Orphan: First Kill (2022)

Although this may seem like a sequel that has come along too late, and wasn’t anything that people were asking for, it must be said that the fanbase for Orphan has just grown and grown over the years. It is such a perfect mix of the camp and the twisted, despite also being completely unbelievable. I wasn’t sure if this second film, a prequel (as the title implies), would be able to sit alongside the first film, but I am happy to say that it does.

It all starts at the institute where Leena (Isabelle Fuhrman) is being kept. She is very violent, smart, and dangerous. And it doesn’t take her long to figure out an escape plan. Out in the wide world, Leena decides to take on the identity of a missing girl named Esther, which allows her to get from Estonia to America, to then be “reunited” with her family. Can she keep up the facade for long though, and will she be tripped up by the fact that her potential mother (played by Julia Stiles) seems to suspect that something isn’t quite right.

Directed this time around by William Brent Bell (a man who has delivered numerous films that don’t exactly set the world alight, but who also seemed to pleasantly surprise many viewers with The Boy before spoiling things with Brahms: The Boy II), Orphan: First Kill isn’t the most inventive film, nor is it visually stunning (although there are some lovely shots here and there), but that doesn’t matter really, because the big selling point is the entertainingly deadly main character. It is a film saved by a middle section that absolutely understands how best to rework that central character.. There are a couple of fun twists, and everything is set up in a way that starts a clock running. Viewers know that Esther will need to act quickly, and they also know what she is capable of. 

The script, worked on by David Coggeshall developing the story and ideas of David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Alex Mace, has to tie in to the first movie, which is where it is weakest, but allows for some fun trickery with the details of a backstory that viewers will assume they already know. The notes are the same, but this is a very different tune being played.

Fuhrman, needing to be digitally de-aged this time around, is just as much fun in the role as she was last time. In fact, she’s arguably even more enjoyable to watch here, having less scenes that require her to hide her true nature. Stiles is equally enjoyable, pitching her performance perfectly at the level best suiting the tone of the material. Rossif Sutherland and Matthew Finlan (as “daddy” and “big brother”, respectively) aren’t quite as good, although the latter works very well in his scenes alongside Stiles, and it is a shame that the writers didn’t think to push things further. Have a bigger selection of characters to cause problems, have more troubling secrets hidden away under a civil and well-to-do exterior.

If you enjoyed the first movie then you should find enough to enjoy here. Although it ultimately fails to match the highs and surprises of Orphan, this makes an admirable attempt to give people what they want while trying to add one or two sudden turns. I don’t think a third film is possible, considering the timeline already covered, but if it is . . . I will check it out.

6/10

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Hustlers (2019)

Based on a magazine article by Jessica Pressler, Hustlers is a slick and engaging tale of a group of women who worked together to make themselves into modern day Robin Hood types. If Robin Hood had been a stripper, and if he'd also kept the money for himself and his friends (because they really deserved it).

Constance Wu is Destiny, a young woman who is just starting her career as a stripper. She isn't doing too well, but things start to look up when she is taken under the wing of the very talented Ramona (Jennifer Lopez). But everyone's fortunes change during the financial crash near the start of the 21st-century. The clubs get different kinds of clients, the women working there start to do a lot more for a lot less money, and that's when Hustlers really begins, with Ramona coming up with a grand plan to find rich men and wring as much out of their credit cards as possible. It seems like a good plan, but as we're viewing the tale while Destiny tells it to a reporter (Julia Stiles), it's clear that all did not continue to go well.

Hustlers is bright, flashy, and makes great use of the cast, especially Lopez in a role that allows her to showcase sex appeal that many actresses half her age would struggle to emulate. She seems to know how great her role is, seizing it with both hands (and it helps that her first moment onscreen is an astonishingly good stage routine).

Writer-director Lorene Scafaria has a small, but enjoyable, filmography (it's also worth checking out her acting credits), but Hustlers is her biggest film yet, in terms of the core cast, the release, and the overwhelmingly positive reception. That's a good result, and deserved. She strikes a good balance here to make it clear how these characters can easily find so many male victims using their obvious charms without having them be semi-naked and gyrating for every minute of their screentime.

Wu is very believable in the role of Destiny, the kind of young woman new to the stripping world but with enough sense to learn from others and prepare to make a decent living at it, Lopez steals the film, Mercedes Ruehl is a warm-hearted presence, playing an older club staff member who tries to look out for the girls, and you get a mix of memorable supporting players, including Cardi B, Lizzo, Madeline Brewer, Steven Boyer, and even a fleeting appearance from Frank Whaley. And Stiles does just fine in her role, helping to frame the main story with a surprisingly sweet payoff.

It's a shame that the main focus of the film, the hustle itself, almost feels like an afterthought. But, then again, I guess it WAS an afterthought, once the financial crash created such a different landscape for many workers in many different sectors. The hustle is fairly simple and crude, when you get right down to it, but worked so effectively because no man wanted to admit to the circumstances. This kind of thing just wouldn't happen if guys weren't so embarrassed about admitting they'd paid to watch an attractive woman dance in front of them. Maybe that's worth bearing in mind.

8/10

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It's A Disaster (2012)

A very small-scale disaster movie, It's A Disaster isn't all that concerned with disaster at all, at least not in the traditional sense. It's a comedy about relationship disasters, although it also happens to take place during an actual, relatively unseen, disaster.

Tracy (Julia Stiles) is taking her new boyfriend, Glen (David Cross), to a brunch that will allow him to meet a few of her friends. Also in attendance are Buck (Kevin M. Brennan) and Lexi (Rachel Boston), Shane (Jeff Grace) and Hedy (America Ferrera), and hosts Pete (Blaise Miller) and Emma (Erinn Hayes). Things start off as tense and awkward as these things normally do, but the tension rises up a notch when Pete and Emma make an announcement. And then a bunch of dirty bombs explode nearby, which really looks likely to spoil the whole day.

Written and directed by Todd Berger, this is a small film that never tries to pretend otherwise. Thankfully, one or two scenes help to remind viewers of a whole world outside the house that the characters are stuck in. The majority of the movie, however, concerns mounting pressure amongst eight people inside four walls.

The cast all do a decent job. Stiles is someone I don't usually really like, for some reason, but she's very good in this role. Cross is as enjoyable as ever, Miller, Hayes and Grace are all just fine, and Ferrera is a lot of fun (especially when deciding that her time might be better spent creating a drug concoction to help her get wasted). It's Brennan and Boston who bring the ensemble down. They're not necessarily bad, they're just stuck with the weakest characters, a couple painted in comedic brushstrokes that feel too broad compared to the rest of the film.

Aside from the treatment of those two characters, the script is a good mix of relationship stuff that we've all seen many times before, some fun character moments, and a few great lines. It's not the most original premise, that much is obvious from the opening scenes, but it does enough to win viewers over by the time it gets to the end.

I doubt most people will like it as much as I did though, and I still can't quite put my finger on why I liked it so much. Give it a go anyway, and thank or curse me when the end credits roll.

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/Its-Disaster-Blu-ray-David-Cross/dp/B00C3DIYDM/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1402801232&sr=1-3&keywords=it%27s+a+disaster