With #BlackLivesMatter and a never-ending list of African Americans being killed by police, the film ‘Do The Right Thing’ is even more relevant now than when it was released 27 years ago.
What makes a film a classic? In a new monthly column, film scholar Bruce Isaacs analyses a single sequence from a great film. Here, we look at a scene from Vertigo.
The Netflix series Stranger Things is a throwback to the glory days of cinematic horror. And as VHS disappears from our shelves, this show’s 80s-infused nostalgia is doubly poignant.
Janis Joplin was once voted the ‘Ugliest Man on Campus’. Sharon Jones was told she was ‘too old, too fat, too short, too black’ to succeed in music. Two documentaries chart the lives of these extraordinary women.
The male coming of age tale Down Under is set in the aftermath of the 2005 Cronulla riots. But while entertaining, the film doesn’t help us understand the racism at the heart of these traumatic events.
Nell Greenwood, Australian Film, Television and Radio School
Female sexuality is a powerful, enchanting force in narratives ranging from fairytales to a modern Turkish film. Mustang reminds us that sometimes education can be an alternative to death or marriage.
The film Bastille Day – featuring a CIA agent trying to avert a terror attack in Paris – has been withdrawn from French cinemas after the tragedy in Nice. But what are we to make of Hollywood’s fondness for these kinds of stories?
Contrary to popular belief, several recent studies suggest that plot spoilers don’t always make us like a film or books less – and may even make us like it more.
Warcraft: the Beginning is based on the wildly popular game World of Warcraft – a fantasy escape for tens of millions of people. Yet watching the film brings home uncomfortable truths about race.
In the wake of Brexit, the UK film industry is set to lose funding, access to a huge distribution network, and possibly the European talent pool. For an example of the havoc this could cause, look no further than the former Soviet Union.
Editing a movie beside the late, great Paul Cox was like attending ‘a one on one’ film school. The growling auteur was a brilliantly stubborn man, who treated film with reverence and wore his heart on his sleeve.