I still haven’t reviewed Gerardo Naranjo‘s Miss Bala, but I tweeted twice about it two or three days ago. Tweet #1: “If Michelangelo Antonioni had made a movie about a Mexican beauty queen grappling with drug gangsters, the result might have been Miss Bala.” Tweet #2: “Naranjo has totally ignored the chaotic action aesthetic of Michael Bay & his acolytes, and delivered an action thriller with a truly elegant visual style. Long shots and almost no cut-cut-cut-cuting.”

I met with Naranjo late yesterday morning. Mostly I just flattered him and the film. I also met Stephanie Sigman, the star of the film, and took a couple of side-by-side shots of the two of them.

Naranjo is a bright, good-humored fellow who knows how to handle action and danger in a much, much more involving fashion that 90% of the bullshit scattershot action directors out there. Those guys know nothing, and Naranjo, I feel, is a master. “Bala” is the Mexican term for bullet, by the way. Miss Bala will open limited in mid October through Fox International and the marketing efforts of David Dinerstein.

Miss Bala director Gerardo Naranjo, star Stephanie Sigman at Hotel Intercontinental on Front Street — Monday, 9.12, 11:05 am.