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Articles on Film

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Nymphomania is in the eye of the beholder. Flickr/Orofacial

What makes a woman a nymphomaniac?

A woman masturbates, has erotic feelings towards numerous men and women, and an “excessive” desire for sex. Is she a nymphomaniac? Filmmaker Lars von Trier is reigniting debate on the subject with his…
Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux, stars of Blue is the Warmest Colour, at the Cannes Film Festival. EPA/Ian Langsdon

Strong, diverse and controversial: queer film in 2013

From limited theatrical releases to the queer film festival circuit – and being refused classification – 2013 has seen films with LGBT content distributed to audiences by a variety of means. Box office…
Oscar contender Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock, relied heavily on visual effects – but the industry itself is struggling. AAP Image/ Warner Bros Pictures

Visual effects are changing cinema – but can the industry keep up?

It’s the season to be making predictions about 2014 Oscar wins, and although Australian audiences are yet to see Best Picture favourites from the likes of Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street), David…
The jury of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival had its say on the films of the year in May. EPA/Guillaume Horcajuelo EPA/Sebastien Nogier

The good, the bad and the groundbreaking: movies of 2013

Warning: this is not a list of the best movies of 2013. There were plenty of movies released this year that stirred up debates about cinema and who makes it. They were the ones that made me sit up and…
What kind of filmmaking does Tropfest encourage? Go_OffStation

Has Tropfest gone troppo? Implications for Australian film

Sunday night in many ways marked a great achievement for the Australian short film genre, with the live broadcast of Tropfest – “the world’s largest short film festival” – on national television via SBS…
Bamboozled won best film at Tropfest on the weekend, causing much controversy. Tropfest

Why playing trans people for laughs at Tropfest is lame

On the weekend, Bamboozled was awarded the best film prize at the Tropfest. It has sparked controversy for its homophobic and transphobic narrative devices. The film portrays an encounter between Peter…
It’s a film about the vision and style of Cormac McCarthy – but does it work? Twentieth Century Fox

Review: The Counselor, a film that talks like a book

The Counselor is a collaboration between one of the last century’s literary greats, novelist Cormac McCarthy, and one of the filmmakers who has helped define contemporary, mainstream American cinema, director…
The best-film award for Bamboozled has angered many movie fans. Tropfest

Bamboozled wins Tropfest by turning gay sex into a dumb joke

It would have been hard to avoid the news that the best-picture award at Sunday’s Tropfest short-film festival in Sydney was given to filmmaker Matt Hardie for Bamboozled – and even harder to ignore the…
If only you could see what I’ve seen with your eyes … Jodi Sita

What eye tracking tells us about the way we watch films

In Blade Runner (1982), Roy Batty, the leader of an outlaw group of Nexus-6 replicants, undertakes a quest to “meet his maker”. When he encounters Chew, the genetic designer of his eyes, he mocks: “Chew…
The British Film Festival offers much to please audiences – but how connected is it to the Brit diaspora? nickwheeleroz

Do we need a film festival to fly the Union Jack?

When it comes to film festivals, Australian audiences have plenty to choose from. Virtually every week there is a film festival from a different ethnic, national, religious or cultural group vying for…
An excerpt from Alison Bechdel’s comic strip, Dykes to Watch Out For (1985). Wikimedia

What the Bechdel test doesn’t tell us about women on film

Four cinemas in Sweden recently pledged to rate films based on whether they pass what is known as the “Bechdel test,” a means of evaluating gender bias in film, named after American graphic artist Alison…
Casting stars such as Rachel Griffiths isn’t enough to overcome a broken distribution system. Paul Miller/AAP

The horror at the heart of Australian cinema

There’s more than one reason the new Australian film Patrick – released last month – is a horror story. Sure, it’s a fright flick, based on the 1978 orginal, in which a creepy coma patient uses telekinesis…
Tom Cruise at the Austrian premiere of Oblivion (2013). EPA/HERBERT NEUBAUER

The truth of an illusion - Tom Cruise in Oblivion

Take a very ordinary blockbuster of the summer of 2013. Joseph Kosinski, hot from rebooting the Tron franchise, directs Tom Cruise as a clone seeking some lost vestige of humanity (so nothing difficult…
Beyond: Two Souls – not a film, not a game, but definitely entertaining. AAP

Two Souls, one body: the rise of convergence entertainment

Beyond: Two Souls isn’t a film. It isn’t a game. The interactive adventure game, released by French developers Quantic Dream for Sony’s Playstation 3, is a melding of the two. Using sophisticated motion-capture…
In letting go, we have the chance to find ourselves. Warner Bros Pictures/AAP

Gravity lends weight to cinema – and always has

Cinema’s relationship to gravity is a fascinating one. At the time of its birth, in 1895, cinema was seen as a revolutionary machine that didn’t simply defy gravity through moving pictures seemingly suspended…
Illegal downloading has become a free-for-all. Josh Russell

Online pirates may be willing to pay - if the price is right

Data released by Ofcom yesterday show that internet users who illegally download films, music or games actually spend more money on legal downloads than those who always play by the rules. Online piracy…
The treatment of Quvenzhané Wallis at this year’s Oscars highlights prejudices that still exist in Hollywood. Michael Nelson/EPA

Quvenzhané Wallis, race and misogyny at the Oscars

Young actress Quvenzhané Wallis was one of many women subjected to derogatory misogynist “jokes” during this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. Those directed at her were particularly vicious. When the satirical…
Considered to be a celebration of cinematic achievement, the Academy Awards doesn’t always reflect the best cinema has to offer. Matt Brown/HO EPA

Mo money, mo problems: how the Oscars ruin cinema

Like many students of film, I have a love/hate relationship with the Academy Awards. I eagerly read all of the predictions on various blogs, get into heated debates among friends over the nominees and…
Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” set in the context of slavery, depicts stark racial stereotypes. AAP/ Facundo Arrizabalaga

How Quentin Tarantino unchained Django (and historical facts)

This year, America will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, a presidential decree that effectively abolished slavery in all states in rebellion during the Civil…

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