The Substance (5 Stars)

The Substance centres on Elisabeth Sparkle, a former Hollywood star whose career has withered as she ages. Once celebrated for her beauty, she is now dismissed, patronised and quietly erased by an industry that values women only while they remain young. Her life is reduced to routine, isolation and humiliation, culminating in her being fired from her long running television job on her fiftieth birthday.

In this moment of despair, Elisabeth is approached by a mysterious medical company offering an experimental treatment known simply as "The Substance". The promise is intoxicating; it will create a younger, improved version of herself. This new body will be flawless, energetic and desirable. The catch is strict and non negotiable. Elisabeth must alternate between her original body and the new one on a fixed schedule. They are not allowed to exist simultaneously. Balance must be maintained.

After taking the treatment, Elisabeth gives birth to Sue, a younger version of herself who immediately thrives in the spotlight. Sue becomes everything Elisabeth once was and more. She's confident, admired and quickly embraced by the same industry that rejected the older Elisabeth. As Sue's success grows, Elisabeth's resentment and dependence deepen. The boundaries between the two selves begin to erode as Sue increasingly resists giving control back.

What follows is a spiralling breakdown of identity, morality and physical form. The rules of the substance are violated and the consequences are grotesque. Their bodies deteriorate, merge and mutate as Elisabeth attempts to reclaim relevance and control. The film moves toward an extreme and deliberately excessive finale in which the cost of denying age, mortality and self acceptance becomes horrifyingly literal.

At its core, The Substance is not about vanity; it is about erasure. The film presents ageing as something society inflicts on women rather than a natural process. Elisabeth is not afraid of getting older in isolation. She's afraid of becoming invisible. The horror comes from the realisation that her value has always been conditional.

Sue represents the idealised female body as a product. She is not a true second self but a commodified version shaped entirely for consumption. Her rebellion is not empowerment; it's the logic of the system taken to its extreme. Youth, once created, refuses to relinquish space. The older self is expected to disappear quietly.

The film also critiques the language of self improvement. The substance is marketed as empowerment and choice, yet it demands obedience, sacrifice and self mutilation. Elisabeth believes she is taking control, but in reality she's submitting to a harsher form of exploitation, one that comes from within as much as from the outside world.

The escalating body horror mirrors Elisabeth's internal fragmentation. As she tries to split herself into acceptable and unacceptable parts, her body literally collapses under the contradiction. The grotesque excess of the final act is intentional. It refuses subtlety because the violence done to women by beauty culture is anything but subtle.

Ultimately, The Substance argues that the pursuit of eternal youth is a losing battle not because ageing is ugly, but because self rejection is corrosive. Elisabeth does not destroy herself by growing older. She destroys herself by agreeing with a world that tells her she should not exist as she is.

Success Rate:  + 2.3

The Substance (5 Stars)

This is the 16th film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival.

Demi Moore plays Elizabeth Sparkle, the star of an aerobics programme. She's fired on her 50th birthday because she's considered too old. She discovers a wonder drug that will give her back her youth. The drug actually splits her into two different women, one young and one old. The two women have to be allowed to live alternately, one week at a time. That's not as easy as it sounds. The two women become jealous of one another and attempt to stay active too long.

This is an amazing film, and I've given it a top rating even though there are faults. Parts of the film are stretched out too long. The last 30 minutes could have been squashed into 10 minutes. There are also problems with the style. Most of the film is serious, but in the later scenes there's too much comedy. Nevertheless, I like the film, and I hope to see it again soon.

Rough Night (4 Stars)

Amazon Friday #18

When did hen nights (called bachelorette parties in America) become so popular? They've always existed, but when I was young they were quiet, demure affairs where a bride had a few drinks with her friends before her marriage. If they decided to have a wilder party, they kept it secret and went wild behind closed doors. That's not what happens now. On hen nights the bride and her friends go out partying in public, wearing gaudy dresses and waving plastic penises in the air. When did this start? The first time I became aware of it was about ten years ago, but it's possible that it started much earlier.

That's what this film is about. The girls night out in the title is a hen night. I should call it a bachelorette party, because it takes place in America. Jess, Alice, Frankie and Blair were sorority sisters. They were best friends. At graduation they promised they'd stay together forever, but that's not how things happen. The four girls went their separate ways. Jess is a politician, campaigning for the state senate. Alice is a school teacher. Frankie is a political activist. Blair seems to be living off her wealth instead of working.

Now Jess is about to get married. She meets her three friends for a bachelorette party in Miami. Also invited is her friend Pippa from Australia. That makes five girls going wild in Miami. Drinking, dancing and drugs. Despite Jess's protests, they take cocaine together. They relax in their holiday apartment by the beach to enjoy their stripper. But there's an accident. Alice jumps on his lap, he falls over and bangs his head, and he's dead immediately.

Blair, Alice, Jess, Frankie and Pippa

When I watched this film two years ago I only gave it two stars. Ever since then it's been stuck in my head, and I thought I should give it another chance. I've rated it more highly this time. Last time I said the script was dull, and it is, but this time I appreciate the humour more.

The film starts off dull, but after the stripper's death it's a hilarious comedy. What do you do if you have a dead body in your apartment? The sensible thing would be to call the police and tell them it was an accident. The trouble is that Jess is running for office, so she can't afford the police finding her under the influence of cocaine. So they decide to hide the body until morning. Not a good idea. Then they try to dispose of the body, but it's not as easy as they think.

Kate McKinnon is perfect as Pippa. We expect nothing less from her. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Scarlett Johansson is capable of comic timing. It's a good film, if you can put up with the slow start.

Make sure you don't miss the after-credits scene. It's important.

The photo at the top shows an alternate title. The film's original title is "Rough Night", but it's called "Girls Night Out" in most other countries. "Girls Night Out" is a better title.

Success Rate:  + 0.4

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On a different note, I think I'll watch more films on streaming platforms, starting next week. I've subscribed to Netflix for the last five years. I occasionally watch films, but more commonly television series. In most cases I didn't even mention in my review that I watched a film on Netflix, unless it was a film exclusive to Netflix. I share my Netflix account with my two sons, and they both use it more than me, because neither of them owns a DVD player. My older son subscribes to Disney Plus, and he lets me use his account. So far I've just used it to watch Marvel series, but there are a few films on Disney Plus that I'm interested in. My plan, starting next week, is to have a Disney Wednesday, Netflix Thursday and Amazon Friday. DNA. Perfect! As always, I'm not promising that I'll watch a film on a streaming service every week. I'll see how it turns out as I go along.

Rough Night (2 Stars)

You need three things to make a bachlorette party (called a hen party in England) successful: Kate McKinnon, cocaine and a male stripper. Actually, forget the cocaine, because if you have Kate McKinnon, who needs drugs? And come to think about it, who cares about the stripper, because Kate McKinnon is so funny that nobody will be looking at him.

At college Jess, Alice, Frankie and Blair were inseparable. But college doesn't last forever. Ten years later they've gone different ways. Jess is campaigning to become a state senator, Alice is a junior school teacher, Frankie is a political activist and Blair is a wealthy real estate agent. They meet again for Jess's bachlorette party in Miami. Jess also invites her new best friend Pippa, who is accepted by the other girls after a few drinks.

After partying in the clubs they go back to their rented beach apartment to celebrate in private. They get high and they phone for a stripper. The performance comes to a swift end when Alice jumps on his lap, the chair falls over, he bangs his head and dies.

It was just an accident, so the girls could have called the police, but that's not what they do. Jess is high on cocaine, so she's worried that it will harm her election campaign. The girls decide to get rid of the body, which isn't as easy as it seems.

What does the film have in its favour? – Kate McKinnon.

What does the film have against it? – everything else.

I love Kate as an actress, and she does the best she can with the film's dull script. Scarlett Johansson is a wonderful actress, but she has no talent as a comedienne. The film is trying its hardest to be funny, but it fails.

Even worse is that there's a serious interlude that starts after 75 minutes, where Tess confesses that she hasn't thought about her friends enough. In itself this would have been a welcome diversion in the middle of the unfunny comedy, but so late in the film? It's totally out of place, and it makes a bad film worse.

The film was moderately successful at the box office, possibly because of the actresses in the cast, possibly because of the romantic subject matter. I doubt many people enjoyed it in the cinema.

Success Rate:  + 0.4

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Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (4½ Stars)

In 2000 "Charlie's Angels" earned $264 million at the box office, making it the 12th highest earning film of the year. Since the film was so successful a sequel had to be made. In 2003 "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" earned $259 million at the box office, making it the 12th highest earning film of the year. This was considered a flop, so no third film was made. Am I missing something? Do the studios make such a fuss over a measly $5 million? The film made a profit anyway, even without including the DVD sales.

The same three Angels return as in the first film, Dylan, Natalie and Alex. Before you say that's nothing special, remember that in the original TV series there were four different line-ups in five years. The only thing that remained consistent was that there were always three Angels, so as soon as someone left a replacement was hired.

On the other hand, this film has a new Bosley, who is presented as an inexperienced newcomer. In the first film Bill Murray plays John Bosley, in the second film Bernie Mac plays Jimmy Bosley. I wonder if they're supposed to be related. Whatever the case is, the Angels are two much for Jimmy to handle. He quickly covers his lap when the girls snuggle up to him on the couch. He has to remain professional.

If the Angels are too much for Jimmy Boswell to handle he has to look for love outside of the office. It looks like Melissa McCarthy is more his type. His eyes are all over her, and she likes it. I wish there had been a third film to show us how their relationship develops.

The Angels are always ready for action, with or without clothes. Judging by her stare Alex isn't very happy with Natalie. She's probably thinking, "Why didn't you tell us it would be so cold?"

I've given this film the same rating as the first film, but if anything it's slightly better. The action is goofy and over-the-top, comparable with the Roger Moore James Bond films. I say this as praise, not criticism. The three Angels are larger-than-life superwomen. They pick a fight with 50 soldiers, and the soldiers don't stand a chance. This is true female empowerment. There should be a continuing franchise of Charlie's Angels films. There's no need for the actresses to commit themselves on a long term basis, the rota can change any time. I'd like to see a new Charlie's Angels film every year. Wouldn't you?

"Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" has only been released on DVD in England and America. In Germany it's available on Blu-ray. The default language for the film is English, and even the disc menu is in English, so if you prefer to watch films in high definition order it from Amazon.de using the link below.

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Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (4½ Stars)

"American audiences can accept Tom Cruise breaking into a highly secured vault, but Cameron Diaz doing the same thing must be presented as a campy joke" (Scott Mendelson, film critic).

When I read that quote my first impulse was to reach for my phone to hire a hit man to take out Mr. Mendelson. After my initial flush of rage I calmed down and read his words more carefully. He's not saying that he sees it that way, he's saying that the American public sees it that way. Right. If he's making a social commentary he's correct. His life is spared.

Today's society claims to be liberated, but the idea of a woman being powerful is still thought of as something ridiculous. It has to be a joke. Women have a long way to go before they're considered equal to men, even in Hollywood representations. The two Charlie's Angels films offer some help in achieving this, despite being exaggerated and campy. These aren't three women who are just sexy, they aren't three women who are just strong, they're both.

"Charlie's Angels" was one of the most successful films of 2000, earning $264 million at the box office, making it the 12th most successful film of the year. So we had to have a sequel! Strangely, "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" was considered to be a flop, so a third film was never made. The reason why I say "strangely" is obvious when you look at the statistics. "Full Throttle" earned $259 million at the box office and was the 12th most successful film of 2003. It's difficult to understand why the film studios made such a fuss. There was hardly any difference in the earnings, only 1.8% less.

Critics also rated "Full Throttle" less favourably. They made remarks like "it's like a 90-minute music video". Even if that were the case, so what? Music and action go well together.

I was fortunate enough to see this film on the big screen. Back in 2003 I rarely visited the cinema, unlike now, when I go twice a week at least. It's a film worth seeing in the cinema. The stunts and special effects are amazing. They are even more exaggerated and unbelievable than in the first film, but does that really matter? This is fantasy escapism at its best. In the opening scenes the Angels fall off the side of the Great Wall of China and are caught by a helicopter. That's not very realistic, but it looks good.

Cameron Diaz as Natalie

Drew Barrymore as Dylan

Lucy Liu as Alex

Maybe the biggest factor in the films' success is the chemistry between the three actresses. They're having fun, and it shows. I already said in my review of the first film that I didn't like the 1970's television series. After the second film (supposedly) flopped it's been a long wait, but now it's finally been announced that a new film will be made with new actresses. Only Elisabeth Banks has been cast so far. The film has been called a "reboot", but that over-used word doesn't apply. The Angels were frequently exchanged in the TV series, so having new actresses in the next film will just be a continuation, "Charlie's Angels 3". Whether it will be good or not is another question. Let's wait and see. The first two films will be difficult to beat.

One last question for my readers. If you were a bad guy, who would you rather have beat you up? Tom Cruise? Daniel Craig? Or these three girls?

Ghost (4 Stars)

This was the fifth film at the 2014 Brindley Place Film Festival. For the first time, disaster struck. After 45 minutes the screen went blank, and we were informed that a cable had burnt through. We had to wait slightly longer than half an hour for repairs. That gave us a chance to buy extra food and drinks.

"Ghost" is a weepy film with doubtful theological content, but it's enjoyable to anyone wishing to suspend his disbelief. Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) and Molly Jensen (Demi Moore) share an apartment in New York. One night after a visit to the theatre they are mugged in an alleyway and Sam is fatally shot. As a ghost he looks down on his dead body and his grieving lover. For a while he follows Molly around, not knowing what else to do. Then he finds out that it wasn't a random mugging; the murderer had been hired by his work colleague to prevent him exposing illegal money transactions. Molly is also a target, so he wants to protect her, even though he has no way of communicating with her. Finally he finds a psychic, played by Whoopi Goldberg, who can act as a go-between... provided Molly can be convinced that she isn't a fake.

It's an enjoyable film, but nothing that I could watch frequently. The last time I saw it was about 10 years ago. I'll wait another 10 years before watching it again.

Off-Topic: Nude and Proud

Today I read that Scout Willis, the 22-year-old daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, walked topless through New York City as a protest against Instagram's ban on photos that show nipples. Similar bans exist on Facebook and Twitter, so I doubt that the photos she posted of her topless walk in Twitter will last long before they're removed. This is a topic that I feel very strongly about. Nudity, or rather the right to be nude, is a symbol of female empowerment. That's something that the Femen movement has understood, by writing protest messages on their naked bodies. Liberated women expose themselves, oppressed women are forced to cover themselves. I'm not saying that women must be nude, I'm just saying that they should have the freedom to be nude if they want to. In public, online, whether they consider themselves pretty or not. Many women feel forced to cover themselves up because they don't think that they conform to the official norms of female beauty, but that shouldn't be a hindrance. All women are beautiful, in their own way.

Scout Willis shopping.

An argument for Instagram's nipple ban is that nudity shouldn't be allowed online to protect children. But look at the photo above. There's a small child in the picture, and the mother is making no attempt to cover her eyes. Do you think the little girl will be traumatised by what she's seen? Not at all. If it has any effect at all, it will encourage her to expose her body as she grows older.

The influence of the parents shouldn't be underrated. Scout's mother Demi posed for the cover of "Vanity Fair" when she was seven months pregnant. It was a very tasteful photo that led to public discussions about the beauty of pregnant women when it was published in 1991. And in case you haven't already guessed, it was Scout inside her mother's belly.

Even though it was considered scandalous for an A-list actress like Demi Moore to pose naked, she was no stranger to nudity. At the age of 18 she had posed naked for the magazine "Oui". Men's magazines are often criticised by feminists. It's said that they objectify women. That's partially true, but it's a matter of perspective. Objectification is in the mind of the men who read those magazines. For the women who pose it's a form of expressing themselves. Most women are afraid to walk naked in the street, because they live in a restrictive community where they might be arrested. Men's magazines present a safe environment in which they can express their freedom in safety. If men who look at the magazines see the women as objects it's their own problem. If nudity were more common it would be less of a problem for men. A man whose boss walks around the office with bare breasts would be unlikely to go home and treat women in magazines as sex objects.

This is the first post on my blog in which I have openly shown nudity. In future I shall do it more often. I shall post photos of actresses who expose their bodies in public. Only actresses. After all, this is a film blog. Scout Willis is an actress, although she's only been in three films so far.

Please note that my photos will be restricted to tasteful nudity, such as what I have shown above. I shall not publish photos of sexual acts, because this is not and never will be a pornographic blog. I shall only depict such nudity as can be legally shown on the streets of New York.

Incidentally, you can click on any of the photos above to see larger versions.