Daily Loaf

I’m a sports snob. I strongly believe there’s only a handful of truly great sports movies. It’s just too difficult for filmmakers to recreate the drama that takes place on the field. So when the Creative Loafers asked me to review The Blind Side, a sports movie I would never see starring an actress I really don’t like, I was skeptical.

I fell into my comfy leather chair at the Cobb Theater Cinebistro in Wesley Chapel, fully expecting to pan everything about the movie. Then a strange thing happened. The film turned out to be pretty good.

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[Ed. note: Each week I'll be breaking down the big summer blockbuster movie releases. If you're curious about what's coming out in future weeks, be sure to check out the Summer Movie Preview. For more info on this week's releases, please check out CL contributor Kevin Hopp's full-length review of Year One or visit our movie site for all things film-related.]

FRIDAY, JUNE 19TH
Box office gold: Year One
Worth seeing? Harold Ramis directed three of the funniest movies ever made (Caddyshack, National Lampoon’s Vacation and Groundhog Day), but since 2002 his output has been limited to the John Cusack sleeper The Ice Harvest and some episodes of The Office. Can he recapture the magic? Year One stars Jack Black and Michael Cera as primitive outcasts who go on a biblical-era road trip after a falling out with their tribe-mates has them cast out of their village and wandering the desert. Seems like a bunch of hooey to me, but there’s no denying the people involved are (or used to be) funny.
Counter-programming: Not into stupid comedies about modern man’s dopiest ancestors? Try a romantic comedy instead. The Proposal stars Sandra Bullock as a cast-iron-bitch businesswoman and Ryan Reynolds as her henpecked assistant. When Bullock’s immigration status comes into question, she decides to marry Reynolds to stay in the country. One minor inconvenience: The pair hate each other. The latest from director Anne Fletcher (27 Dresses), The Proposal should benefit from Bullock’s natural charm and extensive rom-com experience.

Trailers after the jump …

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As today is my last here at the Loaf, (you can reach me at anthonyjohn71@yahoo.com) this may well be my final Reel Projections (I know, boo fucking hoo, the end of an era). But rather than cry in my beer (which I really don’t like to drink these days, anyway, and after Benjamin Button, I’ve pretty much dried out my tear ducts), I’ll go out with the shiny, happy enthusiasm that made men admire me and women want me.

So let’s get this might-be-a-farewell party started with the hands-down best trailer I saw last night before the screening of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (did I mention you should bring your hankies?). OK, that’s not saying much, since most of the other 29 trailers were, how do you say, fucking horrible. But The Proposal, yet another rom-com starring the rom-commiest of actresses, Sandra Bullock, was a breath of fresh, frothy air. See if you agree:

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