Novara FM: The Parallel Political Universe of Love Actually
From the war on terror to the looming social care crisis, Richard Curtis' festive romcom is a counterfactual vision of '00s Britain. Nathalie Olah investigates.
Tag: films
ACFM: Microdose: Aliens on Screen
From Martian invaders to Mulder and Scully, our obsession with aliens says plenty about politics on Earth.
Novara FM: It’s A Wonderful Life
James Butler and Eleanor Penny explore the political upheavals at the heart of a beloved Christmas movie.
ACFM: Microdose: Strikes on Screen
From blacklisted Hollywood dramas to bawdy British comedies, ACFM goes to the movies.
Analysis: Will Netflix and Disney Destroy the Soul of Cinema?
Joel Blackledge
With 2021 dominated by rehashed and remade films, Joel Blackledge asks if the triumph of corporate giants like Netflix is undermining cinema’s long-term success.
Analysis: Young British Filmmakers Are Throwing Out the Kitchen Sink
Joel Blackledge
British cinema has used gritty realism to portray proletarian life. With Conservative education policy restricting access to the film establishment, young filmmakers are pushing past tradition with whatever they have available.
Downstream: Why Are All the Baddies Disabled?
From ancient myths through to the Batman trilogy, pop culture is littered with disabled people and those with facial differences being cast as villains. Why does disability feature so heavily in literary and cinematic traditions, and how has this hypervisiblity had the ironic effect of erasing the experiences of disabled people? Ash Sarkar is joined […]
Who’s Laughing Now? Joker, Violence and Sad White Men
Eleanor Penny
Part origin story, part rock opera of ultraviolence, Joker been called an unflinching masterpiece by some critics and derided as a shallow handbook for incels by others. Eleanor Penny argues it's neither - but it does tell us something about a society which can simultaneously decry and forgive the violence of white men.
The Lockdown: The Lockdown: Justice in Films
Hosts Oonagh Ryder @Oonskie and Sam Swann @SamGSwann chat about how justice is portrayed in films with filmmaker and writer Joel Blackledge @TheGreatDamfino. They discuss the role of the prison in films and TV, which characters are deserving of our sympathy and how punishment is the backdrop to so much of our entertainment.