Movie Review: The Rite

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Will the start of the year doldrums please hurry up and get over! I posted out via Twitter and Facebook whether I should see The Mechanic or The Rite. The response was to go see The Rite and Anthony Hopkins came up as a reason. OK, that's a good reason, he's a wonderful actor. It also had the earlier of the two show times which is always a plus in my book.

So movie begins and with the credits, any time there was a letter "T" they turned it into a cross except when the word had two. When that happened, only one "T" turned into a cross. So we get the idea that the movie is going to have something to do with religion. For the first quarter of the movie we don't even see Anthony Hopkins. We're given the back story of Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donoghue) a young man who has retreated to the seminary to get away from his dad and the family mortuary business.

Michael before final vows to become a priest is sent to Rome to learn about exorcism. The Pope wants to make sure that there are plenty of exorcists to go around. One of the justifications for sending him? Because of the family business he won't be squeamish like other candidates would be. The problem? He's not sure of his faith. So to help with his belief level Michael is sent by Father Xavier (Ciarán Hinds) who is heading up the teaching program to visit Father Lucas Trevant there in Rome.

So we finally get to see Sir Anthony Hopkins as Father Trevant. He's living in a run down villa surrounded by cats. He's not the crazy old cat man, but one has to wonder as you watch him. So the man of faith and the man of questionable faith meet. When a mother and her pregnant teenage daughter visit Father Trevant, Michael wonders if instead of being possessed she just needs a good psychologist. Michael was asked if he was expecting pea soup and the girls head to start spinning around as proof of possession, an obvious reference to the classic movie, The Exorcist.

Michael isn't sure what to make of everything. In class he meets Angelia (Alice Braga), a reporter who is covering the class. She's trying to make sense of what happened in her own family with her brother. Was it sickness or possession? The two seem to be in the same river at the same time paddling in the same direction just in different boats.

Eventually the good father himself gets possessed and it's up to Michael with Angelia's help to save Father Trevant. But does Michael believe? If you don't believe in the devil and his evil, how can you believe in God and his good? But if the devil exists that would mean that God is real too. When confronted will faith and belief step forward or will it be easier to turn and walk away?

As with exorcism movies you'd expect scenes contain disturbing thematic material, violence, frightening images, and language including sexual references which earned the movie a PG-13 rating for the 112 minute running time. There was only one scene that made me jump in my seat. The rest of the movie was blase. As I told one person: been there, seen that, bought the t-shirt. So please have faith in me when I tell you to keep the money in your pocket for this one.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: No Strings Attached

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Did you ever see the cartoon strip of Snoopy and how he feels on the days of the week? He's all happy on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Monday he feels down and gets worse on Tuesday and then on Wednesday there is a storm cloud over head, the thunder and lighting are going while it rains on the dog laying there under the cloud getting soaked. The caption says "Please let me die." That's how I sort of feel this month with the selection of movies released this January. Only two releases this week and I was hoping this one would make me laugh with No Strings Attached!

It stars Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher as directed by Ivan Reitman. You know, the guy who gave us Meatballs and the Ghostbusters classic comedies. Portman and Kutcher play Emma and Adam. A boy and a girl who met 15 years previous at summer camp and end up crossing paths a few times in the years after. It's now the present day and they run into each other in Los Angeles. He lives there already and she just moved out there for a medical residency. There's some chemistry between the two or at least that's what they want you to believe.

He wants her but she's not having any of it until they come to a compromise. They can have all the intimate relations they want. Oh, I used the word intimate. That's wrong. For some reasoning that we weren't privy to during the course of the 110 minutes of the movie, she's blocked out men from having any sort of meaningful relationship with her. She seems to be damaged goods but we're left scratching our heads as to why. She doesn't want the intimacy. Emma just wants the physical portion and nothing else. Both she and Adam can do what they want with others if they would like.

This works for a while. The obligatory montage with the different times, places and circumstances where the two meet just to show us the audience that they like as Austin Powers would say, "have a randy shag, oh yeah baby!" OK, we get it, they get it on quite frequently. In one scene the audience gets to see Ashton's butt, or was it a stand in. Don't know. Portman shows us what is the equivalent of a two piece bikini. As a result, the movie was rated R for sexual content, language and some drug material.

For his hang up, it was trying to make it in Hollywood. He's a production assistant on a what looks like it might be a knock off on the Disney Channel 's High School Musical. His father Alvin (Kevin Kline) is a former star for a sitcom. If this movie ever gets the Rocky Horror Picture Show treatment, make sure you bring lots of toilet paper with you because Alvin's moniker line is "Great Scott!" and it gets repeated quite a bit. Everyone assumes that Adam is hanging off of his dad's coat tails when in actuality he's truly trying to make it on his own without his father's help.

She's stone cold and keeps pushing him away. He's the good boy who really does want a relationship. A little different twist than most rom-coms. Does the boy get the girl? By the end of the movie I really couldn't have cared. They poked fun at doctors, camera phones, Hollywood and relationships. They all fell flat. Maybe if there were some strings attached they could have pulled together a better movie.

The Movie Monkey

To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes click here. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.

The rising tide of Disney approaching Hawaii

Today was a big day in the world of Disney. Over on the East Coast the Disney Dream was being christened and headed out for its inaugural cruise. Hopefully one day it will come to visit Hawaii. All over there is buzz of the plans announced last night about the Fantasyland expansion at the Magic Kingdom which includes the removal of Snow White's Scary Adventure and the opening to the Seven Dwarfs Mine ride. Meanwhile Honolulu is all atwitter about the jobs that are coming to Oahu courtesy of The Walt Disney Company via Aulani, a Disney Resort and Spa.

Huge line to get into Job Quest
where Disney's Aulani has a booth

Several times a year there are these big job fairs at the Neal Blaisdell Center. I've been attending them for the past couple of years looking at what is happening in the market. I was totally shocked at what I saw when I got there. To get into the event you needed to purchase a $3 ticket. The line from the ticket booth extended all the way to the parking structure (see the picture). I have not seen a line this long to purchase tickets for this type of event. The staff worked hard to keep the line organized and moving which they did.

With my ticket in hand I headed to the main entrance for the hall. Within just a few feet of the turnstiles inside there was another line of people. It was about 30ft in length and lead to the Aulani booth.

One of two lines to get into
Disney's Aulani booth

This line was going in the frontside. There was a second line about equally or slightly longer going in from the right side. The booth was staffed by about a dozen cast members wearing a mauve colored shirt with the Aulani logo and accented with their Aulani name badge. On the KITV 4 local news I had to chuckle at myself. They were showing the booth being set up the day before the show. The anchor said the booth was constructed at and shipped from Disneyland in Florida. As any good DF knows, Disneyland is in California; Walt Disney World is in Florida.

Nearby was a room set up for presenting Aulani to prospective cast members. In the program that people received when they entered Job Quest, Disney had a page informing people of the presentation times on the half hour mark while the show was open which was 10am to 3pm. The room had two large projection screens attached to a computer. There were about 80 seats set up. In the session I attended there were about 125 -150 people total in the room. Just moments before, these people were standing outside the presentation room. The talk was again given by Lianne Maeda and Katie Mock who I had seen last year at Leeward Community College. To start the conversation Lianne joked around about people standing in lines just like they would do if they were at Disneyland.

This session was not as detailed as the one that I saw at LCC. Katie and Lianne talked about the concept a little while. A couple of new points that emerged is that Elliot Mills is the Managing Director at the resort. The beach bar name mentioned was Off the Hook. Then Lianne made a big prediction. Since the last presentation that I saw, Disney hired Patrick Callarec as Executive Chef for the resort. This has peaked the interest of the foodies here locally. She didn't state Patrick's name, but predicted that 'Ama'ama will not only be THE restaurant at Aulani, but for Oahu as well. That's one exciting prediction!

Aulani employment flyer

The remainder of the presentation talked about the positions in general and the process that will be used. This is where a little confusion entered my mind. The news has been reporting 1100 jobs that will need to be filled. During the presentation the number 800 was given. In either case the web site www.aulani.jobs was plugged and explanation of the process followed. Disney was not accepting resumes at Job Quest. People will need to go online to submit their resume and to make sure that they outline their passions in it. If the applicants makes the first screening, they will get an on-line interview. If the individual is selected to go further in the process, they will then, in the third step, talk with a live individual. Pay scales or benefits were not brought up during the approximately 25 minutes used. Everyone who entered the room was given a flyer as shown on this page.

Afterwards I did have a chance to touch base with both Katie and Lianne. Both remember me and Katie was excited in that she googled her own name and came across my previous posting. I asked them about parking. Cast members will have onsite parking but if they would be charged was not determined. For The Bus (the name of Oahu's bus system) going into the resort that was still not clear at this point in time. I had gotten that far when Todd Apo, Aulani's Director of Public Affairs needed to pull the ladies aside. I asked another CM some questions. The issue of unions has not been determined. When I asked about Disney Grooming Standards for Aulani, I was also told that was under review at this point in time. With more of a cultural representation at the resort, people with longer hair or tattoos would be in alignment with the focus of the resort. With that, I accepted a pen topped by being bent into a Mickey Mouse shaped logo on it and went off to other show booths.

This job fair was different than others that I had been to recently. The first was the numbers. There just seemed to be more people in attendance at this one. For the numbers, I don't know if it had to do with Disney and Aulani or that many people are now completely out of unemployment benefits and really have to buckle down to get a job. I also noticed that there were more people dressed professionally. By that I mean there didn't seem to be as many people in slippahs (Mainland translation, flip flops), shorts and t-shirts. More people seemed dressed up. Guys with ties, aloha shirts, long pants and shoes and ladies with dresses or pant suits. In talking to one staffing agency, the person behind the desk thought that both the numbers and the dress were due to Disney.

I tweeted and posted pictures while I was there. I had several people ask me via Twitter and Facebook if I was looking to get hired by Disney. I want to start my own business and be my own boss, but at the same point, I would love to be part of the start up. Following Disney the way that I have and being a former CM, I understand the company and the philosophies they practice. My other skills lie in that I have been with other mainland start ups into the Hawaiian marketplace and understand that although you may have been hired to do X, during a start up you may be required to go above and beyond. In my past experiences I'm not afraid to get out and do what is necessary including working on temporary furniture or handing out flyers or moving a room of computer equipment. Heck, I've been a manager with budget and hiring/firing responsibilities and yet going out once a month to pick up trash and clean streets as part a neighborhood community effort. Disney is going to have a huge and long lasting impact on the market here. I would like to see them come in and be spectacularly successful from opening day because it will be good for both them and the people of Hawaii.

Pictures from Job Quest featuring Disney's Aulani