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Best movie of this year hands down!

As Good As It Gets

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

The Rite (2011) is a scary movie that centers around a seminary student and his being sent to Rome to take an exorcism course. Of course like with any horror film, when the student gets there, strange and unexplainable things begin to happen. The seminary student is played by Colin O'Donoghue, whom some might know as hook from Once upon a time. I like him a lot as an actor and I thought he was a good pick for his character, he did a good job in this movie. He was actually my favorite thing about the film. Also, we have Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins plays Father Lucas, a priest that is sort of mentoring Colin O'Donoghue's character. He teaches him about exorcisms, how to perform them and what all they are about. Hopkins is a magnificent actor, very skilled in his craft. His performance wasn't bad here, but I do feel that his character was underused and I think if the screenplay would have allowed him more depth, then I would feel more connected to his character. That's where the real issue lies with this film. The screenplay. It is dull and just doesn't give the characters enough depth. Also, the events that go on in the movie just aren't interesting enough, I found myself not really caring a whole lot about what was happening. The only time I actually got interested was when Colin O'Donoghue's character was in potential danger towards the end. I wasn't a fan of the pacing either, things just kind of happened and it felt a little disjointed to me. Colin O'Donoghue was the only good thing about this movie. I don't recommend wasting your time on this one. 4/10.

This one gets a 9 out of 10 only because the characters could have each been more developed. Other than that, what we have here is a mildly scary but very believable story of demonic possession. As I understand it, the Roman Catholic Church believes that demons are Fallen Angels despite everything the Bible and extracanonical texts such as the Book of Enoch have to say on the matter. In those books it is made quite clear that demons are half angel and half man--and in many cases half angel and half animal. Therefore, when we confront demons in our exorcisms, or anywhere else in life (and they are everywhere), we need to always remember that they are only half angel. Now, this isn't to wrongly downplay their power. All we have to do is to look around at the state of the world to see their works of evil designed to destroy humanity. In any case, this film shows the power of Christ over demonic forces. I wish the writer had not used Baal as the evil demon everyone is in conflict with, Baal being a Canaanite god whose name simply meant "Lord" and usually had a qualifier such as the Biblically infamous Baal Peor, or Lord Peor. Anthony Hopkins is, as always, brilliant. I've never seen him play a part that he has not form-fitted to suit him perfectly. Doctor, madman, and now priest, what role could not be suited for this genius? If you like films about exorcisms, this one can't be missed. Enjoy!

Talking to my dad about getting ready to take part in the October Horror Challenge on IMDb's Horror board,I was happily caught by surprise,when he revealed that he had picked up a title for me to view during the challenge,which led to me getting ready to find out how rite things could go.The plot:Nearing the end of his training to be a vicar, Michael Kovak writes a letter to Father Matthew saying that he wants to quit the course due to having a lack of faith.Meeting Matthew,Kovak is told that his resignation has not yet been accepted,due to Matthew wanting Kovak to meet a Father Lucas Trevant,who is involved in the exorcism of demons. Meeting Trevant,Kovak is allowed to go along with Trevant to visit patients he is attempting to exorcise. Initially sceptical over Trevant's claims,Kovak soon finds himself coming face to face with the devil.View on the film:Before getting to the film,I have to give a mention to the shockingly poor treatment that Warner's have given the title on R2 DVD,with the movie featuring a good amount of dialogue in Italian,which is not translated in auto-subtitles,and is also left a number of times completely untranslated in the official subtitles(such as the DVD Subtitles saying "Trevant speaks Italian" during a 5 minute scene,almost all of which is in Italian!) Brought in by the producers to bring Matt Baglio's non-fiction book The Making of a Modern Exorcist,the screenplay by Michael Petroni keeps any sense of doubt from Kovak to be presented in an insular manner,which leads to any doubts behind the psychological effects that the exorcism's have on people to be an issue which is quietly pushed aside.Along with the insular treatment towards even the slightest bit of a sceptic thinking,Petroni also keeps away from giving the patients the slightest sense of an outline,which leads to the films attempt to build a sense of fear to quickly burn out,thanks to the viewer having been unable to connect to the victims in any manner.While Colin O'Donoghue gives a surprisingly flat performance as Kovak,Anthony Hopkins lights up the screen as Trevant,with Hopkins showing a real skill at mixing the somber with unexpected comedic one-liners,as Trevant and Kovak look into the eyes of their own demons.

An excellent and memorable tale. Anthony Hopkins does not disappoint in this gritty recounting of the burden borne by exorcising priests, he displays a battery of personalities all believable in the way that only Hopkins can be comfortable in so many skins. Colin O'Donoghue portrays the hesitant priest well in that he shows the 'prove it then' attitude of youth coupled with determined maturity by a recently experienced epiphany. Musical score was for the most part done very well for the genre where it is barely noticed by being well blended to suit the visual experience. A pity Ciarán Hinds did not play a larger part, but the films purpose was to focus on Teacher, Student and Evil's part in life.