It’s been almost a quarter of a century since that cataclysmic car accident in Paris took place. Why then, when so many years have elapsed since her death, was it not surprising to hear that yet another film focusing on the plight of the princess would be hitting our screens in the form of Spencer earlier this year? What is it about Diana that continues to inspire directors time and time again? I’d love to believe it was her daring sense of humour, her relentless approach to helping others or her killer wardrobe. However, it seems more likely that our society’s preoccupation with Princess Diana represents something much wider: a lingering obsession with women who have experienced tragedy.

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I liked ‘The Snowman’ as a child, but not intensely. I remember the disappointment when my younger sister tore the reel out of our VHS tape to dance around the house wearing it as a cross-body handbag, but I don’t recall any great desire to watch it out of choice. However, in adulthood, ‘The Snowman’ has become a Christmas treasure to me.

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No Time to Die was released in the UK this September and grossed almost 450 million US dollars worldwide. The film is the last in Daniel Craig’s run as Bond, and the actor said in an interview with GQ that he hoped, “[Bond] changed a lot while I’ve been a part of him.” This hope has definitely become a reality, with No Time to Die showing the most humanised and vulnerable version of Bond we’ve seen yet.

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The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter need no introduction. Two of the most genre-defining works of literature turned into two of the most successful film franchises of all time with sequels, prequels, spin-offs, merchandise, set tours a-plenty, full-on courses in the languages and lore of the magical worlds, it’s hard to deny the impact of the two series.

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In No Time To Die, when he’s trying to enjoy his 27th attempt at retirement, he may be drinking heavily - but he's drinking heavily in a multi-million pound, luxury mansion. I mean, his bathroom is literally the jungle with dewey water falling from leaves warmed by the sun. I’m not trying to insinuate that you can’t simultaneously be wealthy and have a dependency on alcohol; you can, and many many people do - however, his lifestyle sets a tone that, in my eyes, not only counters the point that they are trying to make but touches upon a harmful and insidious cultural belief that sobriety is boring. And my conclusion from that is this - way too often in film, self destruction has a certain sex appeal.

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Themes such as abandonment and grief are the driving force in a story and are beautifully written and portrayed.

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When I started writing this article, I would have never thought that I would have found myself spiraling for a couple of weeks. I tried to delve deeper in the rabbit hole of madness that is dogs (or pets) in movies and TV shows; what followed was more akin to “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” than any of the movies that are presented in this article, but I managed to get on the other side relatively unscathed, physically.

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Hollywood feature films are hardly meant to be history lessons or taken as the bible. Producer of acclaimed historical feature Pearl Harbour, Jerry Bruckheimer himself said, '[w]e tried to be accurate, but it's certainly not meant to be a history lesson’.

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The mythologising of the Wild West as a home for white men roaming freely and taking the law into their own hands is indicative of a central tenet of American and, more broadly, Western masculinity. It is, quite simply, racist.

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The hope that we could tame that ‘bad boy’ or should stick it out in a bad relationship until it eventually turned around was strongly imprinted on us via several fictional couples the same way teen shows depicted girls needing to be white and skinny to be perceived as beautiful. The big difference between reality and fiction, is that in reality these relationships are less romantic, more traumatic, and most likely won’t result in a happy ending before the credits start rolling.

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Relationships are often excellent opportunities to impart wisdom about cultures you may not have any exposure to, and indeed throughout our relationship I have taken many opportunities to (re)educate Martin on Italian culture beyond the existence of Pizza Express, ‘gabagool’ and whatever else Hollywood has (not) taught him about Italy.

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