The Orphanage/El Orfanato (2007) - Bayona arrives with memorable, haunting horror

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Star Belén Rueda stands in a dark corridor among what appears to be ghost children on this poster for J.A. Bayona's The Orphanage

A married couple with an adopted son want to reopen an old orphanage, which the woman Laura once lived in, but when their son Simón disappears, the place transforms from a place of promise into a sinful nightmare.

 

The Orphanage is written by Sergio G. Sánchez (7337 (2000, short)) and directed by great Spanish filmmaker, debuting J.A. Bayona (A Monster Calls (2016)). The title is a literal translation of the original Spanish title.

SPOILER The house is haunted with masked children in The Orphanage, and there are shocks and a frightening medium scene, in which sound design is used to strike violently upon the gasping viewer. But the film's real brilliance may be the way it so finely balances warmly inviting the audience back to the innocent magic of childhood, - and gruesome, very adult offenses on the contrasting side.

SPOILER The ending is tragic, - but not devastating, - bringing to my mind H.C. Andersen's The Story of a Mother (1847). It perfectly fulfills this fairytale-reminiscent nightmare. Executive producer Guillermo Del Toro's preceding, more widely seen and hailed Pan's Labyrinth (2006) pales in comparison to The Orphanage, I find.

 

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The Impossible/Lo Imposible (2012) - The 2004 tsunami depicted in one of the strongest disaster films ever  

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 4 mil. $

Box office: 78.6 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 19.65 times its cost)

[The Orphanage premiered 20 May (Cannes Film Festival, Golden Camera section) and runs 97 minutes. The first draft was written in 1996. Sánchez gave Bayona his script in 2004. With Del Toro's support, the financing came together with 14 production companies and support bodies collaborating. Shooting took place from May - July 2006 in Spain. The film opened #27 to a 233k $ first weekend in 19 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #16 and in 707 theaters, grossing 7.1 mil. $ (9 % of the total gross). North America was the film's 3rd biggest market. Its biggest and 2nd biggest were Spain with 37.7 mil. $ (48 %), - here it was the biggest opening of the year with an 8.3 mil. $ four-day launch, - and Mexico with 11.6 mil. $ (14.8 %). The film was nominated for 5 European Film awards and won 7/14 Goya awards, among many other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. A much talked about US remake never came to fruition. Bayona returned with La Desgracia en 3D (2008, short), Nena Daconte: El Aleph (2009, music video) and theatrically with The Impossible/Lo Imposible (2012). Belén Rueda (The Sea Inside/Mar Adentro (2004)) returned in 8 Citas (2008). The Orphanage is certified fresh at 87 % with a 7.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Orphanage?

The Guilt Trip (2012) - Rogen/Streisand buoy low-fuel road dramedy

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Barbra Streisand pinches Seth Rogen's cheek in a car on this poster for Anne Fletcher's The Guilt Trip

A physicist inventor plans a pitching trip through several American states, and when he learns that he was named after his mother's great lost love, who resides in San Francisco, he invites her to join him on the trip.

 

The Guilt Trip is written by Dan Fogelman (Tangled (2010)) and directed by Anne Fletcher (Step Up (2006)).

As you may realize from the plot outline above, this film's title may be catchy, but it isn't very pertinent to the actual film, since it is curiosity and love more than guilt which fuels this trip. Barbra Streisand (The Owl and the Pussycat (1970)) and Seth Rogen (Neighbors (2014)) fit each other as mother and son like a glove, and her sweet and intrusive interference in his life reaps chuckles and is (for me at least) easily recognizable.

The Guilt Trip is a sweet and good-natured film, although it gets near to the inconsequential in nature; both its dramatic and humorous elements could have benefited from a gear or two more. Still the stars make up to some degree and make this an enjoyable pastime.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 40 mil. $

Box office: 41.8 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 1.04 times its cost)

[The Guilt Trip was released 19 December (North America) and runs 95 minutes. The script was based on a real-life trip Fogelman took with his mother from New Jersey to Las Vegas. Shooting took place around May 2011 in Arizona, New Mexico, Memphis, Tennessee, Las Vegas, Nevada and in California, including Los Angeles. The film opened #6 to a 5.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 37.1 mil. $ (88.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Australia with 1.6 mil. $ (3.8 %) and the UK with 1.5 mil. $ (3.6 %). Fletcher returned with Hot Pursuit (2015). Streisand retired from acting again after the film; she has only since turned in a voice performance on an episode of Modern Family (2016); Rogen returned in 4 short and TV-series credits prior to his theatrical return in This Is the End (2013). The Guilt Trip is rotten at 37 % with a 5.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Guilt Trip?

My One and Only (2009) - Loncraine's delightful under-the-radar gemstone

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+ Best Mega-flop Movie of the Year + Road Movie of the Year

 

Star Renée Zellweger, blonde and in heels, holds up a gilded frame, surrounded by men, on this uninformative poster for Richard Loncraine's My One and Only

 

In 1957 a glamorous mother of two has had it with her cheating husband in New York, and she packs up and leaves with her sons in a new car to find a better life. But it isn't readily available to her, and the life for a single mother on the road is not a bed of roses.

 

My One and Only is written by Charlie Peters (Paternity (1981)), based on anecdotes from actor George Hamilton's early life, and directed by great British filmmaker Richard Loncraine (Slade in Flame (1975)).

It is an unexpectedly great film, marvelously scored by Mark Isham (A Dog's Journey (2019)) and directed by Loncraine: The film esteems itself with several multi-dimensional characters and a compelling story, which picks some of the varnish off the 1950s, as the decade has often been presented, and stays realistic and natural.

'Delightful' seems like a word that could have been created to sum up this picture. Renée Zellweger (Love and a .45 (1994)) is unsurpassed and has never been better than she is here; and Logan Lerman (The Patriot (2000)) is devastatingly good-looking, as well as a fine actor. Also commendable are Mark Rendall (Sam Sam (2007-13)) as his older brother, Robin Weigert (Jessica Jones (2015, TV-series)) as Zellweger's sister and Kevin Bacon (The Darkness (2016)) as the let-down father.

My One and Only is a wonderful film. 

 

Related post:

 

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 3.1 mil. $

= Uncertain (but likely a mega-flop)

[My One and Only premiered 12 February (Berlin International Film Festival) and runs 108 minutes. George Hamilton was one of the film's executive producers. Shooting took place in New Mexico, including Albuquerque and in Baltimore, Maryland from June - August 2008. The film opened #40 to a 58k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #24 and in 256 theaters (different weeks), grossing 2.4 mil. $ (77.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Mexico with 366k $ (11.8 %) and Australia with 98k $ (3.2 %). If made on a realistic, low 10 mil. $ budget, the film would rank as a mega-flop. The film won an award in Berlin. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Loncraine returned with The Special Relationship (2010, TV movie), Playhouse Presents (2012, TV-series) and theatrically with 5 Flights Up (2014). Zellweger returned with a voice performance in Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) and physically in Case 39 (2009). My One and Only is fresh at 68 % with a 6.24/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of My One and Only?