The music is loud and I have drink in my hand. For the last five minutes I have been leaning against the wall trying to simultaneously look nonchalant and avoid meeting anyone’s eye. It’s probably a mistake that I came here. I tuck the drink into the crook of my arm and get out my…
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I started writing this column at a point where I should be eating dinner because it was too difficult to decide what to eat and how much of it to make. Plus, you know, effort. After sitting, debating whether or not to turn my heater off, and literally just staring at my computer screen for…
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After winning TAC’s (Transport Accident Commision’s) ‘Make a film, make a difference’ competition in 2011, doors, windows and shutters have flung open for Tess Fisher. The Melbourne student (soon to be known to film enthusiasts as ‘The Nastiest Sheep’) was thrust into glorious chaos when she and a friend were selected to produce the short…
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In 2000 my class went on a school camp to Ballarat and we were given a list detailing the clothes to bring, the lollies to leave at home, and what other items were either required, allowed or forbidden. The list was long and strangely specific when it came to clothing, but somewhere in between Driza-Bone…
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To say that the Amish community is isolated from civilisation is like saying that the Hulk has anger management issues. The Amish don’t have the modern communications and resources that somehow seem necessary to us Westerners (but remain superfluous in our daily functioning) and that’s a realisation that seems to drive us crazy. Sadly it…
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The first movie in the Alien franchise; of the same name, was released in 1979, and set the bar for sci-fi and horror in the years to come with its original plot, strong characters and atmospheric filming. I can only assume you have a broad understanding of the plot of the film; seven employees of a big…
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Only a few weeks ago myself and a elderly couple devoured a heart-wrenching French film, The Hedgehog, inspired by the best-selling novel The Elegance of A Hedgehog – an insightful yet saddening story about the contrast between a child’s and a older woman’s perspectives on life. The first shot introduces us to Paloma Josse (Garance Le Guillermic),…
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A missing girl; an out of town detective; a small town creaking under the weight of massive, terrible secrets. There’s much common ground shared by Twin Peaks and Top of the Lake. Both shows are indisputably great; the popular jury is still out to some degree on the newly-minted Top of the Lake, but Twin…
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Casablanca is one movie that even film buffs can agree is a classic. There aren’t many films like this – in any group of people, someone will always want to be the one with the ‘original’ opinion, i.e. the person that hates that thing you really like. (Because with Casablanca you can’t say you liked…
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“Why Can’t A Woman Behave More Like A Man?” “Oh, Henry Higgins, just you wait.” My Fair Lady (1964) is musical film version of a musical theatre adaptation of an earlier film adaptation of a play called Pygmalion. Exhausted yet? It stars Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Dolittle, a poor flower girl whose alarming low-class accent…
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The news that the budget was once again delaying increase to foreign aid spending was sad for Australia’s reputation as a burgeoning leader on the world stage. That is why I was especially uplifted to see ACMI, cinema 1, bursting at the seams by those eager to learn about human rights issues through the Human…
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Big, bold and beautiful accurately describe the intense film quality of The Great Gatsby. Complete with mind-blowing situations, beautiful cinematography and intense dialogue, The Great Gatsby is a marvel on-screen, but falls short when it comes to real life connections. Based on the book by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby follows the story of…
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There is something to be said about monkeys in films. Part cute and cuddly, part vicious and protective they have been continually reduced to predictable human stereotypes. King Kong, Mighty Joe Young or even the charming monkey Jack from Pirates of the Caribbean are all victims of this monkey stereotype curse which plagues the film…
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She struts onto the screen. Leather clutches her hourglass figure, squeezing her tight; her breasts billow out of her shirt. She seductively glances at the man before her. He is incapacitated by her fishnet stockings and whip, reduced to a drooling, drivelling, mess. She slinks towards him, strokes his cheek and melts him with the…
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