The Blind Side - Great Date Movie

We needed something enjoyable Thanksiving weekend that three generations could see together. So, The Blind Side was the logical call. It holds together pretty well as long as you're not looking for deep messages. Plus, staring at Sandra Bullock and her mostly off-white outfits is a reasonable way to pass 90 minutes, even if you wonder how she can keep them clean visiting a ghetto housing project or not have her high heels sink into the grass walking on to the practice field. (The magic of Hollywood.) The NCAA rep was portrayed as a devious soul who'd made up her mind before the facts were in, which seems a nice link to reality. Less real was taking in Michael Oher (the HS offensive tackle who the movie is ostensibly about) to the Bullock-and-hubby family megamansion and he has to sleep in the living room at first -- on account of this family with two kids living in a huge house has only one guest room left and that's used for Sandra's office.

Nice NY Times article contrasting "Blind Side" with "Precious," as somewhat similar stories treated differently.

Ugh. They turned a great book about football into a date movie about Sandra Bullock. F Hollywood. *vomits*

Remember, Hollywood managed to turn a book about Arsenal into a date movie about the Red Sox. With Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore.

jtwcornell91
Remember, Hollywood managed to turn a book about Arsenal into a date movie about the Red Sox. With Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore.

Just to add to that, the Jimmy Fallon-Drew Barrymore movie is based on the 1997 movie of the same name. The 1997 version starred Colin Firth in the Jimmy Fallon role and was actually about soccer. The screenplay for the 1997 movie was adapted by Nick Hornby from his 1992 book.


And good news: Moneyball: The Movie starring Brad Pitt as Billy Beane is reportedly back on.

jtwcornell91
Remember, Hollywood managed to turn a book about Arsenal into a date movie about the Red Sox. With Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore.

Nitpick: Fever Pitch was more about fandom and the way it shaped Hornby's life than it was about Arsenal per se.

Josh '99

jtwcornell91
Remember, Hollywood managed to turn a book about Arsenal into a date movie about the Red Sox. With Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore.

Nitpick: Fever Pitch was more about fandom and the way it shaped Hornby's life than it was about Arsenal per se.

Fair point. My ability to relate to the story was unaffected by my indifference towards the Gunners.

jtwcornell91
Remember, Hollywood managed to turn a book about Arsenal into a date movie about the Red Sox. With Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore.

If your point is Hollywood takes any story line and turns it into lowest common denominator product for the proles to wash down with their Raisonettes, well, alert the media.

But fully granting that date movies, the Red Sox, and Jimmy Fallon all sorts of suck, thou shalt not speak ill of Drew Barrymore!

Trotsky
Drew Barrymore!

Try harder. Referer checking.

nyc94

jtwcornell91
Remember, Hollywood managed to turn a book about Arsenal into a date movie about the Red Sox. With Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore.

Just to add to that, the Jimmy Fallon-Drew Barrymore movie is based on the 1997 movie of the same name. The 1997 version starred Colin Firth in the Jimmy Fallon role and was actually about soccer. The screenplay for the 1997 movie was adapted by Nick Hornby from his 1992 book.


And good news: Moneyball: The Movie starring Brad Pitt as Billy Beane is reportedly back on.

Oooh... Colin Firth . Might be a good movie for me to watch on a date-less, hockey-less, Saturday night .

Rita
Oooh... Colin Firth

My wife says the same thing. I sat through Pride and Prejudice and I don't get it.

nyc94

Rita
Oooh... Colin Firth

My wife says the same thing. I sat through Pride and Prejudice and I don't get it.

Try "Love Actually" if you want to give Colin Firth another try (and spend quality time with the wife). On the plus side (for you), it is not as long as P&P . Alternatively, you just might be short an "X" chromosome .

Trotsky
If your point is Hollywood takes any story line and turns it into lowest common denominator product for the proles to wash down with their Raisonettes, well, alert the media.

You mean like how they completely ruined "Love Story?" It starts out as a perfectly enjoyable tale about a hockey team from Ithaca, but the rest is drivel. I don't know what they were thinking with the final 82 minutes. They totally veered away from an interesting plotline. We never find out what happens to Francis LaPierre, the dashing captain of the Cornell hockey team!

nyc94

Rita
Oooh... Colin Firth

My wife says the same thing. I sat through Pride and Prejudice and I don't get it.

Now that we're in JSID: Jennifer Ehle is slated to play Catelyn Stark in the HBO adaptation of A Game of Thrones. Of course all casting news for that series pales beside Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister.

jtwcornell91

nyc94

Rita
Oooh... Colin Firth

My wife says the same thing. I sat through Pride and Prejudice and I don't get it.

Now that we're in JSID: Jennifer Ehle is slated to play Catelyn Stark in the HBO adaptation of A Game of Thrones. Of course all casting news for that series pales beside Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister.

I recognized about half the words in your post.

Heh heh. He said "dinklage".

jtwcornell91

nyc94

Rita
Oooh... Colin Firth

My wife says the same thing. I sat through Pride and Prejudice and I don't get it.

Now that we're in JSID: Jennifer Ehle is slated to play Catelyn Stark in the HBO adaptation of A Game of Thrones. Of course all casting news for that series pales beside Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister.

Why do a TV adaptation of a series he seems destined to never finish? Work on the damn books - Dance with Dragons was supposed to be done three and a half years ago.

What is a "date"?

Roy 82
What is a "date"?

A fruity thing found in many middle-eastern desserts??

Roy 82
What is a "date"?

Everybody here knows what a date is.

Now, a second date...

nyc94

Rita
Oooh... Colin Firth

My wife says the same thing. I sat through Pride and Prejudice and I don't get it.

Hopping in late but...drooool.

Rita

nyc94

Rita
Oooh... Colin Firth

My wife says the same thing. I sat through Pride and Prejudice and I don't get it.

Try "Love Actually" if you want to give Colin Firth another try (and spend quality time with the wife). On the plus side (for you), it is not as long as P&P . Alternatively, you just might be short an "X" chromosome .

I must go watch Love Actually. It's the time of year for it. It doesn't stream off of netflix This one's more about Hugh Grant :D But yes, like Rita said, nyc94 I think you are short an X chromosome.

NPR had a review on the new Colin Firth movie "A Single Man".

At least from the pictures, I'm not digging Colin Firth as a brunette too much. But still might be worth finding out where the local movie megaplex is and checking it out during this Cornell hockey lull.

If we're talking about recent "date movies," I saw "Up in the Air" this week (oddly enough, right before I took a red-eye from SFO) and liked it a lot. A rare romantic comedy which can be enjoyed by both sexes, thanks to a healthy blend of satire and romance. It features some really good writing, while providing a very natural dialogue. Clooney gives a nice turn as a self-important, yet likable character. There's one part that is miscast IMO, which is glaring considering there are only four main roles, but other than that it's a really well put together film. Personally, it amused me since I've been traveling about 90% of my time this year. You should probably overlook the relentless product placements for American Airlines and Hilton.

And there's also a brief Cornell mention.

A Frank Rich New York Times OpEd today, "Hollywood’s Brilliant Coda to America’s Dark Year," declares Up in the Air to be biting commentary: " ...it captures the distinctive topography of our Great Recession as vividly as a far more dour Hollywood product of 70 years ago, 'The Grapes of Wrath,' did the vastly different landscape of the Great Depression." Imagine how much Steinbecks's estate would be worth if he'd thought of product placements.

billhoward
A Frank Rich New York Times OpEd today, "Hollywood’s Brilliant Coda to America’s Dark Year," declares Up in the Air to be biting commentary: " ...it captures the distinctive topography of our Great Recession as vividly as a far more dour Hollywood product of 70 years ago, 'The Grapes of Wrath,' did the vastly different landscape of the Great Depression." Imagine how much Steinbecks's estate would be worth if he'd thought of product placements.

Are there brand-name nursing pads?

RichH
You should probably overlook the relentless product placements for American Airlines and Hilton.

Actually, I heard and interview on Fresh Air with the director, who I think said they didn't actually get any money from AA, just access to film in real airports/airplanes/security checkpoints.

I also need to see that movie, given how much I fly. (Although I'm sure it'll be an inflight movie next year.)

jtwcornell91

RichH
You should probably overlook the relentless product placements for American Airlines and Hilton.

Actually, I heard and interview on Fresh Air with the director, who I think said they didn't actually get any money from AA, just access to film in real airports/airplanes/security checkpoints.

I also need to see that movie, given how much I fly. (Although I'm sure it'll be an inflight movie next year.)

And according to the same interview, the director and crew did not get any frequent flyer miles for all the flying they did to get the overhead shots.

I read the book on my flight over to Taiwan 2-1/2 weeks ago. It's a strange little book. I wonder how it translates to the big screen. And the airline he flew in the book was fictional.

And FWIW, I've earned well over 1 million miles on United, although I only have about 230,000 in my account right now. I use my miles for free international travel fairly regularly. A co-worker has 1.25 million currently in his mileage balance. So the 1 million miles in the book is not that big a deal.

However, I have >800,000 actual flight miles on United. That's excluding class bonuses, credit card miles, hotel miles, etc. It works out to something like 40-60 round-trips to Asia. Gotta admit, I'm not really that anxious to get to 1 million.

Jeff Hopkins '82
I read the book on my flight over to Taiwan 2-1/2 weeks ago. It's a strange little book. I wonder how it translates to the big screen. And the airline he flew in the book was fictional.

And FWIW, I've earned well over 1 million miles on United, although I only have about 230,000 in my account right now. I use my miles for free international travel fairly regularly. A co-worker has 1.25 million currently in his mileage balance. So the 1 million miles in the book is not that big a deal.

However, I have >800,000 actual flight miles on United. That's excluding class bonuses, credit card miles, hotel miles, etc. It works out to something like 40-60 round-trips to Asia. Gotta admit, I'm not really that anxious to get to 1 million.

It really is a shame those things aren't transferrable. I know several people with that kind of mileage who'll never come remotely close to using it all.

Beeeej
It really is a shame those things aren't transferrable. I know several people with that kind of mileage who'll never come remotely close to using it all.

Miles may not be exactly transferable but I'm pretty sure you can buy a ticket for another person with your miles. Which is more or less what you're looking for.

Beeeej
It really is a shame those things aren't transferrable. I know several people with that kind of mileage who'll never come remotely close to using it all.

You can donate them to Make a Wish... [www.wish.org] and the Fisher house [www.fisherhouse.org], among other charities.

CK

You can assign the miles to charities and it'd be a cruel airline that would fight this. Use up your air miles on United before you die becaused they dont' survive you; American, Continental and US Air lets them pass down to your heirs. Some airlines say it's discretionary. The rules also vary as to whether miles can be fought over in a divorce. That's what I knew as of this summer; rules change a lot.

Jeff Hopkins '82
I read the book on my flight over to Taiwan 2-1/2 weeks ago. It's a strange little book. I wonder how it translates to the big screen. And the airline he flew in the book was fictional.

Not having read the book, I can't comment directly, but several places have mentioned that the movie is only loosely based on the book. From McPaper's review: "Clooney gives one of his best performances, upgrading Kirn's smug anti-hero to a better class of fellow, with an undercurrent of vulnerability. Reitman added layers to the characters, made changes to the plot, updated the setting and added players."

And FWIW, I've earned well over 1 million miles on United, although I only have about 230,000 in my account right now. I use my miles for free international travel fairly regularly. A co-worker has 1.25 million currently in his mileage balance. So the 1 million miles in the book is not that big a deal.

I guess I'm not giving away any spoilers in revealing that the number has been updated to 10 million miles for the movie.

RichH

Jeff Hopkins '82
I read the book on my flight over to Taiwan 2-1/2 weeks ago. It's a strange little book. I wonder how it translates to the big screen. And the airline he flew in the book was fictional.

Not having read the book, I can't comment directly, but several places have mentioned that the movie is only loosely based on the book. From McPaper's review: "Clooney gives one of his best performances, upgrading Kirn's smug anti-hero to a better class of fellow, with an undercurrent of vulnerability. Reitman added layers to the characters, made changes to the plot, updated the setting and added players."

And FWIW, I've earned well over 1 million miles on United, although I only have about 230,000 in my account right now. I use my miles for free international travel fairly regularly. A co-worker has 1.25 million currently in his mileage balance. So the 1 million miles in the book is not that big a deal.

I guess I'm not giving away any spoilers in revealing that the number has been updated to 10 million miles for the movie.

Actually, there's a point in the book where the protagonist mentions that a friend of his has over a million miles, but he got that on another airline by flying to Tokyo. He said that didn't count.

In the book, the guy got his miles on flights only within the western US. I can't imagine getting to 1 million in increments of 500-1000. I get mine in increments of 20-30,000 per trip.

I made it to 950K on UA before switching to CO since they fly everywhere nonstop out of Newark, even Singapore at the right times of the year, such as for Cane the Round Eyes Festival. Jeff's right: You can get to a million miles flying to Asia. Doing it within the U.S. is a lot of work. Worst of all is if you live in Chicago because you can't fly that far whereas East Coast-West Coast is 5000 miles round trip. Do that once a month and you've got the airline's most elite status, or close to it (50K or 75K miles in a year).

Crappy as it is flying coach and being away from family, it beats being away in Iraq, or driving a long-haul truck cross country to make maybe $60K a year, or a bunch of other things most of us on this forum don't have to do for a living.

billhoward
I made it to 950K on UA before switching to CO since they fly everywhere nonstop out of Newark, even Singapore at the right times of the year, such as for Cane the Round Eyes Festival. Jeff's right: You can get to a million miles flying to Asia. Doing it within the U.S. is a lot of work. Worst of all is if you live in Chicago because you can't fly that far whereas East Coast-West Coast is 5000 miles round trip. Do that once a month and you've got the airline's most elite status, or close to it (50K or 75K miles in a year).

Actually, 50,000 miles a year is not even close to United's elite flyers. I know because I'm a 50,000 mile flyer and the perks basically amount to giving you more miles, letting you use the lounge for free on international flights, no baggage charges, and getting on the plane before everyone else (and if you're going to be sitting on the damn plane for 14 hours, what's the rush?). That's pretty much it.

They have a category for 100,000 mile per year flyers (which for some reason they call 1K). You get more upgrade certificates for that, but I'm not sure what else.

They also have a category above that called "Global Services" which they don't even advertise in their frequent flyer literature. You only find out about it once you reach the milestone (and nobody tells you what that milestone is). You get to that level and you pretty much get upgraded to first for every flight and you can upgrade your friends, too, even if you're not on the same flight. I had a friend who's Global Services upgrade me from business to first on a trans-pacific flight. His super uprgrade certs were expiring so rather than let them go to waste...Pretty sweet.

You're right about UA. I made 1K once but that was with a bunch of Japan trips. When I flew UA regularly the levels were 25K, 50K and 100K, IIRC. Continental's third tier I think is less than 100K. But at this point, while I like ducking into the shorter security line (gad, the one I saw at EWR Friday night while leaving was hellacioius) and the occasional upgrade, it's all BandAids that make you feel a little better about how crappy flying has gotten. Unless I get exit row, it's not worth trying to use your laptop. Also, as all carriers fly closer to capacity, the upgrades-when-available-for-elite come less often. The perk I got into and out of DFW Thursday-Friday was the offer to sit in the bulkhead row of an Embraer 145 regional jet.

(I'm impressed by how long this thread has held on.)