Inside Oprah's Houston Night

Inside Oprah's Houston night: Five secrets she shared, from a Stedman screw up to truffle hunting

Nobody commands a stadium like Oprah Winfrey. Statuesque and poised with her ever-infectious confidence and warmth, Oprah greeted the Houston audience in a floor length vibrant yellow gown at the Toyota Center on Friday night, and attendees did not leave disappointed.

For a stadium that is usually packed shoulder to shoulder with passionate basketball fans and giddy concert groupies, the Toyota Center turned into what can only be described as a middle-aged dance party during the "Oprah's The Life You Want" stop in Houston.

Imparting her signature feel good serum, self-help mantras and quote-worthy wisdoms, Winfrey guided the mostly female audience through the captivating story of how she was born into a poor rural Mississippi home and eventually became a world-renowned television personality.

The Toyota Center turned into what can only be described as a middle-aged dance party during Oprah's stop in Houston.

During the event, the media mogul shared a plethora of interesting and lesser-known facts about her life and work. For those who weren't there to witness the big money show, here are five things we learned about Winfrey:

1. She loves energy

After years of watching the Oprah Winfrey Show, I learned that Winfrey is deeply religious, but I never knew just how spiritual she was until Friday night. If there was one word that was repeated throughout the evening, it was energy. Energy. Energy. Energy.

Paraphrasing Newton's First Law, "Every action has a reaction," Oprah professed that the energy people put out into the world is exactly the energy they receive in return. That those who send out love will receive enrichment, and those who exhibit fear will feel that negativity in return.

2. She still remembers that terrible Texas beef incident

In 1998, Oprah was engulfed in a Texas lawsuit that resembled an episode of Dallas. To explain: In 1996, Winfrey ran a segment on mad cow disease that inspired a group of Texas cattlemen to sue the then talk show host for slandering their meat. The $10.3 million dollar lawsuit dragged on for weeks, but the jury eventually ruled in Winfrey's favor.

"Everything stands outside of you to tell you who you are. Be still and know who you are."

Ironically, Winfrey said those tiring weeks of litigation served as a test of character. Though these cattlemen were saying that Winfrey set out to ruin the beef industry, she knew she had no malicious intent with her words.

"Everything stands outside of you to tell you who you are," she says. "Be still and know who you are."

3. Just like your grandma, Oprah tells the same stories over and over again

If there is one qualm I have with Winfrey, it's her tendency to tell the same stories over again. Case in point: In Houston Winfrey narrated the story of how she auditioned for The Color Purple, realized she wasn't going to be cast in the film, went to a health retreat and surrendered her sadness only to receive a call from Steven Spielberg saying she had been cast in the movie.

I and many others in the audience already know this story since Oprah tells it nearly every chance she gets. Here's the evidence if you don't believe me. Please don't misunderstand me: Her messages are powerful, but I can't help but wonder if she doesn't have something fresh up her sleeve after all these years of life-altering experiences.

4. She loves to cook

As Winfrey put it, she loves to cook when she feels like it, which probably means she cooks only a few times a year. And yet, I can't imagine how fun it would be to sit alongside Winfrey as she prepared for one of her remarkable dinner parties. She even captivated audiences with the story how she once made a stuffed goose for her boyfriend Stedman, but that he showed up too late at night to eat it.

Long story short: Winfrey was mad and Stedman never did it again. Winfrey even detailed her recent truffle hunting trip in Italy that she took with her best friend Gayle King. Just like us, Winfrey loves food.

5. Every Oprah guest seeks acceptance

"We all desire to know we matter and that we are heard," Winfrey says. In all of her years of doing show after show, Winfrey admits that each and every guest — including "Beyonce with all her Beyonce-ness" — asks Winfrey how they did at the conclusion of the segment.

Even Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush turned to the host for the thumbs up or thumbs. In truth, it's good to know that even Beyonce seeks the occasional outward approval.

Oprah Winfrey brought her energy and fanatical fans to the Houston stop of her high-profile tour.

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Movie Review

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is technically stunning but lacks emotion

Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures

Matt Damon in The Odyssey.

For a story that is 3,000 years old and has been referenced innumerable times since the advent of the moving picture, it’s striking that The Odyssey has not been adapted into a film more often. Christopher Nolan’s new film is, depending on your definition, just the fourth time in film history that someone has attempted to tell the original story (oddly, the third film — The Return — came out just two years ago).

Matt Damon stars as Odysseus, who has been gone from his home of Ithaca for over 20 years. Waiting at home for him is his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland), as well as a hall full of suitors — most notably Antinous (Robert Pattinson) — who are hoping that Penelope will finally believe that Odysseus is dead and choose to marry one of them.

In typical Nolan fashion, the film goes back-and-forth in time often to show what has happened to Odysseus in the past two decades. His sea voyages with his crew have him attacking Troy using the legendary Trojan Horse; taking on the cyclops Polyphemus (Bill Irwin); trying to escape the clutches of the witch Circe (Samantha Morton); living with the nymph Calypso (Charlize Theron); communing with the vision of Athena (Zendaya); and more.

Nolan, who wrote and directed the epic film, has a clear reverence for the material and, perhaps more than any current filmmaker, has the chops to make the sprawling story feel coherent. With a plethora of characters who have names that take some time to understand for those not familiar with the ancient tale, it’s extremely tough to wrangle everything and everyone together, and Nolan and his team make that trick seem relatively easy.

However, there’s a difference between making the story comprehensible and making it compelling, and Nolan is not as successful on this front. As portrayed in this film, it’s difficult to care whether Odysseus ever finds his way home. His connection with Penelope and Telemachus is tenuous, at best, and his status as a hero is called into question on multiple occasions. Complicated protagonists are nothing new, but in a story where the hero’s journey is the whole point, Nolan fails to make the quest all encompassing.

That’s not to say that there aren’t some standout moments along the way. The sequence in Polyphemus’ cave is tremendous, as are a few other scenes in which Nolan’s reported reliance on practical effects make you wonder how the crew accomplished what they did. Damon has said this is the hardest movie he’s ever made, and that effort shows up in every scene, especially those on the water.

At 56 years old, Damon is getting close to elder statesman status in Hollywood, and he ably embodies the role of the respected and feared leader. Hathaway, Holland, and Pattinson get the next most screentime, and each makes their character interesting if not mesmerizing. The murderer’s row of the supporting cast — Theron, Lupita Nyong'o, Zendaya, Elliot Page, Morton, Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo, and more — give each scene a nice sheen whether or not their individual arc makes sense.

While the technical achievements of Nolan and his team in The Odyssey are admirable and occasionally awe-inspiring, the story he lays out is not quite as overwhelming. The structure he chose to use doesn’t allow the story to overcome the episodic nature of Odysseus’ brutal journey, keeping big emotions mostly at bay.

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The Odyssey opens in theaters on July 17.

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