Hustlers (4 Stars)

This is a film "inspired by a true story", rather than "based on a true story". By that I assume that more artistic license is taken than in most films based on actual events, especially concerning the names of the characters, but the "what happened next" texts at the end of the film, typical for true stories, are presumably correct.

In 2007 a young woman called Dorothy moved to New York to become an exotic dancer in the luxurious strip club called Moves. Most of the customers were Wall Street traders, some wealthier than others. At first she earned badly, but then she was taken under the wing of the club's star performer, Ramona (played by Jennifer Lopez). With Ramona's help she became a top earner, in her own words making more in a year than a brain surgeon.

But then came 2008 and the financial crisis struck. The club lost its big spenders, so most of the girls quit their jobs and were replaced by Russian girls who performed sex acts for money. Dorothy got married, had a baby, got divorced, and in 2011 she's struggling to survive.

This is when she meets Ramona again, and they hatch a plan. Together with Annabelle and Mercedes, two of their ex-colleagues, they pick up men in bars and take them back to Moves. They drug the men and steal their credit card details. After taking $5000 or more they leave the man unconscious, and if he complains the next day they say he must have forgotten that spent the money himself having a good time.

I'm glad I wasn't a rich man in New York in the 2000's. I would have been an easy mark. Any smart girl who knew which button to press and which lever to pull would have drained my bank account with ease. "A fool and his money are soon parted", a paraphrase of Proverbs 21:20, is a true saying. Jennifer Lopez would be gripping my money while I stare on helplessly. Unfortunately, the saying applies just as much to the ex-strippers. If they had invested their money earned while stripping instead of spending it on unnecessary luxuries, they could have weathered out the financial crisis. Even when they went on to steal thousands of dollars from men every week, they still hadn't learnt from their mistakes and still continued over-spending.

Any woman who's clever enough to take a fool's money should be clever enough to keep hold of it. Otherwise, what's the point?

The Boy Next Door (4 Stars)

This is a classic example of a film that's loved by the public and hated by the critics. I can see both sides of the arguments. A critic would say that it offers nothing new, it's just a rehash of a dozen films before it. A film fan like myself -- I think of myself as a fan rather than a critic -- sits on the edge of his seat jumping at every new shock and appreciates the story as something he can relate to.

Claire Peterson is a school teacher for English Literature in a small American town, probably in California. She's separated from her husband after his infidelity and lives with her son Kevin, who's about 16, if I understand the American school system correctly. (He's a high school junior). A 19-year-old boy, Noah Sandborn, moves into the house next door to live with his uncle after the death of his parents.

After she goes on an unsuccessful double date with her best friend Vicky, the vice principal (deputy headmaster) of her school she returns home half drunk and is seduced by Noah. The next day she has regrets about it and tells Noah that it was just a mistake, but he's persistent. He makes friends with Kevin and becomes part of her family life. When school begins he hacks into Claire's account to send an email requesting that he be transferred into her literature class. The more she refuses his advances the closer he gets, until he threatens to expose their "relationship", as he calls it.

Without going into too many details, desire soon turns into violence, as is always the case with stalkers. The final scenes are horrific and terrifying.

The film begins slowly. If anything, the introductory scenes are stale, and I could hardly wait for them to finish. The film got into its stride after the sex scene. From then on it was thrills all the way to the conclusion. Yes, it's an erotic thriller full of clichés, but I enjoy erotic thrillers. In the 1990's the direct-to-video market was flooded with low budget erotic thrillers. Having a budget of only $4 million "The Boy Next Door" could be called a low budget movie as well, especially when you consider that at least half of the budget must have gone into Jennifer Lopez's pockets. An erotic thriller only has a chance of pulling in audiences with a big star in the main role. But the budget was adequate. Erotic thrillers, like romantic comedies, don't need a lot of money to be good films. All they need is a good script and competent acting. "The Boy Next Door" succeeds on both counts.

General: Academy Awards 2015 Fashion

Here are a few photos taken at last night's Academy Awards. Most, though not all of the men dressed conservatively. The women dressed up to get themselves noticed. While some women, in particular Lady Gaga, deliberately made themselves look ugly, others tried to look good but failed.

J. K. Simmons was the best dressed man of the evening. He has class with a capital K.

Lady Gaga tried her hardest to look ugly and almost succeeded. She showed up wrapped in a dish cloth and wearing her washing up gloves.

Jennifer Lopez was one of the few top actresses who actually managed to look good.

There was only one thing wrong with Emma Stone's outfit. She would have looked better without underwear.

Chloe Grace Moretz looked beautiful and elegant, as always. Some fashion sites have criticised her for wearing a dress with pockets, but it's a good idea. It gives a woman somewhere to hide her hands when she's feeling nervous. It also means she doesn't need to carry a handbag.

Neil Patrick Harris is an actor with nothing to hide. Almost nothing, that is.

After the show Neil Patrick Harris was seen asking J. K. Simmons for fashion tips. He was told he needed a hat.

Unbelievable! 61 years old, and Oprah Winfrey was one of the best looking women in the room.

At the other end of the scale, "supermodel" Karolina Kurkova wins my vote for the worst dressed woman, outdoing even Lady Gaga. The tragic thing is that Lady Gaga wanted to look ugly, whereas Karolina probably thought she looked good. Someone should send her back to fashion school.

The awesome twins, Tegan and Sara, were nominated for an Oscar for the Best Original Song. They should have won. "Glory" isn't too bad as a song, but it just isn't awesome!

It was kind of the Film Academy to invite Kelly Osbourne, to show that they're not biased against people with zero talent. She should have asked the Tegan twins for fashion advice though. At least they know how to make black look good.

Look who they allowed on stage. It's Mr. Terrence They-Don't-Pay-Me-Enough Howard. It looks like he was telling people how much he wants for his next film.

Someone told Jared Leto the roof was leaking, so he came prepared.

Shia LaBeouf was turned away at the door because the security guards didn't recognise him. Or maybe it was really an imposter? We'll never know.

Unfortunately, Kim Jong-Un wasn't invited to the Academy Awards this year. He requested a ticket, but he was told that they wouldn't invite him unless he got a better haircut. He attempted a new style last month, but it still wasn't good enough.