The Orphanage and Hellboy II

Come for the trailer, stay for the show.

I went to see The Orphanage yesterday with the roommate, sister and brother in law. It's a lot better movie than I was thinking, and really shows you what's wrong with all the PG-13, mass-marketed, focus-group tested, product placement filled crap that passes for mainstream American ghost/scary movies.

The main characters aren't hyper-attractive Dawson's Creek rejects! Special effects aren't the actual star of the film! Children aren't merely used as empathy props! People have real problems!

I was enormously, enormously impressed with the acting of the female lead, Belén Rueda. She reminds me of nothing more than Sigourney Weaver in Alien, how she conveys her character in a very real, gritty, grounded, emotional way. Foreign language or no, her lack of a nomination for Best Actress proves the irrelevance of the Oscars better than the Writer's Strike ever could.

For God's sake, it isn't even up for Best Foreign Language film.

Yeesh.

In brighter news, The Orphanage is now preceded by a trailer for Hellboy II: The Golden Army. I nearly lost my head with girlish glee when it came on the screen. It's worth the price of a ticket just to see the trailer, but you get as a bonus a very solid movie as dessert!

Del Toro, can you do no wrong?

Hellboy II Trailer

July 11th will be a very special day.