Deepwater Horizon (2 Stars)

I love disaster movies. I love films based on true stories. "Deepwater Horizon" also stars some of my favourite actors, so there's no reason why I shouldn't like it, is there?

Unfortunately, that's not the case. It's a poorly written and poorly directed film. In a good disaster movie, like "Titanic" or "Dresden", there's a slow build up in which we get to know the main characters intimately. In "Deepwater Horizon" we're rushed through a background story with Mike Willis (Mark Wahlberg), but by the time he flies to the oil rig all we know about him is that he loves his wife and his family. Doesn't everyone? We know even less about everyone else we see. They're just hollow characters running around in circles. There should have been at least an hour added to the beginning of the film. Don't tell me that would have made the film too long. A good film is never too long.

Another problem was with the technical details of the events leading up to the catastrophe. Every few minutes a text flashed onto the screen telling us what some device or monitor meant, but I couldn't keep up. I needed a longer explanation. There should have been longer explanations. A fictional character could have been added, someone new on the job who could have posed questions about what was happening.

The best part of the film was the disaster itself. It's a well-filmed spectacle of explosions and fires, but even there I have a criticism. In part of the film, when the power failed, the picture was too dark. It was impossible to recognise who was on the screen.

At first I wanted to give "Deepwater Horizon" a 3 star rating, but after reflecting I had to downgrade it. It's not an average film, it's a poor film.

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The Skeleton Key (4 Stars)

Caroline Ellis is a young woman who takes a job as a live-in carer while trying to save enough money to go to college. She has to look after an old man who has had a stroke. He is now unable to walk or talk. Soon after she arrives Caroline realises that the old man is mentally aware and trying to communicate. She suspects that he's somehow been made an invalid by his wife.

The skeleton key in the film's title has only a small significance in the plot. I suppose that the screenwriter and director couldn't think of an original title based on the main plot elements alone, so they picked this name in desperation. The skeleton key is a key given to Caroline which opens all the door's in large house where the man and his wife live. It doesn't even make sense that she was given the key. They could just have given her a front door key and left all the inside doors unlocked, apart from the ones where she wasn't supposed to go. Caroline does go snooping. She goes into the attic and finds evidence of occult rituals. She thinks that it's voodoo -- the film takes place in Louisiana -- but she's told that it's hoodoo, an even darker form of magic.

The film is difficult for me to rate. I find it scary, but aesthetically it's not very appealing. The people and the surroundings are unattractive. This is deliberate, of course, but it isn't what I expected when I decided to watch the film. "The Skeleton Key" was a big box office success, but it was poorly rated by critics. As usual, I side with the public, not the professional film critics. Nevertheless, I feel that I need to watch it again to make a better decision.

The Killer Inside Me (3¾ Stars)

This is a twisted, though somehow fascinating drama, set in a small town in Texas in the 1950's. It was difficult for me to rate. I can appreciate the film's quality on so many levels, such as the atmosphere, the plot and the acting. On the other hand there are scenes that disgusted me so much that I wanted to turn it off. I could have given the film any rating between 1 and 4 stars, depending on my mood.

Lou Ford (Casey Affleck) is the deputy sheriff in Central City, Texas. Despite the grand sound of its name, Central City is actually only a small town in which everyone knows everyone. The only justification for its name is that it really is in the middle of Texas. Lou has a beautiful girlfriend, a school teacher called Amy (Kate Hudson), with whom he has a torrid sado-masochistic relationship, but she isn't enough for him. When he's asked by the town's biggest employer, the owner of a construction company, to run a prostitute (Jessica Alba) out of town who has had an affair with the employer's son, Lou begins an affair with her. Another sado-masochistic affair. Lou likes to hit women, and they enjoy it.

I personally have been involved in the S&M scene, on various levels, since I was at university. This isn't the place to describe my past in detail, but I do have fixed ideas on the subject which are rejected by many others in the scene, although I am convinced that I am right. I know that there are people, both men and women, who experience a certain amount of sexual pleasure out of being dominated, even if the domination involves being hurt. There are both men and women who act as dominants, either acting gently as loving dominants, or acting harshly as cruel dominants. In either case, especially the latter, it's the official party line of the S&M scene that whatever happens must be consensual. It's usual that in S&M relationships the submissive person has a "safe word" which he/she can use when he wants the dominant person to stop what he's doing. This has led to the commonly stated misconception that the submissive is really the one who is in control.

Based on my experience I am strongly of the opinion that men are ill-suited as dominants. Dominant men are unable to stop when they're sexually aroused and often go too far. A problem with men, both dominant and submissive, is that they consider the domination to be foreplay for sexual intercourse, whereas women can enjoy domination without sex. This means that domination by a man can frequently lead to rape. It's also my experience that dominant men tend to be below average intelligence, which further complicates the issue.

I don't know if Lou Ford is based on any real person, but to me he's a typical dominant male. Women submit to him, so he hurts them, but he's unable to stop, and the domination turns into abuse. In this film he kills the women that he's involved with, and then he's forced to kill men to hide what he's done. He's a disgusting creature.

Please leave comments if you agree or disagree with what I've written. Maybe I can go into the subject in more detail.

Raising Helen (3 Stars)

Helen Harris is a successful career woman who works as an agent in the fashion industry. She's single and happy, living a life of glamour. Everything changes when her sister Linsey is killed in a car accident, and she is appointed legal guardian of her three children. The film follows her successes and failures as an unwilling mother.

About half an hour in Helen meets a Lutheran pastor, and I realised that the rules of a romantic comedy were being applied. In many ways this film is similar to "Overboard". The main difference is that in "Overboard" the romantic comedy aspect is the main plot and the children are a subplot, while in "Raising Helen" it's the other way round.

Kate Hudson is very likeable in her role as Helen. The rest of the cast, both the adults and the children, fit in well. I was pleasantly surprised to see Kevin Kilner as Helen's brother-in-law Ed. I know him from his leading role in "Earth Final Conflict", but this is the first film I've seen him in. In my opinion he's an undiscovered actor. He should be given bigger roles.