SHOWTIME'S 'SISTER MARY' NOW JUST STUFF AND NUNSENSE.Byline: David Kronke TV Critic In 1981, Christopher Durang's ``Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You'' may have been a controversial provocation, but today - defanged and prettified and given a truncated title in the Showtime film ``Sister Mary Explains It All'' - it's scarcely a passing diversion, one that's nonetheless heavy-handed. Diane Keaton seems miscast mis·cast tr.v. mis·cast, mis·cast·ing, mis·casts 1. To cast in an unsuitable role. 2. To cast (a role, play, or film) inappropriately. as Sister Mary Ignatius, the Catholic battle-ax who has conferred papal authority The Roman Catholic Church bases Papal authority, the authority of the Pope, on two sources: Matthew 16:18| of the Christian Bible and On the detection and overthrow of the so-called Gnosis (commonly called Adversus Haereses) by Irenaeus. and infallibility upon herself. Keaton is her usual sunnily dithering Simulating more colors and shades in a palette. In a monochrome system that displays or prints only black and white, shades of grays can be simulated by creating varying patterns of black dots. This is how halftones are created in a monochrome printer. self, so her harsh theological pronouncements play as a little incongruous. Nonetheless, these moments - her zealotry zeal·ot·ry n. Excessive zeal; fanaticism. zealotism, zealotry a tendency to undue or excessive zeal; fanaticism. See also: Behavior Noun 1. in equating extramarital sex Noun 1. extramarital sex - sexual intercourse between individuals who are not married to one another free love criminal congress, unlawful carnal knowledge - forbidden or tabu sexual intercourse between individuals and self-gratification with murder, her swoony nostalgia for castrati - make for the film's funniest moments. When her ex-students - played by Laura San Giacomo, Brian Benben, Wallace Langham and Jennifer Tilly, all of whom are essentially wasted - return to perform a blasphemous blas·phe·mous adj. Impiously irreverent. [Middle English blasfemous, from Late Latin blasph variation on the holiday pageant they performed a quarter-century ago, the film turns shrill. And it goes even further over the top with the image of a gun-wielding nun. As it did last night with ``Laughter on the 23rd Floor'' and ``Hail Sid Caesar!'' Showtime is pairing ``Sister Mary'' with a documentary with a similar theme, ``The Joke's on Thee.'' It's a superficial look at religious humor, as theologians, comics and, basically, anyone they could get (the list of interviewees includes Smokey Robinson, Oral Roberts and Jonathan Winters) all admit that God has a sense of humor Noun 1. sense of humor - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" sense of humour, humor, humour and it's OK to laugh at the foibles of the faithful. Anyone up for the gentle homilies this documentary serves up, however, will probably have already bailed from Showtime after Sister Mary bares her ferocious mastiffs. ``SISTER MARY EXPLAINS IT ALL'' What: Adaptation of the Christopher Durang play. The stars: Diane Keaton, Brian Benben, Laura San Giacomo, Wallace Langham, Jennifer Tilly. Where: Showtime. When: 8 tonight; also June 8. Our rating: Two stars ``THE JOKE'S ON THEE'' What: Documentary about religious humor. Where: Showtime. When: 9:15 tonight. Our rating: Two stars CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Diane Keaton, left, as the steel-spined Sister Mary Ignatius, lends an ear to former student Laura San Giacomo in Showtime's adaptation of Christopher Durang's play. |
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