Author Ellena Zellhuber-McMillan

Film is uniquely suited to act as a vehicle of propaganda; its combination of visual and audio storytelling makes it effective for audiences of different ages and literacy levels. Propaganda is about creating...

When it came out in 2003, School of Rock was deemed a "sleeper hit". Though it was obviously intriguing enough to investors, it does sound pretty unremarkable: washed-up musician tries to teach preppy kids how...

The faults of Mamma Mia! are well known; the singing is bad, the choreography is simple, and the plot is weak. Its strengths, on the other hand, are barely mentioned – strange for a film that made...

Arriving in the midst of a new era of feminism and a heightened awareness how the film industry treats women, the rerelease of Jane Campion’s 1993 film The Piano feels well-timed. The film, a Victorian...

On October 23, Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok will premiere. As a fellow Kiwi, it has been fascinating to watch the world embrace Waititi. His talent is undeniable. I have already written a love letter to...

Pure comedies don’t take much home come awards season. This makes sense if you're talking about the factory line of studio comedies, but in the case of Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz, it's an outrage. No comedy...

While the quality often varies, biopics are a staple of film. There are good biopics, and some are even great, but they often lack the daring, innovation and uniqueness of their subjects. They can too...

Adam Driver is an actor we just keep seeing more of. Ever since his breakout role in Lena Dunham’s Girls, Driver has quietly been gracing our screens in many different roles, culminating in his blockbuster...

Swiss Army Man is without a doubt an odd film, however it would be a mistake to write it off - as others have - for purely that reason. The oddest thing about it is that Daniel Radcliffe plays a farting...

On the 20th anniversary of Danny DeVito’s Matilda, it is obvious that there has been a distinct change in mainstream children’s film. Animation has overtaken live action, child stars have been replaced by...

Though it’s been 14 years since About a Boy, for some of us Nicholas Hoult will forever be sweet and strange Marcus Brewer. Though not quite Hoult’s first film role (he was a supporting actor in 1996’s...

Blending the clichéd with the new, How To Be Single is a surprise but not a revelation. Mann and Wilson each do what they do best, both providing great physical comedy as well as more heartfelt...

Grandma is a film with a lot of ambition; with its strong female characters and name-dropping of classic feminist texts, it tries very hard to be clever and spunky. It does have its moments: Lily Tomlin is...

Though advertised as a family comedy, Love the Coopers has a sad undertone, which might be too close to home for some. This isn’t to say the film skimps on Christmas corn, which undoes the good work of the...

The opening sequence of The Dressmaker is as beautiful as it is cliché, giving little hint of the zany and absurd story that follows. What stops The Dressmaker from being a stand out film is the storytelling...