Movie Review: The Rite

Anthony Hopkins had a solid career before his iconic role as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. Every since then, we love to see Sir Anthony do something ‘creepy.’ It’s as if that career that came before (complete with performances of Shakespeare and Ibsen) just went ‘poof’ and disappeared. It seems as if all we know or want from Hopkins is the old ‘creepy guy’ thing.

And we are treated to creepy Hopkins in The Rite. Loosely based on a ‘true story’, Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donoghue) is the son of a creepy mortician (Rutger Hauer) who enters the priesthood to avoid a creepy future in the family business. Four years later and poised to graduate from seminary, Michael attempts to quit when he’s convinced to study exorcisms at the Vatican.

In Italy, sensing his lack of faith and his unorthodox views, one of the priest sends Michael to spend time with Father Lucas Trevant (Anthony Hopkins), a local exorcist. He observes an on-going exorcism of a pregnant teen and gets to know the priest. Things get complicated however when Father Trevant becomes the host for a powerful demon. Of course, it’s Michael who’s tasked with exorcising the good father’s demon.

To paraphrase a quote from a more famous exorcism movie, “The power of The Rite did not compel me.” In fact, it had a hard time keeping my interest. Colin O’Donoghue had absolutely no leading man charisma whether he was playing against Hopkins or potential love interest (if it wasn’t for the whole priest thing), Angelina Braga. She played a journalist taking the exorcism course for a story.

The best part of The Rite was when the actual exorcism rite was being performed on Father Trevant; everything before and after that seemed to just middle along. Most of the movie lacked any kind of real energy or potent scares.

The Rite, unfortunately, got most of it wrong.

American Idol: Why? Because I Want To

I'm an American Idol fan. I've been a fan since Season 1. A lot of people expect me to hide it like a secret shame or the guiltiest of guilty pleasures. Others assume that all these years of Idoldom have cost me some brain cells ... but I'm still pretty smart, thank you very much.

I didn't want to blog too much about Idol when it occured to me. This is my blog and I can post about whatever I like! So here goes.

Last night were the Mikwaukee auditions and while most people are talking about Chris Medina who had the last audition and most tragic story of the evening (see it here), I'm all worked up about something else.

Tiwan Strong, a 28-year old Chicago native, had an excellent audition and it was clear from the time he started singing that he'd make it through.When he did, he exited the door to a waiting family. After trying to act disappointed, he pulled out that golden ticket and the fam went wild.

This was Tiwan's moment ... that was until his sister/cousin/friend/ tried to make it all about her. Apparently, she gave herself a charlie horse while jumping up and down cheering. If that wasn't enough, she started yelling, "Charley Horse" like a damn fool.

See for yourself. The part I like is when Tiwan looks at her like the damn fool she appeared to be.

A New Office Mate

Ferrell joins Carell at The Office.
That rhymed!

With Steve Carell leaving The Office at the end of the season, we've had months to speculate on who will replace him. No word yet on who will be taking over Michael Scott's desk, there has been a delicious bit of casting. Will Ferrell has been tapped to tape a multi-episode arc on the show.

According to Deadline.com, he'll play a branch manager from the home office who is as tactless at the office as Michael is. His stint will begin before this season is out, but at least one of his episodes will air next season.

Oscar Noms are Here!

It’s Oscar time! The nominations were released today, led by The King’s Speech with 12 nominations (and True Grit hot on it’s royal tale with 10) there were a few notable omissions. How was Christopher Nolan not nominated for Best Director for Inception?


Here are the top categories, with my choices in bold.

I'd be more comfortable if they
let me wear pants.

Best Picture
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

Best Director
"Black Swan" Darren Aronofsky
"The Fighter" David O. Russell
"The King's Speech" Tom Hooper
"The Social Network" David Fincher
"True Grit" Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Best Actor
Javier Bardem in "Biutiful"
Jeff Bridges in "True Grit"
Jesse Eisenberg in "The Social Network"
Colin Firth in "The King's Speech"
James Franco in "127 Hours"

Best Actress
Annette Bening in "The Kids Are All Right"
Nicole Kidman in "Rabbit Hole"
Jennifer Lawrence in "Winter's Bone"
Natalie Portman in "Black Swan"
Michelle Williams in "Blue Valentine"

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale in "The Fighter"
John Hawkes in "Winter's Bone"
Jeremy Renner in "The Town"
Mark Ruffalo in "The Kids Are All Right"
Geoffrey Rush in "The King's Speech"

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams in "The Fighter"
Helena Bonham Carter in "The King's Speech"
Melissa Leo in "The Fighter"
Hailee Steinfeld in "True Grit"

Jacki Weaver in "Animal Kingdom"

The Epitome of Sexy

Halle Berry as Catwoman.
She's a kitten with a whip! Meow!

Catwoman is sexy. From Eartha Kitt to Lee Meriwether to Michelle Pfeiffer to Halle Berry … Catwoman is the epitome of sexy.

Anne Hathaway? She’s cute. She’s pretty. Maybe she’s sexy. The question is, is she sexy enough to don the catsuit and become the iconic Catwoman? I don’t think so, but she’s been tappeed to play the Feline Femme Fatale in the next Batman installment.

Hmmm. This does not excite me. In the end however, I’ll have to put my trust in director Christopher Nolan. After all, I second guessed his decision to cast Heath Ledger as the Joker and look how that turned out.

Expect The Dark Knight Rises in theaters July 2012.

Simon Who?

For me, American Idol has never been about the judges, it’s about the contestants and the talent. Even still, I was nervous when I realized that Simon wasn’t coming back. He arrived in the first season of American Idol, an unknown to American audiences and left the show an institution.

People proclaimed all kinds of calamity for the show without the presence of Simon and with the announcement of the new judges, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler, many more got nervous (including me). Jenny from the Block has a serious diva reputation and Steven Tyler? Well, he’s a living example of that old, this-is-your-brain-on-drugs commercial with the fried egg (watch it here).

But I have watched two of the audition rounds and so far, so good. I found myself actually asking, “Simon who?” All three have had turns giving good advice and being goofy and the decision to focus on the better auditions have made some good TV watching.

But we really won’t know how good they are until we get to the live performance shows where they won’t have the benefit of extensive editing.

They might want to institute a 7 second delay for Tyler though. He’s a loose cannon, not to mention, a bit of a dirty old man!

Television Review: Harry's Law

Cast of Harry's Law (left to right): Brittany
Snow, Kathy Bates, Nate Corddry, Aml Ameen.

I’ve been a fan of Kathy Bates every since she broken James Caan’s ankles in Misery. So I’ve been looking forward to Harry’s Law for just that reason. I think she’d be perfect for a David E. Kelley series since he goes for that mix of quirky and dramatic.

So I went into Harry’s Law with high hopes, but were those hopes dashed? Before I answer that question, let me give you the premise of the show. Harriet “Harry” Korn is an accomplished patent attorney but not for long. As she leans back in her chair in her cluttered office, smoking a joint, a frustrated partner comes into her office and asks what’s happened to her. She replies that she’s bored and with that she’s fired.

Then we veer into quirky Kelley territory. While walking out of the office, she breaks the fall of a young man attempting suicide (Aml Ameen). Miraculously, she survives virtually injury free. Once again, Harry’s walking (through a rough neighborhood) when she sees a shoe store for rent. She’s so taken by it that she starts walking across the street toward it when she’s hit by a car. Of course, not just any car but the car of a young lawyer who idolizes her Adam Branch (played by Nate Corddry). Once again, she emerges unscathed.

She buys the shoe store and keeps the shoes. She also gets to keep her perky assistant Jenna (played by Brittany Snow). Soon, partly out of guilt and partly out of a desire to work with a legal legend, the lawyer who hit Harry takes a leave of absence to come work for her while she gets her new practice off the ground.

On the legal front, the suicide victim seeks her help on a drug charge and a neighborhood thug who offers his protection for Harry’s business soon find he needs her help as a client.

In promotional interviews, Bates has described the character of Harry Korn as a curmudgeon, a crabby older woman who speaks her mind. And Harriet Korn is that but you can tell that the woman is much more than that. She has layers and I can’t wait to see more of them in coming episodes.

My hopes were not dashed. However, while I enjoyed Harry’s Law, I am worried that it could take an Ally McBeal-esque turn and become too quirky for its own good.