Cinema in Context

Top 2016 films. In this double episode William Chen, Jeremy Downing, Max Tarrant and Sarah Watt share their top films for 2016. Max’s picks: 1. The Salesman 2. The Lobster 3. Zootopia 4. Tickled 5. The Handmaiden Wildcard: Eat That Question: Frank Zappa In His Own Words William’s picks: 1. The Handmaiden 2. Hunt For the Wilderpeople 3. Kubo and the Two Strings 4. 10 Cloverfield Lane 5. Green Room...

First alien encounters. William Chen, Jeremy Downing and Max Tarrant discuss the films Arrival (2016) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). Both films have the premise of human first contact with aliens. The discussion touches on connection between humanity’s fascination with aliens being metaphor for relationships. We also talk about the exploration of mental health issues in Close Encou...

Our discussion of these two Woody Allen films touches on Allen’s films touring around the world, female characters used as a trope to motivate the male characters, the laws of relationships in Allen’s films, bad use of voiceover, quantity producing quality, Allen’s storytelling style, the beautiful photography in both films, the complication of reading a film in a disconnected way from the directo...

Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss the films Captain Fantastic (2016) and A History of Violence (2005), two films that star Viggo Mortensen in unorthodox father roles. The discussion touches on the talents of Viggo Mortensen, the brilliant children actors in Captain Fantastic, what matters in raising children, the tension between discussing heavy issues and telling the audience wh...

Sarah Watt, Max Tarrant, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss the films Ghostbusters (2016) and Ghostbusters (1984). The discussion touches on nostalgia, the strangeness of the original film, the baffling sexism the stars of the new film have been facing, the radicalisation of pop culture, Ghostbusters hate stepping into Gamer Gate territory, the new film’s meta quality of addressing the kick b...

William Chen, Jeremy Downing and Max Tarrant discuss the films Independence Day (1996) and its sequel Independence Day: Resurgence (2016). We discuss nostalgia, fast food, over-the-top-ness, practical visual effects being more tangible that CGI, Roland Emmerich’s connection to Steven Spielberg, pacing, films both pre and post 9/11, international box office strategies, diversity and globalisation,...

William Chen, Jeremy Downing, Max Tarrant and Sarah Watt discuss the films Tickled (2016) and Catfish (2010). Both films are documentaries and deal with online manipulation. The discussion touches on a number of topics, including: how film creates a sense of place; the universal struggle of bullying; how truth is created in documentary filmmaking; creating online personas with varying levels of re...

William Chen, Jeremy Downing, Max Tarrant and Sarah Watt discuss the films Zootopia (2016) and The Lion King (1994). Both films were produced by Disney Animation Studios and deal with anthropomorphic characters. The discussion touches on the technology behind “world building” and animation, the history of Disney, story structure expectations, the trend of musical animation, the “milk toast” hero a...

Jeremy Downing, Sarah Watt and Max Tarrant discuss the context around and connections between Lee Tamahori's films Mahana (2016) and Once Were Warriors (1994). The conversation touches on New Zealand cinema, depiction of Māori in film, strong female characters in film, the changing face of cinema and the careers of New Zealand directors.