Movie Reviews-The Orphan & Julie & Julia

At the urging of my daughter on New Year's Eve, we rented movies. We mustn't have rented movies in a long time, because there were a plethora of titles out. Usually, there is nothing new at the video store, so this was a nice surprise, and they had plenty in stock. We rented Orphan and Julie & Julia. I thought Orphan seemed like a harmless generic suspense thriller in the vein of that Macualay Culkin's The Good Son, not! I mean Orphan, a word that is close to my heart, being that I yell orphan every chance I get (since I was one, eons ago!). Orphan started out ok, you know your typical dysfunctional couple, needing to adopt to satisfy a loss of their own child. What I didn't get, is that this couple have two beautiful kids already, why do they need to amend the death of their third child, can't they just go on with their impossibly beautiful life? No, they go to a home for orphaned children where there is a party going on. Instead of finding a child that is running around like giddy kids should be during a party, they happened on a child alone and isolated. Alarm bells! Alone, isolated, ostracized, hello-psychopath, antisocial behavior! Of course she starts out all sugar and spice, talented painter (whose paintings reveal a horrible secret). The on the wagon mother is quick to see through the thin veneer of her sugary sweetness to see that something is wrong here. When she tries to tell her husband, he lends no support to which as an audience viewer, I felt no sympathy for him. That whole trust issue is terribly overwrought in movies. Why don't they ever believe? Yes, there are monsters a loose in the house. I'm glad my daughter opted out of seeing this movie, yes dear way too scary! I'm really glad because there is a sex scene in the kitchen not appropriate for a 12 yr old and of course, the orphan is lurking in the shadows, perv. I guess the secret of the orphan (avert your eyes here, spoiler), she's not really 12 at all. Shocking! She's like something like 33 (hey, what's her beauty secret?). And you know the rest, seduction play for the husband (shades of The Cradle Will Fall), the unfortunate accidents and the final vindication, well somewhat. Not good for tweeners nor for those looking for something new in suspense. Pass on the orphan, it's just frustrating formula.

Julie & Julia on the other hand was delightful. My husband was 5 minutes into the movie when he declared it a chick flick and went to his man room, good! Myself and my daughter thoroughly enjoyed it, although I thought the Julia Child story more compelling and entertaining, maybe because of Meryl Streep's acting is so delicious in it. My daughter was so mesmerized by Julia's cooking of poached eggs that she insisted on making them the next day. Didn't know Julia Child was an American, I always thought she was French or something, what with that accent and all. Bon appetite!-Single D