Blue Beetle (3½ Stars)

I had no idea what this film was about when I first saw it advertised. Then I read that Blue Beetle is a DC super-hero. Curioser and curioser. I'd never heard of him. So I searched online and found that he was created by Steve Ditko in 1939. So how come I'd never heard of him? Finally it became clear. Blue Beetle's adventures were published in Charlton Comics, a company whose comics I never read. Charlton was bought by DC in the 1980's, and Blue Beetle first appeared in DC comics in 1986. By that time I'd long given up reading DC, so there was no way for me to know him.

I was surprised to find that the cinema was almost sold out. There were only two seats left in the front row. None of the recent DC films have been so popular, not even "The Flash" or "The Batman". I asked a friend who works at the cinema, and he told me that "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" (collectively called "Barbenheimer") have given cinemas a kickstart. Cinema attendance slumped as a result of the Corona pandemic, and apart from occasional blockbusters the audiences stayed at home. Ever since the Barbenheimer phenomenon things have gone back to normal.

It was an interesting audience, almost entirely youngsters, from 15 to 25. It was a rowdy audience. There was a lot of noise while the trailers were being shown, and some were still talking when the film started. I turned round and glared critically a few times.

The film is about Jaime Reyes, a 22-year-old Mexican boy who's possessed by a blue scarab, an alien artefact that builds a symbiotic relationship with him. If the Blue Beetle weren't such an old character, I'd say he's a Venom rip off. The alien is called Khaji-Da and talks in Jaime's head, sometimes giving him advice, sometimes taking complete control of his body.

A lot of the film is slap-stick. It's too much comedy for my taste. It's noticeable the film has no famous actors, with the exception of Susan Sarandon, and I wouldn't include her because her career has withered away in the last 20 years. Obviously DC didn't want to invest too much. I've read that "Blue Beetle" was originally intended to be released straight-to-streaming, but it was decided to give it a theatrical release at short notice. Based on the full cinema, it was the right choice. I wasn't overly impressed, but at least it's better than "The Flash".

Thelma and Louise (5 Stars)

Déjà vu? Didn't I write about this film yesterday?

Yes, I did. To be precise, I wrote about it just over three hours ago.

So why am I writing about it again so soon?

The answer is simple. It's because I watched it twice in a row. Technically speaking, my blog isn't a film review site. It's a film diary. Since September 2010 I've been recording every single film I've watched. There are a few off topic posts scattered in between, but if you remove all of them you'll have a list of every film I've watched for the last ten and a half years. If I've counted correctly, that's 3,634 films. That's not quite one film a day. In my first three years I watched films less often (because I watched more television series). For the next three years I watched two films most days. For the last five years I've settled into a rhythm of one film a day, with very few exceptions.

But the question remains why I watched "Thelma and Louise" twice in a row.

I have a good excuse. My ex-wife walked into my room just as the film was coming to an end, the last five minutes. She sat and watched it with me. She told me that she'd watched the film with our daughter Fiona a long time ago, and she'd enjoyed it, so she wanted to watch it again. That was all the reason I needed to go back to the start. There's one thing about me that you should know. I watch the vast majority of my films alone, but I enjoy films much more in company. The occasional sideways glimpse to see another person's reaction to a scene is magical.

This is the first film I've watched twice in a row since September 2010, but there were other films before then. Only two. The first was "Inland Empire", which I bought from Amazon in October 2007. I was excited when it arrived in the mail, because David Lynch was my favourite director. I sat and watched it, and when it came to the end I didn't understand it. Even though it was a three hour film, I immediately watched it a second time. Three hours later, after six hours in front of my television screen, I still didn't understand it. In frustration I shoved one of the Schoolgirl Report films into my DVD player, I forget which one. That was a film I could understand; it was about schoolgirls having sex. I only ever watched "Inland Empire" again once, in June 2014. I enjoyed it and gave it a five star rating, but I still didn't understand it. Maybe it's time for me to watch it again.

The second was "Downfall", the film about Adolf Hitler's last days in his Berlin bunker. I watched it in my house in Malmesbury Road with Fiona. It must have been some time in 2008, maybe 2009. Those were the magical days when she used to watch films leaning against me. I wish those days had never ended. She was a real Daddy's Girl. But in 2012 she suddenly stopped, practically overnight. I never asked her why. Maybe she'd just grown up. But I'm getting off the point. What I wanted to say is that she liked the the film so much that she asked if she could watch it again. I gladly agreed, which meant another two hours of her sitting with my arm around her shoulder.

"Thelma and Louise" is now the third film that I've watched twice in a row on the same day. (I didn't finish the second viewing until after midnight, but I started watching it on the same day). This second review gives me a chance to start earlier in the film rather than just writing about their spectacular death.

It's difficult to say what the main theme in the film is. Is it a pro-woman film or an anti-man film? It's been called both. It's been called neo-feminist (which I presume is a compliment), and it's been called misandric (which is definitely not a compliment). The two women rise from weakness to strength in the two hours of the film, but only as a result of all the men around them being despicable. Apart from Thelma's husband Darryl, the men all make an initial impression of being perfect gentlemen before their true nature is revealed. Harlan Puckett behaves perfectly, until he hits Thelma and tries to rape her. J. D. (played by Brad Pitt) seduces Thelma with his southern charm, but he robs her before leaving. Louise's soft-talking boyfriend Jimmy has himself under control most of the time, but when he's in a bad mood he throws things across the room. This turns the women from timid little mice into aggressive killers.

Boys will be boys, men will be men. When the traffic cop stops the girls, he looks at more than their license and registration. To be fair, Louise does push her shoulders back to distract him.

The distraction stops him noticing Thelma sneaking up behind him with a gun.

In the past I've compared this film to David Lynch's "Wild at Heart". That's still the strongest similarity I see, but the barren scenery also reminds me of Russ Meyer's films, especially "Supervixens".

Doesn't this scene remind you of "Faster Pussycat Kill Kill"?

Woman is approached by man. Is Woman scared?

No. Woman knows she has all the power.

Woman looks man straight in the eye.

Woman is united and will never be divided.

This is a beautiful film. We fall in love with the two titular characters. We don't criticise them as they descend into crime, because we can see that they're also rising in strength. They're not evil. They're just doing whatever they can to survive in a world filled with evil men. The film teases us, giving us hope that they'll escape the police in a happy ending. Instead of this, their death itself is the happy ending.

Success Rate:  + 0.8

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Thelma and Louise (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #46

"You can only die once, so make sure your death is a good one".

That's something I used to say a lot when I was younger. Nowadays I say it less often, but I still stand behind it. I invented the saying myself, but I've found out that others have said similar things. Their words are almost identical to mine, but they mean it differently. The others who speak paraphrased versions of my words mean that you should die for a good cause, i.e. the purpose of your death should be noble. It's something that soldiers might have as a motto when they march into battle. That's not what I mean. I mean that the moment of death should be accompanied by great pleasure. It would be a wonderful experience to die by being strangled during sexual intercourse. To anyone who says that I'm being weird, consider the alternatives. You could die with your body being mangled in a car crash, or you could die a long, lingering death while your body is being eaten away by cancer. I'm not weird, I'm the one talking good sense.

When I was young I wanted to die before I was 30. Then I said I wanted to die before I was 40. Then I said I wanted to die before I was 50. Now my life is slowly trickling away, day by day, year by year. By the time I die I'll probably be too weak to enjoy my death. If death is the ultimate goal in life, I should have planned my death when I was young.

That brings me to the film. Thelma Dickinson and Louise Sawyer are living dreary lives in a small town in Arkansas. Thelma is in a dead end marriage that gives her no pleasure. Louise is single and in a dead end job as a waitress. They have nothing to live for. The only thing that keeps them sane is their friendship.

But they have a good death.

After an adventure together which culminates in a high speed car chase, they meet their death by plummeting into the Grand Canyon. That's one of the most beautiful places on Earth. It's one of the most beautiful places to die.

What a wonderful way to die! It's not quite up to the level of death during intercourse, but it still looks like a splendid experience. Flying through the air for endless seconds, before the car finally hits the ground with such velocity that an instantaneous death is guaranteed. It's notable that the film doesn't show the moment of death. The film ends while the two friends are flying through the air. It's as if the moment of ecstasy never ends.

Success Rate:  + 0.8

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The Calling (3½ Stars)

Thank you, Amazon Prime. I wanted to see this film when it was in the cinema 18 months ago, but you know how it goes: I was busy and kept putting it off, and when I finally had time the film's run was over. "So many films, so little time". But tonight I found it listed among the films included with my Amazon Prime subscription.

Hazel Micallef is a police inspector in the small town Port Dundas in Ontario. She's called to investigate the murder of an old woman in her home. The unusual thing about the death is that the mouth has been forced into a position posthumously, as if saying something. By chance Hazel hears about a death under similar circumstances in a neighbouring area. Suspecting a serial killer, she rings other police districts and finds another seven similar murders, spread across Canada.

The investigations continue with more thorough autopsies, and it's discovered that the people weren't murdered at all. They all committed suicide in order, from west to east, and their bodies were cut with a knife after death to make the police suspect murder. Of course, Hazel wants to find the man present at all the suicides who mutilated the corpses. Then she discovers the existence of an ancient cult that believes Christ could only be resurrected after the suicide of 12 disciples, so she suspects that there will be another three deaths. But who will be resurrected this time?

This is a fascinating film with solid acting from Susan Sarendon as a whiskey drinking police inspector. Despite the supernatural background it's a murder mystery, even after the cause of the deaths is discovered to be suicide. Questions are left open, such as why the 12 suicides had to be stretched from the west to the east coast of Canada. The slow pace might not be pleasing to everyone, but it serves to intensify the atmosphere.

The Lovely Bones (4 Stars)

This film is a supernatural drama directed by Peter Jackson in 2009. Despite receiving great critical acclaim it was only a moderate success at the box office, barely making its budget back. This is surprising, considering the enormous success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and "King Kong". Maybe the problem is that it wasn't clear what the film's target audience was. Peter Jackson intended the film to be for adults, but the film's main character is a 14-year-old girl, making it look like a film for teenagers.

The film has many similarities with "What dreams may come". Susie Salmon is a girl who is murdered when she's 14. She finds herself in a world of great beauty. She's encouraged by her only companion in the after-life, a teenage girl called Holly Golightly, to move on, but she feels responsible for her family and friends that she's left behind. She finds that she can influence her family members to different degrees. Her youngest brother is the most susceptible, but he isn't taken seriously when he tells the others that Susie visits him. More than anything she wants to warn them that her murderer lives in the house opposite and might strike again.

This isn't a weepy film like "What dreams may come". Susie is very satisfied in the after-life. She doesn't even have thoughts of revenge towards her killer, she's only worried that her friends and family are in danger from him. Although Susie had a boyfriend on Earth, it's not him that she's most interested in. She has the closest bond to her father.

As after-life philosophies go, it's very vague, not quite agreeing with any of the large world religions. On the other hand, it's less absurd than the concept in "What dreams may come" that you can enter a painting in the after-life. The world in which Susie finds herself isn't Heaven, it's a place between Heaven and Earth where she has to ready herself for her final destination, but it's not a place of punishment like Purgatory, it's a pleasant place, so pleasant that it's not worth leaving to go to Heaven, whatever it might look like in the Peter Jackson universe. I like the idea that it's possible to cling to Earth if you want to. If I were to die tomorrow I'd like to remain close to Cineworld so that I don't miss the next Captain America film.

Thelma and Louise (5 Stars)

30 films to watch before you die, #11

Some films are so good that they can be watched over and over again. I can't remember exactly how many times I've watched "Thelma and Louise", but I know it was a lot. Even though it was made in 1991, I don't think I saw it until 2001 or 2002, when it was on television. It was one of the first films I bought on DVD, and you know how it is: when you only have a few discs you watch them all the time.

The film is expertly directed by Ridley Scott. The cinematography is dazzling, moving from one beautiful scene to the next. Both Geena Davis (Thelma) and Sarah Sarendon (Louise) were nominated as best lead actress at the 1992 Academy Awards. It's correct to say that neither of them was in a supporting role, but have any other two women ever been nominated as lead actress for the same film? I think not. On top of everything else, the strength of the two main characters appeals to me. The two women are feminist role models, and I support feminism in its pure form. I don't call myself a feminist, I prefer to call myself a gynarchist. I enjoy watching films that portray strong women.

Thelma and Louise aren't strong at the beginning of the film. They develop their strength under extreme conditions. After being used and abused by the men around them they learn how to fight back, guns in their hands. All the men in the film are bad, in one way or another. The film has been accused of being misandric, but is it misandric to tell the truth? Ironically, the only good man in the film who really cares for the women is Hal Slocumb, the police detective responsible for pursuing the women.

Ridley Scott has been responsible for several very good films during his career. If you like "Thelma and Louis", check out

• Gladiator (2000)
• Hannibal (2001)
• Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Thelma and Louise (5 Stars)

This is a brilliant film. It's constructed perfectly. The weakest point is the introductory scene to introduce Louise in the restaurant. After that the film keeps getting better, while Thelma and Louise slip deeper and deeper into a pit of despair. In the final scene, facing the police at the Grand Canyon, it's obvious that they've passed the point of no return, but the point came a lot earlier in the film. After shooting Harlan in the parking lot there was no going back to their old life.

There seem to be two lines that cross one another in the film. As the two women sink deeper, the scenery around them becomes more and more beautiful.

Click here for a more detailed review.

Tammy (3 Stars)

Life isn't fair. You're gonna have to scrape and claw for everything you want.

The trailer for "Tammy" was so hilarious that I instantly decided to watch the film. Unfortunately the scene shown at length in the trailer was the film's funniest scene. Nothing else lived up to it.

Tammy is a fat girl in small town Illinois who works in a fast food restaurant. Yes, I know it's not politically correct to call a woman fat, but since most of the film's jokes are about her weight I think it's appropriate to emphasise it so bluntly. After being unfairly fired she decides to drive to Niagara Falls. Her horny old grandmother tags along for the ride. For the next 80 minutes we have jokes about Tammy's size and her grandmother's libido. There's also a romantic element to the story. Tammy meets a handsome farmer. Can he love her despite her size?

It's a cute little story which encourages us to laugh at the fat girl. Tammy shows no regrets for the way she looks, she accepts herself, which is a wonderful thing, but her (misguided?) overconfidence in her good looks is used to ridicule her even more. I expected and hoped for a moment of seriousness at the end, when the audience would be made ashamed of themselves for laughing at someone else's misfortune, but it never came. It's not a film for an overweight woman (or man) to watch to find comfort. Except that Tammy finds true love in the end. Okay, I know that's a spoiler, but you would have guessed it anyway.

Cloud Atlas (4½ Stars)

In the post I made on "The Phantom Empire" last night I mentioned that I have a pile of 12 unwatched DVDs. So, am I making an attempt to watch them all? Not today, at least. I felt drawn to watch "Cloud Atlas" again. It's such a powerful film that it's worth watching repeatedly. Despite telling six stories in parallel the film isn't overly complex, in my opinion. It's always obvious what is happening.

Here is my pile of unwatched DVDs. They're stacked up on top of my computer, so they're close enough to remind me of their existence. This photo also shows something that you might not know. German DVDs have the writing on the side the opposite way round to English language DVDs. Do you see the ones I mean? "Hoppe hoppe Reiter" (3rd down), "Jud Süss" (9th down) and "Nacht über Berlin" (10th down). English DVD inscriptions are from top to bottom, while German inscriptions are from bottom to top.

Don't worry. I'll watch them all. Eventually. Hopefully soon, but I'm not making any promises. But at least you have an advance warning of future reviews.

Robot & Frank (4 Stars)

The film takes place in the near future. Frank is a retired burglar, who is beginning to suffer from dementia. His son is worried about him, so he buys him a robot to do the house chores and look after Frank's health. Frank despises the robot, until he realises that the robot can aid him in returning to burglary. At that point a friendship develops.

This is a cute little film. Veteran actor Frank Langella makes Frank (the character) sympathetic to the viewers. Among critics the film has been widely praised, but the reception among film fans has been lukewarm. That's strange. I would have expected it to be the other way round. Maybe the general public finds the idea of intelligent robots too far-fetched? Just wait a few years. This will happen faster than we expect.

Portrayals of dementia are scary to me. My greatest fear is that when I get older my mental capabilities will lapse. My mind is my greatest treasure, and I would hate to lose it. I'd rather be unable to walk than unable to think straight. I had an elderly friend who was losing his mind. It was so sad. Everyone knew it except for him.

Cloud Atlas (4½ Stars)

"Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present. And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future".

The film tells six stories in parallel.

1. In 1849 Adam Ewing, a young lawyer, is crossing the Pacific Ocean on a ship after making a business deal for his father. The ship's doctor is poisoning him because he wants to rob his treasure. On the voyage Adam befriends a runaway slave, despite being initially a supporter of slavery.

2. In 1936 Robert Frobisher, a composer and conman, is helping an old composer to write a new symphony, "The Cloud Atlas Symphony". Robert discovers and reads the journal of Adam Ewing in the old composer's home.

3. In 1973 a journalist called Luisa Rey is investigating a faulty nuclear reactor. During her investigations she stumbles on letters written by Robert Frobisher.

4, In 2012 Timothy Cavendish, a bankrupt book publisher is tricked by his brother into being locked in a private mental hospital after having an affair with his wife. While there he reads a novel written by Luisa Rey based on her investigations.

5. In 2144 Sonmi-451 is one of many genetically engineered slaves. After seeing a film about Timothy Cavendish's escape from the mental hospital she joins a resistance movement and becomes the movement's teacher.

6. In the far future, 106 years after a disaster called "The Fall", most of the Earth is covered by water. Humanity is living in small tribes, some primitive, some technologically advanced. In the advanced tribes Sonmi-451 is revered as the greatest philosophical thinker; in the primitive tribes she is worshipped as a Goddess.

The film is based on a novel by David Mitchell, but the screenplay by Tom Tykwer completely restructures the story and adds new elements. The film shows a progression of souls through death and rebirth. The same actors play different characters in the six stories, sometimes good, sometimes evil, sometimes male, sometimes female. We see that soulmates sometimes find one another again, but sometimes they miss one another in a rebirth and have to wait until the next time. For instance (using the actors' names for convenience), Tom Hanks meets Halle Berry in 1973, but he doesn't reunite with her until 106 years after the Fall. Jim Sturgess marries Doona Bae in 1849, but he doesn't meet her again until 2144.

A lot of reviewers have drawn diagrams to explain the interlocking relationships in the film. That's a sign in itself how complex the film is. I would draw my own diagram, if I were more skilled at using Photoshop. Instead of that I'll include a diagram that I like here. You can click on it to look at a larger version. You can see that Jim Sturgess (the dark blue line) is relatively good in each lifetime, while Hugo Weaving (the yellow line) is always evil, but other people, such as Tom Hanks (the red line) change from good to evil.

Despite the complexity, I don't consider the film too difficult to follow. If you like you can just enjoy the action sequences. You don't have to think about the philosophical implications. The Wachowskis, best known for directing the Matrix trilogy, directed three of the six stories, but anyone familiar with Tom Tykwer's films can see that it is his guiding hand that shaped the whole film.

The film isn't only about the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. The quote at the beginning of this post, one of the teachings of Sonmi-451, states that we are connected to others in the past, which means that they are also connected to us in their future. For instance, the old composer in 1936 dreams about the genetically engineered slaves of 2144. Past and future are intertwined as if they exist in a large circle.

Cloud Atlas (4 Stars)

Stories feed the future.

Thelma and Louise (5 Stars)

Brilliant! There, I've used that word again! But I can't help it. Other reviewers have called this a neo-feminist road movie. I'm not sure what the "neo" part of that is supposed to mean. Sometimes "neo" as a prefix means extreme, sometimes it means hidden, sometimes it means a second wave. My guess is that even people who use the word "neo-feminism" don't agree on what it means.

Thelma Dickinson is an unhappily married wife. Maybe she isn't really unhappy, she just doesn't know any better. She dated her first boyfriend when she was 14, married him when she was 18, and ten years later they're still together. Though she still doesn't have children, she stays at home cooking and cleaning for her successful career husband. She suspects that there is more to life, but she doesn't know what it is. Her best friend Louise is a more independent woman, older, single, and working as a waitress. She has a boyfriend but doesn't want to marry him.

Louise invites Thelma to accompany her on a weekend trip to the mountains, to a cabin that her boss owns. Thelma is scared that her husband won't allow her to go, so she doesn't even tell him. The women stop off at a bar on the way, where they drink and dance. Thelma flirts with a man called Harlan, and when they want to leave he tries to rape her. Louise shoots him. They don't go to the police because they don't expect justice in a male-dominated world. Instead they go on the run, turning to crime to support themselves.

The strength of the film isn't just in the action, it's in the atmosphere. The slow guitar riffs are haunting. As they continue their journey west the scenery becomes more beautiful and the people become more ugly. In many way it reminds me of David Lynch's "Wild at Heart", made only a year earlier.

This is a well known film, frequently shown on television. I'd forgotten that it was made so long ago. 1991? It's still as fresh and enjoyable today, not at all dated. If you haven't seen it yet you're missing out. I hope my short review will tempt you. This review is typical for my style. A lot of film reviews are a complete summary from beginning to end. I don't like that. If I read a review of a film that I haven't yet seen I don't want to be told everything. I just want to know the film's premise, how it begins, and whether the reviewer thinks the film is any good.

Click here to view the trailer.