Planet Earth II Live fuses footage from the BBC series with live orchestration. Despite some narrative flaws, it’s a stirring call to look after our environment.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela being laid to rest. In death, as in life, she divided opinions.
EPA
This week actors including Cate Blanchett signed an open letter calling on the government to protect our screen industry. More needs to be done to create a sustainable local industry beyond Dora-style, Hollywood productions.
Three Oscar-nominated films prominently featured characters using sign languages. It’s an important contribution to recognising Deaf culture and identity.
Adrian McLoughlin meets his end as Stalin in The Death of Stalin.
IMDB
The Death of Stalin has been banned in Russia. While the film is hardly disrespectful to Russian people, it does make Putin uncomfortable with its satirical take of leadership.
In this vision of the future, everything that we currently do in the real world – going to school, going to work, socialising, leisure – is done in a vast virtual environment.
The Shape of Water offers a clever allegory to Donald’s Trump’s presidency, with Michael Shannon’s character (on the left) representing some of the president’s worst qualities.
(Kerry Hayes/Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Not everyone can escape to the ocean’s depths to avoid the Trump presidency, but we can escape to the movies. ‘The Shape of Water’ reminds audiences of the humanity of those who are marginalized.
Green screen technology has become a common feature of film and TV production.
Vancouver Film School/Flickr
From Superman to Jurassic Park, green screen technology is what makes the jaw-dropping effects you see in blockbuster movies possible. But how does it work?
Previous plans to adapt Blood Meridian had envisioned casting Vincent D'Onofrio as “judge Holden.”
(You Tube)
Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy’s famous novel, may be unfilmable – not because of its gruesome violent tale of U.S. imperialism in the Southwest, but because its religious vision is terrifying.
Detail from Caravaggio’s Mary Magdelene, painted circa 1594-1596.
Wikimedia Commons
For centuries, Mary Magdalene was wrongly depicted as a repentant whore, diminishing her vital role as witness to the resurrection. A new film portraying her life does much to restore her character.
Frances McDormand’s inspirational Oscars speech could lead to more diversity in the industry. But you can’t be inclusive at the top if minorities can’t gain a foothold in the first place.
The banned film Inxeba certainly deserves more than to languish in the mire of South African scandal.
Some of Hollywood’s greatest movies have never won an Academy Award. But there’s an indication that critically acclaimed movies are now being recognized with Oscar nominations.
(AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
Throughout its history, the Academy Awards has picked some questionable winning films. But there are signs the Oscars are more often recognizing quality filmmaking.
A new virtual reality film showing at the Australian Museum immerses viewers in remote Indigenous communities. Such films can be a path to reconciliation and understanding.