Song for Marion (3 Stars)

Is this a depressing film or an uplifting film? It depends on the way you look at it. It's supposed to be uplifting, but for me the depressing aspects overweigh.

70-year-old Marion Harris, pictured above, is happy and loves life. Even though she's wheelchair-bound and terminally ill with cancer, she regularly visits her local community centre for choir practise. Her husband Arthur doesn't get it. He thinks she should stay at home and relax instead of exerting herself.

The word cancer is never used in the film, even though it's obvious what's meant. It's a terrible word that people are afraid to use.

Arthur loves his wife, there's no doubt about it, but he's a grumpy old man. Because of her disability he has to bring her to the community centre, but he doesn't go in. He stands outside by himself smoking. He listens to the songs through the window, but he doesn't approve. They're too modern for him.

Halfway through the film Marion dies. Arthur becomes even more of a recluse than he was before. Then he starts to think about Marion's singing. He goes to the community centre and listens through the window, even though he has no reason to be there. Elizabeth, the choir's teacher, encourages him to start singing. At first she gives him private lessons, and then he joins the choir.

I think you can see the film's dichotomy. A man finds new hope through singing after the death of his wife. That's uplifting. But she's dead. The film even shows her dying. I have difficulty watching films about cancer.

In the film's favour, it has outstanding performances by the main actors. Gemma Arterton is my favourite actress among all actresses who're active today. Christopher Eccleston plays his part excellently as Arthur's son. But Terence Stamp steals the show as Arthur. It's amazing how well he portrays a man with pent up emotions. He's playing a man who's trying to hide his emotions, but Arthur isn't 100% successful. Terence Stamp lets the emotions seep through with an occasional flash of his eyes.

For the sake of realism, a complete amateur choir was used in the film. They already knew one another, so they had natural chemistry. There were just a couple of actors inserted into the choir for the speaking roles. As far as the singing was concerned, they were acting naturally and doing what they did best.

I can imagine that many of my friends will like this film. Maybe you can concentrate on the film's uplifting aspects. I can't.

Success Rate:  + 7.2

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Thor: Dark World (5 Stars)

This is the eighth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, released in November 2013. I had my doubts about the film at first, but after repeated viewing it's grown on me, and I now consider it to be one of the best MCU films.

The Stan Lee cameo scene lasts for 56 seconds, but we only see him for the last eight seconds. Dr. Erik Selvig was arrested for running through the Stonehenge stones naked. I'm not certain that a person would really be arrested for that. There are a lot of hippies who congregate at Stonehenge, especially on the summer solstice, so I expect that nudity is common at Stonehenge. Dr. Selvig is being held by the police for psychological evaluation. In this scene we see him holding a lecture on the upcoming convergence of the nine worlds to the other inmates.

Dr. Selvig uses two shoes to demonstrate how the convergence will take place. The light coloured shoe was borrowed from one of his listeners: Stan Lee. In the cameo Stan asks if he can have his shoe back.

Other reviewers have written in more detail about the notes written on the blackboard, because they're an interesting mix of scientific theories and Marvel mythology. I'll just point out three small details:

In the centre we have the tree Yggdrasil, which connects the nine realms (of which only eight are shown).

Above the tree we see the label "616 Universe", referring to Marvel's current habit of calling the main Marvel Universe Earth-616. I wonder how Dr. Selvig came up with this magic number.

In the bottom right there's a sketch of the Nexus of All Reality. This is the cosmic portal guarded by the Man-Thing. There was a film about the Man-Thing made in 2005, but it didn't include any references to the Nexus. It would be good to have a second film about the Man-Thing set within the MCU.

This is the company that Stan Lee is keeping. I wonder why he was arrested. Maybe it's because he's been accused of impersonating Larry King and Hugh Hefner.

There's some smart product placement in the film. Here's Darcy Lewis with an empty Vimto can. It's well known in the UK, but how many people from other parts of the world have tasted Vimto? It's delicious.

Here are more typical British products: Shreddies and McVities Digestive Biscuits. Dr. Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) is more interested in Kat Dennings' chest. That's understandable. I'd stare at any girl with a 34DD chest, and since she's only 5'3" her breasts look even bigger.

I mentioned in my review of "Thor" that the hammer Mjolnir isn't extremely heavy. It can't be picked up because of a magic spell, but it's still light enough to be hung in a coat rack.

Once more, Tom Hiddleston's performance as Loki is overwhelming. However evil he might be, he's a tortured soul, and we can't help feeling sympathetic when his words are emphasised by his sorrowful face.

When Loki laughs mischievously we laugh with him instead of worrying what he's laughing about.

Kat Dennings has a beautiful smile as well, although I suspect it's her real smile, not something she put on for the film. It's beautiful enough to tear my eyes away from her chest. Briefly.

I love the pictures shown at the end, during the final credits. They're the sort of pictures I'd like to frame and put on my wall. It's a shame that most of the pictures are covered with text.

When the film was released I read comments in a newspaper saying that it wasn't like a normal superhero film. Whoever wrote that is ignorant of Thor's origins in the comic created by Stan Lee. All of his other heroes were new creations. Thor was an adaptation of existing legends. His modernisation of the old Norse myths is one of his greatest successes. This gave the Thor comics a slightly different style to the other comics, resulting in a different type of film, but all of Stan Lee's comics were original. I'm still waiting for a big screen adaptation of Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan. That will be a very different type of superhero film.

Success Rate:  + 1.8

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28 Days Later (4½ Stars)

"28 Days Later" was made in 2002 by the consistently excellent director Danny Boyle. He was brave enough to make a zombie film at a time when zombie films were out of fashion. Referring to my comments in my review of "Ready Player One", that's a risk Steven Spielberg wouldn't have taken. Unexpectedly, it was a massive box office hit, earning back more than 10 times its budget. It's had a big influence on the modern zombie genre. For instance, the TV series "The Walking Dead" borrows strongly from its ideas.

The title takes its name from the speed of the infection. The film begins with animal activists freeing a monkey from a laboratory where it's being used as a test subject. The monkey bites a female activist, who then bites her colleagues. The speed of the infection is devastating. Within 10 seconds of being bitten a person becomes a ravenous monster and bites others. 28 days later more than 99% of the UK's population has been turned into monsters.

The film follows the struggle of the young man Jim to survive, aided only by a few others that he meets on his journey northwards from London to Manchester. At first he naively believes that he can trust all the other survivors, but he finds out that he's wrong. Bad people don't become better when they're put under pressure, they get worse.

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Thor: Dark World (5 Stars)

This has become one of the films that I watch the most, second only to "The Life of Pi". For that reason I don't have anything to say about it today, except that I've increased its rating to five stars. In the past my main reason for deducting half a star was that I found Dr. Selvig's madness annoying. After repeated viewing I've learnt to put up with it.

Oops. Are my screenshots from the film in this post spoilers?

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Thor: Dark World (4½ Stars)

This film has an incredible blend of styles. It starts off as a fantasy epic, looking suspiciously like a clone of "Lord of the Rings". It turns into a fast flying "Star Wars" imitation. It finally settles into a typical super-hero film. Which is it supposed to be? All of them!

Anyone who has left comments on my blog in the last week has noticed a change. For the last six years I have automatically accepted comments. This is what I consider to be the best way to handle comments, because it's frustrating to write a comment and not see it immediately appear on the web site. However, I've been forced to change my policy due to a large amount of spam I've been receiving over the last few weeks. The spam has all come from one single person who has been posting between 10 and 30 ads to my comments every single day. I've had to remove each comment individually. To avoid this I've now added comment moderation, so that his comments never arrive on my blog. It's much better that way. Don't worry, I guarantee that I'll approve all genuine comments within a day.

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P. S. Why is the film called "Thor: The Dark Kingdom" in Germany? Crazy Germans!

Song for Marion (3 Stars)

So many films are made each year. I estimate that about 500 films are made in America, 100 in England and 100 in Germany. Of course, thousands are made in other countries, but those are the three countries whose films I watch the most. How can I possibly decide what to watch? It's not just a matter of watching two films a day, which would theoretically be enough to see all 700 films from my three favourite countries. I also like to watch films more than once. And of course, many films never make it into the cinema, so I have to wait until they're released on Blu-ray.

My film choices aren't completely random, but they also aren't completely under my own control. Films shown in cinemas have a good chance of finding their way into my watch list. While I lived in England I tried to watch at least two films in the cinema each week, and now that I'm in Germany I try to watch at least one film in the cinema. Films that are already in my extensive DVD and Blu-ray collection have a good chance of getting a repeat viewing. My preferences for buying new films (preferably on Blu-ray) are based on certain factors, some positive, some negative.

1. If a film is about someone with cancer I don't watch it.

This might seem random, but I hate films about cancer. I find it so depressing as a subject. I prefer to bury my head in the sand and pretend it doesn't exist.

2. If a film stars Gemma Arterton I watch it.

There are a few other actors whose films I have to see. Apart from Gemma there's Jim Carrey and Chloe Grace Moretz. There are also a few directors on my must-watch list, including Quentin Tarantino, Sion Sono and Zhang Yimou.

I could quote other positive and negative factors in deciding which films to watch, but I'll leave it at these two. They put me in a dilemma. "Song for Marion" is a film about cancer that stars Gemma Arterton, so should I watch it or not?

As you can see, I've decided to watch "Song for Marion", albeit a few years after it was released in 2012. I have no regrets about watching it, even though I've only given it an average rating.

The film is about an elderly married couple, Arthur and Marion, played by Terence Stamp and Vanessa Redgrave. They are proof that opposites attract. Marion is cheerful and full of energy. She takes part in sessions with a local amateur choir. Her husband is a grumpy old man who thinks that singing is silly. When Marion's cancer enters its final stages she spends as much time as possible singing. This confuses Arthur, but he tolerates it. After her death he becomes a total recluse, until he finally decides to try singing to see what it's all about. The choir's teacher, played by Gemma Arterton, helps him break out of his shell.

This is a wonderfully moving film with high quality performances from all of the leading actors, including Christopher Eccleston who plays Marion's son. I found the singing itself rather dull. It's not up to the standard of musicals, but that was never the intention. The cancer is depressing, but once it was out of the way the film picked up for me.

Legend (4½ Stars)

Before going to see this film in the cinema I knew almost nothing about the Kray twins. I knew their names, I knew they were gangsters in London's East End in the 1960's, but that was it. I expected the film to tell me about their lives and how they rose to power. I was disappointed that this wasn't the case. The film begins in the mid 1960's when the Krays were already powerful gangsters, and it continues to their imprisonment in 1969.

Barring this disappointment I enjoyed the film. The remarkable thing is that Tom Hardy plays both twins. The easy part was to put the two incarnations of Tom Hardy into the picture together. Computers can do anything nowadays. The difficult part was for Tom Hardy to realistically portray two men with different personalities and mannerisms. Only a truly great actor can pull off a feat like this. An actor like Tom Hardy.

The film is all based on the differences between the two brothers. Reginald Kray was an efficient businessman, keeping a cool head to make his business as successful as possible. Ronnie Kray was erratic and impulsive, using his fists rather than his brain. Even though it was obvious to everyone that Ronnie was a problem to their business, Reginald supported him because he loved him as a brother.

The story's narrator is Reginald's wife Frances, played by Emily Browning. I have mixed feelings about her as an actress. I've never seen her smile once in a film, she has a permanently miserable face. However, this doesn't cause problems. She gets by with her sad face. I shan't be too hard on her until I've seen her in more films. She's definitely a better actress than Kristen Stewart.

I went to see the film with my fellow blogger, Emma Roberts. Click here to read her review.

Thor: Dark World (4½ Stars)

Can I have my shoe back?

The Second Coming (3 Stars)

This is a difficult film for me to rate. The acting is excellent, especially Christopher Eccleston and Mark Benton. My fault with it is the heavy philosophy laid on us by the writer, Russell T. Davies. My rating is as much my opinion on his religious views as the film itself.

Steven Baxter is a normal, everyday guy who works in a video store in Manchester. After a night out with his friends he has a divine revelation and disappears. 40 days later he's found in Yorkshire, claiming to be the Son of God. His friends think he's gone mad, but he's approached by a representative of the Catholic Church, who says that an obscure prophecy has predicted his coming. Over the next few days Steven performs a series of miracles, and everyone believes in him. Almost everyone. Steven's girlfriend Judith can't accept what he says.

Steven proclaims that Judgement Day will take place in five days. The only way to prevent it will be to write a Third Testament, a new religious book. He doesn't know who the author will be, but he says that he will recognise it when he sees it, so millions of people begin to write as fast as they can. But the Devil isn't idle. Demons possess people around him, with the intention of turning Steven's closest friends against him.

The message is clear. Friedrich Nietzsche said that God is dead. Russell T. Davies says that God isn't dead, but he ought to be. RTD (as Doctor Who fans affectionately call him) tries to offer something to fill the God-vacuum, but it's not enough to cover the negativity. That's my opinion, anyway. I welcome conversation from anyone who sees this film differently.

Thor: Dark World (4½ Stars)

For me, the mark of a good film is that it's worth watching at least three times. This is the second time I watched "Thor: The Dark World". There will be a third time, I have no doubt of it. It's a perfect blend of mythology and science.

Thor: Dark World (4½ Stars)

The film continues where "The Avengers" left off. Thor is fighting battles in the nine worlds to make peace. His brother Loki is still imprisoned. Jane Foster is attempting to move on with her life, since she hasn't seen Thor since the first film ended. This film centres around the return of a dark elf, Malekith, who plans to use a long hidden weapon to destroy all nine worlds, plunging them into darkness. Jane unwittingly becomes a pawn in the battle, and Thor has to fight to protect her. I was happy to see that the final battle took place in London. Why should New York, in particular Manhattan, always be smashed up in big action films? London deserves to be destroyed as well.

The film has incredible action scenes, balanced with a good dose of humour. It's definitely worth seeing in the cinema. I saw it in 3D, but in my opinion the 3D is unnecessary and doesn't add anything to the film. I'll probably go to see the film again on Sunday.

Here's an important spoiler for people intending to see the film in the cinema. There are two additional scenes. The first is in the middle of the credits, and it has some importance as introducing a character for the "Guardians of the Galaxy" film. The second is at the end of the film, and even though it's not essential to the plot it's worth watching. Please don't run out of the film too fast.

I left the cinema at 2am and decided to walk home. I walked past the homeless people who sleep in front of the Birmingham Bullring. There were quite a lot of them, about 20 huddled up under their blankets. What shocked me most was seeing a mother with her two children, who looked about five or six years old. She was calling them to lie down. In my opinion it's totally wrong that small children have to sleep outdoors. That sort of thing makes me feel ashamed to be British.