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“The only thing I had when I was a kid were books. I used to live in them. I used to go to sleep dreaming I’d wake up inside one of them ’cause they had meaning. This place, this is like I woke up inside one of those stories. I guess I just wanna find […]
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Denis Villeneuve tends to be a filmmaker fixated by the darkness at the heart of humanity, with his previous works featuring such cheery themes as torture, the unending cycle of cartel violence and anti-feminist massacres. It’s something of a relief then to see him move to somewhat lighter territory in Arrival, a fundamentally hopeful and […]
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Christmas is here, or at least Oxmas is, and as our term (thankfully to be honest) begins to draw to a close, it’s time to start looking forward to the exciting new films and shows hitting our screens – while not forgetting of course those seasonal classics. So, as I thank you for reading my […]
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2016, amongst all the social upset, has produced some great films! Many of these have been politically charged, shedding some light onto current turmoil by providing critical inquiry into culture and even proposing alternatives. Granted, I have not seen all the releases of 2016. In particular, I should note, I didn’t get to see Ciro […]
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Prohibitionism and Parnassianism abound in the latest film to emerge from J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world. Set in New York City in 1926, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them explores the (mis)adventures of one Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), a British wizard stopping over in New York after having travelled the globe in pursuit of various […]
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Polly Stenham comes from an extensive and formidable background in theatre. At just 19, she published her first play That Face, originally starring Lindsay Duncan and Matt Smith, and she has since written many more plays. Polly has also gone on to branch into screenwriting, working on Channel 4’s Dope Girls and the screenplay to […]
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Sometimes, even the most-watched movies and programmes don’t always get it right, with storylines, jokes or casting that spark debate or even cause offense among viewers. But as the audience, how we should respond to films and TV shows with problematic elements, whether it be underlying sexism, homophobia or a lack of diversity, and is […]
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It was always going to be difficult to beat the first series of Planet Earth, even if it was produced a decade ago when technology was nowhere near today’s standards. Back in 2008, Planet Earth was something truly ground-breaking. Although we had had nature programmes before, we’d had nothing like this. Once it was shown, […]
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Sadly, this is my final column! Thank you for watching along with me, and if you missed any of my previous pieces on The Legend of Korra, Adventure Time and Sailor Moon, you can find them right here on the website! In a column about queer representation and children’s education, I don’t think I can […]
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Mirror, Mirror, on the Mall By Chris Allnutt Last week, Black Mirror’s creators took to Twitter to deny rumours that the American election was merely an extension of the show. “This isn’t an episode,” they tweeted, “This isn’t marketing. This is reality.” Co-creator Charlie Brooker initially worried that 2013 episode “The Waldo Moment,” which shows […]
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If you’re wondering how you’ve become desensitised to the horrors of war on the daily news, how politics has descended into a limp and meaningless reality TV show, and how truth no longer holds sway over false, then HyperNormalisation may offer some explanation. Adam Curtis’s mammoth three-hour BBC iPlayer documentary takes us on a dizzying […]
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It is no secret that our society has an obsession with crime, and an even bigger infatuation with crime dramas and documentaries. From Training Day and The Departed to Luther and Making a Murderer, there is no shortage of compelling entertainment to satisfy our desire to peek into the world of crime and criminal justice. […]
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While Amber looks into the reasons behind our fascination with the crime drama genre and its public perception, let’s take a look at some of the Oxford Student editors’ recommendations and the bigger hits of the genre. Inspector Morse & Lewis Let’s start with shows surely close to every Oxford students’ heart, the television series […]
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Nocturnal Animals is a deeply moving cinematic encounter, one which is difficult to convey in 500 written words. Therefore, a simply-put, reduced form is required to begin this review. What I want: to convince you to go to the cinema, part with your money and watch this film. What it’s about: a woman, Susan Morrow […]
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New Zealand’s hills are no longer just for the hobbits. Step aside Bilbo, the mountain sides are now also populated by the eccentric and curious cast of Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople, screened at this year’s Sundance, and already the highest grossing New Zealand film of all time. Raking in a very impressive NZ$12 million […]
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You may have missed it, but Black Mirror has moved from Channel Four to Netflix – and without a Bake Off channel-move style uproar. But there’s no uproar because the simple fact is they’ve remained brilliant. The bigger budget shows and is put to excellent use in some of the episodes, most notably in the […]
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There wasn’t much to be bowled over by in the first three episodes of Stranger Things. It felt tropey and even a bit stale, a pandering to 80s nostalgia riding on the success of box office hits like J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 and getting kicks from ‘simpler times’ at the cost of lacklustre characters and a […]
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I’m back again! Join me in 6th week for a final overview, thinking about representation in kids’ versus adults’ media and the future. There were a lot of things I thought about writing on this week: Captain Jack’s bisexuality in Doctor Who, the incredible Steven Universe’s non-binary femme-presenting couple among other things, Nickelodeon’s new Loud […]
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CBBC’s Raven By Shannon Guild Let the challenge…. BEGIN! For many, “Hey, do you remember ‘Raven’?” stimulates memories of a perky American teen and her psychic so called adventures. Credit, where credits due, this cheesy sitcom has its place… way, way down in the Kid’s show archives! No, I’m not talking about That’s So Raven. Unfortunate […]
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