A still from the new film Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which opens this week. In a time of environmental destruction, Godzilla is the perfect monster to represent the consequences of humanity’s actions.
Warner Bros/IMDB
Popular monsters often reflect humanity’s greatest fears. Godzilla, with its destructive rampages, is the foremost monster for our age of environmental threat.
An upcoming film will explore the origins of the Joker, last seen in the Batman franchise. But prequels are often poorly received – perhaps with good reason.
DC Comics/IMDB
From the Joker to a Game of Thrones prequel, origin stories are increasingly common in film and TV – perhaps at the expense of originality in popular culture.
In the live-action ‘Aladdin,’ Mena Massoud stars Aladdin, while Will Smith plays the Genie.
Daniel Smith/Walt Disney Pictures
Climate change is mentioned in British television about as often as zombies.
US actor Kevin Spacey is escorted into Nantucket District Court in January for arraignment on a sexual assault charge. His lawyers entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.
CJ Gunther/EPA
In pop culture such as series, music, magazines and comics, queer children often find ways out of a world that cannot contain them.
Miranda Tapsell in Top End Wedding, a new Australian film about identity and belonging, directed by Wayne Blair (The Sapphires).
Courtesy of Universal Pictures
As parody goes, this infamous Monty Python film is a pretty gentle, even, respectful sort. It is now more likely to be criticised for breaching the boundaries of ‘political correctness’.
The Matrix was a box office hit, but it also explored some of western philosophy’s most interesting themes.
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Cult film The Matrix was released 20 years ago this month. From Plato to Baudrillard, the film explored philosophical dilemmas we are still wrestling with today.
Saoirse Ronan as Mary Stuart in Josie Rourke’s 2018 film Mary Queen of Scots.
Liam Daniel/Focus Features
Was Mary Stuart a passionate and jealous failed queen, or a brave and complex woman? Opposing representations in a new film and play reflect modern anxieties about women’s agency and leadership.
Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali in Green Book, the film that surprised many by winning Best Picture.
Patti Perrett/Universal Studios
Virginia Woolf’s satire of readers who use easily accessible art to acquire class and culture might just reveal why certain films win awards like Oscars.
At some point, jazz went from the music of youthful rebellion to that of the cultured elite.
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Trailblazing US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is known to many as the ‘Notorious RBG’. But the new film On the Basis of Sex is a muted portrayal of her.
In this video, Bruce Isaacs looks at Rome, Open City. Made in 1945, it was Roberto Rossellini’s neorealist response to the end of German occupation, and Italy’s history of Fascism under Benito Mussolini.
Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins Returns.
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