The Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” starring Timothée Chalamet, focuses on Dylan’s early 1960s transition from idiosyncratic singer of folk songs to internationally renowned singer-songwriter. As a music historian, I’ve always respected one decision of Dylan’s in particular – one that kicked off the young artist’s most turbulent and significant period of creative activity….
Justin Kurzels’ new historical crime drama, “The Order,” starring Jude Law and Nicholas Holt, is being described as a riveting “cat-and-mouse thriller.” But for criminologists like us, the white supremacist extremism that takes place in the film is not a nod to a distant past, but a reflection of beliefs and rhetoric that still percolate…
Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia’s new film, All We Imagine as Light, won the prestigious Grand Prix award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in May. The film exhibits an Indianness that is distinctive from the one most frequently represented globally. Within mainstream Hindi cinema, India is often presented as a homogenous Hindu, upper-caste, middle-class Hindi-speaking…
Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching. Title of course: “Road to Hell: The Apocalypse in Classical and Contemporary Forms” What prompted the idea for the course? When Meghan R. Henning, a scholar of early Christianity, completed her 2014 book on how the concept of hell evolved…
With the release of Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II,” audiences will be plunged back into the cinematic excitement of the Roman amphitheater so vividly captured in its predecessor, “Gladiator.” Scott’s film will undoubtedly capture the thrills of this spectacle. But as someone who studies the Roman world, I think it’s worth remembering that its cultural legacy…
Neither “Gladiator” nor its cinematic sequel is particularly concerned with historical fact. For one thing, the emperor Marcus Aurelius had no intention of restoring the republic. Gladiatorial contests were abhorrent displays of cruelty, but they didn’t always end in death. And the Romans didn’t sculpt bone-white statues; they painted them using an array of colors….
Science fiction has long been a window into possible futures, often anticipating technological advancements and societal shifts with surprising accuracy. While AI is now widely recognized for its practical uses — like natural language processing and pattern recognition — science fiction often brings more captivating and thought-provoking perspectives. Movies and shows have depicted AI and…
Even 25 years after his death, Stanley Kubrick remains one of the most widely known directors of the 20th century. Many of the 13 films he made – including 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971) and The Shining (1980) – are still revered today and remembered as some of the best movies…
A widely circulated still from the set of Martin Scorsese’s latest film, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” shows the director sitting in a church pew. Next to him is Lily Gladstone, who plays the role of Mollie Kyle, an Osage woman whose family is targeted as part of a broader conspiracy by white Americans to…
The Oscars are no longer just a celebration of movies. They’ve also become a fashion show, with fans, designers and the media celebrating and critiquing Hollywood celebrities as they stroll, pause and pose on the red carpet of the annual awards ceremony. A sharp look can be a story in and of itself. Take actress…
In some movies, religion hits viewers over the head – including films that take home the industry’s biggest prizes. No one could miss religion’s importance in “The Exorcist” or “Jesus Christ Superstar,” both nominated for Oscars 50 years ago. Martin Scorsese, whose “Killers of the Flower Moon” is up for 10 at the 2024 Academy…
With 13 Oscars nominations and seven wins – including best picture – “Oppenheimer” was the star of the 96th Academy Awards. Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster, which told the story of the making of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, added to its awards season haul that includes five Golden Globes and seven…
Box office receipts for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer had already approached the billion-dollar mark worldwide before the 2024 Oscars ceremony. To this financial success, along with film awards for Best Director, Cinematography, Editing, Sound, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, Oppenheimer garnered Nolan his first Academy Award for Best Picture. In larger Academy Award history, this…
On Sunday, nine years after #OscarsSoWhite, millions of us tuned into watch the 96th annual Academy Awards — some to simply take in the spectacle. And some to see how much had changed. The hashtag #OscarsSoWhite started after many people noticed that, for a second year in a row, all nominees for four of five…
The ’70s-throwback found-footage horror comedy, Late Night with the Devil, joins a long list of recent Australian horror success stories. Framed as a tabloid-style retrospective, the film invites us to watch the newly discovered footage of an episode from a late-night talk show, Night Owls, broadcast live on Halloween 1977. On this night it all…
With the movies Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Drive-Away Dolls and Will & Harper all premiering before June this year, 2024 seems like a great year to rethink who gets to be behind the wheel in our favourite car movies. In the 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road, fans were introduced to Imperator Furiosa, a…
Like Amy Winehouse, “Back to Black,” the new biopic about the late British singer, has been no stranger to controversy. In the case of the film, opinion has been fiercely split about director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s decision to have actress Marisa Abela sing – instead of lip-sync to – Winehouse’s recordings. Some viewers have lauded Abela’s…
Forty years after the release of The Karate Kid, many fans of the film still can’t hear the name “Daniel” without wanting to add a “san” to it. They may channel the iconic teacher Mr Miyagi, with his deep guttural intensity. And they may even repeat the film’s most famous saying, “wax on, wax off”,…
“Loneliness has followed me my whole life,” says Robert De Niro’s character, Travis Bickle, in Taxi Driver. “Everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There’s no escape. I’m God’s lonely man.” This same quote could be used to describe De Niro’s acting oeuvre. He seems drawn to characters who experience, either through choice or…
In May 2024, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sparked a firestorm by referencing the 2013 movie “Her” to highlight the novelty of the latest iteration of ChatGPT. Within days, actor Scarlett Johansson, who played the voice of Samantha, the AI girlfriend of the protagonist in the movie “Her,” accused the company of improperly using her voice…
Legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick spent a lifetime trying to make his final film, Eyes Wide Shut, a reality. He had been struggling to make it from the moment he began making feature films, some 75 years ago. When he finally did, 25 years ago in 1999, it killed him. The plot centres on a physician…
Movies can be effective media for spreading health information. Indian cinema, encompassing various regional film industries, holds sway over public perceptions and societal norms. Movie reviewers and caregiving advocates also note the influence of films on the perception of dementia. Health researchers have also explored dementia in Indian cinema, and highlighted how these films can…
In its recent opening weekend, Twisters marked the biggest start ever for a natural disaster movie with US$80.5 million in North American box office revenue. The popularity of the film indicates disaster movies remain an important popular culture phenomenon. As an associate professor of disaster and emergency management, I recently was a panellist at a…
Horror films draw us into a world where our deepest anxieties are laid bare. They illuminate the darker recesses of the human psyche – ones that we often prefer to ignore. And some of the most unsettling things we can imagine, it seems, are not zombies or aliens or demons, but ones that are closer…
The creeping shadows and haunting decorations transform the everyday into something eerie at Halloween. And you might be thinking about scaring yourself with a good horror movie. Grotesque imagery, extreme violence, startling jump scares and menacing characters are common elements, making viewers feel fear, dread and disgust. We generally aim to avoid these negative emotions…
While movie premieres and A-list celebrities attract most of the attention at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the future of film is debated in the TIFF Industry conference. As one might expect nearly two years after the public release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, AI in filmmaking has featured among the industry talks. But perhaps more…
Horror movies are plentiful in 2024, and plenty bloody. The year has seen the release of films awash in blood, such as “Immaculate,” “The First Omen” and “The Strangers.” With Halloween on the way, bloody offerings are streaming, in theaters and running in marathons on cable. Watch them, and you’ll likely notice that as the…
It’s scary movie season, a time when many people watch films about zombies, serial killers, werewolves, magic and mysterious monsters who are impossible to kill. However, as far as I know, there’s only one film that features all of those elements – and you’ve probably never seen it. Made in 2007, “Trick ‛r Treat” consists…
October 26, 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of director James Cameron’s science fiction classic, The Terminator – a film that popularised society’s fear of machines that can’t be reasoned with, and that “absolutely will not stop … until you are dead”, as one character memorably puts it. The plot concerns a super-intelligent AI system called…
While many people in the creative industries are worrying that AI is about to steal their jobs, Oscar-winning film director James Cameron is embracing the technology. Cameron is famous for making the Avatar and Terminator movies, as well as Titanic. Now he has joined the board of Stability.AI, a leading player in the world of…
Is Crockett Johnson’s Harold, of “Harold and the Purple Crayon,” a child of color? If you’ve bought any of the “Harold” books published in the past 25 years, or saw the new movie starring Zachary Levi as an adult Harold, your answer is probably “No.” In 1998, HarperCollins relaunched the “Harold” books – seven picture…
Ever since I came to Melbourne as an international PhD student in film studies, the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) has provided me with a sense of home among a community of like-minded cinephiles. To quote Agnès Varda, “Cinema is my home. I think I’ve always lived in it.” For this reason, I’m honoured to…
The Untold History of Cabaret: Revived and Kicking As Broadway welcomes the ever-evolving musical, its star, Eddie Redmayne—along with Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey, and Sam Mendes—assess its enduring power. As director Rebecca Frecknall was rehearsing a new cast for her hit London revival of Cabaret, the actor playing Clifford Bradshaw, an American writer living in […]
Gina Lollobrigida in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1956), directed by Jean Delannoy. Photograph: Allied Artists/Allstar Film actor of the 1950s and 60s who went from early Italian roles to become an international star The actor Gina Lollobrigida, who has died aged 95, was one of the great film stars of the 1950s and 60s,…
How do filmmakers get period clothing to look the part? Inside the textile workshop where the past comes to life In the weave room, a worker uses a classic Crompton & Knowles loom to make suitable fabric for some 18th-century furniture. Bridget Badore Even before you walk into the prefabricated steel building set in the […]
Thriller and Suspense Films: These are types of films known to promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension. Thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations, with similar characteristics and features. If the genre is to be defined strictly, a genuine thriller is a…
The Academy Awards aren’t just about awarding the best films and performances of the year — stop being so naïve. They’re also about the power of narrative. And few register more strongly with both Oscar voters and awards obsessives than the “overdue” narrative, which tells us that not only is this person worthy of an…
The new Frida Kahlo documentary by Carla Gutiérrez takes a deep dive into the iconic artist’s legacy with interesting results. “The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to.” A still from Frida, the new documentary on Frida Kahlo The new documentary directed by Carla Gutiérrez wants to revisit her life […]
Hollywood has put out its fair share of iconic gangster movies over the years, it’s fair to say. These go back to the Golden Age of Hollywood, where old-school actors like James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart became stars in part due to their roles in such movies. And then the gangster genre got more complex…
The director of ‘Amélie’ and ‘Delicatessen’ is on a league of his own. Jean-Pierre Jeunet is undoubtedly a singular filmmaker; whether it is the stunning visuals of his charming and offbeat movies — both of which are trademarks that result in them being instantly recognized — or the quirky but at times relatable characters they […]
There are so many good movies on Hulu, from side-splitting comedies like Fire Island to passionate romances like Palm Springs to terrifying horror films like The Babadook. There are so many good ones, in fact, that it can be hard to wade through everything to find the cream of the crop. Never fear: We’ve compiled […]
Another streaming service means another vast library of titles to sift through to find what you want to watch. Max is the streaming service from WarnerMedia, hosting not just titles from the pay cable channel HBO, but a bevy of films from the Warner Bros. library and other studios. There’s a great selection of classics, […]