Think of Hollywood movies about devils and exorcisms, and “The Exorcist” would likely spring to mind first. Shocking audiences to their core in 1973, that film went on to receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination and become a worldwide smash hit that continues to rattle viewers to this day.

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Legend has it that “The Exorcist” filmmakers also suffered from an on-set curse that caused numerous accidents and even a death to occur during the filming process. This weekend, a new film called “The Rite” is hitting theaters with its own dark tale of a young priest-in-training named Michael Kovak (Colin O’Donoghue in a star-making film debut) whose personal crisis of faith is tested by a creepy veteran exorcist named Father Lucas, played to chilly perfection by the modern master of cinematic evil, Anthony Hopkins (“Silence of the Lambs”).

While “The Rite” offers plenty of jaw-dropping horrific moments, the key difference between it and “The Exorcist” is the fact that it’s rooted in a nonfiction book on the subject called The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist, by journalist Matt Baglio. As a result of the presence of Baglio and the book’s subject, an American exorcist named Father Gary Thomas, the film relies less on gallons of pea soup and grotesque effects and more on a subtle, reflective – yet still thrilling – approach to its subject. (more…)

Associated Press:

The Library of Congress announced the selections early Tuesday. The goal of the registry, which began in 1989, isn’t to identify the best movies ever made, but to preserve films with artistic, cultural or historical significance.

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington has chosen each of the films in the registry, culling them from suggestions by the National Film Preservation Board and the public. More than 2,100 films were nominated by the public in 2010.

Original copies of films picked for the registry are kept safe and available for viewing by future generations. The library acquires copies to preserve in its cold-storage vaults among millions of other recordings at the Packard Campus of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Virginia.

Film can rapidly deteriorate if improperly stored. About half the films produced before 1950 and 90 per cent of those made before 1920 have been lost, Billington said.

This year’s selections also include “Saturday Night Fever,” John Badham’s 1977 disco musical starring Travolta as Tony Manero, the working-class youth known for his impressive moves on the dance floor at a Brooklyn nightclub.

(more…)

“Angels & Demons” upset me.

But not for the reason you may think.

The new movie, based on the Dan Brown book of the same title, is, of course, full of nonsense. But most of it I expected.

The boots, I didn’t.

I know that the Vatican didn’t grant Ron Howard and his team all of the access they wanted. But after seeing the movie, I wonder if anyone having to do with the film even went to Rome. Or, more specifically, if any women associated with the movie went to Rome. (more…)

The remake of Wes Craven’s classic 1972 low-budget gut churner gets itself into trouble almost immediately in an early sequence. Krug (Garret Dillahunt) is on his way to jail when his very own Manson Family (a wild-child girlfriend and slithering brother) spring him. But a successful escape doesn’t satisfy these sickos and rather than call it a day and run like hell, they pause to sadistically murder two police officers already injured way beyond being able to give chase. Within the first few minutes the full horror of what this vicious crew is capable of unfolds.

But the best horror unfolds slowly. This is what made the first half of the original so watchable (the second half is even better). We knew the 1972 gang was dangerous only through radio reports, but when we meet them they’re obviously twisted but also rather buffoonish. Even the girls don’t take them seriously when they’re first kidnapped. Because we haven’t seen with our own eyes what the kidnappers are truly capable of, until the final, awful moments we hold on to the idea that the girls might be let go or even outwit their captors. Unlike the remake, the visceral is emotional, not visual. The horror comes from the death of hope and the slow realization that this depraved nightmare isn’t going to end. (more…)