By: Mary Fran Bontempo When you think of the lovely actress, Maria Bello, you may think of her starring turns in movies like Coyote Ugly, The Cooler, and 2010's heartbreaking Beautiful Boy. What you probably don't think of is the poverty and devastation in some of the world's worst and most dangerous slums in Haiti. But that's exactly what Bello wants you to think of when her name comes up. That, and the [...]
By: Mary Fran Bontempo Around Easter, I can hear the voices resounding in my head. "Moses." "Oh, Moses, Moses." "Moses! Moses!" From his former lover, Queen Nefretiri, to his shepherd-girl wife, Sephora, to God Himself, Moses has a lot of people wanting a piece of him. And, as portrayed by Charlton Heston in the Cecil B. DeMille classic, The Ten Commandments, this Moses, by turns bare-chested and studly to gray-haired and stately, [...]
By: Mary Fran Bontempo Ruby slippers, flying monkeys, witches--good and bad--and a wizard who isn't named Harry. Does it get any better? Well, it's not quite perfect. In this version of Oz, Dorothy's ruby slippers do not make an appearance. In fact, neither does Dorothy herself. Today, Disney releases Oz The Great and Powerful, and takes us to the magical land before the appearance of the little girl from Kansas and her pals. [...]
By: Mary Fran BontempoAnd the Oscar goes to...Something about those five words just gets me. I suppose the Academy Awards, or "Oscars," as they are affectionately called, are my annual opportunity to sit on my couch in my sweats and pass judgement on those larger-than-life members of the Hollywood glitterati who are otherwise untouchable.It's not that my opinions matter at all, but there's something about seeing the mighty ones sitting their handsomely attired derrieres [...]
This week in entertainment: A Golden Globes wrap up and a review of the Oscar-nominated film, Zero Dark Thirty By: Mary Fran Bontempo Golden Globes Wrap-UpA few final thoughts on the Golden Globes, airing last Sunday on NBC. First, thank you Tina Fey and Amy Pohler. The two funny ladies were just that--funny. Not mean, not disrespectful, just funny. A welcome change from the ugliness of former host Ricky Gervais.Second, has everyone in Hollywood forgotten [...]
By: Mary Fran Bontempo As a child, I loved "riding the waves" in the ocean at the Jersey shore. Stretching out my body and letting the water carry me into the beach was a thrill ride, without the price of a ticket on the boardwalk.But every once in a while, a wave would come along that would overwhelm, crashing over my head and pulling me down to the sandy ocean floor, where it [...]
by Chrysa SmithIf you're lucky enough to live in a town with theaters that play 'arts' movies, you may have heard or seen Hyde Park on Hudson. In my opinion, a movie well done.In it, Bill Murray plays FDR, president on the verge of WWII. Laura Linney plays his fifth cousin and implied lover, who calms and keeps the paralyzed president at ease in his hectic and harried world. And it all happens [...]
