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Stephen A Russell

@stephenarussell.bsky.social

Glasgow-born, Naarm (Melbourne)-based arts journalist and award-winning critic obsessed with film, theatre and a whole lot more. Live on the unceded lands of the Kulin Nation. Snorts generally included. He/him, quite gay. Substack: Orion's Shoulder

926 Followers  |  835 Following  |  1,752 Posts  |  Joined: 20.11.2024
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Posts by Stephen A Russell (@stephenarussell.bsky.social)

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‘The Moment’ review: Charli xcx is taking over our cinemas with this brattish, cuttingly funny mockumentary The queen of snarky pop delivers her ‘Truth or Dare’

Was v impresed by Charli XCX's comic chops in Aidan Zamiri’s anarchic mockumentary, The Moment, which harnesses The Thick of It's omnishambles energy bit.ly/4ajg9ej

05.03.2026 02:15 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
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The Bride! review: monstrously good fun | ScreenHub: Film, TV, Streaming and Games Director Maggie Gyllenhaal delivers a ferocious and feral update on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in The Bride!

Hamnet star Jessie Buckley reunites with The Lost Daughter director Maggie Gyllenhaal on The Bride!, a wild and ulruly reinvigoration of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein by way of the James Whale sequel bit.ly/4lfwXqC

04.03.2026 21:47 — 👍 5    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

This sounds like an ad, but it's about murder.

05.03.2026 04:35 — 👍 2155    🔁 444    💬 55    📌 6
Preview
‘The Moment’ review: Charli xcx is taking over our cinemas with this brattish, cuttingly funny mockumentary The queen of snarky pop delivers her ‘Truth or Dare’

Was v impresed by Charli XCX's comic chops in Aidan Zamiri’s anarchic mockumentary, The Moment, which harnesses The Thick of It's omnishambles energy bit.ly/4ajg9ej

05.03.2026 02:15 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
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Return To Silent Hill (2026) 4K & Blu-ray Collector's Edition When a mysterious letter calls him back to Silent Hill in search of his lost love, James finds a once-recognisable town and encounters terrifying figures both familiar and new, and begins to question ...

If you're digging the renaissance of computer game to horror movie adaptations, I went (Hell) deep on the booklet essay for @umbrellaent.bsky.social's Return to SIlent Hill box set bit.ly/3N6xvCh

04.03.2026 22:33 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Ah yes, cutting funding to Muslim groups because of a social media post by the far-right Australian Jewish Association. The textbook definition of social cohesion

04.03.2026 21:52 — 👍 305    🔁 146    💬 32    📌 11
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The Bride! review: monstrously good fun | ScreenHub: Film, TV, Streaming and Games Director Maggie Gyllenhaal delivers a ferocious and feral update on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in The Bride!

Hamnet star Jessie Buckley reunites with The Lost Daughter director Maggie Gyllenhaal on The Bride!, a wild and ulruly reinvigoration of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein by way of the James Whale sequel bit.ly/4lfwXqC

04.03.2026 21:47 — 👍 5    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Not even hiding his maniacal villainy

04.03.2026 00:55 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0

I can't stop thinking about THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE...

If you're unsure whether to see it, this chat with Amanda Seyfried gives you a sense of what you'd be missing:

03.03.2026 07:43 — 👍 4    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Isn’t it special??

03.03.2026 08:17 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Very much so! LOVELY too

03.03.2026 07:39 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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Preaching kindness, Amanda Seyfried went all in on her latest role The Oscar-nominated star adored working with director Mona Fastvold to resurrect an astonishing religious figure in The Testament of Ann Lee.

Somehow I completely forgot to share a lil chat with someone you may have heard of… ab.co/407dFd7

03.03.2026 07:35 — 👍 5    🔁 0    💬 2    📌 1
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My latest Substack newsletter is out. A report back on some of the crime fiction, film, as well as other culture that has preoccupied me over a long, cold Berlin winter.

andrewnette.substack.com/p/the-only-l...

02.03.2026 20:19 — 👍 11    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0
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Israeli president Isaac Herzog visited ASIO headquarters during Australian visit Australia's intelligence agency has confirmed Herzog met with ASIO director Mike Burgess after senator David Pocock pressed for answers.

#BREAKING: Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited Australia's domestic spy agency during his state visit last month.

www.sbs.com.au/news/article...

03.03.2026 06:49 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Did you happen to mention to any of these people while you were taking advantage of their hospitality that you'd already agreed with the President of Israel to support another campaign to obliterate Muslim children?

01.03.2026 01:29 — 👍 89    🔁 36    💬 3    📌 0

the Greens keep saying the kinds of things that people who vote Labour agree with and Labour keep calling it dangerous extremism, and I’m not sure you could plan a better voter alienation strategy

27.02.2026 11:28 — 👍 557    🔁 142    💬 10    📌 5
sex matters trustee charlotte cadden

sex matters trustee charlotte cadden

gorton and denton by-election result: she gets 706 votes, 1.9% of the total

gorton and denton by-election result: she gets 706 votes, 1.9% of the total

underappreciated but very funny gorton and denton sideplot: the conservatives nominating literal sex matters (uk terf group) trustee charlotte cadden, only for her to get the worst result for the conservatives in by-election history and lose her deposit

27.02.2026 10:21 — 👍 2055    🔁 608    💬 45    📌 96

Labour’s *majority* in Gorton and Denton in 2024 – just 19 months ago – was 13,000+. Tonight it got fewer than 10,000 votes total, on an almost identical turnout. In its heartland. That’s what a collapse of your core vote looks like.

27.02.2026 04:43 — 👍 445    🔁 114    💬 12    📌 8

Once again every shitposter on the socials was yelling this at Labour and the response was "sorry I can't hear you over how smart and sensible I am you scum"

27.02.2026 05:27 — 👍 422    🔁 92    💬 3    📌 0
FULL VICTORY SPEECH: Hannah Spence Addresses After Historic Green Party Win in Gorton & Denton| AC1Z
YouTube video by DRM News FULL VICTORY SPEECH: Hannah Spence Addresses After Historic Green Party Win in Gorton & Denton| AC1Z

Hannah Spencer victory speech
youtu.be/Tf7wVpDEvho?...

"We have shown that we don't have to accept being turned against each other. We can demand better without hating each other"

27.02.2026 05:28 — 👍 603    🔁 198    💬 25    📌 35

Not dumb at all!!! You just learned something new to you xx

26.02.2026 10:55 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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The Testament of Ann Lee review: a sublime vision | ScreenHub: Film, TV, Streaming and Games Mona Fastvold trusts Amanda Seyfried with the role of a lifetime in superb The Testament of Ann Lee.

Shakers biopic The Testament of Ann Lee glimmers thanks to shimmering star Amanda Seyfried and the startling vision of writer/director Mona Fastvold bit.ly/4ubJmjo

26.02.2026 10:23 — 👍 5    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0

I think you’ll adore it Hugh

25.02.2026 23:20 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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The 10 best Berlinale 2026 films to look out for | ScreenHub: Film, TV, Streaming and Games From fractious family dramas to queer resistance and pensioners with fire in their belly, here are our top picks of the 2026 Berlinale International Film Festival.

My fave films from this year's Berlinale bit.ly/4aZLVwe

25.02.2026 22:15 — 👍 4    🔁 2    💬 1    📌 0
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Sirât review: a tempestuous work of brilliant cinematic art | ScreenHub: Film, TV, Streaming and Games Following a father and son on a desperate journey, Sirât is a visceral study of hope and despair.

Óliver Laxe's Sirât is epic CINEMA, go see it! bit.ly/478XzU2

25.02.2026 09:44 — 👍 6    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
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Yellow Letters review: Golden Bear winner is a fraught character study for Safdie fans Ilker Çatak delivers a tense parable of state censorship in modern-day Turkey

My thoughts on the Golden Bear-winner at Berlinale, The Teachers’ Lounge filmmaker Ilker Çatak's Yellow Letters bit.ly/4qXFm2R

24.02.2026 13:05 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

To every foolish bigot piling on someone with Tourette’s, maybe watch the fucking film 🤷🏻‍♂️

23.02.2026 22:57 — 👍 5    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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This local Wolfdog joined an Olympic ski event and triggered the finish-line camera. This is Nazgul. He snuck into a cross-country skiing sprint this morning and raced the homestretch with some competitors before being escorted home. 14/10 someone get him a medal

18.02.2026 17:48 — 👍 23721    🔁 5066    💬 486    📌 641

Federal police raided Dissent Bar in Canberra and stripped anti-fascist posters off the walls under Labor's brand new hate speech laws. Not a Nazi compound. A local café with political art. This is what biased laws look like in practice. 🧵

19.02.2026 06:14 — 👍 635    🔁 279    💬 48    📌 20
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Jimpa review: supple and rewarding cinema | ScreenHub: Film, TV, Streaming and Games In Jimpa, director Sophie Hyde explores family dynamics with sensitivity and subtlety.

And my thoughts on this gleaming film about the sometimes bumpy but always beautiful overlap of intergenerational queerness bit.ly/497Mm8b

19.02.2026 07:12 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0