What's New In Blu? (Week of March 23)

“The Blind Side” (PG-13)
Starring Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron and Kathy Bates
Directed by John Lee Hancock
Showing the same knack for a true sports-oriented story well told that he did with 2002’s “The Rookie,” director John Lee Hancock crafted another hit with the Oscar-nominated film that focuses on Michael Oher and his adoptive family, the Tuohys. The story in and of itself is pretty compelling, with the physically gifted Oher (played by Quinton Aaron) having hopped around the foster care system, only to find himself taken in by an upper-class Tennessee family, headed up by a take-no-bull woman, Leigh Anne (Sandra Bullock, in an Oscar-winning performance). Their love and support of him leads him to football, where he eventually dominates as an offensive lineman and becomes a highly recruited college prospect. The movie was smartly promoted as a Sandra Bullock showcase, and her acting is the real engine for the story. It’s easily her meatiest role yet, and her best performance. The film kind of skims over the more recent years, but does manage to weave in some actual footage of the family at the 2009 NFL draft, where Oher was a first-round pick.
Grade: B+

Other releases:
“The African Queen” (NR)
Starring Humphrey Bogart, Katherine Hepburn, Robert Morley, Peter Bull
Directed by John Huston

“Brothers” (R)
Starring Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Sam Shepard, Clifton Collins Jr. and Mare Winningham
Directed by Jim Sheridan

“Days of Heaven” (PG)
Starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard, Linda Manz
Directed by Terrence Malick

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (PG)
Starring the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson
Directed by Wes Anderson

“The Men Who Stare at Goats” (R)
Starring George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey, Robert Patrick
Directed by Grant Heslov

“Red Cliff” (R)
Starring Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen, Chung Lin
Directed by John Woo

“Toy Story” (G)
Starring the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenburger, Annie Potts
Directed by John Lasseter

“Toy Story 2” (G)
Starring the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenburger, Annie Potts
Directed by John Lasseter