In the second part of this three-part series examining the typical portrayal of domestic and family violence in Australia, Michael Ord considers the deficiencies of its portrayal and the possible shortfalls in the responses, by way of a review of a research paper from Sydney Law School Legal Studies. The paper, written by Patrick…
There was considerable conjecture in the early days of Malcolm Turnbull’s prime ministership on how the new PM would use his political capital. Post-honeymoon PM Mr Turnbull rode a wave of support from a fawning media, particularly from Fairfax and the ABC stables – and was granted a high degree of goodwill from the Australian people, who were hoping for an end to the procession of prime ministers that had characterised the previous five years. True, there was some lingering disappointment from conservative MPs in the Coalition and the rusted-on Tony Abbott supporters, who remained bitter about the removal of…
Alert: Mild Spoilers Hail, Caesar! tells the tale of a day or so in the life of Edward “Eddie” Mannix (Josh Brolin), “Head of Physical Production” for Capitol Pictures Studios. Josh Brolin as Edward Mannix. It is 1951, television is on the horizon, and the Cold War is just beginning. Mannix’s job is to make sure that the show goes on, and to this end he deals not only with the creative and technical problems that come with moviemaking, but also the personal ones. Mannix is a straight shooter, a problem solver and family man; a true believer, both in…
In the 1930s, journalist Malcolm Muggeridge fought to expose the Holodomor, “Uncle Joe” Stalin’s manufactured famine which killed millions of Ukrainians. Brian Cranston of Breaking Bad plays Trumbo. Twenty years later, he gleefully ridiculed Senator Joe McCarthy and his smearing, bullying tactics. Muggeridge exemplifies the integrity and consistency of those activists who opposed both the Josephs, Russian and American, from a liberal democratic position. Unfortunately screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, whose 1950s experience of being blacklisted as one of the Hollywood Ten is the subject of this film, was not one of them. In 1943 Trumbo formalised his earlier admiration of communism by…
