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from the archive Latest in Film Breaking Bad, Greatest Television Series: The 2026 Case The 2026 verdict on Breaking Bad: the finished arc, Ozymandias, a Guinness record and Better Call Saul build the definitive case for TV's greatest show. ZOD Culture Editorial Team · 21 July 2026

14 May 2015 14 May 2015 Women in a Wasteland – George Miller’s ‘Mad Max’ Anthony Laurence on the Mad Max franchise, whose gasoline-soaked masculinity gives way to Furiosa and the women of Fury Road's wasteland. Anthony Laurence

13 Jan 2015 13 Jan 2015 The Importance of Diversity in Cinema Anthony Laurence on cinema's representation problem and why film must offer heroes and role models who are not, by default, white men. Anthony Laurence

11 Dec 2014 11 Dec 2014 The Decline of Richard Pryor: Uncensored In 1986 Richard Pryor appeared on The Barbara Walters Specialas a different kind of character, his lissome features, slender, fractured and unseemly. Hassan Que

17 Oct 2014 17 Oct 2014 Dear College Kids, Would You Listen to Samantha White? Aryanna Prasad watches Dear White People as a biracial student and asks whether Justin Simien's satire can make America talk honestly about racism. Aryanna Prasad

1 Sept 2014 1 Sept 2014 CGI – A Case of Less or More? From Melies's 1902 moon voyage to CGI-saturated blockbusters, Anthony Laurence asks when cinema's special effects stopped being special. Anthony Laurence

22 Apr 2014 22 Apr 2014 Blink And You’ll Miss It – 6 Films You May Have Missed In 2013 Anthony Laurence revisits six films of 2013 that slipped past the box office and the Academy, from Park Chan-wook's Stoker onward, all worth your time. Anthony Laurence

15 Feb 2014 15 Feb 2014 Reviewing The Most Recent Spike Jonze Masterpiece Hassan Que reviews Spike Jonze's Her, where Joaquin Phoenix's Theodore falls for an operating system in a luminous near-future Los Angeles. Hassan Que

22 Jan 2014 22 Jan 2014 The Tale of Dexter Morgan Anthony Laurence looks back on Dexter at the end of its eight-season run, asking how television's blood-spattered antihero lost his way. Anthony Laurence

24 Oct 2013 24 Oct 2013 Jeff Nichols’ MUD & Idea Recycling Anthony Laurence admires Jeff Nichols' Mud, then traces its debt to Dickens' Great Expectations and asks when homage becomes idea recycling. Anthony Laurence

20 Sept 2013 20 Sept 2013 Vince Gilligan’s ‘Breaking Bad’ – is it the greatest television show of all time? Anthony Laurence weighs Breaking Bad against television's best and asks whether Vince Gilligan's meth-lab tragedy is the greatest show ever made. Anthony Laurence

28 Aug 2013 28 Aug 2013 Cinema’s declining Middle Class: Why have studios stopped taking risks? Matt Spencer-Skeen argues Hollywood now funds only tent-pole franchises and Oscar bait, abandoning the mid-budget films where risk once thrived. Matt Spencer-Skeen

24 Aug 2013 24 Aug 2013 Celebritism and Cronenberg’s ‘Antiviral’ Following in the footsteps of your father is never a meningeal task, especially when your father is acclaimed filmmaker David Cronenberg. Anthony Laurence

18 Aug 2013 18 Aug 2013 The Contextualisation Of Fiction Matt Spencer-Skeen asks why Hollywood villains built from the West's real fears have become as beloved as the heroes who defeat them. Matt Spencer-Skeen

Film archive · 14 essays