Creature from the Black Lagoon: a straightforward plot lends itself to many interpretations
Jack Arnold, “Creature from the Black Lagoon” (1954) For a film of its vintage, made over 70 years ago with a straightforward story and an unremarkable…
nausika
British Films, Middle Eastern Films
What the Hell is that? – what US imperial projection looks like in Beirut, Lebanon
Craig Murray, “What the Hell is that?” (2025) Currently visiting the Middle East as a citizen foreign-correspondent journalist, British ex-diplomat Craig Murray chanced to see part…
Italian and Italian-language Films, North American Films
Conclave: political ambition and questions of faith collide with a thin plot filled with bizarre twists
Edward Berger, “Conclave” (2024) Who’d have thought that a film about a group of Roman Catholic cardinals electing a new Pope could turn out to be…
The Room Next Door: a flat and hollow treatment of voluntary euthanasia
Pedro Almodóvar, “The Room Next Door” (2024) Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language feature film addresses the issue of voluntary euthanasia / suicide and its effects…
Nosferatu (dir. R Eggers): lavish remake in need of better script with sympathetic characters
Robert Eggers, “Nosferatu” (2024) Incredibly the years 2023 and 2024 saw two remakes of F W Murnau’s famous horror silent film “Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des…
Round-up of Films seen in 2024
Dear USE readers, I haven’t seen very many films this year but I have endeavoured to watch films that I believed – or was led to…
North American Films, Russian and Soviet Films
Anora: Cinderella tale skewers class system and trash culture in neocapitalist society
Sean Baker, “Anora” (2024) Presenting as a comedy variation on the Cinderella story, “Anora” deftly skewers Western neo-capitalism, the class system and trashy culture that are…
British Films, North American Films
Lee: a tired and flat biopic that does its heroine no justice
Ellen Kuras, “Lee” (2024) An earnest biopic, “Lee” follows the career of US photographer / photojournalist Lee Miller (played by Kate Winslet) during two periods in…
The harm caused to women and girls by queer theory and gender identity politics in “Dysphoric: Fleeing Womanhood like a House on Fire (Part 4: For a Gender Critical Future)”
Vaishnavi Sundar, “Dysphoric: Fleeing Womanhood like a House on Fire (Part 4: For a Gender Critical Future)” (2020) In the final episode of this four-part documentary…
Hostility to detransitioning and what it says about the desire to control nature in “Dysphoric: Fleeing Womanhood like a House on Fire (Part 3: Trans Regret)”
Vaishnavi Sundar, “Dysphoric: Fleeing Womanhood like a House on Fire (Part 3: Trans Regret)” (2020) In this episode of her four-part series on the effects of…