Retrospective

Femme Fatale at 15: Britney Spears’ most misread era

Fifteen years on, Femme Fatale sits in a fascinating, complicated place in Britney Spears’ catalogue – once dismissed as impersonal and overly synthetic, now increasingly understood as both a cultural pivot point and a quietly resilient achievement. Released in March 2011, Femme Fatale arrived at a moment when mainstream pop was aggressively chasing the club….

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Get Over It at 25: The teen comedy that dared to be weird

A quarter-century on from its 2001 release, Get Over It stands as one of the most gleefully offbeat teen comedies of its era – a film that never quite fit the mold, and is all the better for it. Arriving at a time when the genre was dominated by glossy prom-night fantasies and raunch-heavy gross-out…

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Opinion: 20 years on, She’s the Man is still that girl

Twenty years on, She’s the Man remains one of those rare teen comedies that didn’t just survive its era – it quietly outgrew it. Released in the US on March 17th, 2006, the film arrived at the tail end of a very specific wave: glossy, high-concept teen comedies built around identity swaps, social hierarchies, and…

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Opinion: It’s time to Awake – Why this forgotten 2000s thriller deserves a second look

There are films that fail loudly, and then there are films that fail quietly; misjudged, misunderstood, and filed away under “not good enough” before anyone really figures out what they were trying to do. Awake belongs firmly in the latter category. Released in 2007 with a barely-there theatrical campaign, Joby Harold’s sleek medical conspiracy thriller…

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Hostel at 20: Torturing horror’s comfort zones

When Hostel was released theatrically in 2006 (it technically debuted in 2005 at the Toronto International Film Festival), it arrived like a blunt instrument. Audiences recoiled, critics argued, and the term “torture porn” entered the mainstream horror lexicon almost overnight. Directed by Eli Roth and produced by Quentin Tarantino, Hostel quickly became a lightning rod…

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Right Now, Kong Then: The Retrospective Worthy Of A King

What is it about cinematic advanced primates which makes them so fascinating? Is it the similarities they have with us homo sapiens? Is it because they are cute? Is it because they have such engagingly primal instincts that we cannot look away? Is it because they satisfy our need to see city-wide destruction? Or can…

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Carriageworks to present Katthy Cavaliere retrospective this August

In conjunction with the Museum of Old and New Art, Sydney’s Carriageworks will present Katthy Cavaliere: Loved later this year, a retrospective of the late artist’s body of work. Originally presented at MONA, curated by Cavaliere’s friend Daniel Mudie Cunningham, the exhibition provides an insight into the Italian born artist’s life. Cavaliere’s art was created…

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