Peaking Tensions in Sherpa Shrouded in mist, sinisterly brooding, stands the towering Mount Everest. Over the years, this awe-inspiring natural monument has been harnessed by man into both a challenge and a commodity. Jennifer Peedom’s sweeping images of the mountain, and real footage of snow, still and falling, often remind us that this should not …
Searching For Life’s Sweetness in The Secret Life Of Bees Imagine living with the reality that, as a baby, you accidentally shot and killed your own mother! A little on the improbable side, but not at all impossible. And hey, this is America, where guns are practically used as dummies. Now, as a fourteen-year-old …
She’s A Feminist Without Even Realising It In Whale Rider From out of the aquamarine comes the graceful body of a whale. In the quiet capsule of water, a sliding melody begins to echo the song of a whale. Raising the hairs on your arms, this haunting music wafts forwards, and a soft voice begins …
Tiny Furniture in Huge Houses Before there was Girls, there was Tiny Furniture, the micro-budget feature film that launched Lena Dunham’s career. Think Hannah, think Jessa, and think extreme relevance in the form of ‘what-the-hell-am-I-doing-with-my-life’ themes.
Planting a Family Is Easy, Growing One Is Hard, But The Kids Are All Right “Why’d you donate sperm?” “Well, it’s a lot more fun than donating blood.” True indeed, but far messier…
Featuring Spielberg at His Most Affectionate, A Classic Modern Musical and A Coming of Age Story for All Time Following on from Part 1 of our belated but still totally relevant list of the best films that came out last year, here’s Part 2 in all its cinematic glory. Sidenote: as we were particularly thrilled …
Conflict, Confusion and Connection in Somersault In the same way that Miley Cyrus wears scrunchies and pigtails with thigh-high latex, Somersault perfectly captures that same contradiction between sexuality and juvenility. Heidi (Abbie Cornish) makes a mistake by “fooling around” with her mother’s boyfriend, in her fumbling search for affection and adulthood. When she’s sprung, the …
Featuring An Animated Treasure, A German Dramedy and An Alien Invasion Film Unlike Any Other The best thing about being a movie fan living in Australia is that – with the considerable interval between North American releases and subsequent availability in the southern hemisphere – you’re always behind the curve, so you’ll never find yourself …