Abazure no kairaku 

Looking back at the representation of different cultures in the magical world of Harry Potter

Unknown Origins promises a cool spin on superheroes and serial killers, but ultimately delivers cheap comedy.

In a Whisper is a coming out narrative, but it’s also a story about multiple mother-daughter relationships and the necessity of family.

Poor Black characters are usually surrounded by crime and violence, while poor White characters are portrayed as noble and hard-working.

Perhaps the most amazing and groundbreaking quality about The Birdcage is how removed it is from both illness and insensitivity. Whereas films preceding it were often somber stories about the tribulations of being gay in a conservatively straight world, Nichols and screenwriter Elaine May expose the fallacies of conservatism as traditional values are thrown into a more open-minded space. They don’t care how far the community has fallen so much as how high they can rebuild themselves.

One of the reasons I love watching movies is that, much like books, they serve as windows into other times and different places. Productions from around the world offer valuable insights into the history and culture of their respective countries. And just like literature, cinema can help us understand the present by showing us the past.