Movie Review: The Orphanage by ME

Title: The Orphanage

Starring: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Príncep, Geraldine Chaplin, Montserrat Carulla (II)
Directed By: Juan Antonio Bayona
Produced By: Guillermo del Toro, Mar Targarona, Álvaro Augustin
Genre: Art/Foreign, Suspense/Horror and Thriller
Running Time: 1 hr. 45 min.
Release Date: December 21st, 2007 (wide)
MPAA Rating: R for some disturbing content.
Distributors: Picturehouse

My rating: 9/10 (Only because I don't like subtitles, lol)

With the intention of opening a home for sick and disabled children, Laura (Belén Rueda) moves into the orphanage she grew up in, along with her husband, Carlos (Fernando Cayo), and their son, Simón (Roger Príncep). As the opening of the home approaches Simón's small group of imaginary friends grows, hinting at something more than child's play. Before opening day is over Simón disappears, pulling Laura into a dark game that threatens to destroy her sanity.

A quick review for a movie that really needs to be seen in order to believe just how good it is, The Orphanage is by far the scariest movie I have seen in a long, long time. Director Juan Antonio Bayona takes his cues from producer Guillermo Del Toro using the same dark fantasy storytelling that was prevalent in Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth, making me wonder if Del Toro pulled a Poltergeist and had more to do with the film than we are led to believe, just as Steven Spielberg “lent a helping hand” to Tobe Hooper in directing Poltergeist.

Speaking of Poltergeist, the best way to describe The Orphanage would be to take Poltergeist, The Haunting and Pan's Labyrinth and put them in a blender, mix, and then sprinkle a little bit of The Others on top. Bayona uses suspense like a master, building tension out of nothing at all. I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat for no reason at all. Low angles are used where you would expect to see a hand snake out of the darkness. Or a far away shot where you expect someone to step into frame watching the lead characters. Those are just a few examples of how he creates tension and keeps it up by not using those moments, instead opting to keep the tension tight. The creepy sound design and eerie music add to the overall tone of the film quite nicely.

For once there is a movie where the performances take a backseat to the story itself, which is a good thing, because as with Pan's Labyrinth, it is hard to judge an actors ability when you can't speak their language. You don't get the cadence and tone and inflection that we use to judge the actors ability to project emotion. On the other hand, a performance can also be graded on body language and the ability to express emotion with your eyes, and that is how I judged the actors in The Orphanage. We spend most of the movie with Belén Rueda, who plays Laura. She carries the film well as a distraught mother who knows her son is still alive. Her anguish comes across quite clearly as she knows what to do, but not how to do it. While Fernando Cayo,as Laura's husband, has a few scenes where you can see in his eyes how much he cares for Laura and how helpless he feels because he doesn't know how to help her while in other scenes, it seems he's just going through the motions.

If you liked the Pan's Labyrinth, you will like The Orphanage, trust me. Even if you haven't seen Pan's Labyrinth, like horror films and can handle subtitles, then see The Orphanage. With scares, plot twists, atmosphere and just all around plain creepiness, The Orphanage is what I consider to be a prime example of suspense/horror.

Until Guillermo Del Toro and Clive Barker collaborate,
keep reading

Mitch Emerson
mitchemerson@hotmail.com

Movie Review: Premonition by ME

Title: Premonition
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Julian McMahon, Mark Famiglietti, Kate Nelligan, Nia Long
Directed By: Mennan Yapo
Produced By: Andrew Sugerman, Lars Sylvest, Nick Hamson
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: March 16th, 2007
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some violent content, disturbing images, thematic material and brief language
Distributors: Sony Pictures Releasing

When Linda Hanson is told that her husband Jim has been killed in a car crash, she is shocked to find him alive and well the next day. Linda’s premonition sets off a series of puzzling events as she tries to grasp the situation and stop the accident from happening. -Yahoo! Movies

I'll be honest. I owe it to you readers. It has now been four hours since leaving the theater and I still don't know what the point of this movie was. I asked three other people who were attending the screening and they didn't know either. So hopefully this review isn't as disjointed as the movie was. Most movies of this type leave clues for the viewers to pick up on that point you to where the plot is going, even if the characters themselves don't see or aren't quick enough to catch them. Premonition just throws events at you willy nilly and lets you try to sort them out on your own. I honestly wonder about the state of cinema when an untried director like Mennan Yapo ( this is only his third try at directing) can get a star like Sandra Bullock to be in a film this bad.

What makes it bad? Almost everything. The acting, while not great isn't what kills this movie. Bullock and McMahon can't really be blamed here but they could have turned up a little. The cinematography was bland with no style. Just straightforward storytelling which is fine if you have a good story to tell but here it just adds to the faults of the film. The way events unfold left me in a cloud of confusion. Supposedly Bullock knows that something is wrong and has a slight idea of what is going on, yet when she sees the things that have already happened she is clueless and only makes a real effort to save her hubby in the last five minutes of the movie. In one scene (without any prior mention of God, religion, faith or the church), Bullock goes to church to talk to the Father who just happens to have a book with post-its marking many different cases of premonitions and fortune telling. How handy is that? And, the only thing offered as an explanation is he says, “It's been a while.” and then you never see him again. That's just one example! Another example is the ending itself. So if you don't like spoilers, skip the next paragraph.

**Spoiler Alert**

Nothing changes! He still dies! The only difference is that she is pregnant. The accident that kills him happens almost exactly the way it did in the first place except this time, Bullock is there to watch her husband die! Oh, they try to make it interesting by panning down to see her protruding belly in the last scene but by that point you really don't care anymore. I was to busy wondering why she didn't try harder to convince him not to go on the trip. And don't even get me started on the daughters disfiguring accident that tries to be a shocking moment but just leaves you wondering “What the hell?”

**End Spoiler**

What's good about Premonition? The movie poster. That's about it.

I can't even think of a fitting end to this review except this. If you choose not to heed my warning and go see this, please, write me and tell just what the point was, ok? I'd really appreciate it. Then, tell me why you went and saw it anyways.

Keep reading,
Mitch E.
mitchemerson@hotmail.com