Twenty Cop Movies that are Better than The Departed

When discussing the subject of police films, there are a few obvious films that always seem to come up. One of the most common of those films is The Departed, a film that seems to have a huge fanbase for some reason. It currently holds an 8.5 rating on IMDB, and ranks at #45 in their top 150 list. It also won Best Picture somehow. Nearly every other person I've talked to seems to believe this is some kind of masterpiece. Why do people like this movie? I don't know. All I saw was an overly convoluted mess in desperate need of greater gender diversity (seriously, five billion cops and five billion crooks and the only woman they could fit into the cast was the love interest?). 

So to vent some of my frustrations I have taken the time to assemble a list of police movies I would argue are in every way superior to The Departed (or at least a lot more entertaining). Here are twenty films about cops that I would rather see than have to sit through The Departed again. Also, here's a surprise for everyone; for once I'm mainly judging these films on the overall quality and not just on whether they have strong female cops in them (though that does help). Several of these films actually do lack strong female characters (at least in the police force) or only have them in small supporting roles but are still worth mentioning.

Honorable mentions for this list include Eraser (my original #20 pick) and The Naked Gun (which only failed to make this list because I saw it in middle school and my memories of it are somewhat vague). I have also received recommendations to see L.A. Confidential, In the Heat of the Night, Heat, and The French Connection. Unfortunately I have not yet had the chance to see any of these movies so I am unable to confirm if they are are in fact better than The Departed. 

20. The Last Stand (2013)

Schwarzenegger's big comeback movie after might not be his greatest accomplishment, but it works for its purposes. There is definitely some influence from Rio Bravo (see below), and it works as a modern homage to old westerns. It's not exactly Oscar material but it's still a fun movie with some great (if at times over the top) action and Schwarzenegger being Schwarzenegger. It's an enjoyable movie and worth the time.

19. Sabotage (2014)

It's funny how Schwarzenegger seems to keep appearing on this list. His other big comeback film is a bit more serious and a lot more intense than The Last Stand, given there is a greater emphasis on the growing tensions between the main characters as they are forced to question which of their colleagues can be trusted. It's a lot more suspenseful and harder to predict, with even Schwarzenegger himself becoming more of an anti-hero. 

18. Speed (1994)

Finally, a film without Schwarzenegger in it. The "Die Hard on a bus" premise makes for a very intense movie, complete with Dennis Hopper (unsurprisingly) playing a deranged villain who seems to be determined to cause as much trouble for the police as humanly possible. It does still manage to work with a few creative ideas (a lot of the tension comes from finding ways to prevent the bus from stopping) and even Keanu Reeves doesn't do too bad (at least for this type of movie). It's not exactly Oscar worthy but it is an exciting adrenaline-packed thrill ride.

17. Ghosts of Mars (2001)

A more science fiction/horror take on police work but still an enjoyable movie nonetheless. John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars was widely criticized when it first game out (so much so it would be a decade before he made another feature) but it is a decent action thriller if one with some strange ideas. Carpenter has a long history of making films that start off being criticized but end up finding their own audiences years later. Ghosts of Mars is arguably the latest in that series. It already has a small fanbase so it may become better recognized in the near future much like his earlier films did before.

16. Dirty Harry (1971)

Okay, I'll freely admit this one isn't exactly one of my favorites, but it is worth putting on as it is the other film everybody remembers when discussing movies about cops. Personally, Dirty Harry is a film I'd say I more respect for its historical significance than admire for anything within the film itself. Still, it is a very well-crafted movie for its time, with Clint Eastwood playing the tough cop who constantly struggles to navigate the bureaucracy of the police force while also pursuing a deranged serial killer. The character of Harry Callahan is certainly an interesting one, and making the whole film a character study centered around him makes it much easier to follow than The Departed. Of course, this really only applies to the original film, the sequels are a waste of time.

15. The Usual Suspects (1995)

Okay, so technically this one is more of a film about crime and police corruption, but it is framed through a police investigation so it still counts. While it is true that this is another good example of a film that probably could have had some of its main characters played by women without changing the script much, it's still an intense adventure into the darkest realms of the criminal underworld; so much so that even the police are scared of it. There's a reason why Keyser Söze is a criminal legend. This is also a good one to watch multiple times, since after knowing the twist at the end it makes certain scenes a lot more disturbing.

14. Hot Pursuit (2015)

This strange buddy film with lesbian undertones makes for an entertaining if at times flawed experience. While admittedly the large number of jokes about Reese Witherspoon's height can be irritating at times the overall film is a captivating experience with two very strong characters in the lead. It's a lot of fun, even if it's not necessarily the greatest achievement as far as police movies go. Reese Witherspoon plays a tough cop who gets into trouble when she realizes she has been set up after trying to pick up a witness to testify at a mob trial, and inevitably gets into trouble as she works to clear her name while also protecting her somewhat troublesome witness.

13. The Silence of the Lambs (1990)

Yes, everyone always remembers Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of the notorious psycho therapist Hannibal Lector, but the film is really about Clarice Starling tracking down a different serial killer. I'm putting this one lower on the list mainly because it never scared me the same way it did so many people when it came out (personally, I'd say Mads Mikkelsen's Hannibal is a thousand times more terrifying) but it is still an expertly crafted piece of work. Clarice does make for a strong leading role and there is some heavy tension.

12. The Gauntlet (1977)

Clint Eastwood once again plays a tough cop. This time he is given the seemingly simple task of escorting a witness to the courtroom where she is supposed to testify... only to end up on the run when he discovers that he has been set up and most of the other cops are either in on it or tricked by the corrupt cops into thinking he is the real villain. Okay, so this is basically Hot Pursuit without the lesbian undertones; but it is still an exciting and enjoyable action film. 

11. Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

We can't forget about John Carpenter's second feature film, a low-budget thriller centered around a group of characters trapped in a police station. In addition to being action-packed and filled with tension, there is even a fairly diverse group of characters. The main character is a black man who also happens to be a very capable police officer, and the female lead (despite starting as a secretary) also has to prove her worth holding out against an army of gangsters.

10. Rio Bravo (1959)

For those of you interested in perhaps seeing police work of a different era, you can check out Howard Hawks' classic western. This one obviously influenced Assault on Precinct 13 and The Last Stand and features John Wayne as a old-fashioned sheriff who has to figure out how to keep things orderly in a town that is becoming increasingly populated by suspicious characters while also trying to hold a dangerous criminal. Filled with action, drama, and comedy, Rio Bravo makes for a very entertaining two and a half hours.

9. Die Hard (1988)

Of course we can't discuss police films without bringing up John McTiernan's classic 1988 action thriller. This one is slightly more critical of the police than some of the others on the list (seeing as McClane himself and Al are the only cops who can actually get anything done), but they are integral to the plot so it still counts. Die Hard has the interesting twist in that the villains were actually counting on the police showing up so that they could exploit their various procedures and turn it against them as part of their plan. Meanwhile, most of the police are too bureaucratic to get anything useful done leaving it up to McClane and Al to figure out what's really going on.

8. The Heat (2013)

Of course in a list about police movies the whole "buddy cop" sub-genre would have to make an appearance. Buddy films have come in a variety of forms but The Heat is a very good example. This one offers a twist on the buddy formula by making the two buddy cops women, but it is also full of great humor and some strange twists and turns. The Heat is a lot of fun as far as police movies go, and it is definitely a more enjoyable film than The Departed.

7. Hot Fuzz (2007)

Edgar Wright's hilarious satire of 90's buddy cop movie clichés makes for one entertaining experience. They even exaggerate the homoerotic undertones for comedic effect, but the relationship between the two central characters is still very genuine. It is really about how Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's respective characters come to recognize each other as capable officers and friends (as well as eventually help the other cops learn to actually do their jobs).

6. S.W.A.T. (2002)

We've had a variety of different types of cops appear on this list, from detectives to patrol officers to FBI agents, so naturally it makes sense that we should hear about S.W.A.T. officers on this list, something that is usually more of a background role. This one places them front and center, giving us a small group of interesting characters who have to form a unit and learn to work as a team. Once again, this is a lot of fun, and it's definitely an exciting action movie.

5. Fargo (1996)

The Coen Brothers seemed to like telling stories about cops, don't they? They've done a few movies with police officers as major characters but perhaps the best known of those is Fargo. This one is a pretty straight forward crime thriller; but it is largely memorable thanks to Frances McDormand as the extremely pregnant cop who also happens to be very good at her job. Most of the film naturally consists of her investigation, and the perpetrators' desperate efforts to get out of the mess they've suddenly found themselves trapped in the middle of. It's a brutal movie for sure, but also a great one.

4. Blue Steel (1990)

This tense character study marked Kathryn Bigelow's third feature film, and it is brilliant. Jamie Lee Curtis is strong as the rookie cop who finds becomes determined to catch a deranged serial killer while also trying not to let him into her mind. There is definitely some influence from Dirty Harry in this one but that is hardly a problem. Blue Steel is a bit more of an art film than some of the others on this list, so it does take a certain mindset to watch, but it is an amazingly compelling experience worth whatever trouble one has to go through to find it.

3. No Country For Old Men (2009)

How could we forget a classic like this one? The Coen Brothers' strange film (which concerns a chase between three people who never meet) sees Tommy Lee Jones take on the role of an aging sheriff who struggles to keep up with the rising crime rate. In fact, the film is really about this guy and his struggle to keep up with the rising crime rates. Ultimately, Sheriff Bell just can't handle the pressures of being a cop and eventually has to retire (in his opening monologue, he even states "my grandfather was a lawman, father too" suggesting he only became a police officer because of a perceived family obligation). In that sense, this is the other side of being a police officer; namely the kinds of people who try to do the job but ultimately just are not cut out for it. It's like Mark Wahlberg said in The Departed; "Do you want to be a cop or do you want to appear to be a cop?" This was one of those people who wanted to appear to be a cop.

2. Blade Runner (1982)

Blade Runner is more often remembered for its bleak vision of Los Angeles four years from now and the choking urban atmosphere reminiscent of old fashioned film noir, but it is easy to forget that this is also a police procedural of sorts (though admittedly a futuristic one). Most of the film centers around a single cop (Rick Deckard) trying to finish that one last case only to get mixed up in something bigger and getting into trouble. In the end, questions are raised about what defines "being human" and true to its noir roots we are never totally sure if Rick is truly doing the right thing.

1. End of Watch (2012)

As far as films dealing with the day-to-day life of a police officer go, this is probably one of the best. This is a more unusual look at the life of a police officer seeing as it opts not to focus on the obvious action of stopping crime but more on the mundane lives of the officers in between cases. It turns out being a cop can be a very dull job at times. Of course when we do get to the action the film doesn't disappoint but those are very sparse moments when the bulk of the narrative either centers on the relationship between the two main cops in their car waiting for something to happen or their relationships with other police officers back at the station.

So Fetch Friday: Departing The Departed

It's been a rough week, this time. Last week I had a class that really didn't go the way it was supposed to, though at present I'm not allowed to say anything more than that much as I'd like to tell you everything. There hasn't been a lot of movie-watching, and I've been struggling to find material to write about (the post I made earlier this week was something that had been in my draft folder for a while). Still, I have been able to watch a few things so I guess I can tell you about those.

I saw Kathryn Bigelow's The Weight of Water. It's one I would probably rank alongside Strange Days as a beautifully crafted piece that I'm not sure I fully understood. It started to make more sense near the end but a lot of it was still very strange and puzzling. I also saw Corner Gas: The Movie, which was pretty hilarious. It's not exactly the most diverse range of movie options, I know, but it's something. I had been wondering about doing Kathryn Bigelow's The Loveless for my Origin of an Auteur Blogathon, but I'll have to see if I can find it before I make a final decision.

I did make an attempt to watch the remake of John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 after I found it on Netflix, but that didn't go over very well. From the small portion I saw it had almost no resemblance to the Carpenter film, and in most respects it just was not a very well executed film at all. It's not one I would recommend and it's a waste of time. Just watch the original, it's much simpler and far more interesting in most respects. That version from the 1970's even included a strong black protagonist and a secretary who practically has to become a cop by the end.

I also made another attempt to watch The Departed, only to get anxious and turn it off about 18 minutes in. I'm still not sure I understand what it is everyone sees in that movie, since that experience did very little to help improve my opinion on it. If anything, it gave me one more thing to criticize: everyone's horrible Boston accents. None of them were particularly convincing and obviously fake. To be honest, the bad accents were also really irritating, which is probably a bad sign considering we were expected to follow these characters throughout the rest of the movie. Though that small segment made slightly more sense this time, I still stand by everything I've said about this movie before.

The strange thing is that since then I've felt this overwhelming hostility towards The Departed, and I keep feeling this drive to find other better cop movies. I've actually made a few lists already as a way of venting frustrations though I've made a point of not advertising them to avoid offending people who actually liked it. In case you're actually curious to see what I've come up with, here is the list I posted on letterbox but for extreme fans of The Departed it might not be easy to stomach. I even made a top ten list of films. If anyone is curious, here is what I came up with for the top ten cop films that are better than The Departed:

10. Hot Pursuit

9. The Gauntlet

8. Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

7. Die Hard

6. The Heat

5. Hot Fuzz

4. S.W.A.T.

3. Fargo

2. Blue Steel

1. End of Watch

(you may now begin posting your angry rants in the comments)

This week's episode of Killjoys was certainly an interesting one. Our heroes encountered a derelict spaceship and attempted to salvage it. They boarded only to quickly realize something horrible has happened, something that became especially clear with all the bodies that were found and the one survivor that wasn't quite in his right mind. Turns out the ship was conducting medical research before it was destroyed by a solar flare that caused the computer to turn what would have been a great medicinal breakthrough into a torture weapon, forcing the crew into endless interrogations. The only thing that didn't seem to make much sense was when Dutch got abducted by the aforementioned survivor and locked in a torture chamber even though based on previous episodes she should have been able to easily overpower him. Still, she at least got herself out of that mess and ended up saving the day so I won't complain.

Stuff From Other Bloggers

• Jack Smith reviews Nightcrawler, though he is wrong about everything.
• Terrence Towles Canote has an entire rant about Twitter's Death Wish

Alienation of Female Sexuality

Female sexuality has always been a controversial topic to depict on film. Some feminists, such as Bonnie Sherr Klein and Catherine A. MacKinnon, have accused pornography of “objectifying” women, and argue that any form of sex depicted involving women is produced exclusively for a “male gaze”. Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin provides a strong rebuttal to this notion in an unusual way—offering an outsider’s perspective. By casting the sexually curious female as an alien from another planet—literally alienating both her and, by extension, the viewer—Glazer allows us to step out of our own social constraints and look at the picture as a whole.

Under the Skin centers around an extra-terrestrial played by Scarlett Johansson; unnamed in the film but given the name of Isserly in the original book. She arrives in Scotland, her true form concealed inside the body of an attractive young woman. Under the employment of a mysterious man on a motorcycle (played by Grand Prix champion Jeremy McWilliams), Isserly is tasked with seducing men who are then lured into an old house where they are drowned in a black fluid that breaks down their bodies. As Isserley spends time living among humans on Earth, she begins to question her own purpose and, growing comfortable in her new skin, tries to become human. However, despite her efforts, the film constantly reminds us that she is not of this world, and questions just what it means to be “human”.

Throughout the film, Isserley is constantly, and literally, alienated from the world around her. To the average viewer, Scarlett Johansson stands out as she is the only recognizable name to appear (though motorcycle enthusiasts may be more familiar with Jeremy McWilliams). The rest of the cast consists of a mix of unknown actors and random people on the street with whom she interacts in character, unaware that they are in a film or talking to a world-renowned actress. A recurring motif throughout the film is her walking against the crowd, always facing the opposite direction of the movie’s extras and thus displaying a lack of conformity, making her constantly stand out.

By both literally and figuratively alienating the central character, the film also alienates the viewer and places them in a position to experience an alien perspective on the world around her, and in particular the idea of sex. The protagonist experiments in various ways of seducing men, but does it less out of pleasure and more in a machine-like routine way. She lures men to their doom not because of any actively malicious intent, but simply because that is her job (presumably overseen by the motorcyclist).

The first time the heroine finds herself experiencing any real pleasure is when she encounters a deformed man suffering from Neurofibromatosis (Adam Pearson). Upon encountering this man, she finds herself drawn to him and, upon finding out that he has no friends, invites him to touch her body. During this scene, Isserley challenges the claims of MacKinnon and Klein that sex on film is purely intended for a male gaze by seducing a man with a visible deformity, an act which causes the audience feel uncomfortable, making it clear that this is not for anyone's exclusive pleasure.

The idea of pleasure in sex is something Isserley sees as completely alien and struggles to comprehend, as is notable when she finally experiences real sex after being taken in by a friendly young man. During this scene, the protagonist appears to act indifferent while her friend experiences pleasure, though she herself does appear to eventually start to feel something during their intimate moment. When the man removes Isserley’s pants, while she tries to help him, displaying a sense of confusion as though the entire process is new to her. The man then climbs on top of her, seemingly in control. Isserly’s expression seems to suggest that she is feeling something, but is unsure what. In another close-up on the man’s hand, he begins to remove more of her clothes.

As the two embrace, the protagonist's expression starts to suggest that she is experiencing pleasure, but finds herself confused. She pushes aside the man, moves toward the edge of the bed, and shines a lamp into her vagina, apparently checking to see if something has happened. The man stares at her in confusion and says “you don’t like it?” She simply throws aside the lamp, apparently having seen no change in her genitals. Both she and the man are confused about what has just happened. Isserly is confused about having found pleasure in sex, while the man is puzzled by her being unsure about liking it.

In her documentary film, Not a Love Story: A Film About Pornography, director Bonnie Sherr Klein takes the stance that pornography in general is anti-feminist, allegedly because it “objectifies” women for a purely male gaze. Other feminists such as Gayle Rubin argue that the “anti-porn” movements are in fact detrimental to feminism. In reality, pornography is being used as a scapegoat for contemporary social problems, and the real solution is to provide better recognition for female sex workers and encourage more women in the porn industry to move behind the camera and produce films for female audiences.

Rubin's suggestion is not even considered in Not a Love Story: A Film About Pornography, in which Klein only offers information that furthers her own argument. She cites one specific type of pornography, in which torture is staged, and uses it to argue that all pornographic films are therefore movies are equivalent to snuff films depicting actual abuse of women. No reference is made, for instance, to the work of Barbara Hammer, a lesbian filmmaker who produced pornographic films intended for lesbian audiences as early as 1973, or feminist porn stars like Annie Sprinkle. Though the arguments of both sides are aimed at pornography, their ideas extend beyond a single genre and are relevant to film in general.

The mysterious protagonist of Under the Skin has a child-like attitude toward sex and finds herself curious about it, which draws some parallels to the similar character of Lena (Lena Nyman) in Vilgot Sjöman’s 1967 art film I Am Curious (Yellow). Similar to the tragic heroine of Under the Skin, Lena is a young woman curious about and trying to understand sex. She experiments with it through her encounters with various men, and in many of them she is the one responsible for initiating the experience. Lena is a sexually active young woman who challenges the ideas of MacKinnon and Klein by engaging in what they might consider “pornography” and displaying pride in doing so. Under the Skin uses a different approach, by treating sex as something literally alien. By making the protagonist herself an alien struggling to understand it, Jonathan Glazer is able to criticize common attitudes about how sex is often depicted.

I Am Curious (Yellow) provides an early example of a film challenging the ideas of anti-porn activists by presenting a sexually active female lead who “experiments”, fully embracing her sexual encounters and displaying pleasure within them. What distinguishes Under the Skin from I Am Curious (Yellow) is in how it challenges the ideas of Klein and MacKinnon. Instead of simply presenting an attractive woman gaining pleasure from sex, it uses the alien approach to criticize the lack of understanding towards female sexuality.

Unlike Lena, who is precisely the opposite of MacKinnon or Klein’s views on female sexuality, the protagonist of Under the Skin is at first an embodiment of their ideas. She interacts exclusively with men and, at least at first, it is only the men who experience true pleasure during her encounters. Her emotions seem almost forced. When she smiles there is a sense that she is only doing it because she understands she is supposed to, a feeling which constantly reminds the viewer they are not seeing her real face. Every time Isserly lures a man into her house, she puts herself on display for his pleasure, carefully stripping her clothes in a machine-like way. This is precisely in line with how MacKinnon and Klein have interpreted pornography. It starts off resembling the anti-porn claims regarding sex, but gradually shifts to be more in line with opinions expressed by Gayle Rubin.

By having the protagonist represent the ideas of pornography as “objectifying” women for the pleasure of men, Jonathan Glazer is able to demonstrate how confusing this same notion is when she finds herself experiencing sexual pleasure. However, these ideas emerge in a distorted and twisted form, with the female in control and using it to manipulate men. As her quest to become human progresses, she begins to question who she really is—and by extension whether she is capable of enjoying sex. This leads to something of a “sexual awakening” that forces her to question what she sees as “normal”, or—more accurately—MacKinnon and Klein’s distorted ideas of sex in contrast to the reality proposed by Gayle Rubin.

MacKinnon and Klein are convinced that any depiction of sex on film is detrimental to feminism, and that filmmakers are incapable of anything more than displaying women’s bodies for the pleasures of men. Rubin has argued precisely the opposite, suggesting that while there are cases of women being abused in the porn industry, the correct solution to the problem is to promote better treatment of women and produce pornographic films for female audiences, which has happened with filmmakers like Barbara Hammer. By showing both sides through the eyes of an alien, Jonathan Glazer is able to examine their respective views and criticize them through a new perspective.

Rookie Blue

It should come as no surprise that I'm a fan of Kathryn Bigelow, and I'm always interested in seeing her films when I get a chance. Ever since I first saw The Hurt Locker I have tried to collect her movies. When I heard about her film Blue Steel through my action cinema class I quickly became interested in it. One of my favorite female directors made a movie about a tough female cop? How could I resist? Before long, interest turned into a desire to see this film, and desire became an obsession. Next thing I knew I had to find this movie. I combed every potential channel I could find. I checked countless video stores (some more than once) as well as Netflix and HBO on Demand to know avail. It seemed like this film was impossible to find.

Over the last few months my desire grew increasingly to the point where it was starting to drive me insane. Every time I wandered into a video store all I could think about was finding a copy of Blue Steel. I was not even sure if it was going to be worth it but something kept compelling me to search for this particular film no matter how futile it proved. Then finally this morning I had a new idea; check out the media commons library on campus (which happens to have a huge selection of films). Turns out they did in fact have it all this time (on both DVD and video cassette) and I was able to check it out. Of course I'll have to return it, but I finally managed to fulfill my desire to see this early film from the director of The Hurt Locker. So after spending half a year relentlessly combing every shelf of any store that had DVDs for this one film that seemed impossible, was it worth it? Oh yes, it was.

Megan Turner (Jamie Lee Curtis) is a tough woman who has just graduated to becoming a recognized officer of the New York Police Department. She is a woman who has proven that she can hold her own in a male-dominated profession (this being a major theme throughout). Unfortunately, things are cut short on her first night as a cop when she finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time: witnessing a convenience store robbery in progress. Naturally she tries to interfere and has to shoot the perpetrator. However, one of the hostages, a strange fellow by the name of Eugene Hunt (Ron Silver) steels the perpetrator's gun and escapes the crime scene, leaving Turner to be accused of police brutality and suspended.

Hunt turns out to be a deranged lunatic who also becomes obsessed with Turner, going as far as to carve her name into bullets and fire on random pedestrians using the gun from the crime scene. Turner then finds herself in a brief romantic relationship with Hunt, only to end up in a violent cat and mouse chase as he attempts to manipulate her, framing her as a Dirty Harry-esque rogue cop who doesn't play by the rules. Now it is up to Turner to figure out how to expose Hunt for the monster he is and bring an end to his reign of terror.

I should probably point out that Blue Steel isn't exactly a typical action movie, though it certainly draws inspiration from some. There is definitely some inspiration from Dirty Harry (especially evident in the relationship between Turner and Hunt) and Blade Runner (mainly in terms of atmosphere), but in many ways this is more of an art film. While the story itself is not too hard to follow the movie as a whole is very subjective, at times even surreal, and one that tries to make the viewer think about and question what they are seeing.

This approach allows it to be a very psychologically-driven experience rather than something driven by a simple adrenaline rush (I suspect this is probably the reason why many consider it one of Bigelow's weaker films; a lot of them probably went in expecting a more straight forward action thriller). As a result, the film is more slow-paced than one would normally expect. It takes its time to allow the viewer access to the minds of its two central characters and to explore how both are simultaneously brought together and pulled apart over the course of the film.

The theme of challenging established gender conventions is a prominent one throughout, most notably in Megan's characterization. This is even reflected in her wardrobe, which constantly places her in attire more often seen on men, most notably the full blue police uniform (complete with peaked cap) and the presence of shoulder holsters. She is also a very strong character, with attention constantly being paid to her tough attitude and her wit (especially towards the end of the film, when she is locked in a metaphorical Chess game with Eugene).

Hunt also works as a disturbing antagonist. His weird deranged nature serves as an early precursor to the "adrenaline junkie danger seekers" that would become common in many of Bigelow's later films (Bodhi in Point Break and Sgt. First Class William James in The Hurt Locker arguably being the two best-known examples). However, unlike those later figures or Dirty Harry's Scorpio (from whom he obviously draws inspiration) Hunt is actually able to pass for an ordinary man. This adds a few extra layers of unease on the few occasions when he refrains from showing his true colours, since he is very clever in setting up Turner in such ways so that most of the other officers don't believe her.

Watching it today is especially horrifying since there are actually films still being made in which this kind of character would be the hero. He did display a vibe reminiscent of so-called love stories such as The Age of Adaline and Fifty Shades of Gray. His deterioration of character is also conveyed visually through a combination of body language, atmosphere, and costuming (he goes from wearing a fancy business suit to looking like a homeless man). By emphasizing these aspects of his character right from the beginning, instead of leaving it as a twist for the end, we are able to get into the twisted mind of a psychopath, an interesting if unsettling experience. At the same time, however, there is also an enigmatic quality to the whole thing, as the film never spells anything out but leaves the viewer to imagine what kind of thought process go through his head.

I don't know why this film is so hard to find, but it shouldn't be. I don't care if it's Criterion, Kino, Alliance, Mongrel, or some obscure indie distribution firm nobody has heard of. Somebody please get this film released on DVD again! It is a brilliant piece of work from Kathryn Bigelow and one I find myself tempted to rank as being among her best (right up there with The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty). Blue Steel is arguably one of her most interesting projects, with its strange and subjective approach to what in the hands of any other director might have been a conventional action thriller. If you are a fan of her work, or even if you are just looking for some unusual police films, this is a must-see.

So Fetch Friday: Bell of Arabia

So there hasn't been much happening just at the moment, at least not a  whole lot movie-wise worth covering. I got a recommendation to watch True Detective but that show really didn't work out for me. I could see some Twin Peaks influence but ultimately this one was just boring. I couldn't even get through the first episode. There was absolutely nothing about it that made me invested in anyone or anything that was happening. That, and it also failed to meet my quota for strong female characters. There were like two women in the show, one of whom was the wife of one of the main characters who only appeared in one scene and the other was a murder victim. There were a lot of cops in this show so would it really have killed the writers to have even one female officer?

I started watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine and it has proven to be hilarious. There's lots of craziness and various police characters. I love how Santiago and Diaz are the ultimate logical extremes of "good cop, bad cop." It's also a great example of a show that's working with diversity, considering it not only has two strong female characters plus a mixed-race cast but it also has a strong black gay man as the chief inspector. It's like a more modern version of Barney Miller if that show had female cops in its central cast.

So far Killjoys seems to be getting a little better, though I'm still not sure I totally understand how the world of the show is supposed to work. This time they went for a Depression-era vibe with our heroes travelling to what could basically be described as a futuristic version of the farm from Of Mice and Men. This place was brutal; they even put exploding chips in the employees' ears to keep them from leaving before their contract is finished (the only people who manage to escape are the ones who have the nerve to cut off their own ear). Apparently, they don't have unions in the future. That's a bit of an odd development.

David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia has often been hailed as a masterpiece by many critics, myself included. It is also a film that is very famous for its lack of female characters. Surprisingly while I have certainly not failed to notice it that never bothered me too much. After all, there were probably some very good reasons why a female character could not be included in that movie. For one thing, the historical events depicted would have happened in a patriarchal society and no women were known to be involved with them. If no women were involved in the real historical events, it would make sense that a filmmaker wanting to stay true to the spirit of what happened would refrain from trying to force a female lead into the script.

Well, it turns out he lied! There was in fact a place in Lawrence of Arabia for a strong female lead. Meet Gertrude Bell, an early 20th century explorer and archaeologist who also was almost, if not in fact as important as or even more important than T.E. Lawrence himself in those same events. You might not have heard of this woman, and that's because in Lawrence of Arabia she isn't so much as offhandedly mentioned. David Lean actually covered up the role of a historical woman, and gave credit for all her accomplishments to men. Suddenly a Best Picture-winning film widely considered one of the greatest ever made seems a little bit sexist, doesn't it?

Fortunately, it seems that Werner Herzog finally decided to do something about this because now, 53 years after the release of Lawrence of Arabia we are finally going to see Gertrude Bell's contributions on film. So far the trailer is looking alright. When Robert Pattinson said he wanted to get as far away from Twilight  as possible he wasn't kidding. Of course, now he's got to live up to the legacy of Peter O'Toole as T.E. Lawrence. It's an ambitious project but I think it's got some potential.

Stuff From Other Bloggers

• Wendell Ottley reviews Whiplash

Thursday Movie Picks Meme: Road trip Movies

This week, the theme for Wanderer's Thursday Movie Picks Meme is Road Trip Movies. The criteria for those kinds of films should be pretty self-explanatory. As the title implies the subject is films that center around a road trip, commonly known simply as "road movies". It is a pretty simple structure: you have a character or group of characters who start at Point A, then something happens that requires them to get to Point B. The plot is centered around the journey between Point A and Point B, and everything that happens along the way. Plenty of films follow this basic formula. In fact stretching the definition enough one could argue that The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit could both be considered road movies.

Of course, the category here was not "road movies" but "road trip movies", which means that in this case there should be an actual road trip of some form. Generally most people think of a "road trip" as getting in some kind of vehicle (usually a car, though any vehicle or a combination of different vehicles could be used) and driving on the road to a pre-determined destination. Strong Bad once said that every good road trip needs a good inside joke, that only people who went on the road trip will get. You'll also need keys and a functioning car. Oh, and if you end up passing by a diner called "beneath the passenger seat" it's probably best that you don't stop there. Just remember to stay jumbo/large.

Now my job is to find three unusual choices for Road Trip films (that hopefully nobody else has thought of) and put them together in a list for you to see:

John Carpenter's Starman (1984)

Did you ever feel like E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial really was not that great a movie? Well, then this is the movie for you, Starman being a more adult version of the same idea. This is also an unusual film to see from a man like John Carpenter (yes, the same guy who made Dark Star and The Thing) in just how uplifting and optimistic it is. In fact some accounts even claim that Carpenter made it as an apology for the then-critically panned The Thing, but it is still a surprisingly emotional film (Jeff "The Dude" Bridges even received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the Starman). It has the right balance of different emotions: there is some great fish-out of water comedy on the part of the Starman but at the same time it is not afraid to get serious when it has to. It is movies like this that show how Carpenter is much more than the so-called "Master of Horror" and he has a much greater range of talents.

The Straight Story (1999)

A lot of people remember David Lynch as the guy who makes all the really weird mind-boggling movies. While he has produced his share of such films, it is easy to forget about that he actually does have a few that are not so surreal and subjective. One of the best examples would be his 1999 adventure The Straight Story. Even the title demonstrates how unusual this is for Lynch ("straight" being both in reference to the name of the protagonist and the fact that Lynch is making a film that actually makes sense for once). Okay, the concept of an old man riding a lawnmower between states is a bit unusual, but really it is a simple story about an old man trying to make amends with his estranged brother. It was also the final acting role of Richard Farnsworth, who proved to be a perfect fit for the role as he had a lot of the same health problems as the man he was playing.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

It's a bit funny that for a franchise that is centered entirely around people fighting for control of the road and killing each other for fuel, it took four films before George Miller thought to make one about a road trip. This is also one intense road trip; in fact the entire narrative is basically a feature-length car chase with a few breaks. There is action, chaos, and tension, but at the same time there is bonding among the various characters and a strong emphasis on overthrowing patriarchal society. It is a very exciting movie and of course there is a road trip of sorts.

Gender Inequality and Law Enforcement

As I have discussed before on multiple occasions, there are currently a large number of issues regarding how women are represented in certain professions in contemporary media. One of the worst examples of this is the absurd inability of films and television to recognize the accomplishments (or in many cases, even the existence) of female firefighters. At most, female firefighters are rarely anything more than extras, if even that. Through all my extensive research on the subject I have found that at best, female firefighters are poorly written (L.A. Firefighters, Chicago Fire) or partial examples (i.e. Leah in Flashpoint, a competent female firefighter, but one who has retired and switched to being a cop by the time she appears on the show). The only definitive example I have of a positive role model for female firefighters is Fireman Sam, a kids show from Wales and even that wasn't entirely perfect (Penny wasn't introduced until Season 2). That is not even getting into the idiots who actually use extreme generalizations (the "upper body strength" argument being a favorite) to claim that women are weaker than men and should not even be allowed to apply to join the fire service.

Of course, firefighting isn't the only profession in which female participants have been misrepresented. To an extent the same could be said for a lot of male-dominated professions. For instance it is still hard to find positive role models for women in the military even in films dealing with modern warfare where would make sense to show them. Representation of female astronauts is getting better but even then films like Moon manage to avoid depicting them altogether. One of the more interesting and complicated areas is the issue of female representation in law enforcement, more specifically the issue of how female cops are treated.

Historically, police films and shows have often been very male-dominated and there is a reason for this. It is because prior to the 1970's there were virtually no female cops, if any at all. Naturally, any film from before that era (or any contemporary period piece that focuses on the police) never showed any female cops, but even by the 70's women in law enforcement would have been rare at best. For this reason the closest John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct could get to having a strong female police officer was to allow a secretary to take part in the main action, but even with the integration of the police force many films still failed to get the memo, hence masculine action films like Die Hard in 1988.

The only major director at the time who seemed to notice was James Cameron, as is evidenced by the presence of at least one female cop being present The Terminator (though she is little more than an unnamed extra during the T-800's rampage through the police station, while the two officers actually given focus are both men). This is why it took three films before the Dirty Harry series finally introduced a female police officer. The Enforcer tried to create a positive role model but failed miserably (though actress Tyne Daly would later go on to star in Cagney and Lacey, a television series centered around the relationship between two female cops). While this film was a disaster, it could be argued that the character of Kate Moore could have helped to set in motion.

Today, some progress has been made. It is becoming more common to see films and shows make a more concerted effort to diversify depictions of law enforcement. It is also becoming more common on a variety of television programs. Even shows like Elementary, in which the two regular cops are both men, they have had female officers make an appearance (as well as a female consultant in Joan Watson). End of Watch also made a point of showing capable female police officers even if the central focus was still on two male protagonists. Unfortunately, even if some things have changed compared to representations of women in other male-dominated professions there are still some problems to consider.

First, it is still common for movies and television shows to still depict all-male groups of cops regardless of whether it is necessary. One notable case of this being done on television is True Detective, but Martin Scorsese's The Departed is a perfect example. This was a movie that had a very large cast of characters. It has large variety of cops as well as several crooks, every single one of them had their own plotline... and the only woman they could fit in the movie was the love interest? She is not even directly involved in the narrative. The only major female character was a police psychologist but the focus is almost exclusively on her romantic entanglements with Billy.

There is not so much as a single female cop anywhere in the cast, not even as an extra. Yes, I know The Departed was a remake of the Hong Kong movie Internal Affairs and they did it too but I don't care. I find it hard to believe that there was not one character in the film who could have been written as or played by a woman without changing anything in the script beyond perhaps a few pronouns. Would it really have killed the filmmakers to even have one female cop or crook take part in the action? After all, it was dealing with a large cast of characters in the present day, so it is not like there are any social issues to consider that might excuse it (as would be the case for any police procedural set in say... the 1940's). This should be simple: just cast a woman in one of the five billion police roles even if it was originally meant to be a guy and only change the script as much as is absolutely necessary.

Second, it is worth noting that while it is becoming more common to depict female cops, they are shown more commonly in some areas than others. For instance, when the subject of police corruption comes up, it is extremely rare to see a female corrupt cop outside of a handful of exceptions such as Dredd and Sabotage. The most recognized exception to the rule is arguably Ramirez in The Dark Knight, except in that instance her corruption was not her own doing so much as it was careful psychological manipulation and pressure exerted on her by the film's (male) villains. Meanwhile, there are hundreds of films that deal with corrupt male cops.

Gender representation also seems to vary depending on which department the work in question is focusing on. It seems to be far more likely that one will see female homicide detectives, federal agents, or patrol officers than it is to see them taking part in a SWAT team. There are very few images of female SWAT officers. Very few movies (at least from what I have found) actually take the time to give SWAT teams any real focus, usually casting them as a background or minor supporting role. When this happens, it is almost always a team made exclusively of men (Speed provides a notable exception in one scene, though in that instance the female officer has no dialogue and is presumably killed when a bomb goes off in the villain's house).

Even films that do put focus on SWAT teams often go this route. The Korean film The Raid centers, as the title implies, on a SWAT team raiding an apartment building. Director Gareth Evans decided once again to depict an all-male team with virtually no female characters at all. One could try to justify this by arguing cultural differences, but I don't buy that especially considering China has actually employed all-female SWAT teams. Once again, would it really have killed Evans to have even one female officer in the cast? There is no reason why the team had to be all men.

There are exceptions to this rule, but they hard to find. The movie S.W.A.T. is one rare example of a film attempting to challenge this convention. The opening scene of the film depicts an all-male SWAT team responding to a bank robbery-gone wrong, but it also ends up being problematic due to the actions of Brian Gamble. This ends up leading to the dissolution of the original team, and forces Sgt. Hondo to assemble a new team. Once again, the first few are men. When we do meet the one female member of the team, her sex is the last thing that is revealed; she is given the gender-neutral name "Chris" and simply established to be very good at holding her own.

The movie then proceeds to emphasize that from the moment she first arrives for training she is an important member of the team, easily capable of pulling her own weight, and avoids having any romantic triangle. In fact, only two people ever voice disapproval of her presence in the SWAT team: her boss Captain Fuller and ex-SWAT officer Gamble, of whom one is eventually proven wrong and the other goes on to become one of the main antagonists. This is also interesting when one considers that there were no female team members in the original 1970's show that inspired the movie.

Flashpoint is also another good example of an exception to the rule. Though the characters refrain from using the term "SWAT" in favor of "SRU" (strategic response unit), they serve more or less the same function as the heavy-duty cops who are called in when things get two dangerous for regular patrol officers. The series always had at least one woman on the team, with at total of three serving at different periods of the show's run (though Jules was the only one to stay for the entire series; one was introduced as a temporary substitute while Amy Jo Johnson was on maternity leave and went on to become a recurring character afterwards, while the other was not introduced until season 2). All three of the women who served on the SRU were competent, strong characters and proved to be valuable members of the team.

Unfortunately, S.W.A.T. and Flashpoint are more the exceptions than the rules. Very few movies or shows follow the examples these works should be setting, even when the SWAT team is cast as anything more than a background role. The fact is that there are women taking part in all areas of police work, and if progress is to be made there needs to be more positive role models of them in every form possible, yet there seem to be double standards at play here. Casting a woman as a homicide detective or patrol officer is considered okay, but very few people seem to even consider the possibility depicting of female SWAT officers even though it is becoming increasingly common in real life. 

The fact is that while there has been a lot of progress since The Enforcer, there are still inequalities in how women are depicted in law enforcement. These issues need to be addressed and rectified as soon as possible. Some people have been known to criticize these types of posts, claiming that I'm trying to shove "political correctness" into everything. They say it like encouraging more films to diversify their casts is a bad thing, but if that's what it's going to take than I'm all for it. This process has proven to be insanely slow. People should know better by 2015 and yet little seems to have changed. Something needs to be done.

Genisys of the Terminators

This is one I've been preparing all week to see. I made a point of re-watching both The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day plus I started watching Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles to help get into the right mood. I probably would have even watched Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator Salvation if I could. It seemed to make sense to compare it to the first two films at least. The big question is how well does it hold up, and the answer is actually not all that bad.

At first, it looks like Terminator Genisys is going to go the route of the original The Terminator even going as far as to use some of the original footage from the beginning of that movie. In the future John Connor (Jason Clarke) has led the resistance fighters in order to win the war against the evil computer system known as Skynet (played by Matt Smith of Doctor Who fame). Said computer system resorts to drastic measures by sending the T-800 back in time to kill Sarah Connor and prevent her from giving birth to John thus erasing the human resistance fighters. Meanwhile, John takes control of the system and sends Kyle Reese back in time to stop the Terminator. However, before Kyle is sent John is attacked by a Terminator and the former begins experiencing memories of things that never happened to him.

Kyle arrives in Los Angeles in 1984 where he begins looking for Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke), ready to protect her and teach her to defend herself. He is subsequently shocked when a T-1000 shows up and he is saved by Sarah herself. It turns out the timeline got a little wonky and now thanks to some confusing wibbly-wobbly timey wimey stuff Sarah has actually been preparing herself since an encounter with a Terminator at the age of nine, and now she has one who accompanies her under the nickname of "Pops" (played by an ageing Schwarzenegger). After easily destroying the T-800 and narrowly escaping the T-1000, this group of characters finds themselves travelling in the near future where they discover a computer system called Genisys that will become Skynet once it is operational. Now comes the mission to destroy Skynet before it is born, a task complicated by the reveal of a new, even more powerful terminator from an unexpected source who will stop at nothing to protect Genisys.

Basically, Alan Taylor is doing here with The Terminator franchise what J.J. Abrams did to Star Trek. Instead of directly picking up where the films left off, he is branching off into a separate timeline. By creating a whole alternate series of events he can have full creative freedom without being burdened by the troubles of sticking to what has already been established in canon. To be fair, this is probably the biggest issue with the film, as its timey-wimey paradoxes are not very well explained. For instance, they finally stop Skynet from existing, so how does "Pops" still exist?

One thing I can give credit for, however, is that Emilia Clarke is actually not all that bad as Sarah Connor. For one thing she definitely looks a lot more like her character than her Game of Thrones co-star Lena Headey (who previously played the same role in The Sarah Connor Chronicles). She is still a reasonably strong character who has to take part in most of the action. If anything, her relationship with Kyle Reese is basically a role reversal of how it played out in The Terminator. Instead it is Sarah who understands what is going on and has to protect Kyle while explaining everything to him. This certainly leads to some peculiar twists and turns, not all of them expected.

The visual effects are also amazing for the most part. Most of the designs of the terminators (at least of the T-800 and T-1000) are on par with what Cameron envisioned in his first two films. There is never any point at which the machines seem to appear fake. The attention to detail is quite impressive in the earlier scenes, though it is hard to tell where the scenes that were shot for this instalment end and the reused footage from The Terminator begins. Even Schwarzenegger does okay and it was an interesting choice to try and take advantage of the fact that he has aged a lot since 1984.

As for how Terminator Genisys compares to the Cameron films, there is not much point in doing so. The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day are still the best in the series. That said, Terminator Genisys is flawed but still an entertaining movie. There is plenty of great action and suspense plus a few shocking twists in the narrative to keep audiences on their toes. Admittedly, it is somewhat painful to see everything we had come to know and love about The Terminator wiped from existence (and extreme fans of the series might have trouble handling one particular reveal that changes everything that has been established about the future, those of you who have seen the film know what I'm talking about) but as a simple action film it serves its purposes and makes for an enjoyable experience.