Category: Reviews

I’m not a big fan of horror movies, mostly because they’re mostly unintelligent dribble and sorry excuses for films that rely on cheap tricks to get some scares out of you. Once in awhile a gem comes along and The Rite is one of them.

Colin O’Donoghue stars in this movie about a boy who has lost his faith and decides to head out to priest college to fulfill his father’s wishes and to find his own faith. He encounters an exorcist , Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins) who shows him that the Devil is real.

The storyline is pretty typical, with the exception of the Father Lucas getting possessed – I’ve never seen it done in a movie before and this is where Anthony Hopkins truly shines. He didn’t even need the makeup and special effects to enhance his role – his acting as an unconventional exorcist and as a possessed man scared the shit out of me. O’Donoghue and Alice Braga played their roles decently, but Hopkins just outshone them throughout the whole movie.

The Rite doesn’t rely on cheap tricks to scare you – when you get scared, it’s because of the buildup, all the way until the scares happen. No in your face “RARRR!” moments, and that’s what I loved about the film. It’s not going to win any awards for movie of the year, but for what it’s worth, it’s one hell of a ride. I rate the Rite 7/10.

Christina Aguilera and Cher in a movie about singing. Surprised? No, not really. Do female musicians ever play any other role? Think Crossroads, but this time it’s Ms. Genie-in-a-bottle instead of Britney Spears.

Burlesque is a story about a small-town girl Ali (Aguilera) who moves to a big city in order pursue her dreams of stardom. She finds herself in a club that is struggling to stay alive. Ali lands a job there and works her way up from being a waitress to headlining its nightly dance show.

One thing I gotta say about the movie is that it is absolutely flat. There are no high highs and low lows – it’s so hard to feel any emotions for Ali. She’s never really in the pits or in the clouds – she’s just… there. Ali basically goes through the whole movie without a hitch, it’s like the “perfect” story, except that it isn’t perfect. The sub characters didn’t really help either. They don’t have any depth and are the perfect example of cut-out, stock characters.

Despite the predictable, flat storyline and clichéd characters – the movie isn’t terrible. The songs and dances in the movie are top-notch and worth the price of the ticket alone. Awesomely choreographed, and well written, the dances and songs are what you came here for. You don’t have to bother about the rest of the weak story if you’re just there for the music and performances. You’d probably be better off with the soundtrack and accompanying music videos. Maybe someone should just cut the movie up and release it like that. Burlesque gets a 5/10.

Seth Rogen and Jay Chou star in this hilarious super hero movie to kick off the year. I’ve never really seen the original The Green Hornet series (besides clips about Bruce Lee kicking ass) so I’m not exactly sure if it’s supposed to be a serious show, but The Green Hornet just takes an action-loaded movie and throws in Seth Rogen’s brand of humor to spice things up (it was co-written by him after all).

The Green Hornet tells the story of Britt Reid (Rogen), son of a recently deceased millionaire who is suddenly in control of a huge newspaper empire. Wanting to do something meaningful with his life, he decides to start a life of crime-fighting, with his deceased father’s servant, Kato (Chou). The storyline isn’t anything to shout about (don’t expect any twists or surprises), but the jokes and gags in between keep the whole show entertaining throughout.

Seth Rogen is his usual self. Britt Reid/Green Hornet seems to be a combination of all his past characters, except now he’s rich and has access to cool gadgets. Jay Chou does alright in this movie and as usual he’s mumbling more than he’s speaking but he does play a pretty convincing Kato. He’s probably not going to reach the legendary status of Bruce Lee, but he’s not terrible at what he does either. Who knows, we might see him in more Hollywood productions after this stint. Christoph Waltz as Chudnofsky is a believable bad guy and does a good job of killing his own men.

It’s nice seeing Seth Rogen acting with cast who aren’t members of the “Apatow crew” – it’s not his usual role to be a super hero, so it’s pretty refreshing. The chemistry between Rogen and Chou reminds me of the Jacky Chan/Chris Tucker from Rush Hour, and that isn’t a bad thing. This movie won’t be winning any awards, but it is pretty good way to kick start the year. Green Hornet gets 7/10.