'How to Have Sex' review



My review of 'How to Have Sex' can be found at The Film Magazine:

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Judy and Punch severs the patriarchal strings of a troubling seaside tradition

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Described in Sight and Sound as “a feminist fairytale”, (which is as much of a description as I need to be sold), Judy and Punch is a powerful allegory for a world in which men have for so long pulled the strings. Director Mirrah Foulkes' translation of puppet show to live action is darkly witty and imaginative, as “Professor Punch” (Herriman) and Judy (Wasikowska) personify their wooden counterparts. The film cleverly appropriates the Punch and Judy show for the screen, right down to the satirically named town of ‘Seaside’, where the story is set (a 17th century village in which no beach balls are present). It is packed with meta elements, as the characters' lives imitate their art. We see the married couple perform their puppet show, before Judy is cruelly flung aside by her husband, in the same manner as her wooden equivalent. The show’s catchphrase "that's the way to do it!" is also darkly repeated by the human Punch, after brutally beating his actual wife. B
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'Barbie' review

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I have just returned from my third viewing of 'Barbie', and again grinned the whole way through. It is a total joy to be immersed in the bright pink utopia of Barbieland: an escapist girl power fantasy to which I already can't wait to return. Barbieland is a female paradise, where all women are  happy, successful and independent, and every night is "girls' night". Barbies are  astronauts, Nobel prize winners and Presidents, and every day is perfect . As far as the Barbies are concerned, this is also the case in the real world, where, a s Helen Mirren's voice-over narrates: “thanks to Barbie,  all problems  of  feminism  and equal rights  have been solved .” Margot Robbie is perfect as "stereotypical Barbie", who must save Barbieland from the patriarchy, after discovering that the real world is not quite the same feminist idyll she imagined. Her pink bubble bursts when she confidently roller-skates up to a construction site, as "where better
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