Film

NAZA: The most important film of the year

The filmmakers of NAZA clearly know that beyond physical distance, emotional distance is what allows the violence in Gaza to continue, and shows us just how easy it is to ignore what is going on right under our noses.
Culture Willow Jopp -

The problem with Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’

Nolan had all the tools for greatness. Instead, to my eternal frustration, his 'Odyssey' will always only be just alright.
Culture Kelly Yu -

‘One Night Only’ (2026) and the death of romance

Romance movies are, on the whole, my favourite movie genre. But good romance movies, like good romantic relationships, are hard to find, and easy to mess up.
Culture Willow Jopp -

The ‘Obsession’ Obsession

'Obsession' is a taste of what the next generation of filmmakers looks like.
Culture Willow Jopp -
Latest

Looking back to look forward: The films of 1976

The history of film is a cumulative record of what people have wanted to say, show, and create, not only for a contemporary audience, but for the future.

2025 releases you may not have seen (but definitely should)

It’s that time of year again: the season in which we are inundated with a never-ending stream of lists ranking 2025’s top releases. Cherwell,...

Can movie violence ever be fun?

“Because it's so much fun, Jan!” This was Quentin Tarantino’s answer when an interviewer asked him to justify on-screen violence. Few would disagree. From...

One of the most urgent films of the year: ‘Urchin’ review

There are few films which have the power to change how you interact day-to-day with the world. Urchin (2025) is one of them. Far...

The performance of watching: Cinema in the Letterboxd age

While watching Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another (2025) a few weeks ago, I found myself asking a rather disturbing question: “I wonder...

Film festivals should be more pretentious, actually!

Film festivals often get a bad rep. We’ve all heard the stereotype before: they are elitist and out-of-touch, filled with arrogant critics watching obscure...

‘Fright’s Out!’ at the Ultimate Picture Palace: ‘Dracula’s Daughter’

To call Dracula’s Daughter (1936) campy would be an understatement. In many ways it felt like a ridiculous version of Cat People (1942). At...

Cillian Murphy does it again

Since his generation-defining performance in Oppenheimer (2023) two years ago, Cillian Murphy has shown little interest in playing it safe. Having collaborated already on...

Spike Lee’s lackluster remake: Highest 2 Lowest

There is no reason why a remake should remain inferior to its source material; even less so when it’s a ‘reinterpretation’ by an auteur...

The Librarians (2025) at the Bodleian: reviewed

Kim A. Snyder’s The Librarians (2025) draws the audience into a pernicious web of censorship, repression, and culture-war collisions.  Embroiled in a fierce, sombre, and...

Hoa hoa hoa season: An analysis of the small town aesthetic

“In the state of Washington, under a near constant cover of cloud and rain, there is a small town named Forks. Population: 3,120 people....

A guide to contemporary China, through cinema

“An artwork whose medium is history”, is how sinologist Haun Saussy defines China. As passionately debated as it is little understood, China today remains a...

Old age reframed – ‘The Blue Trail’: Reviewed

★★★★☆ The Blue Trail (O Último Azul), this year’s winner of the Berlin International Film Festival Grand Jury Prize, is probably unlike most things you’ve...

Just like the movies: An American’s notes on her Oxford year

Oxford occupies a mystical, almost fantastical place within the American psyche – so much so that when I told my peers I’d be studying...

Netflix’s city of dreaming Americans: My Oxford Year, reviewed

If not taken too seriously, Netflix’s new movie My Oxford Year is a surprisingly good time, despite its cliché storyline. The rom-com, starring Sofia...

Lacking Latin: Ceremonial mistakes in My Oxford Year

My Oxford Year, a new Netflix rom-com, has received considerable attention. Yet as a scholar of the University of Oxford, ​​I feel obliged to...

What can office workers learn from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty?

"The character Walter Mitty was first brought to life in James Thurber’s short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, published in a 1939 issue of The New Yorker."

I’m Still Here: An exploration of memories

"I’m Still Here follows a mother and her family as they deal with the disappearance of the father at the hands of a military dictatorship."

The Oxford Cinema & Café: A profile

"The opening of The Oxford Cinema & Café marks a new chapter in Oxford’s cinema scene: a move further towards independent cinema."

The Case for Reincarnated Romances

"Reincarnation romance films are sometimes silly, mostly melodramatic, but always overlooked as a subgenre."
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