In 1967, literary critic Roland Barthes wrote in his seminal essay The Death of the Author that writing is the destruction of every voice, of every point of origin. Writing is that neutral, composite, oblique space where our subject slips away, the negative where all identity is lost, starting with the very identity of…
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This article contains spoilers for Season 4 of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, along with discussions of potentially upsetting content, including rape, torture and violence. Our favourite Litchfield inmates are back, with June 17 heralding the season four premiere of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black. Season four is arguably the most enthralling, witty, and…
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Shannon Murphy is an award-winning film and theatre director, with short films like the Cannes-screening Kharisma and Love Me Tender to her name. Film editor Lauren Strickland chatted to her about her filming in Canberra, working with all-female casts, and her latest film, Eaglehawk. * How did you get involved with Eaglehawk? It was…
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This is a review of a session held at the 2016 Sydney Writers’ Festival. * What is it that we find so fascinating about a reclusive novelist? There are plenty of writers who have attempted anonymity, with varying degrees of success: Harper Lee and Thomas Pynchon both spring to mind. These authors have chosen…
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The Wait (originally L’Attesa) is a French/Italian two-hander featuring Juliette Binoche and Lou de Laâge, two generations of talented French actresses, who unfortunately suffer under the weight of simple material that is—seemingly out of necessity—over-directed. Debut director Piero Messina is young as directors go (he’s in his thirties), and has an eye for intriguing and abstract visuals…
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Debuting to critical acclaim at the end of last year, Netflix has recently announced that Master of None – the comedy with a delightful penchant for bluntly calling out inequality – will be returning for a second season. Created by Aziz Ansari (Parks and Recreation) and Alan Yang (a producer on Parks), Master of None…
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Hail, Caesar! is about a day in the life of Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), a devout Catholic who works as a “fixer” for the fictional Capitol Studios in early 1950s Hollywood. Essentially, his role is to keep the image of the studio from deviating from the norms of the time, that of white Christian wholesomeness….
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#OscarsSoWhite #OscarsSoStraight #OscarsSoMale. Yep, this year’s Academy Awards sure had a lot of criticisms and controversies heading into the ceremony. The Academy has since attempted to rectify the diversity problem within their membership, but this will happen over many years. This year’s Oscars were set to look almost like an exact replica of last…
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Resilience thy name is woman. Room, the latest film by director Lenny Abrahamson (known for 2014’s Frank and 2012’s What Richard Did), based on the book of the same name by Emma Donaghue, tells the singular story of Joy ‘Ma’ Newsome (Brie Larson) and her seven-year captivity in a tiny room with her son Jack…
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Superheroes are in vogue. In 2016 alone, Hollywood will release films about Wonder Woman, Doctor Strange, the X-Men, Captain America versus the Avengers, and Batman versus Superman. The capes are back, with ripples of American pride flowing underneath. This outpour amounts to an endless bag of stale popcorn packaged in a picture of Chris Hemsworth’s…
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Kate (Charlotte Rampling) and Geoff (Tom Courtenay) are six days away from celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary, when Geoff receives a letter informing him that the corpse of an ex-lover has been finally been found after her tragic fall in the Swiss Alps over fifty years prior. It’s a truly grizzly, melodramatic death for…
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The alienation of the immigrant experience is a common narrative device in cinema. Whether it’s a young Vito Corleone glimpsing the Statue of Liberty for the first time in The Godfather: Part II or the Mexican illegal immigrants at the center of A Better Life, the prospect of finding a future in a far away…
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Journalists can change the world. At least that was once true, when in 2001 the “Spotlight” team of The Boston Globe – through months of investigation – exposed the systematic child abuse of over 70 priests in the highly Catholic Boston area. If true stories of Pulitzer-winning journalism are your cup of tea, you’ll find…
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Sticky: A (Self) Love Story, is a documentary by freelance writer and director, Nicholas Tana, about a topic that, as his film addresses, is engaged in by nearly ninety percent of people, but is talked about by almost none: masturbation. The film asks kindergarten teachers, rabbis, porn stars and everyone in between to talk about…
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