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Blindside Movie Review by Jay Forry
A | So good, blind people like it
B | I’m glad I could hear it
C | I had one eye open
D | I’m glad I couldn’t see it
F | Blindness was a blessing
Although I am blind, I can appreciate a good movie as well as sighted individuals. I rely more on a good story line than special effects. Visit my website at: blindsidereviews.com.
Tim Burton is the latest director looking for a pay-off with his high budget adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice in Wonderland.
When 19-year-old Alice (Mia Wafikowska) follows a white rabbit (voice by Michael Sheen) down a rabbit hole, she suddenly finds herself in an alternate universe full of fantastic creatures. (I think I’d have been a little suspicious of a rabbit hole that big, but who am I?) Before Alice is introduced to any other magical creatures in Wonderland, she drinks a liquid that makes her grow inordinately tall and a small truffle that makes her shrink.
After seeing the White Rabbit she soon meets and talks to a Blue Caterpillar (voice by Alan Rickman) that smokes a pipe, a smiling Cheshire cat (voice by Stephen Fry) that can disappear and reappear at will, and she becomes involved between two rival sisters. The Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) wants to kill Alice while the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) tries to enlist Alice’s help in getting her throne back. Add in the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) and Stayne (Cristin Glover) along with odd shaped people and digitally enhanced animals and you have the classic story.
This had to have been one of the hardest books to translate into film and I thought Tim Burton would have thrown something new into the mix. Unfortunately, there is nothing original, nothing for the head to think about, and nothing for the heart to cry about; just a lot of computer graphics for the eyes. (And that’s nothing for a blind movie critic.) Had I not been familiar with the characters from this well-known tale, I would have had an even harder time following this disjointed story.
Speaking about disjointed - there are heads and fingers that are separated at the joint possibly making it a little scary for kids. (I couldn’t see the really intense scenes and I still might have nightmares.) One of the high points is the acting and Helena Bonham Carter is fantastic along with very convincing performances by Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway, who were somewhat under utilized. It did have just the right mix of drama, humor, and action leveling it off to a C Rating.
Blindside Movie Review by Jay Forry
 A | So good, blind people like it
B | I’m glad I could hear it
C | I had one eye open
D | I’m glad I couldn’t see it
F | Blindness was a blessing
Although I am blind, I can appreciate a good movie as well as sighted individuals. I rely more on a good story line than special effects. Visit my website at: blindsidereviews.com
If you’re old enough to remember the television show, Love American Style that ran from 1969 to 1974, just add a star studded cast and you have the new romantic film Valentines Day.
This movie focuses separately on the daily lives of both couples and single people living in Los Angeles who find themselves falling in and out of love during Valentine’s Day. The main story is about a florist named Reed (Ashton Kutcher) who asks his beautiful girlfriend Morley (Jessica Alba) to marry him. The relationship immediately falls apart, so he talks to his best friend Julia (Jennifer Garner) who is excited about her new boyfriend, Dr. Harrison Copeland (Patrick Dempsey).
Meanwhile in one of the funnier stories, Liz’s (Anne Hathaway) new boyfriend Jason (Topher Grace) finds out that one of her jobs involves phone sex. (Not that I would know, but since when do girls walk around in public having cell phone sex with their clients?) Anyway, the cutest story - with the worst acting - are two teenagers, Felicia (Taylor Swift) and Willy (Taylor Lautner) talking about having sex for the first time. (This is a PG13 film so nothing ever happens.)
In probably the shortest story, Captain Kate Hazeltine (Julia Roberts) is on her way back home from the Army to see her Valentine. (This was a nice little surprise.) In yet another story, Kelvin (Jamie Foxx) is a television anchor who is demoted to television reporter and a very pretty lady named Kara (Jessica Biel) who just can’t find dates for Valentine’s Day. (That’s the biggest surprise of all.)
Along with the cast I just mentioned, director Garry Marshall also has Queen Latifah, Kathy Bates, Shirley Maclaine, Bradley Cooper and several more stars.
As you can probably guess this film have so many plots and subplots that the film goes nowhere. There’s some corny dialogue, a lot of stereotyping and so many cameos I had to take off my shoes to count them all. Jennifer Garner is the heart of this film and she and the other beautiful women in this movie will be great eye candy for all the guys who are dragged to this film by their sweethearts. Since this is Valentines weekend and in consideration of my wife, I won’t drop this film below a
C rating.
This movie has been given a PG13 rating by the MPAA.
Washington, D.C. (January 21, 2010): Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, the oldest and largest organization of blind people in the United States, addressed staff at the Library of Congress today. Dr. Maurer’s presentation focused on the need for digital information, including electronic books, to be made available to the blind. He urged the Library of Congress, which is participating in the creation of the World Digital Library, to work with blind Americans to make sure that this new resource will be accessible to the blind. In addition to being the world’s largest library, the Library of Congress operates the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, which distributes Braille and recorded books by hard copy and digital download to some 800,000 Americans who cannot read print.
In his remarks, Dr. Maurer said in part: “The Library of Congress is recognized throughout the world and revered by those who cherish knowledge. I myself have spent time in the stacks of the law library and have conducted research that helped to change the lives of blind workers in America. As the Library pursues the creation of a worldwide body of information made available to people through the newest technologies, we are asking that the plans incorporate nonvisual access for the blind and print-disabled. . . .The Library of Congress, which has been such a magnificent leader in protecting and defending intellectual property and making it available for use by scholars and others, can lead once again in this spectacular effort. I look forward to working with you in making it happen.”
See the original announcement from the National Federation of the Blind here.
About the National Federation of the Blind
With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the United States. The NFB improves blind people’s lives through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence. It is the leading force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation’s blind. In January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and training center in the United States for the blind led by the blind.
Blindside Movie Review by Jay Forry
Although I am blind, I can appreciate a good movie as well as sighted individuals. I rely more on a good story line than special effects. Visit my website at: blindsidereviews.com
A | So good, blind people like it
B | I’m glad I could hear it
C | I had one eye open
D | I’m glad I couldn’t see it
F | Blindness was a blessing
Based on a true story, Harrison Ford produces and stars in a film about a family with two children with rare genetic diseases titled, Extraordinary Measures.
Just your typical American family, John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) and his wife Aileen (Keri Russell) are parents of three children with one exception; two of them have Pompe’s Disease. Pompe’s is a rare enzyme disorder that causes enlargement of the liver and heart, which resulted in the Crawley children needing respirators and wheelchairs.
Since there is no cure or treatment for Pompe’s, John begins to research and one name keeps popping up - Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford). Dr. Stonehill doesn’t like to play corporate games to get funding so his experimental research never moves forward. (It doesn’t help that he is crabby and hard to work with.) To save his children, John jumps on a plane and shows up at the lab of Dr. Stonehill and promises to raise $500,000 to support his research of Pompe’s Disease.
After he and his wife raise the money, John quits his high paying job, moves his family closer to Dr. Stonehill’s lab and begins his own bio-tech company – all to try and save his kids. I really enjoyed this story but the film itself is lacking on several levels.
First, the script should have been compelling and emotional but it’s just bland. Second, the dialogue was just lame which could be a result of the directing, the script, or my last complaint, the acting. Third, why did they pick Brenden Frazier for the lead role? He’s a great action star when all he has to do is run, fight, and shoot a gun but not much, well — talking.
Harrison Ford looks like an Oscar winner in this movie, not that his acting is so great but everyone else is so sub-par. Now I know why this is the first time since 1983 Harrison Ford’s name isn’t the first one you see after the title. I actually found myself interested in the story and I’m giving it a C rating.
This movie has been given a PG rating by the MPAA
 Blindside Movie Review by Jay Forry
A | So good, blind people like it
B | I’m glad I could hear it
C | I had one eye open
D | I’m glad I couldn’t see it
F | Blindness was a blessing
Director James Camaron spent 250 million dollars and 10 years of his life to write, produce, and direct one of the most entertaining films of the year titled, Avatar.
When his twin brother is killed, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) a marine paralyzed from the waist down, is asked to take his place in the Avatar program and go to the planet Pandora. Just to give everyone a heads-up, an Avatar is a biological body that looks like the Na’vi on Pandora and is run by the brain of a human. The leader of the scientists on Pandora is Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) and she explains to Jake how everything communicates through the roots of trees and the spores of plants.
When Jake arrives on the planet’s surface with his Avatar body his life is saved by a 12 foot, blue skinned, golden-eyed Na’vi named Naytiri (Zoe Saldana). When Jake goes back to the spaceship, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) the head of the military department tells Jake that his job is to move the Na’vi from the village or they will be forcibly removed. When Jake goes back to the Na’vi village he is introduced to flying dragons, six legged horses with anteater snouts, 40 ton rhinoceros with the head of -well since I couldn’t see any of it and it was interpreted by my wife you get the picture.
When the time is up for the Na’vi to leave they are attacked by the Colonel and Jake has to decide if he is going to help the humans or the aliens he fell in love with. This is a typical story about the strong pushing the weak out of their homeland. (Yes, the scenario has been done hundreds of times.)
The highlight of this film is that James Cameron delivers on the expectations and hype and we will see something totally new. When I say we will see something new, I mean everybody but me. My wife said she has never seen anything like it and the 3D (did I say it was in 3D?) didn’t distract from the story. The pacing was perfect with some action, drama, romance and then the big action scene at the end. Because James Cameron did take enough time to develop the characters the audience does actually care about the people and animals in the big battle scene. (Okay, I didn’t care about the floating Jellyfish but there is always an exception.)
This film is 40 percent real life and 60 percent computer graphics and 100 percent entertainment and I’m giving it a B rating. Avatar has been given a PG13 rating by the MPAA.
Although I am blind, I can appreciate a good movie as well as sighted individuals. I rely more on a good story line than special effects. Visit my website at: blindsidereviews.com
Peter Lane, 51, is one of the first people in the world to have electronic receivers implanted into his eye which send signals mounted in a pair of glasses to the brain. The technology has allowed Mr Lane, from Manchester, to see the outline of objects, such as doorways and furniture, and to read letters through a series of dots of lights for the first time in almost 30 years.
Followers of the Twilight series have been waiting for the sequel & finally, The Twilight Saga: New Moon has arrived. Blind movie critic Jay Forry gives us his review.
Astro Boy comes to the big screen after being featured in comic books since 1951. Blind movie critic, Jay Forry gives us his unique review of this new movie staring Nicolas Cage.
Blind movie critic Jay Forry reviews Couples Retreat, staring Vince Vaughn, and Jon Favreau.
Blindside Movie Review by Jay Forry. If you enjoyed the musical in 1980 that ran for 5 years on television, you may be interested in the remake of the musical drama, Fame!
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