Ghost in the Shell (3 Stars)

This film is based on a Japanese comic with the same name. Animated films based on the comic were released in 1995 and 2004. This is the first live action version of the story.

During the development of the film there was severe criticism of the choice of Scarlett Johansson as the lead actress. This is criticism that I agree with. The main character, referred to as Major Mira Killian or simply Major for most of the film, is a Japanese woman called Motoko. Why, why, why wasn't a Japanese actress picked for the role? A much better choice for the role would have been Rila Fukushima, who actually appears in the film in a minor role. Critics have accused Hollywood of white-washing, the practise of casting white actors as non-white characters. which has been done ever since "Birth of a Nation" in 1914. White-washing is a form of racism, but I don't consider the Hollywood studios acted out of racism. They picked Scarlett Johansson because she's a popular actress and they thought adding her name to the cast would make the film a hit. I don't accept that as an excuse. Whatever the reason, white-washing is despicable as a practise and should be banned.

I consider the converse act of black-washing, i.e. choosing black actors to play white characters, to be equally bad, even though less people complain about it. There's a certain level of hypocrisy in modern liberal thinking. If someone complains about Ben Kingsley playing Gandhi it's okay, but if someone complains about Idris Elba playing a Norwegian God he's called racist. So-called liberals need to look at themselves in the mirror before making one-sided complaints.

The film takes place in a fictional Japanese city in the middle of the 21st Century. Technology has advanced to the state that humans can be enhanced by having body parts replaced with synthetic alternatives. This might be a necessary medical procedure, such as receiving new eyes after being blinded. It might also be vanity, such as getting longer legs if you want to be taller. A company called Hanka Robotics takes it one step further. A human brain is placed into a completely synthetic body. After a series of experiments Motoko aka Mira Killian is the first success. Sometimes the body and the face look like a jigsaw puzzle, as in the picture above. At other times the cracks disappear and she almost looks like a real woman. Almost but not quite. She looks like a Barbie Doll with all the naughty bits removed, i.e. the breasts and the genitals are completely smooth. It must be terrible for a living, feeling woman to be neutered in this way, but this is a topic not raised in the film. If it were done to me as a man I wouldn't want to live any more.

Mira is recruited by an anti-terrorism police force. Her perfect body makes her a valuable asset in law enforcement. She's a loyal agent, until she has to track down a terrorist killing the scientists responsible for her creation. When she meets him she begins to doubt whether she's fighting on the right side of the law.

The film's biggest weakness is its setting. It takes place in a high tech world with glittery flashing lights and building sized holograms. Rather than enhance the background they're a visual annoyance, distracting from what's happening in the foreground. Just as annoying are scenes that pixellate to represent glitches in Mira's vision. With the exception of Mira herself the characters are poorly developed. The film's bad guy, Dr. Cutter, the head of Hanka Robotics, is as bland and anonymous as the company he represents.

The film makes a brave attempt to tell a good story, but in the end it fails. "Ghost in the Shell" should have remained on the pages of the comic book, where it belongs.

Clouds of Sils Maria (4 Stars)

Sometimes a film is too arty for its own good. "Clouds of Sils Maria" is a remarkably clever film that will fascinate movie insiders, but it only made back a fraction of its budget at the box office. Ironically, the film features Kristen Stewart's best ever acting performance, but most people will never see it. She was nominated as Best Supporting Actress at 19 smaller film festivals, of which she won eight.

The film takes place in the beautiful mountains of Switzerland. Juliette Binoche plays Maria Enders, a woman who made her debut at 18 in a film called "Malorja Snake". It was a film about a young woman, Sigrid, who joined a company as the personal assistant of the boss, Helena. Sigrid was a manipulative young woman. A lesbian relationship ensued between the two, and when Sigrid left Helena killed herself. It's now 25 years later. Maria is a famous actress, and she's travelling to Zurich to present a lifetime award to Wilhelm Melchior, the director of "Malorja Snake", when she hears that he has died.

The awards ceremony goes ahead. A young director approaches Maria and tells her he's putting on a theatre production of "Malorja Snake", and he would like Maria to play the part of Helena. Sigrid will be played by a young American actress, Jo-Ann Ellis (played by Chloe Grace Moretz), famous for her wild lifestyle and Internet scandals.

Maria disagrees with the casting of Jo-Ann at first, because she considers her to be a shallow person who has only appeared in action films. When she meets her she's amazed to find out that Jo-Ann is an intelligent and polite young woman. In fact, Maria was Jo-Ann's inspiration to become an actress.

When Maria re-acquaints herself with the script she sees "Malorja Snake" in a different way. She had enjoyed it when she was playing the manipulator, but she's horrified to see herself as the manipulated woman. She sees it as a reflection of her own life. When she was 18 she was in control, now that she's 43 she's being used. This is made worse when the wife of Jo-Ann's lover, a famous playwright, attempts suicide on finding out about her husband's infidelity.

The film concentrates on the relationship between Maria Enders and her young personal assistant Valentine, played by Kristen Stewart, proving to the world that she really can act. They sit together or walk in the mountains rehearsing the lines. Maria speaks Helena's lines, while Valentine reads Sigrid's lines from a book. Maria repeatedly interrupts the rehearsing to criticise the dialogue, but Valentine defends it steadfastly. As the days go by a relationship begins between Maria and Valentine, inspired by the power of the script. Valentine becomes Sigrid.

I admit this film isn't for everyone. It's a slow film with almost no action, relying on dialogue and inter-personal relationships. This is art for the sake of art. It's beautiful. It's inspiring.

Godzilla (2014 version) (2 Stars)

What happened? I don't think I've ever been so disappointed by a film. The trailers made the film look so fantastic, it looked like a potential for my film of the year, and yet it fell flat.

The problems were so manifold that I don't know where to begin. Let me just list them briefly.

• We didn't see enough of Godzilla.
• The Motus (re-imagined Mothras?) looked ridiculous, as if made out of metal.
• Ken Watanabe, usually a good actor, spent all the time staring into space.
• Joe Brody dies after being picked as the assistant to deal with the crisis.
• We see too much of the soldiers, even though they're ineffectual.
• The nuclear explosive crisis at the end is confusing.
• The mass destruction of cities by the Motus is hardly shown.
• Most of the film's action is too dark.

I don't understand why some people enjoy the film. The only thing in its favour is that Godzilla, when we see him, looks like the original Japanese Godzilla. In the 1998 film she (yes, Godzilla was a female in that film) looked more like a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex. I went to see the film with about a dozen members of my film group. We were all psyched, expecting something incredible. When we walked out of the cinema the opinions ranged from "average" to "awful piece of shit". None of us liked it.

If you're a hardcore Godzilla fan I'm sure you'll go to see it whatever I say. But it's not worth the money.

Chocolat (3 Stars)

This film, as well as the book it's based on, is a fairy tale with strong moral lessons. Vianne, a woman who is openly atheist moves into a strict Catholic village to open a chocolate shop. It would be too simplistic to say the villagers are hypocritical. They have a sincere desire to lead good lives. However, they are in a state of denial. Evil is in their midst, but since they can't deal with it they simply close their eyes and pretend it doesn't exist. The village's mayor, the Comte de Reynaud, has a genuine love for the villagers when he decries chocolate as sin to protect them. He is a good man, and his sadness is touching.

Five Academy Award nominations. This is obviously a good film, but I can't give it a higher rating. Somehow it doesn't speak to me, despite the excellent performances by the actors involved, especially Alfred Molina as the mayor. The village of Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, where it was filmed, is idyllic and beautiful. Maybe too beautiful. I guess I'm too old for fairy tales.

The film poster is uninspired. It should have shown Juliette Binoche offering Alfred Molina a chocolate. He is the one fighting to resist temptation throughout the film.