When Wolf Creek was released in 2005, the timing was impeccable. With the Australian and international media in a frenzy over the disappearance of British backpacker Peter Falconio in the Australian outback, Wolf Creek hit cinemas to take full advantage of the front page headlines about the dangerous types who lurk in the Australian wilderness. […]
Le Week-End
Over the last 25 years or so, Hollywood has seemingly been afflicted with a severe case of gerontophobia; a fear of old people. Unless it is a washed-up action star desperately trying to cling to the last remnants of their credibility (The Expendables for example), Hollywood has little to offer actors over 60 beyond the […]
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
There are some stories that are just too big to tell in their entirety within the confines of a motion picture. As a result, filmmakers are required to make choices about what to include and what to omit; determining which elements are most important, which aspects of the story are the most cinematic or which […]
Labor Day
Until now, second-generation filmmaker Jason Reitman has enjoyed an impeccable record as a director, with nary a bum note in any of his previous films, namely Thank You for Smoking, Juno, Up in the Air and Young Adult. Therefore, it has taken me a couple of days after seeing his latest offering, Labor Day, to […]
Ellen Page Inspires
Any regular visitors to this site will have seen my previous declaration of respect and admiration for Ellen Page, which can be found here. Well, Page has again proven herself to be a most remarkable young woman, delivering an incredibly personal speech at the Time to THRIVE conference in Las Vegas, revealing to the audience […]
Short Film Competition for Students
The My Story, My Content Short Film competition is on again. Presented by the Intellectual Property Awareness Foundation (IPAF) and Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM), My Story, My Content invites students to make a 60-second short film that celebrates Australian screen creativity, with great prizes up for grabs. The theme for 2014 is: ‘Movies … […]
How Our Schools are Perpetuating Ignorance, Intolerance and Sexual Violence
Over the last few weeks, I have stumbled across three articles that, whilst all addressing different aspects of sex, sexuality and/or sexualised behaviours, struck a chord with me in that they all emphasise ways in which schools and education can play a critical role in changing attitudes and behaviours in young people. It is then […]
