Teri Polo, who did a stint on West Wing a couple of years back but is best known on the big screen for comedy, love interest, and comedic love interest (e.g., Meet the Fockers), is finally set to star in a movie that will not be a comedy. At least not intentionally. According to The Hollywood Reporter, in the indie film The Beacon, Polo's character, Sally Helppie, and her husband move into an old apartment building while mourning the death of their young son. Sally begins seeing the spirit of another dead boy, and with the help of her college professor husband and his college professor friend, they try to save him.

Save him from what undead dilemma, I know not, and I'm really not sure I care. If I wasn't over the “I see dead people” phenomenon after all of the ghastly copycats riding the ghostly coattails of The Sixth Sense, trying to watch a season of The Ghost Whisperer did me in. (The things I do to catch Aisha Tyler.)

Anyway, the movie's really not my point. Musing about the film, Cinematical.com's Monika Bartyzel pointed out the almost magical abilities of college professors in film to do everything from exorcising spirits to helping people figure out that the little voice in their head narrating their day might actually be Emma Thompson and not a condition requiring heavy medication. This is a movie cliché I could have mentioned last week.

As in the hallowed halls of academia itself, the guys usually bag the big roles, whether it's an action flick like Indiana Jones (where knowledge is power) or a Dead Poets Society, one of those inspirational teacher movies that are a genre unto themselves. But occasionally we get a woman professor. In Mona Lisa Smile, a free-thinking arts teacher tries to change her students and society. Julia Roberts fared a little better than Robin Williams, though. Lower death toll. … continue reading

When is Julia Stiles finally going to become a superstar?

I mean, the woman is gorgeous, smart and talented. And when she speaks, that low, sexy voice makes me wish she were speaking to me. Saying things I would never repeat in polite company.

I first noticed Stiles in Mona Lisa Smile, in which she played Joan, the bright pre-law student who believed she could have either a family or a career, not both. (Stiles shared her take on the movie in an article for The Guardian.)

The film should have been better than it was, but, as a sucker for sap, I enjoyed it. More importantly, I got what I thought was a glimpse of greatness in Stiles' performance. … continue reading

In the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, Janeane Garofalo describes her worst audition ever. It seems she was up for a role in Mona Lisa Smile. Yes, that well-mannered 2003 movie starring Julia Roberts as a spirited art professor who liberates some 1950s Wellesley girls from their suffocating mores (sadly, not in the way you might hope). Let's just take a moment to appreciate the incongruity of the whole idea. Can you imagine tattooed Janeane strutting down those halls of decorum?

Julia and Julia can't imagine it either:

Actually, Roberts took the time to read with Garofalo at her audition and tried to encourage her, but her vote of confidence had the opposite effect for Janeane. … continue reading