21 Feb 2021 MD 2021/1 Editorial

By Philip Lee

It’s a difficult question. Why do people need cinema? Is it merely to take us out of ourselves, to relieve ourselves temporarily of the burdens of life? Is it simply a form of escapism from the day-to-day problems that beset us – personal, familial, financial, moral, spiritual?

21 Feb 2021 Streaming stress; pandemic panic

By Heidi Ippolito

2020 has been a year of apocalyptic revelations in the U.S., uncovering national failings and imaginative alternatives amidst turbulent times. An inadequate national response to a global pandemic, raging environmental disasters, a chaotic presidential election, and an ongoing reckoning for racial inequity and police violence.

21 Feb 2021 What’s to come in faith and film

By John P. Ferré

The last decade has been a strong one for critically acclaimed movies about faith. With the exception of Spotlight, the $20 million Universal Studios release about the Boston Globe’s investigation of paedophile priests that won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, movies about faith have been independent productions made with modest budgets.

21 Feb 2021 The future of cinema is the future of us all

By Gabriella Lettini

The early days of filmmaking led scholars, artists, and intellectuals of the era to engage in heated discussions on whether cinema was an artistic expression at all or merely a new form of technology and on how cinema was different from any other art.

21 Feb 2021 Erase una vez el cine

Por Carlos A. Valle

El secreto de las películas es que son una ilusión. (George Lucas)

Este es un mundo absorbido por un océano de desarrollo tecnológico del que dependen cada vez más los estados para su funcionamiento como las empresas mismas y la economía mundial para sus transacciones, sin entrar a detallar como ha ido modelando la vida privada. El celular, la computadora, los juegos electrónicos habitan permanentemente en una gran franja de la sociedad moderna, como si fuera una extensión más del mismo ser humano.

21 Feb 2021 New trends watching films in Australia

By David Griffiths

2020 was supposed to be an epic year of cinematic blockbusters. It was a year where the box office was supposed to be dominated by some of the biggest franchises in cinematic history. Daniel Craig was set to return as the iconic James Bond, the Marvel juggernaut was set to roll on with the release of Black Widow while their rivals DC Comics were set to release Wonder Woman. Then of course there was also Christoper Nolan’s new film Tenet, while the cinematic territories that I write the most for, Australia and Thailand, were also eagerly anticipating the releases of Mulan and a new Fast & Furious film.

21 Feb 2021 Ten significant themes in cinema development in the 2010s

By Peter Malone

Film critics and reviewers are sometimes asked to list their top ten… for the year, for the decade, for all-time. This article looks back over the 2010s and chooses ten significant aspects of popular cinema as we move into the 2020s.