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The Blind Side (Warner Home Video) Sandra Bullock, dolled up with blonde highlights, pink lipstick, tailored suits, lots of jewelry and a no-nonsense Southern accent, is a caring Christian lady who takes in a solemn giant - a shy, African-American high school student who turns out to have a talent for football. The movie, based on a true story, expertly pours the Bullock audiences love into one of those high profile roles that sweeps away the competition and wins all the awards. It worked for Julia Roberts with Erin Brockovich and Sally Field in Norma Rae and has worked for many, many other actresses more popular with audiences than critics. One reaches back as far as Joan Crawford to find a superior example with her Oscar win for Mildred Pierce. None of this dilutes the pleasure of watching Bullock take on all comers in this by the numbers sports film. The stars aligned on this one but knowing this doesn't make it any less entertaining. Broken Embraces (Sony) Out director-writer, Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar, has crafted another winning role for his muse Penelope Cruz who delivers another sexy, fully faceted performance in this romantic mystery noir ala the classic Laura. Though the movie's entertaining and features nods to earlier Almodovar works like Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (and includes a nice cameo from Rossy DePalma who I desperately miss in his movies), this one doesn't resonate quite as deeply as Volver, Bad Education or All About My Mother. But Cruz's luscious performance, along with her supporting cast, and enough twists and turns still make this light years ahead of its American counterparts. Hey, it's Almodovar and Cruz? You're going to miss it? Didn't think so. The Stoning of Soraya M (Lionsgate) Shorheh Aghdashloo, who became familiar to American audiences with her wonderful work in House of Sand & Fog, enlivens this based on a true drama of a terrible secret that a reporter stumbles on in a remote Iranian village. Talk about the antithesis of women's lib! An involving story about power, deception, and senseless brutality - all directed at the poor, put upon women forced to cower under the veil in the name of ancient customs. Mozhan Marnò plays Soraya - the kind mother who just wants things to be fair when her horrid husband pushes her toward a divorce - which sets off the horrific chain of events. Lorna's Silence (Sony) Arta Dobrishi plays Lorna who is at the center of a story of a group of desperately poor Eastern Europeans trying for a better life. Lorna has married Claudy, a junkie, in order to get citizenship in her new husband's country Belgium. But then Fabio, who arranged the marriage, wants Lorna to kill off Claudy and marry a Russian mobster who is also looking for Belgium citizenship. Everything's for sell in this bleak, darkly filmed, yet gripping character drama that hinges on the performance of the leads which finds a new discovery in the work of Dobrishi. |