"Even Speed". EVEN Speed! He's so dismissive of action movies, even the good ones, and that one happened to be up there with the very best of the 90s. And it helped that she was absolutely charming in it, as you certainly weren't gonna get that warmth from 'Baby Wants To!' Dennis Hopper or Keanu... 'Woah' Reeves.

For crying out loud Dr. K can you please stop wasting your time moping after Ms Bullocks and please please please:



RESPOND TO THE LAST FILM SCHOOL 101 HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS!!!!!!!!!!!





Demolition Man was a high point...

I agree with Surinderism66. However, I did want to say this:



You think it's hard being a Sandra Bullock fan? How about being a Peter Greenaway fan? I've written about him on this blog in the past and you have no idea how tough it is declaring him one of my favorites when he's made almost nothing worth seeing since The Cook the Thief. I'm looking forward to your review on Nightwatching next month; I prayed it was a return to form, but alas, he let me down once again. Although Rembrandt's J'Accuse was brilliant.

I've been avoiding all Sandra Bullock films with no exception since I was mentally scarred on a few utterly terrible examples. Please could you enlighten us on what to check out and what to avoid at all costs. I feel I'm missing out but there's no way I could just delve in again without some sage advice.

He's busy promoting his book, give him a break. (What did I start?)



The biggest problem I have with Sandra is that she seems like a nice person, who's honest about her work... and unfortunately is also attractive. It makes it really difficult to so often dislike what she does, but I do.



Either she needs to be a bit more ruthless and moody, thus gaining respect and better scripts from a hard-nosed industry, or we have to put up with the limp lettuce and enjoy the rare meaty film that comes along. In many ways the latter is preferable.

Wow. You didn't come across a dangerously disturbed fan much.

Thankfully it's easy being a Michelle Pfeiffer fan.

No, I'm not in my most sympathetic mood.

never mind the bullocks, here comes me; the quentin tarantino fan. maybe this comparison could accumulate an ounce of empathy for us poor souls who are also going through a tough stage...

She's 45.



A little too old to making nonsense like 'The Proposal'/'All About Steve'? They're the kind of films which one wouldn't be too surprised to see an actress/actor with little experience jump towards, but it seems a little pathetic someone of apparent talent and financial security continues with projects as the aforementioned films.

It's tough being a Ridley Scott fan. I love most of his films but someone of his calabre should be making Legend or A Good Year

Dr K,



You forgot Premonition, which was pretty terrible. On the other hand, the first Miss Congeniality was amusing.



Me, I find it tough being a Dario Argento fan. All the goodwill I feel, for Tenebrae, Opera, Inferno, Suspiria, Deep Red.... but it's all used up with The Card Player and Mother Of Tears and Giallo. How can he do this to me?

I think the worst of all is being a Cuba Gooding Jr. fan.

After radio the guy is going downhill and i don't see the end of it..

Hi Dr Mark,



I'm waiting for dear Sandra to be in 'Bride Wars 2' with Keira Knightly - which of course will be directed by Guy Ritchie, and in 3D!



The horror, the horror.

Can you heap some praise on actors that actually deserve it such as Gael Bernal Garcia or directors such as Del Toro, Iyazaki, Von Trier, or Lynch to name but a few. Rather than the star of such films as Demolition Man, Miss congeniality 2, All about Steve and The Proposal. Mark your so much better than this.

Bullock, we've been here before. (Ditto Aniston, 3D etc.)



Reviews please Mark, more reviews.



Burton's Alice in Wonderland - did you like it?

MicMacs, The Crazies - what's your opinion?

@Shefftim



Listen to the most recent show which is available on podcast or on Iplayer. Here's a link https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lvdrj

Aahhh. Thanks. It's bookmarked.



The videos of Mayo & Kermode's show that Mark posts are also useful though.

Thanks for signing my book in at the Arts Picturehouse in Cambridge the other day. I enjoyed the talk, although couldn't help but feel slightly short changed by the fact that most of the anecdotes were lifted directly from the book. However about halfway through I decided to watch it like I would watch film adapted from a novel I had read. Sure, you know the story but it was good to see it performed. Also, the Avatar gag was great.



Anyway, it took me a long time to forgive Sandra Bullock after Speed 2 (I saw it in the cinema when I was about 10 and even at that age I knew it was one of the worst things ever put on film).

However Crash was probably the turning point, where she comes across as one of the best actors in a good, if flawed, film with a mixed bag of performances. Although she may have just come off well because most of her scenes were shared with Brendon Frazier, an actor so wooden he would make an Ent look fleshy.

For this reason I think I can accept Bullock back into my life. I'll probably check out The Blind Side but I know to avoid All About Steve like I would avoid a pawn shop run by a man named Zed.



Oh, and if you guys think you have it bad, try being a Bill Paxton fan. It feels more like a Shakespearean tragedy sometimes. Watching Club Dread was like getting my heart ripped in two. :(

To Dr Mark



Firstly Demolition Man is a very guilty pleasure of mine. After watching the film at an age where most parents would be adverse for their children to be exposed to such violence and swearing (the eyeball on the pen scene has stuck with me for a long time!), it has become a nostalgic treat.

It also contains another deride actor in the form of Stallone, whose peak came in Cop Land, a much forgot about gem of the 90's.



Secondly, can you help me come up with a good way to persuade friends to watch wonderful and extraordinary foreign or independent films such as Martyrs (just watched it, amazing and terrifying), Irreversible and London to Brighton?

It took me a long time to convince them City of God is worth a viewing, but they finally saw and enjoyed it.

She's okay at screwball but Julia Roberts would have done a better job on The Blindside.

There's always some obvious vehicle movie like Two Weeks Notice follows up a good one. That's why you have to keep it secret that you're a fan.

Mark, the problem isn't Sandra Bullock; the problem is the inherent misogyny of Hollywood and the dire roles it dishes out to female actors. And if that wasn't bad enough, we have female actors who actually think their roles are great, when in reality we all know and can see that they are rubbish and that they deserve better. Female actors, including Bullock, have just given up demanding better roles.

Who's "Sarndra Bullock"? Any relation to Sandra?

Oh lord, I don't know where to post this link really, so I just picked the top blog entry and am hoping for the best:



https://www.thebigpicturemagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=231:recommended-its-only-a-movie-by-mark-kermode&catid=36:recommended&Itemid=62

I'm a big Sandra Bullock fan, but I agree with you, it's difficult.



To be honest though, if your a solid fan of somebody, don't you feel abliged to liking their bad movies anyway?

Stumbling across a Sandra Bullock performance is like finding a piece of driftwood while taking a bath, it's in water and it sort of fits on first inspection, but hang on a second... how the heck did it get there, and what use is it!

Keep telling yourself.

It's only a movie

It's only a movie

It's only a movie

I've never actually heard what Mark thinks of Bullocks performance in The Blind Side. She is generally a bad actress in bad movies.



Having seen only one trailer of the film, it looks like some awful American TV movie from the 80s.



Is her performance in this movie deserving of an Oscar nod or even a win.

OK so i've just watched the clip above and I still don't really hear what he really thinks if her performance; it's all too apologetic. Basically the subtext of what he's saying above is that he fancies her and and she's been in some movies that aren't terrible despite her presence.

OK, so this is too easy, but last night's results surely just illustrate how right you are in this - winning both a Razzie and an Oscar?

It turns out Sandra herself feels much the same:



https://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/mar/21/sandra-bullock-the-blind-side



"Usually comedy is only available to us ladies in the romantic comedy. That's why I hate romantic comedies. I want to make comedic-comedies – let's get back to being funny!"