Tuesday 21st October 2025

Film

Cillian Murphy does it again

Since his generation-defining performance in Oppenheimer (2023) two years ago, Cillian Murphy has shown little interest in playing it safe. Having collaborated already on the understated, unflinchingly raw historical...

Spike Lee’s lackluster remake: Highest 2 Lowest

There is no reason why a remake should remain inferior to its source material;...

The Librarians (2025) at the Bodleian: reviewed

Kim A. Snyder’s The Librarians (2025) draws the audience into a pernicious web of...

Hoa hoa hoa season: An analysis of the small town aesthetic

“In the state of Washington, under a near constant cover of cloud and rain,...

Sensual Absence in Jim Jarmusch

"If there is one thing Stranger than Paradise and Down by Law teach about Jarmusch, it is that he does a disservice to himself every time he makes a film in technicolour"

Boards, Beats and Bros: Mid90s Review

"Following the traditional narrative arc of the coming-of-age tale, the film follows Stevie as he rides out the highs and lows of adolescence, and learns important life lessons along the way."

9 to 5 and Feminism

Dolly Parton's iconic film is a feminist powerhouse

The Sweet Smell of Excess

"While the social implications of excessive behaviour seem real and uncomfortable, then, the extent to which films tend to deal with these is, we surely have to admit, limited."

In Defence of Excess

"You feel attacked, but you also feel seen – and really, is that not one of the most important things people look for when watching a film – to feel seen? "

‘Carry-On’ Excess-ing?

The dated views of the Carry-On films may offer their own entertainment

Ted Bundy Reinvented

Joe Bertlinger’s Ted Bundy biopic, released to Sky Cinema on Friday, seemed to be just one more of the latest string of films blatantly...

Behind Closed Drawbridges

Why are we so fascinated by stories of royalty?

Inheriting ‘The Big Score’

Examining the appeal of the classic heist film

Daydreamers: Fantasy in the Face of Stasis

There’s a scene in one of my favourite films, High Fidelity (2000), in which John Cusack’s Rob plays out a number of angry reactions in his head...

The Entangled Affair between Britain and the Catholic Church

Modern media has reinvented Catholicism as access to an intoxicating blend of nostalgia and taboo

The End of an Era: Endgame

Arguably the biggest film franchise in the world draws to a conclusion that's been over a decade in the making

The Duality of Movement in the New Taiwanese Cinema Movement

The entry of Hong Kong cinema to the Taiwanese market in the 1980s brought with it a move to protect homegrown directors and maintain a national...

Lady Gaga is not a receptacle for your pain

It's been almost two years since the release of Chris Moukarbel's documentary about the pop icon super-star Lady Gaga, a.k.a. Stefani Germanotta. Gaga: Five...

BBC Three’s Fleabag

“I’d just like my tits to be that much bigger — does that make me a terrible feminist?” Such forthright, fourth wall busting, hilarious, and...

Jordan Peele’s new horror film ‘Us’

The idiom, “To be afraid of one’s own shadow,” normally forms part of an insult, a derogatory phrase denoting child-like cowardice. The characters of...

Bird Box: a victim of its own platform?

It is ironic that Netflix, the reason for the film’s rapid popularity, might also be the reason why it’s not as memorable a film as it could have been. Emilie Rapport Munro discusses whether Netflix overdid its latest hit

Fantastic Cities: unveiling the complex realities, and fantasies, of urban life

A review of the Penny Woolcock exhibition at Modern Art Oxford

Hollywood’s lesser known gender gap

There's a lesser known gender gap in Hollywood - the difference in the shelflife of actors.

On the Basis of Sex: battling through a man’s world

Ruth Bader Ginsberg biopic shows how Felicity Jones and feminism can bring a legal drama to life

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