EL SEGUNDO HERALD June 22, 2017 Page 7 Entertainment Check It Out Film Review By Morgan Rojas for www.cinemacy.com Bringing “Bad” back to the big screen for her highly anticipated sophomore film is Ana Lily Amirpour, the visionary who made black and white Vampire Spaghetti Westerns a thing. Amirpour trades the streets of Bad City for the barren desert of Texas in The Bad Batch, a meditative and highly audacious cannibal film that makes Burning Man look like your grandma’s tea party. For our exclusive interview with Amirpour and actress Suki Waterhouse, visit www.cinemacy.com. Our heroine is Arlen (Suki Waterhouse), a young woman who has been dumped in the desert after spending an undisclosed amount of time in a detention facility. Disoriented and penniless, her stamina is no match for unrelenting sun as she decides to let her guard down for a quick nap in a conveniently abandoned car. It’s not long until a group of ragtag cannibal misfits find Arlen and take her to their base camp. Arlen’s desperation to escape literally costs her an arm and a leg as she quickly learns that it’s every man--or in this case, woman--for herself in the Bad Batch. Elements of what made Amirpour’s first film, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, so successful are replicated here– strong female protagonist, gritty skate culture, a trendy soundtrack including songs from Die Antwoord and Culture Club, and all-around cool vibes. Perhaps too cool at times, but how can it not be coming from distributors like Vice, NEON and Annapurna Pictures? Arlen encounters many characters as she wanders through the barren landscape, including the big and burly Miami Man (Jason Momoa), his quiet yet independent daughter Honey (Jayda Fink) and The Dream (Keanu Reeves), the idolized patriarch of the desert camp called Comfort. The subsidiary cast of kooks like Hermit (Jim Carrey) and The Screamer (Giovanni Ribisi) are unexpected but welcome additions that further round out Arlen’s reality. Like an ultra-tough Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz, Arlen just wants to go home and uses these characters she meets along the way to help her get there. The audience isn’t given the luxury of knowing Arlen’s backstory, or how she wound up in the Bad Batch in the first place, but character development clearly wasn’t the focus here. We are dropped into a dystopian desert without knowing how we got there or where we’re going, but we blindly buckle up for the ride. By default, we root for Arlen’s success because the odds are against her. Plus she is fighting to survive with a missing left arm and leg. I’d venture to guess, however, that a backstory would have made the audience further emotionally invested. Ana Lily Amirpour’s moody, high-style horror flick is an unconventional watch, but for as tough and tireless as the premise is, the cinematic style of the film itself is quite idyllic. Minimal dialogue and long, sweeping shots of the vast wasteland make for a meditative watch despite the blood, guts and gore. Lingering shots of barren desertliving mixed with the effortlessly cool and all-around fierce Suki Waterhouse makes The Bad Batch an artistic vision, or dare I say... dream? The Bad Batch is rated R for violence, language, some drug content, and brief nudity. 118 minutes. Opening this Friday at ArcLight Hollywood and On Demand, Amazon and iTunes. • SBA loans. Business credit lines. Cash management services. Commercial RE, construction and equipment loans. Tiffany Clyne Senior Vice President 310.321.3282 tclyne@grandpointbank.com 1960 E. Grand Avenue, Suite 1200 El Segundo, CA 90245 grandpointbank.com Five-Star Superior Rating by BauerFinancial Beartown By Fredrik Backman Reviewed by Kristina Kora-Beckman, Librarian I, El Segundo Public Library Backman’s latest novel, Beartown, is about a rural town in decline that is obsessed with hockey. When a shocking event shakes the town to its core, the fallout fundamentally changes how community members view each other and themselves. I love Backman’s style of showing, rather than telling, the reader about the complex relationships between characters and their ties to the town’s hockey history. In Beartown, hockey forges friendships and saves characters from troubled home lives. But the team-before-self mentality that may lead to victories on the ice often results in townspeople valuing loyalty rather than truth--and placing players on pedestals that can do no wrong as long as they win. A departure from his other novels, Beartown is darker and wider sweeping, taking on multiple perspectives of townspeople instead of focusing primarily on a few central characters. Exploring elements of sports culture and teen culture, Backman doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects such as bullying and abuse. In the final chapters, Backman reveals glimpses of where some characters end up in 10 years, leaving the door open to future stories set in the Beartown world. I eagerly await the next installments and look forward to seeing where Backman takes the characters’ stories. To check out Beartown, also available in audiobook and eBook formats, or browse any of our other fiction titles, please visit the library to apply for your free library card. This book would also qualify for prizes in our Adult Summer Reading program, going on now through September 2. The program includes activities, raffles and events such as our “Tea & Trivia” kickoff Saturday June 24. For more information, or to sign up, please stop by the Adult Reference Desk. • Kristina Kora-Beckman. Beartown by Fredrik Backman. The Bad Batch Makes Burning Man Look Like Your Grandma’s Tea Party Jason Momoa and Suki Waterhouse in The Bad Batch. Courtesy of NEON. Like Us on Facebook DEADLINES OBITUARIES: Monday at noon. 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