Jason Roberts’ science fiction thriller was a thinker, and by that I mean that I simply didn’t get it. At all. I sat there in the end dumbfounded, confused, and ultimately unsatisfied. And then I thought, and thought, and then figured out that perhaps writer Aretha Donnelly was asking the audience to decide for themselves what she was trying to get across.
Too often we’ve found films that some great director is presenting and too often we’ve been let down, disillusioned and left to wonder why said director would approve of such a horrible title. This is thankfully not the case with “The Orphanage.” Executive Producer Guillermo Del Toro, currently the best director in modern film, presents a film that’s very much in the gamut of the man’s past titles. “The Orphanage” has the touch of Del Toro all over it, and like the previous films, Bayona’s supernatural drama is a wonderful tale about innocence lost, and children ravaged by cruelty.
You take two of the greatest actors of modern American cinema, grab a slew of all-star performers all providing excellent performances, match it with the stylish and epic direction of James Mangold, and you have yourself “3:10 to Yuma” a remake of the great western film that’s a contender for one of my favorites of 2007, and damn near superior to its predecessor. Mangold’s film packs an abundance of quality and power with it and that’s due to the fantastic writing by the adapting screenwriters, who takes the simplistic yet original story and turns it something much more unique. It’s the story of a man trying to reclaim his dignity, a story about a man who is very well the devil reincarnated learning about respect, and the story of a young boy discovering that everything he thought he once knew now suddenly was all just a fraud. “3:10 to Yuma” brought with it the stylish marketing and appeal to the modern audiences, but don’t sell it short.
All it took were the words of a child. All it took were the words and accusations of one child, and it set in motion events of one of the most unusual romances I’ve ever come across. “Atonement” is set around the hook of a man accused of a crime, which gives him surprising clarity on his life. Robbie is a servant for a local wealthy family in the countryside on the cusp of World War 2 where Hitler is beginning his reign of terror. But, “Atonement” is less about the lieu of the war, and more about what leads to Robbie’s inevitable interaction with the big war that he didn’t intend on. It begins on a light note, as Joe Wright, known for the moderately entertaining “Pride & Prejudice” adaptation, starts the film off as an odd series of coincidences and happenstances that take a toll on the characters all around them.
It was pretty obvious around the time the fourth season of the dubious success of “The Batman” had all but been questioned, and the writers had run out of ideas. This is when Batman finally took a back seat and a range of characters were introduced which would set the stages for the fifth season which became mainly a jumping point for potential spin-offs of better superheroes in the DC Universe. “The Batman” had run out of ideas by this time, and a slew of new characters were introduced, further bringing the watered down concoction to a level of a chaotic ensemble piece.
Here we saw the likes of Robin and Batgirl, both of whom became Batman’s smart mouthed sidekicks Batman interacted with while on the battlefield. Suffice it to say, they’re the most irritating parts of this new season.
I wonder why it hasn’t been further emphasized that Ridley Scott’s “American Gangster” marks the second meeting between Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Perhaps it’s because during “Virtuosity” Crowe was barely a star, or perhaps it’s because “Virtuosity” just wasn’t that good. True, this second meeting is not as notable as Paul Newman and Robert Redford’s, but I wish it were. We have a slew of incredible actors, some favorites, some up and comers, and two of the current best actors in Hollywood meeting. Yet again. The hook for this crime thriller is capitalism. Capitalism, Zaillian insists, however criminal or legal, is still nothing but deception and appealing to consumers in spite of the sleazy methods in which we act out the primary principle of business in America.
For once 80’s chic is done right with “Bikini Bloodbath” probably one of the silliest and yet entertaining horror comedies I’ve seen since “Sorority Babes in the Slime-Ball Bowl-O-Rama.” Seymour and Gorman’s “Bikini Bloodbath” is one part Troma, one part pure sleaze, and one part pure idiocy wrapped into a sick and demented hybrid of a slasher film that I couldn’t help enjoy. Taking off from those elements, “Bikini Bloodbath” involves a lot of gorgeous girls, big tits, a homoerotic party of football players, big tits, and a murderous blood soaked chef intent on slicing and dicing young girls for no apparent reason. Did I mention the big tits? A girls high school volleyball team is preparing for their last day of school after a season of wins, losses, and dodging a perverted Lesbian coach (Debbie Rochon adding her usual degree of humor and sex appeal) insistent on getting in good with the team mates.