All About Steve (2009)

Yet another film that I only became aware of due to the Razzies, All About Steve is a notorious stinker (allegedly) that I always wanted to see because of Sandra Bullock having the good grace and humour to turn up at the ceremony "rewarding" it and doing her best to entertainingly defend it. And, hey, maybe it wouldn't be THAT bad.

All About Steve really IS that bad. Sandra Bullock plays Mary Horowitz, a young woman who creates crossword puzzle for a newspaper. She then goes on one date with Steve (Bradley Cooper), a news cameraman, and becomes absolutely obsessed with him. This leads to her pursuing him across the country, much to the amusement of his colleagues. Mary has a way with people around her though, thanks to her good nature and eccentricity that people respond to. Apparently.

Writer Kim Barker has three projects to their name. This is the second. Director Phil Traill, on the other hand, has managed to create a body of work that provided much more distance between himself and this travesty. And it is a travesty, although it's hard to figure out what else it is meant to be. If it's a twisted rom-com then it lacks both the rom and the com. If it's a dark comedy then it lacks both the darkness and the comedy. If it's supposed to be some commentary on what happens when people without a filter are thrown into the middle of the general population, presenting some kind of "idiot savant" able to teach others a la Being There and Forrest Gump, then it also fails in that regard. No good points are made here, and we're left with a character study of people who are poorly-written and completely uninteresting, once you get beyond the "quirkiness" of someone who is actually on the spectrum of autism.

As unlikely as it seems, there may have been some way to make this a good movie. I think the screenplay would have needed a complete overhaul though, with Bullock and Cooper constantly thrown together more by coincidence than any scheming. It might also have benefited from different leads.

I really like Bullock. I would consider myself a full member of the Sandra Bullock fan club. How dedicated am I to her career? Well . . . I just watched All About Steve. This is easily one of the worst performances I have seen from her though, and the way she portrays Mary is almost offensively bad. There are times when she's only a couple of steps away from being the female equivalent of Simple Jack (see Tropic Thunder for that reference point). Cooper can do cocky and smarmy, but he doesn't have the extra softness required to offset the mean side of his character. At least there's some fun to be had with Thomas Haden Church (a smug TV reporter), Ken Jeong, DJ Qualls, Katy Mixon Greer, M. C. Gainey, Holmes Osborne, and, as Mary's parents, Beth Grant and Howard Hesseman.

Despite my overwhelming criticism of this movie, I will say that it's almost saved by the supporting cast and the third act moments that try hard to show some kind of closure for both Mary and Steve. Some lessons are learned, I think, and it would work in a standard movie way if viewers had grown to care about the central character. Very few will care though, which kind of undermines the ending.

Like so many similarly maligned films, this is far from the worst of the worst. It's also deserving of a lot of the mockery and disdain it has received though. 

3/10

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Minions (2015)

Thanks to the recent release of Despicable Me 4, I was able to buy a bundle of animated movies that included the previous Despicable Me movies and, of course, the Minions movies. And I am happy with that purchase. Because I am a grown man who often enjoys the fun and anarchy of animated movies like these ones.

I had previously seen both Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2, but that's where my time with Gru and the gang had stalled. Thankfully, recent rewatches of both of those movies made me all the more eager to work my way through the rest of the franchise.

Minions is a quick overview of the little trouble-makers who now seem to remain solely employed by Gru. That wasn't always the case though, and a narrator (Geoffrey Rush) gives us a selection of people that the minions have tried to help over the years. We then get to see our lead minions (Stuart, Kevin, and Bob) get involved with the nefarious Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock) and her husband, Herb (Jon Hamm). This kickstarts a chain of events that leads to Scarlet eventually dethroning the Queen of England (Jennifer Saunders). But is that a result that the minions are happy with, and will they ever be given proper courtesy and recognition from Scarlet?

Co-directed by Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin (aka the voice of the minions), this is a fun animated feature that fits nicely in the franchise. Arguably a bit sillier, and a bit more fun, than the two movies that preceded it, writer Brian Lynch knows how to string together various set-pieces to give fans of our little yellow beings exactly what they want to see. The minions aren't actually malicious, nor are they rarely fully aware of any danger around them, and this keeps them as endearing mischief-makers, although the third act allows them to start worrying about their ultimate fate at the hands of a ticked-off super-villain.

Coffin is as entertaining as ever while voicing the titular characters, but both Bullock and Hamm are also a lot of fun. The former is so good that it makes me wish she would get involved with more animated movies that could benefit from her vocal talent. There are also fun turns from Steve Coogan, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, the aforementioned Rush and Saunders, and one or two others (including an obligatory cameo from Steve Carell).

Whether you enjoy the spectacle, enjoy the amusing way in which the plot careens from one act of villainy to the next, or just enjoy hearing minions blurt out words like "banana", Minions should make you smile and laugh for almost every moment of the 91-minute runtime. The minions may not be big, and they may not be clever, but they're wonderfully entertaining to watch. I'm looking forward to getting through the rest of the movies in this series very soon.

8/10

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While You Were Sleeping (1995)

Another film I had intended to see many years before now, While You Were Sleeping may not be a classic, but I was hoping for an enjoyable rom-com featuring Sandra Bullock being as enjoyable as she so often can be, and that is exactly what I got.

Bullock plays Lucy, a Chicago train ticket booth operator who spends a small part of each day dreaming about the very handsome Peter (Peter Gallagher). When Peter is attacked one day and ends up on the train tracks, Lucy saves his life. He is comatose though, and one misinterpreted moment leads to people thinking that Lucy is Peter’s fiancé. That pleases his family as they pile into the hospital room and gather around his prone form. And it also pleases Lucy, who starts to become part of a family unit in a way that she hasn’t ever really experienced before. But it gets complicated when she starts to develop a strong connection with Peter’s brother, Jack (Bill Pullman).

Written by two people who didn’t seem to write anything else before or after, Daniel G. Sullivan and Fredric LeBow, this is a really enjoyable romantic comedy that is smart enough to sprinkle in one or two plot points to minimise the ickiness of the central premise. Lucy is caught in a brief lie to herself, not intended for others to hear, and the situation spirals from there. She then wants to immediately tell the truth, but a friend of the family (played by Jack Warden) convinces her that having some connection to their comatose son is more beneficial to the family than knowing the truth.

With the smart writing allowing the premise to play out to its full potential, director Jon Turteltaub is able to let the cast develop some very believable chemistry and build a feeling of warmth and fun that leads viewers all the way to the predictable and entertaining finale. This is formulaic stuff (a farce created by a lie, complicated by feelings for someone who cannot know the truth), but it’s an object lesson in how to do it.

It helps that Bullock is so great in the lead role. Although I love her in any guise, she has a great knack of being able to look a bit more harried and “normal” before the moments that allow her to transform and highlight her natural beauty. She also sells both the emotional beats of the film and the comedy, with her ability to do both helping to make all of her films in this sub-genre much better than most. The same goes for Pullman, who is pretty much the male version of Bullock, in terms of how he can slightly adapt his appearance and how he can handle the different elements with equal aplomb. They make a great central pairing, and viewers will start to fret when it looks like the coma patient may be rousing at last. Gallagher doesn’t have as much to do, of course, but plays his part well. The aforementioned Warden is good fun, as are Peter Boyle, Glynis Johns, Micole Mercurio, and Monica Keena as the family who take our leading lady into their lives, and into their hearts (yeah, it’s schmaltzy like that, what do you expect?), and Michael Rispoli provides a number of extra laughs as Joe Jr, a young man who keeps deluding himself that he would be a good match for Lucy.

This has everything you need from this kind of film. There are frantic conversations about the spiraling situation, meaningful looks between two people who cannot be together, one or two pratfalls, a good selection of supporting characters (I will also mention Jason Bernard here, great value for the few scenes he has), a decent enough score from Randy Edelman, and a third act that has, well, I am sure you will already know what it has.

Really enjoyable throughout, this is a great comfort watch that should please all but the most cynical viewers.

8/10

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The Lost City (2022)

To use the simplest shorthand available, The Lost City is, in some ways, an updated version of Romancing The Stone. It has a few tweaks, with the main one being making a potential hero/rescuer someone who is often quite useless and out of his depth, but the basic premise is a romance novelist (Loretta Sage, played by Sandra Bullock) who is kidnapped by people looking for mythical treasure. An escape attempt leaves her stuck in the jungle, taking her on the kind of perilous adventure that she usually writes about in her novels. Alan (Channing Tatum) is the handsome man who may be able to save her from her predicament. The only problem is that Alan is completely ill-prepared for such an undertaking, having spent years as a model, notably portraying the heroic Dash on the cover of Loretta's work. Meanwhile, her agent (Beth, played by Da'Vine Joy Randolph) is trying to locate her, without any help from authorities.

Although the balance isn’t quite right, and there are developments in the third act that feel a bit false (even within this fictional framework), The Lost City is easy entertainment that aims to please as many people as possible. That is both a strength and weakness. It’s a star vehicle for Bullock, who has proven how good she is at comedy on a number of occasions, but it also allows Tatum to remind people of how well he does in comedic roles.

Directors Aaron and Adam Nee may find themselves stuck once it comes to the finale, from a script that they worked on with Oren Uziel and Dana Fox, but the journey more than makes up for the disappointment of the destination. They do themselves the biggest favour by casting well, with the few supporting roles played well by Randolph, Patti Harrison, Oscar Nuñez, Daniel Radcliffe and a certified a-list star making a hilarious cameo.

Bullock is on great form here, playing someone jaded and tired. Starting the film being put into a purple-sequinned dress that she hates, the fact that she has to tolerate that same item of clothing for a large portion of the runtime serves as a reminder that she was unhappy even before the kidnapping. Now she is very unhappy, but arguably still most put out by still wearing that dress in an environment that makes it even more impractical. Tatum is doing dumb, and he does it brilliantly. Always happy to smoulder for any female fans, he soon shows that he is at least more sweet and considerate than you may think, and the film allows him to become less and less ridiculous as the adventure continues, which subsequently allows Tatum to round out his character a bit more. Randolph is a lot of fun, constantly in a state of great stress, Harrison is a fairly unhelpful assistant, and Nuñez helps to lift things slightly when his character appears just in time to help, and fall for, Randolph’s character. Then there’s the villain, a role that allows Radcliffe to pretend to be charming and composed as he becomes increasingly desperate, and dangerous, on the way to finding potential treasure.

A few set-pieces sprinkle just enough action through the film to remind you that this is a rom-com adventure movie, but most people should remain happy enough while Bullock and Tatum bicker, flounder, and generally distract one another while they really should be staying focused on the many dangers around them.

While everyone contributes to making this a glossy, wonderful, blockbuster production, I will also single out Pinar Toprak, who delivers a great score that manages to suit the material without feeling too derivative. 

In case I didn’t make myself clear, I really enjoyed this. Is it great? No. Nor is it very original. But it is consistently amusing and entertaining, and boosted by two stars who are perfect in their lead roles, and who also both work very well alongside one another.

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: Premonition (2007)

One of a couple of movies in the very small subgenre we can label “Sandra Bullock is confused by time not acting in a linear fashion while she tries to save the man she loves”, Premonition is a slick mystery thriller that makes good use of the supernatural idea at the heart of it. It’s just a shame that nobody feels right in the main roles, and the writing and direction remain distinctly average throughout.

Bullock stars as Linda Hanson, mother of two young girls and wife of Jim (Julian McMahon). This is how her character is defined, and that is all viewers need. A police officer comes to the door one day, delivering the awful news that Jim has been killed in a car crash. As distraught as she is, things become more confusing when Linda wakes up “the next morning” and finds Jim alive again. She eventually gets pulled back to the time in which Jim remains dead. And is then back to before the crash. And so it goes on, with Linda trying to figure out how to fix things, while those around her assume that grief has made her lose her mind.

Written by Bill Kelly and directed by Mennan Yapo, Premonition perfectly illustrates why these two people have a very limited filmography, and nothing that stands out as being even close to this kind of thing. There’s a solid central premise to be worked with here, but neither writer nor director leans hard enough into any direction with it, although things improve slightly in the third act. None of the plotting keeps viewers off-kilter, meaning we all know more than the main character almost every step of the way. And there’s an annoying refusal to make things any more dramatic, or tense, or horrific, than your average evening soap opera.

Bullock is okay in the lead, but I am only saying that because I like Bullock. She feels miscast, just never as comfortable as the stressed-out and mentally fraying woman she has to portray. McMahon is also miscast, mainly because he is SO good at playing shitty men that it can be hard to root for him as a normal guy. Peter Stormare and Nia Long are both sorely underused, the child actors are decent enough, and Kate Nelligan does good work as Linda’s concerned mother. There’s also a small role for Amber Valletta, who is perhaps the biggest victim of the poor writing and execution.

Not exciting, not tense, not populated by people you can really care for, I predict most people will rate Premonition even lower than I do.

3/10

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Miss Congeniality (2000)

Once you get beyond the opening act of Miss Congeniality, with numerous scenes built around the fact that Sandra Bullock isn't viewed as a lady because she's strong, smart, doesn't take time to ensure her hair and make-up are flawless every morning, and is generally just "one of the guys", things improve considerably. Instead of just trying to hide Bullock in the wrinkled clothing of "FBI slob", she gets a chance to shine, in terms of her transformed appearance and also, more importantly, in scenes that show her talent for comedy.

The basic plot is nonsense, but nonsense that makes the whole thing easy enough to buy into. Bullock is Gracie Hart, the only agent available at short notice to help infiltrate the Miss United States beauty pageant, which the FBI believes has been targeted by a dangerous criminal who wishes to blow it up. Gracie only has a couple of days to be groomed by Victor Melling (Michael Caine), who initially suspects it's a job that even a man of his skills cannot manage, and she is a pain in the backside of all those involved, be it the hosts (played by Candice Bergen and William Shatner) or her colleagues at the bureau (Benjamin Bratt tries to offer support, Ernie Hudson is the boss none too impressed by the whole escapade).

Director Donald Petrie has a filmography with some solid comedies in there, but few real greats. This is another solid one, almost lifted higher by the performances from a couple of the main players. Although it's all put together competently enough, it suffers from a script that fails to wring as many laughs from each sequence as it could. Marc Lawrence has written a few features that Bullock has starred in, whether by coincidence or by design, but co-writers Katie Ford and Caryn Lucas are names I am less familiar with, and that makes me wonder if there were a number of conflicting voices here that tried to pull the film in too many different directions, tonally, without keeping the comedy at the front and centre of their plans. You have the thriller plotline, often sidelined aside from one or two key sequences, you have the "fish out of water" aspect of Bullock being somewhere she really doesn't want to be, and you get the moments of female bonding. None of these elements spoil the experience, but the shifts in tone are enough to make it feel inconsistent and lacking in cohesion.

The consistency comes from the main performances. Bullock is a lot of fun, making the most of this star vehicle, and Caine works very well alongside her, helped by the fact that he grabs most of the best lines from the script. Bergen and Shatner are both good, with the latter a perfect fit for the role of slick show host, and Heather Burns is very sweet as "Miss Rhode Island", a girl who brings out the protective nature of Bullock's character. Other contestants are played by Melissa De Sousa, Deirdre Quinn, and Wendy Raquel Robinson, although they often have to resign themselves to being scene-setting accessories in most of their scenes. Hudson gets to be angry in a couple of scenes, and that's his whole character (basically), and Bratt gets the thankless role of potential romantic interest, which makes a nice change from a talented actress being stuck in such a role.

There's a good selection of familiar hits in the soundtrack, some amusing lines of dialogue outwith the exchanges between Bullock and Caine (my favourite being the answer to a question about a favourite date), and it just about manages not to outstay its welcome. If you're a massive fan of Bullock then you may want to add an extra point. Everyone else can have more laughs with Drop Dead Gorgeous (a much funnier film with a similar setting, albeit very different thanks to the mock-doc style) first, and then get to this one whenever the opportunity arises.

6/10

You can buy the movie, with the sequel, here.
Americans can buy it here.

Prime Time: The Lake House (2006)

An American remake of a South Korean movie that was released in the year 2000, The Lake House makes good use of two stars being reunited after displaying such great chemistry in their previous movie (Speed, which was way back in 1994, so this was long overdue). The plotting is, frankly, ridiculous. The cheesiness often goes off the scale. And it's wonderful entertainment.

Things start off with Dr. Kate Forrester (Bullock) leaving a note in a mailbox for the next tenant of her lake house home to please forward her mail. She includes some details about the home that makes no sense to the apparent new tenant, Alex Wyler (Reeves). Quickly discovering the illogical detail that Kate is putting her notes in the mail box in 2006 and Alex is receiving them, and delivering his own notes, in 2004, so begins a quirky romance that leaves viewers hoping that the two leads will figure out a way to get together in the same time and space. Things keep getting in the way, however, and tension starts to build as things head towards a finale that could be uplifting or heartbreaking, depending on what decisions are made by the characters.

Although based on the original screenplay, the script here by David Auburn seems to work well because of the way it quickly sets up the main premise and then endeavours to keep viewers so firmly interested in the central couple, and invested in their plight, that less time is given over to considering how ridiculous and full of holes the whole thing is. The dialogue is sometimes awful, and when I say sometimes I mean most of the time, but it's improved by most of the exchanges involving either Bullock or Reeves. They talk in a way that doesn't ever feel realistic, yet it doesn't matter. This isn't a film about realism. It's a quirky romance tale with two beautiful people trying to do the best by one another.

Argentine director Alejandro Agresti shoots with an eye for the romance of it all. Whether that's scenes in which Reeves wanders around, looking handsome as he tries to set up something that will pay off in two years for the benefit of Bullock, or even just in the way the characters view their surroundings a little differently, the mundane being transformed by what they now consider the presence of someone they are falling in love with.

How much you like the movie will depend on how much you like the leads, but I personally find Bullock and Reeves two of the most likeable stars of the past few decades, which means I watch this movie with a smile on my face for most of the runtime. Support comes from Christopher Plummer (the father of Reeves' character, there are issues there that may or may not be resolved), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Reeves' brother), Dylan Walsh (someone competing for the affection of Bullock), Shoreh Aghdashloo (Bullock's boss/mentor at her new hospital), and one or two more, but they're all there to simply help or hinder the central romance.

Although I had seen this before, maybe about ten years ago, I couldn't remember how things panned out. To say I was on the edge of my seat during the last scenes would be correct. Others may pretend to be unfazed, I was fully invested and considering the worst while hoping for the best. If you can overlook the massive plot holes, and if you can accept the standard of the dialogue throughout most of the film, you can enjoy this as much as I did. If you cannot put those things aside then, well, that's your loss.

7/10

There's a region-free disc available here.

The Blind Side (2009)

It's interesting to watch The Blind Side today, probably more interesting than it would have been watching it when first released, for the way in which it already feels quite archaic and cringe-inducing. A decade later we have conversations whirling around daily about representation, we've had the attempt to remind police of their bias with the Black Lives Matter, and there has been a notable progression, even if it is in the tiniest of increments. The fact that The Blind Side is based on a true story doesn't mean you can watch it without considering everything that has happened since. I'll be reviewing it for what it is, as I try to do with every movie, but I felt it was worth pointing this out at the start. You can view and enjoy this for the standard drama, with a hefty serving of sports, that it is, and you can also springboard from it into some very interesting thoughts and conversations about what has, and hasn't, changed in the previous decade.

Quinton Aaron plays Michael Oher, a large African American lad who gets a chance to join a fairly prestigious school when the American Football coach (Ray McKinnon) considers what an asset he could be to the school team. Unfortunately, Michael doesn't look like he will be there for long. His grades aren't good and he has to spend his nights seeking somewhere warm to sleep, due to his being made homeless. But an encounter with the Tuohy family starts him on a path that may give him the time and opportunity to make a much better life for himself.

Writer-director John Lee Hancock has done well for himself with a selection of celebrated films adapted from true stories (including Saving Mr. Banks and The Founder, as well as this one). Here he adapts the book by Michael Lewis, fudging some facts and character traits to create more cinematic elements for the main characters to contend with, and he does everything with a degree of polish and competence that guarantees most viewers who watch without being too cynical will at least enjoy watching the story unfold. It's very predictable, and makes a lot of very safe choices, but it's still a good watch, the kind of glossy cinematic comfort food that makes for a decent choice on family movie night.

Aaron is very good in his role, a gentle giant who has his intelligence hidden behind his timid demeanour, ready to fulfil his potential if someone can engage him in the right way. Sandra Bullock is enjoyably over the top as Leigh Anne Tuohy, a woman who is used to getting her way and doesn't care about the opinions of others. It's an over the top performance, and one that bagged her an Oscar for reasons that are beyond me, but there's no denying that she has fun with it. Tim McGraw plays her husband, and the children are played by Lily Collins and a scene-stealing Jae Head (the youngest family member). Everyone does good work. McKinnon is fun in the coach role, not knowing how to deal with his new player until Mrs Tuohy puts him right, and Kathy Bates does just fine as a tutor who is hired to help Michael get his grades up, because failing academically will scupper any prospects he may have to develop his American Football career.

Just as easy to hate as it is to enjoy, The Blind Side is simply out to tell a story that engages and entertains viewers, and maybe moves them on occasion (if you're unmoved then it's not for the lack of attempted manipulation by Hancock). I ended up really liking it, mainly thanks to the central performances from Aaron and Bullock, and I recommend it to others, even if, despite the title, there's not much that happens that you don't see coming from the very beginning.

7/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can get the same disc here.

Netflix And Chill: Bird Box (2018)

It's fitting that those with the ability to see the world around them would have to have been blindfolded for the past few weeks to have somehow missed the promotion and memes that have been doing the rounds since Bird Box was released on Netflix. It all helped to turn the film into another big hit for the company (although exact numbers are always hard to come by when figuring out how good or bad things do on the platform).

Sandra Bullock is Malorie, a woman who was extremely happy at one point, just before the whole world went to hell. Malorie had been attending a standard check up on the health of her baby, accompanied by her sister (Jessica, played by Sarah Paulson), and then people started to act funny as they headed home. It's a strange force, something that people see that drives them to commit suicide. Malorie ends up in a house with some others (including Tom, played by Trevante Rhodes, and Douglas, played by John Malkovich) who have quickly surmised that the key to staying alive is to stop yourself from being able to see the outside world. But that makes things difficult when provisions need collected, and when there are some other people who are insane enough to want to help others look at what they somehow view as something glorious.

I approached Bird Box with no small amount of trepidation. Let's face it, I was already a week or two behind everyone else, a lot of people seemed to be having more fun with the memes than the actual movie itself, and I assumed that it was another case of Netflix doing a better job of creating viral content than a film that would actually impress me. I'm pleased to say that I was wrong.

This is a fantastic film. Not just a fantastic film to land on a home platform, although that undoubtedly helped it to snowball and find the kind of audience figures it may well have struggled to reel into cinemas, but a fantastic film for genre fans. Many have already labelled it as a cross between The Happening and A Quiet Place. While that comparison isn't entirely unwarranted, it's not exactly fare. Bird Box ends up being better than both of those films (which I know is an opinion that will leave me pretty lonely, in the case of the latter movie anyway, but I'm standing by it).

Based on a novel by Josh Malerman, the screenplay by Eric Heisserer is very good indeed, using jumps between the present and the past to help maintain tension and optimise the pacing. The fact that the central force is unseen (but physicality is certainly hinted at - people focus their sight somewhere, shadows are cast across windows, etc) helps to avoid any anticlimactic reveals, and there's also the variety added by the other survivors who become a problem, as happens in almost every "post-apocalyptic" movie, a subgenre that this film certainly has a foot in.

Director Susanne Bier has a solid enough filmography, although nothing that seems to be as horror-tinged as this is. But that may be another factor that really helps, Bier helps to keep everything consistent in tone by allowing the characters to lead the way, simply allowing the situation to allow them to show more of themselves as they have to act and react quickly, to preserve their own lives and anyone else they decide to try and protect.

Bullock is excellent in the lead role, but that's not much of a surprise to anyone who has been a fan of her work over the years (and I count myself among them), but I doubt the film would have worked as well if they'd placed it all on her shoulders, a la Gravity. No, this time around, a strong lead performance is boosted by strong supporting turns from a cast that includes Trevante Rhodes (who is very good), John Malkovich (as excellent as ever), Jacki Weaver (underused), Danielle Macdonald (saddled with being the character who makes the decisions that will make you roll your eyes), and Tom Hollander (very good in a role that is perhaps the weakest link in the whole film). There are also good performances from Paulson, B D Wong, Rosa Salazar, Lil Rel Howery, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Parminder Nagra, and young Vivien Lyra Blair and Julian Edwards as the young children accompanying Bullock for part of her journey.

Because of the sheer number of people who rushed to see this, Bird Box has very quickly proven to be a divisive film. And I already know a lot of people who don't want to watch it because they're already fed up of the gags that have gone viral. I would say, as with most movies, it's still well worth your time. See it and make up your own mind about the film itself. Not the marketing, not the reaction to it, just the film. And I hope you end up enjoying it almost as much as I did.

8/10

Here's a pack of other Sandra Bullock movies available to buy.
Americans can get a Bullock fix here.

April Fools: The Heat (2013)

Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy are the odd couple thrown together in this standard buddy cop comedy that ends up providing a fair amount of chuckles, thanks to the talents of the cast and a consistently amusing, if not outright hilarious, script.

Bullock is Agent Ashburn, a Fed who takes great pride in her work. Well, it's basically all she has in her life. Except for her cat, which actually belongs to her neighbour. When a big case takes her to Boston it's not long until she bumps into the aggressive and unorthodox Mullins (McCarthy). Which means, of course, that the two of them have to work together to crack the case.

Director Paul Feig, who scored a huge hit with his previous movie, Bridesmaids, proves here that he has a knack of working well with talented comedic actresses. Or that he has a knack of working well with talented female writers, as it's Katie Dippold who wrote the script. Or maybe he just does well when paired up with McCarthy, who was one of many highlights in Bridesmaids, of course.

I've always been a fan of Bullock, and I think she's particularly good in comedic roles. The Heat reminds people of just how good she is with the right material. McCarthy gets most of the big laughs, of course, but Bullock does well as the uptight agent who might just learn to loosen up a little bit over the course of the movie. McCarthy really shines here, unlike her turn in the misjudged Identity Thief, and I hope she considers clearing her schedule for any future opportunities to work with Feig, who obviously knows how to get the best out of her.

While none of the other main characters are played by any BIG names, I must say that the supporting cast had a great selection of talent. Marlon Wayans, Michael Rapaport, Bill Burr, Thomas F. Wilson, Jane Curtin and others all join in with the fun, and everyone seems to have a good time.

The script could have been sharper, the film could have been tightened up a bit (the runtime is just under two hours), and there's a fine line being walked between filling the movie with cliches and having fun with them, but there's plenty here to enjoy, especially for fans of the two leads.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Heat-Blu-ray-UV-Copy/dp/B00DHB410E/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1391201784&sr=8-2&keywords=the+heat

The Prince Of Egypt (1998)

Be warned. I will be starting this review, as I sometimes do, with a bit of a ramble. But I do have a point. I sometimes use this blog to promote my personal views on subjects that I feel strongly about. Sometimes. The reasons I don't do it more often are that a) it's a MOVIE blog and b) I may often think I know what I'm talking about, but am wise enough to remember just how much I also don't know about any given subject. Having said that, one of my personal stances that I am happy to mention, but simply feel little need to go on about, is the fact that I'm an atheist. I have mentioned my lack of religious belief in other movie reviews, especially when the film being watched and reviewed is something with a very spiritual core, but it doesn't happen often because I don't think it really matters all that much if the movie succeeds in whatever it sets out to do. I also try not to offend people with religious beliefs because I love personal freedoms and the power to believe in anything as much as I loathe organised religion and what warped readings of ancient texts can do to certain, misguided, individuals.

Why do I need to say all this at the start of a review of an animated movie about the life of Moses? Do I need to have firm religious beliefs to enjoy this film? No, of course not. Not at all. Although it might help. The strange thing is that I have always loved the better-known biblical tales and the parables that I was taught as a young boy. I think that they're decent stories, often with a good moral to take away and think about them. Decent stories, from any source, should make for decent movies. Sadly, that's not the case here.

The life of Moses (voiced here by Val Kilmer) is an exciting one. It starts with the young boy being sent downriver in his baby basket to save him from slavery and/or death and develops into a tale that includes a burning bush, a bit of strife with Rameses (Ralph Fiennes), ten terrible plagues, the parting of the Red Sea and more.

Exciting stuff, I'm sure you'll agree. Which is why The Prince Of Egypt is so frustrating for most of its runtime. It's just far too dull. The animation is nice enough, and there are plenty of sequences full of great visuals showcasing a nice stylised take on ancient Egypt, and the vocal cast, including Sandra Bullock, Michelle Pfeiffer, Danny Glover, Steve Martin and Jeff Goldblum among many others, certainly doesn't lack star power. Sadly, the film takes these elements and does nothing with them. Songs are drab and unmemorable, and set-pieces never take off in the way that they should. There are moments when things seem about to lift up, then it just crumples once again.

Philip LaZebnik is the man responsible for the lifeless script, with additional material from Nicholas Meyer, and Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner and Simon Wells are the directors failing to find any other ways to liven up the material. Having sat through this while feeling quite bored throughout, I can't imagine any kids ever being enthralled by it. Knowing how much I enjoyed these tales when I first learned of them as a youngster, that just emphasises what a failed opportunity this is.

4/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Prince-Egypt-DVD-Kilmer/dp/B000059HL2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375655130&sr=8-1&keywords=the+prince+of+egypt