Hey Hollywood producers, here’s a radical idea: did you know that women can be action movie stars? Over the last year or so on Lip, I have been exploring my favourite female action heroes in a regular piece called Kickass Feminists on Film. Apart from being an eye-opening exercise, it is becoming harder and harder…
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It’s a sad fact, but most Australians don’t want to watch Australian films. Many will claim that Aussie films are boring, dull and poorly made, and it’s easy to blame audiences for their lack of devotion to their local film industry. However, it’s more accurate to blame the industry itself for the films it makes….
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Over the past year, we’ve seen people in the entertainment industry draw attention to ageism directed towards actresses. And whether it’s Maggie Gyllehaal speaking out about being told she was ‘too old to play the lover of a man who was 55’ at 37 years old, or the writers of Inside Amy Schumer discussing their…
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Sherlock Holmes is one of the most prolific fictional characters ever created, with the numerous adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels reaching audiences through the mediums of television, film, theatre, comics and even video games. In recent times the famous detective has been portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in the popular BBC series Sherlock, Johnny Lee…
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Everyone knows that complex and empowering female characters are difficult to find in mainstream films. But there are some who have stood out and become the changing faces of feminism in cinema. In this regular column, Jade Bate looks at her favourite film heroines who are strong, empowering and kick ass. Before he was spewing…
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As the West and Japan grow more enchanted with each other, our cultural landscape is exposed to new and unique interpretations of the female. This three-part series by Marie Davis explores the characterisation of women in shonen anime and manga, and their relationship with their burgeoning Western audience. (Part One and Part Two.) My first…
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There’s a very good chance that Harper Lee never meant for you to read this book. This is an important fact to bear in mind when considering cracking the spine of Go Set A Watchman, the “sequel” to Lee’s classic 55-year-old novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. It is a fact that I didn’t know when…
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As the West and Japan grow more enchanted with each other, our cultural landscape is exposed to new and unique interpretations of the female. This three-part series by Marie Davis explores the characterisation of women in shonen anime and manga, and their relationship with their burgeoning Western audience. Read Part One here. As Japanese culture…
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The Terminator franchise is one that both proves and disproves the rule that sequels are never as good as the original. There’s Evil Dead, Alien and Terminator in this rather particular category. The further this franchise lurches on, the more the cynics of the world are vindicated; sequels are a cash grab, nothing more. Given…
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As the West and Japan grow more enchanted with each other, our cultural landscape is exposed to new and unique interpretations of the female. This three-part series by Marie Davis explores the characterisation of women in shonen anime and manga, and their relationship with their burgeoning Western audience. Perhaps the most unique reimagining of the…
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Director Asif Kapadia (who brought us the acclaimed 2010 documentary Senna) has made another brutally honest documentary telling the turbulent and short life of Amy Winehouse. The story unfolds through the words of Winehouse herself through expertly edited home videos along with voiceovers and snippets from the people closest to her. I was more than…
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Inside Out, Disney Pixar’s latest film, follows the pre-pubescent years of young Riley (Kaitlyn Dias), a hockey-loving, family-orientated young girl whose life seems absolutely perfect – until her parents make her move with them from Minnesota to San Francisco. This sudden change prompts a swirl of uncontrollable emotions; those complex ones that are difficult to…
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Directorial duo Andy and Lana Wachowski (The Matrix, Cloud Atlas) have teamed up with Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski to create a radical new Netflix Original: Sense8. Sense8 tells the story of eight strangers: Will, Riley, Capheus, Sun, Lito, Kala, Wolfgang, and Nomi. In the aftermath of the violent and tragic death of a…
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For most of us, the closest we’ve been to Scientology is watching this video of Tom Cruise. If Cruise’s flaring nostrils and hysteric laugh didn’t have you going cross eyed at the new age “religion,” Alex Gibney’s new documentary will. Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief draws back the curtain that has hung…
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