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| (Sandra with her Oscar for "The Blind Side" from the 2010 Academy Awards) |
Obsessively pouring over the filmographies of my favourite actors is something I always seem to find myself doing. Even now when I should be making some headway with the essay that I have due for next Friday, I find myself instead clicking on the "filmography" tab on the Sandra Bullock IMDB page and happily browsing over the details of her films that I've seen a thousand times. Committing these regular trips down film memory lane to this blog only seemed right.
Sandra has a pretty big filmography, so this post is probably going to be a little bit haphazard organisation-wise but I'm sure I'll somehow struggle through. The first film I saw her in (if my memory serves) was Practical Magic (1998). Now regarded as a Halloween favourite by many, "Practical Magic" stars Sandra opposite Nicole Kidman as two sisters, detailing their lives from childhood to adulthood and how it was effected by their magical abilities. A truly underrated film in my opinion (as most Halloween favorites seem to be! ie. Hocus Pocus) the film received mixed reviews, although many critics did draw attention to the performance given by Bullock as a highlight.
"Speed" (1994) also springs to mind when I think of my first Bullock films. Obviously hugely successful and a fantastic film (with a decidedly less fantastic sequel that Sandra has basically disowned) "Speed" is one of the reasons I enjoy her so much as an actor. She began to show her versatility as an actor from the very beginning of her career, jumping from romantic comedies (Love Potion No. 9) to science fiction (Demolition Man) to thrillers (Speed) to drama (A Time To Kill) with ease. Unlike many actors who find themselves typecast for a long time before they begin to establish their independence in terms of choice in roles, Sandra showed capability in choosing projects that would be successful. Only a couple of years into her career she was able to establish herself as a title star (The Net in 1995 featured only Bullocks name on the poster & her picture), a feat that often takes many years of film roles for others.
Flash forward to 2006 & another stand out for me is "The Lake House". Reunited with her "Speed" co-star Keanu Reeves, "The Lake House" tells the story of two people who live in the same house & fall in love via letter writing, despite being separated by two years (Reeves is in 2004, Bullock in 2006) & their attempts to meet each other. Straight off the bat, this film makes zero fucking sense but I love it. I've watched it countless times and the plot just does not hold up (they try to meet each other when their time zones "meet" but then they must wait another two years for this to happen again) and it baffles me every time. But I cannot help but love it, it's just kinda nice. I find the sheer non sensical nature of the film to be quite endearing & watching it is a definite escapist experience because I forget whatever else is on my mind in order to figure out what the bloody hell is going on.
Both of her Oscar nominated (with one winning) turns are obviously of note. "The Blind Side" is, again another showcase of her diversity as an actor. During the casting for the film, she almost didn't take the role due to her concerns about playing a devout christian. But she did it. And it was great. She did this film for all the right reasons, and her Academy Award acceptance speech only proves that -
"I have so many people to thank for my good fortune in this lifetime, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I know. To the family that allowed me to play them, the Tuohy family, I know they're in here and you'll probably hear her in a minute. Maybe not. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to... do something different. John Lee Hancock, Gil Netter, Alcon, Warner Brothers, the actors, everyone who's shown me kindness when it wasn't fashionable, I thank you. To everyone who was mean to me when it wasn't ... George Clooney threw me in a pool years ago. I'm still holding a grudge. But there's so many people to thank. I would like to thank what this film is about, for me, which are the moms that take care of the babies and the children no matter where they come from. Those moms and parents never get thanked. I, in particular, failed to thank one. So... if I can take this moment to thank Helga B. for not letting me ride in cars with boys until I was 18 because she was right. I would've done what she said I was gonna do. For making me practice every day when I got home. Piano, ballet, whatever it is I wanted to be. She said to be an artist, you had to practice every day, and for reminding her daughters that there's no race, no religion, no class system, no color, nothing, no sexual orientation that makes us better than anyone else. We are all deserving of love. So, to that trailblazer, who allowed me to have that. And this. And this. I thank you so much for this opportunity that I share with these extraordinary women and my lover Meryl Streep. Thank you."
Alongside "The Blind Side" is "Gravity" which is to me, the central jewel in her acting crown. I've expressed my love for this film before on this blog, but it's just on another level. "Gravity" completely takes you in, and it's as much down to Sandra as it is to the score and the effects. Everything she feels, you feel. When she was claustrophobic, I was claustrophobic. It's such a visceral performance and I found myself literally sitting at the edge of my seat from pretty much the very beginning of the film.
To conclude, theres obviously a huge wealth of other great films in her filmography that I could go on about (how good is While You Were Sleeping?! and obviously Miss Congeniality) but this feels like the natural place to end this post. All hail Sandra.
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