Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Rich Wright As I said in my review of Inhale, Mexico comes across as being a very dangerous place to live. Everyone seems in cahoots with each other, and drugs are as easy to obtain as tap water. Why, even this pretty young girl who only wants to participate in a beauty pageant gets sucked into it all, and before long is taping money to her body to pay for stolen goods, and helping to assassinate world figures by going to bed with them. Life's a bitch, huh? There's something missing here. Despite all the pandemonium going on, I failed to really connect to any of the events, or become involved with the people therein. Perhaps its because Stephanie Sigman, besides being gorgeous, is far too passive in her role, so whether something bad or good occurs... we the audience fail to form a reciprocal relationship with her. Or maybe, the reason is down to all the major developments happening off-camera, and the bits we are shown seem rather dull in comparison.Whatever. All I know is my mood at the end was one of huge indifference, with hints of 'meh'ness. Hot poster, though. 5/10

A. Pismo Clam This movie focuses on the life of a lovely, young woman from Tijuana, Mexico who has dreams of becoming a beauty contest queen in Baja California...but things go terribly wrong.It is a haunting dramatic and very disturbing movie; a tragic story that does not have to be fiction! You can see, as the story unfolds, just how deplorable and costly, not only in money, the Colombian drug pipeline into the United States and the rest of the world in general is, in reality.If even a small portion of this movie is factual, we citizens of the United States, in particular, are in a very grave position...all of us. In jeopardy of losing everything that had been built in our previous 237 years...When future historians mark our passage through this epoch, they may very well become bewildered by our "handling" of the drug war problem and remark, "Why? Why?"Seldom am I driven to make such a dramatic statement. See the movie, if you can find it on "pay" t.v. and judge for yourself.As the movie credits roll at the end, the following statement appears in the lower margin..."THE Mexican DRUG WAR HAS CAUSED THE DEATHS OF OVER 36,000 PEOPLE BETWEEN 2006 AND 2011. IN Mexico ALONE, DRUG TRAFFICKING GENERATES $25 BILLION DOLLARS ANNUALLY."

olafco03 Miss Bala was a riveting movie that abducts the audience taking them deep into the movie and leads them on an emotional heart-pounding ride. The film was a great success largely in part to the outstanding performance of Stephanie Sigman and the superb storytelling abilities that director Gerardo Naranjo displayed.The film had a good script that seemed natural and flowed very well as the movie progressed. Also, the cinematography was excellent as is did a great job submerging the audience right into the film. Often times the suspense was clenching as the camera focused into a still point on the protagonist and the audience mimicked the character wanting to see what was around the corner but hesitated to look because we all knew danger lurked. As the plot delved deeper, the lines dividing what we thought we knew get blurry. This feeling of confusion was amplified by Sigman's realistic performance. It was like an emotional 3D effect, where not only was the character unsure of what was going to happen the audience themselves were not too sure either. I didn't have to hear a cheesy narration (*cough, cough* Savages) to know just how the main character felt at any giving time, I could just see Sigman's face and know exactly how she felt. In the end the audience follows Sigman's character through thick and thin, wondering, worrying, try, failing, and is left at the mercy of the fate.Though this movie is a very well made, no movie is unblemished. A few flaws to point out is that the movie jumps from plausible to farfetch events. Also this movie may have a few plot holes that cannot be fully explained by anyone.The selected theaters is a key point to note a few things. This is not a typical action movie, this a drama/suspense film with action in it. This movie is not a good guys versus bad guys movie with a clear black and white distinction, this is a film that mirrors real life and has many shades of grey. This is not a mainstream movie that ends with a pretty bow wrapped around it, this is a film that leads to many questions about an issue that is very important in a beautiful country. This movie hits and it hits hard be prepared because most people that like "happily ever afters" is not part of that selected audience that needs to see this movie.

gradyharp MISS BALA is a strong film from Mexico (apparently based on a true account of the unending drug war focused in Tijuana produced by actors Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna and James Russo who has a role in the film as a corrupt DEA agent) - a film that is unafraid to uncover the ruthless activities by the drug cartels, the Mexican police, and the US DEA agents in the endless battle against drug trafficking. It hits like a punch in the stomach and remains in the memory long after the credits have rolled.Laura Guerrero (Stephanie Sigman) dreams of being a beauty queen in the Miss Baja California Beauty Pageant, a position that will raise her out of her meager existence as a dress maker in the outskirts of Tijuana where she lives with her little brother and father. She and her best friend Zuzu work their way into the line of women vying for the contest title. After winning entry into the pageant Laura reluctantly agrees to go to a sleazy nightclub with Zuzu. In the club's toilets she witnesses the covert entry of an organized drugs cartel led by Lino Valdez (Noe Hernandez). Lino is finds Laura to be attractive and smart, and allows her to escape. However, when Laura reports her missing friend Zuzu to a corrupt Mexican police officer, she finds herself delivered back into the hands of Lino, and entangled ever deeper in a vicious drugs war. She is used as a mule to transport drug money across the border, returning to full fledged gang war. Lino uses her physically and then keeps his promise to have her crowned Miss Baja California, but the title and the events that follow lead to horrors and alienation Laura never dreamed possible.Writers Mauricio Katz and writer/director Gerardo Naranjo push this expose of just how all consuming the drug traffic problem is at the border. It is terrifying and though Laura seems to be a helpless obeying victim throughout the tale, she represents just how futile it must be to attempt to stand against the atrocious crimes being committed. The power of the film is its willingness to show that both side of the war on drugs - gangs, police, DEA agents, and population - are at fault for allowing this outrage to continue. But business is business and the film hints at how hopeless the situation is. Stephanie Sigman emerges as an actress of importance and her part in this film will remain indelibly burned on the minds of the viewers. We should all see this film. Grady Harp