I finally watched the film Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for this year, The Blind Side.  

Ahem. I was disappointed.

I know a lot of people really enjoyed this movie, but for me, it was too Hollywood-esque, complete with loads of high-five’s, and clichéd feel-good moments, which reminded me of a store bought card, which often lacks originality and depth. Ouch. I know. Sorry.

I suppose I blame the director’s vision, or lack of it for what I consider to be very disappointing on my discerning cinematic eyes. I feel somehow the direction missed the beauty that was brewing just below the surface and if he had scratched a little harder, it really could have shined. I can see the potential, but it just didn’t quite make the cut, in my opionion. I kept waiting for the profound depth to be uncovered, you know, the kind of message that the Academy looks for, but instead each scene was even more cliché than the last. Disappointing. 

God, I hate giving bad reviews. I probably see close to a hundred films each year: some are good and some bad.  I rarely if ever mention the bad ones. “If you have nothing good to say, then don’t say it” as the saying goes and I try and stick to those words, but…this film won an Oscar for best actress, thus I felt like I should review it. And honestly if I didn’t feel so strongly about the fact that the film really had no business being nominated for an Oscar in any category, I wouldn’t have said anything.

I wish I could recommend this film, but I can’t. I found it to be, well, disappointing. Finally, it’s important that I mention that I love Sandra Bullock. I think she’s beautiful, funny and I respect her as an actor, but there is no way she should have won in this category. Not for this film and certainly not up against Helen Miren for her performance in The Last Station. Come on!

Okay, so to make up for my not very nice review of the film, I want to share two new cool finds with you. 1. I found Welcome Mats made from 100% recycled flip-flops (can you believe it?) 2. I found this really cool idea: Boom-Boom Cards. Yes, as a matter of fact I will be sending a nice boom-boom message out to Sandra Bullock.

Chicka-Boom Boom
Neve Black