Sister Act
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Movie Reviews of Sister Act
Movie Review: A Wonderful, Feel-Good Movie with Plenty of Laughs
Summary: 4 Stars
Deloris Van Cartier (Whoopi Goldburg) is a Reno lounge singer whose life is going nowhere fast. She just saw her married lover, Vince LaRocca (Harvey Keitel), a mob boss, kill a man and is in fear for her life. Deloris didn't want to cooperate with the police, but she wanted to live. However, after finding out where the police were planning on stashing her, Deloris wished that she was dead. How on earth was she supposed to pass herself off as a nun in a convent? Still, Deloris was determined to give it her best shot and became Sister Mary Clarence. Deloris/Sister Mary Clarence hadn't been in the convent for a day before she was already causing problems and being called before Mother Superior (Maggie Smith). Mother Superior didn't know what to do with Sister Mary Clarence, but the perfect solution presented itself when she saw how Sister Mary Clarence reacted to the atrocious choir performance on Sunday. She promptly informed Sister Mary Clarence that she would be in charge of the choir and felt that that would keep her out of mischief. However, before too long, Sister Mary Clarence had the whole choir rocking and rolling as she took traditional religious songs and rocked them up and rock songs and made them religious. Unfortunately, Mary Clarence's many good works could not go unnoticed for long and she soon found the mob hot on her trail...
Sister Act is a funny, entertaining movie that just makes you laugh. The role of Deloris/Sister Mary Clarence was tailor made for Whoopi Goldberg and you can just tell that she is having a wonderful time. The supporting cast, led by Maggie Smith (Mother Superior), Kathy Najimy (Sister Mary Patrick), Wendy Makkena (Sister Mary Robert) and Mary Wickes (Sister Mary Lazarus) was also superb and each actress brought her own unique charm into her role. If you are looking for a fast, fun, hilarious movie that you can watch with the whole family - and sing along with, too! - this is a great choice!
Movie Review: Why Do I Like This Movie??
Summary: 4 Stars
A quirky comedy about a Reno lounge singer hiding under police protection in a San Francisco convent before she testifies to put away her mobster boyfriend. . .and while she's at the convent she takes over the choir, giving the good nuns an edgy sound that attracts neighborhood derelicts to come to mass. . .and not only has the singer transformed the convent (and its stodgy, ultra-conservative mother superior)--the convent has transformed the feisty singer, culminating in an historical performance--before the pope.
Okay: On its face, if someone gives me the above synopsis and then asks if I would like to see such a flick, they would receive an emphatic "No". (After I've stopped laughing, mind you.) Yet fortunately I did not have any preconceived notions of SISTER ACT when I first rented it years and years ago and brought it home, where my kids just ate it up. This is a movie everyone can sit down and enjoy together; it has such a warm charm and feel-good buzz you'll swear there's some divinity going on. Over the years I've watched this movie on several occasions, and it still entertains and charms my curmudgeonly soul.
Ask John Q. Public which movie Whoopi Goldberg is best known for, and I'll bet the farm he'll tell you SISTER ACT. Goldberg is a hoot in the lead role, because here she can be her characteristic over-the-top, and it works. The supporting cast compliments Goldberg handsomely, from Maggie Smith to Harvey Keitel to a vocally-enhanced Kathy Najimy--but most of all Mary Wickes as a good-natured yet grumpy and crusty Sister Lazarus (she steals, then chews up, every scene she's in). Yes, SISTER ACT is lame, silly, and requires a suspension of disbelief akin to scaling Pike's Peak, but I dare you to watch this movie and not have a smile paste itself on your mug.
--D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning
Movie Review: A feel good movie
Summary: 4 Stars
This is definitely one of those movies which you'll remember for years afterwards, and will you leave you on a high afterwards - although, personally, Coyote Ugly always does it for me.
Apart from Ghost, this is one of Whoopi's best movies. She's hilarious in it, especially when she finds out she can't get lucky - you're in a convent darling, and the nun's habit isn't likely to attract any guys!
Sister Act has a marvellous cast, most of who came back for the sequel (which includes a young Lauryn Hill). Maggie Smith and Harvey Keitel are stand outs, Maggie playing an old-fashioned nun, who likes things done just right and Harvey plays an outrageous mobster. My two favourite nuns are Sister Mary Patrick (played by Kathy Najimy) and Sister Mary Robert (played by Wendy Makkena).
Whoopi Goldberg originally starts up off playing a fed up lounge singer, who, when she goes into the convent, has to teach the choir how to sing. With hilarious results. There are a lot of fantastic songs in this including: "My Guy", "I Will Follow Him", "Rescue Me", and "If My Sister's In Trouble". Most of Sister Mary Robert's singing is absolutely fantastic, although I reckon it was a voice stand in, and not her own voice!!!!
Surprisingly, there are extras on this DVD! A trailer, and 2 videos! Oh well, it's better than nothing - which is what I was expecting. The two videos are "If My Sister's In Trouble" by Lady Soul, featuring Sister Mary Patrick, and Sister Mary Robert, wearing their nun costumes, and rather a lot of makeup, and "I Will Follow Him", which is just a video made to promote the film.
This is a brilliant film, although I can imagine some cynics out there not enjoying it! I do though, and that's all that matters.
Movie Review: Great movie, good DVD, but not 16x9 anamorphic
Summary: 4 Stars
Everyone else is commenting on the film so I'll limit my review of this (great) movie to the DVD transfer quality.Sound: 4 out of 5 stars
The 5.1 soundtrack is pleasing, but lacking in surround activity and fullness. The PCM stereo on my old laserdisc sounded more enveloping, but thankfully this soundtrack on the DVD has corrected some problems with the old LD release where there was some distortion on the tape during a few points of overload.
You'll have to turn this DVD up louder than most...the recording level is lower than average.
Picture: 4 out of 5 stars
The 4x3 lbxed 1.85:1 transfer is excellent, but it's a shame that Disney (released through touchstone) didn't bother to give us a new 16x9 anamorphic transfer as had been rumored prior to release. Over all not a bad picture (much better than the laserdisc, although both seem sourced from the same transfer), actually quite on-par with may 16x9 anamorphic transfers I've seen on my calibrated 16x9 display. But still a missed opportunity for those viewers able to view the additional 33% resolution that 16x9 encoding provides.
The extras are fun, although I would have loved the C&C music factory video of "just a touch of love" rather than the 2 music videos included on on the disc.
For those of you who love this movie as much as I do get the DVD. But don't let Disney off easy if you happen to be having lunch with the head of their DVD production division...let him/her know that it's a shame they didn't give the consumer a nice new 16x9 transfer!
-dave
Movie Review: A fun, family-friendly movie!
Summary: 4 Stars
If you're looking for a fun, family-friendly movie to watch on a lazy Sunday, this is it. Whoopi Goldberg was made for this movie with her great acting and quirky lines.
So what's this movie about? A lounge singer named Delores has to go into hiding when her (ex)boyfriend comes after her after shooting someone in front of her eyes. Delores must become the complete opposite of what she is. She must disguise herself as a nun. While dealing with the extremely early wakeup times, the crazy nuns, and not being able to do things she's used to doing, she finds herself as the leader of the church's choir. She ends up turning the once awful choir into a spectacle (even the pope has to see it for himself!). This movie shows Ms. Goldberg having to cope with her life as a nun while staying away from the man who is trying to kill her.
So what's to like about this movie? It's just a fun, little movie to watch that'll pass a couple of hours leaving you entertained. I wasn't expecting much going into it because it's not meant to be an Oscar-worthy film but you'll be really surprised that the storyline is actually decent and original. The nuns are funny and kids will get a kick out of them.
What's not to like? Not much. As I said above, it's not supposed to be a ground-breaking movie so don't expect much out of it.
Be sure to watch this movie (along with the sequel) and add it to your movie collection!