At midnight on a fateful summer evening, Star Wars fans lined up to get the first look at the new movie, with hopes high and adrenaline pumping through their veins. As an enthusiastic fan myself, I was amongst the rabble of strangely clad movie-goers in Melbourne, barely managing to keep myself awake to witness my…
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2017 has seen the continued rise and rise of TV as an art form. Lip’s film writers have chosen their favourite shows to share with you – there’s still time to binge watch all three before the year officially comes to a close! The Handmaid’s Tale In a year of female heroes, no fictional heroine…
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How did you spend last New Year’s Eve? Most of us go to a party or a festival, where we can kick back with champagne and friends. But filmmakers Sarah Jayne Portelli and Ivan Malekin spent NYE 2016 doing the thing they love most: making a film. The result is Friends, Foes & Fireworks, a…
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Last weekend I binged on Netflix series Chewing Gum. It’s great, watch it now if you like; there are only 12 episodes across two seasons so it won’t take you long! The show’s central character, Tracey, is played by its talented creator, writer and theme song-singer— Michaela Coel. Tracey lives on a housing estate in…
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The stark divergence between the left and the right is growing, with party leaders continually pushing boundaries further to the edges. This extremist divide causes unjust and inhumane policies, such as the recent Manus Island standoff. As someone with left-winged ideologies, it is bewildering to see why and how politicians make the personal choice to…
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Jean Tong is an emerging Melbourne playwright, who recently wrote and directed Romeo Is Not the Only Fruit, now playing at the Butterfly Club. The play aims to address the startling lack of inclusive media representation through dissecting queer and straight rom-com tropes. Lip had the pleasure of interviewing Tong about her recent work and…
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It’s a quiet Friday lunchtime when I meet Tasmanian filmmaker Ninna Millikin in Hobart’s charismatic suburb of Battery Point. I wait in a small park surrounded by nineteenth-century cottages, and we find a window seat in a cosy café nearby. It seems appropriate that we meet in such a distinctive part of Hobart given what…
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When a film begins with Magda Szubanski playing an eccentric radio host, you can’t help but feel you’re in for a good time. Writer and director Ben Elton (The Young Ones, Blackadder) has delivered just that with his new Australian comedy Three Summers. The film is set entirely at a fictional folk festival in Western…
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If someone asks me to watch a movie about sports I’ll usually pass; in all honesty with the exception of watching Space Jam or The Mighty Ducks I’d probably rather read ill-informed articles about whether the gender pay gap is real. But when I first saw the trailer for Battle of the Sexes I was…
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Madame Nightshade’s Poison Garden left the audience waiting in their seats, while a path between Twistees, cream rice and Mars Bars became our exit. This show had the messiest ending I had ever seen in a theatre performance. Anna, or ‘Madame Nightshade’ put on a spectacular show, utilising physical comedy to make the audience both…
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Zelos is a story of cheating. You have probably seen a lot of films like this, but what makes this one different is its realism. And unlike so many other films about cheating, this film is: written, directed, and co-produced by two young women (director Jo-Anne Brechin and writer Claire J Harris) and ALSO has…
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When I sit down to chat with filmmaker Claudia Pickering over the phone, I am immediately struck by her infectious enthusiasm. She’s sitting in a café working on a web series while we talk. I’m sitting at my desk at home, but still get swept up in the excitement of her burgeoning career in…
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Did you know that about 50% of gamers are women? This isn’t a new fact, but it is still contested on a regular basis. Considering that gaming culture is comprised of a mix of young and old, guys and gals (and everyone in between), it’s surprisingly not the most welcoming space. Back in 2014, a…
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If your vagina got dressed, what would it wear? If your vagina could talk, what would it say? Stepping into the bar at The Butterfly Club, my vagina, dressed in Melbournian comfort chic, was happily humming in anticipation of the night’s show, ready and waiting to be coaxed with deft works and a welcoming smile….
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