Extraction 2: action goes old school
One of the biggest surprises in recent years is Extraction. A no-nonsense, adrenaline-fuelled action movie about a tough soldier ploughing his…
Ashes to Ashes
My pommy love of the Aussie bastards
Always Sunny: going where others wouldn’t dare
Few would believe me If I said that a show about a group of politically incorrect, sociopathic, and narcissistic alcoholics…
In praise of ‘shame’
Does art imitate life or vice versa? This question has troubled some of the world’s greatest minds. Plato agreed with…
The ultimate symbol of Sisu
For Finnish people, the concept of sisu cannot be directly interpreted. Roughly translated, it means strength, perseverance, and a firm determination to…
Porn hara-kiri?
It’s not only the sun that’s rising in Japan
Up in smoke
Australia has some of the most draconian anti-smoking laws in the world. Like most public health puritans, Mark Butler doesn’t…
Rebels without a cause
No wonder we hoped we’d die before we got old
Another anti-Woke film races ahead in the box office
Like kicking water up a hill or punching smoke, writing about the culture wars is often tedious and tiring. But…
Seen the one about the…?
How memes are replacing political satire
The most disliked Hollywood film trailer in history?
Well, that didn’t last long. It seems my faith in Hollywood to tell a decent story bereft of identity politics…
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has restored my faith in Hollywood
A few years ago, if you were to tell me that a sequel story about a retired swashbuckling cartoon cat…
Unfairy tales
Leave our fables alone
From lockdown paradise to love island: Australia’s bizarre pilfering of UK doctors
Last week, whilst perusing the internet, I stumbled upon a rather amusing story. It turns out a delegation from Western…
Disney, an empire in decline
The culture war is no place for cartoons and comic heroes
Why does everyone hate Velma?
George Bernard Shaw once remarked that youth is wasted on the young. I have to disagree. Before discovering cigarettes, alcohol,…
Harry Windsor’s fickle fame and the death of celebrity cults
The Duke of Sussex’s memoir caused a media frenzy in the weeks leading up to its official publication, with commentators…
Henry Cavill rightly abandoned Woke Witcher
When I think about the state of modern entertainment, I often find myself referring to an old episode of Family…
Fan-baiting: the toxic culture of Hollywood progressives
Bros is a gay romcom written by and starring Billy Eichner. The critics, we are told, love it. If you…
