for him.

I will admit freely that my enjoyment of Fred Claus was partially guaranteed by having Kevin Spacey cast as the villain. My enjoyment of the film was cemented once it was revealed that the final important plot device of the film was a Superman cape and Kevin Spacey declaring that he wore his glasses because Clark Kent wore glasses. David Dobkin and screenwriters thus put two of my favorite things (Spacey & Superman) on screen together and it’s like a disease – part of me is going to love it no matter what (don’t even get me started on my conflicted feeling and constantly changing opinions on Superman Returns).

This film would be nothing though without the believable relationship between Giamatti and Vaughn as Nick and Fred; perhaps I can identify with Fred because I am a middle child who on some level always feels a little upstaged by the siblings on both sides of me, but I felt that Fred and Nick genuinely had a loving, yet conflicting relationship that sums up so perfectly what so many siblings face when they love each other but can’t manage to each exist without somehow injuring the other. Granted this is pumped up in the world of fantasy, but the underpinnings are very real to anyone that has a close sibling.

All in all, Fred Claus is not the holiday classic that Elf is but it is by no means a stupid holiday movie. I quite enjoyed it and I think many other movie goers would as well.

Director: David Dobkin
Writer: Dan Fogleman
Fred Claus: Vince Vaughn
Nick (Santa) Claus: Paul Giamatti
Willie: John Michael Higgins
Annette Claus: Miranda Richardson
Wanda: Rachel Weisz
Mother Claus: Kathy Bates
Charlene: Elizabeth Banks
Clyde Northcut: Kevin Spacey
Slam: Bobb’e J Thompson

Nick 'Santa' Claus: I never realized. You hate me.
Fred Claus: I don't hate you, Nick. I just wish you'd never been born.

Friday I participated in the desire to see Keanu Reeves play an alien in The Day the Earth Stood Still. There is not a whole lot I can say about this film besides the fact that it’s just kind of a movie. The film is not terribly bad, but it’s not exactly good either. It’s just kind of in the middle. All of the pieces are there to make it an entertaining film and yet is just kind of misses the mark and I can’t put my finger on how – it’s just not that compelling.

One thing that truly bothers me is that The Day the earth Stood Still is another in a long line of “save the earth” message movies. For some reason this pro-planet message didn’t bother me as much as usual, it could be because it was clumsily inserted into the film or because I knew going in that the film would be a message movie because the original film is a message movie. What actually bothered me is that the message was changed from the original message. The message in the original film is very obviously anti-war – Klatu comes out at the end of the movie and tells humanity this in a moment straight out of a Greek play; the change in message bothers me because this an anti-war message would still be 100% relevant today.

I was also incredibly disappointed in Gort, but that is a personal thing. Gort kicked ass in the original and half way through this version he disintegrates into metal bugs? I don’t get that choice.

What was good about this remake was Keanu Reeves as Klaatu. While I enjoy the original film Klaatu was a very happy go lucky figure that seemed a bit strange to have in a Cold War setting; in this update Klaatu is very alien and serious, he is an individual that is not part of this world and does not understand the desire to want to be. Reeves may not be the world’s best actor but this is a role that fits him incredibly well and he is the best thing to watch in the film.

The egregious error in this film (besides feeling like a slow version of Independence Day) is the lack of a certain phrase. People familiar with the original will be incredible disappointed that they don’t get to hear Keanu utter the classic line “Klaatu barada nikto.” How do you remake the film without its most memorable line?

All in all I would suggest that you wait for home video on this one. You won’t lose much in the translation.

Director: Scott Derrickson
Writer: David Scarpa
Klaatu: Keanu Reeves
Helen Benson: Jennifer Connelly
Regina Jaskcon: Kathy Bates
Jacob Benson: Jaden Smith
Prof. Barnhardt: John Cleese