The first time I remember taking the bait was 2001. But I suppose what I really did was eat a bunch of bread, then find out later that fish will also eat that. Moulin Rouge was everything a barely ten-year-old with big dreams and a big stereo could ask for: bright colours, pop music, video…
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My friend was super psyched to see The Muppets, simply because she really likes The Muppets. My own reasoning is more complicated. I can draw everything in my life back to Buffy. Often in writing these columns I will wonder whether I should bring up the connection to Buffy which I noticed in a nanosecond….
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Publicly, I state my religion as Stephen Fry. Privately, however, 2011 tipped him into my ‘over-exposed’ bin. I really don’t understand how Christians do it. Their saviour is everywhere, all the time – and I don’t just mean in the spiritual omniscience regard. Even when I can’t buy marked down Cadbury Yule Logs next to…
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I love science fiction. From Plan 9 schlock to Moon’s sophisticated speculation on the future of us and our probing, shiny, phallic toys. I also love the SBS Friday Night cousin to sci-fi’s behind-the-beaded-curtain hardcore, speculative fiction. I take it dead seriously, though my commitment to two-minute showers (made every time I see The Road)…
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Walking down the cinema-separating corridor of the Nova last week I had a Yesva moment. All but two of the posters brightening the space featured women. One of those that didn’t was George Clooney star vehicle The Descendants, which may be my movie of the year. Not in the ‘I’ve seen it and it’s awesome’…
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Until Wednesday, I had never seen Dr Strangelove. As a film student, this is something you reveal only in alcohol-fuelled games of Truth or Dare. The Astor, Melbourne’s deco-era cinema with Depression-esque claims to seat-comfort, gave it a week-long season recently. So, I stuffed a cushion in my back-pack and joined some cohorts to take…
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The Bechdel Test, named for graphic artist Alison Bechdel, asks three simple questions of a movie: Are there at least two female characters? Do they have at least one conversation? About something other than a man? They hardly ensure positive representation of women, but they’re a start—and a talking point. In Bechdel Taser, I’ll ask…
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