Biased but fearless and considered film reviews from a former city girl, now firmly ensconced in an Australian rural community that has no cinema. Thank goodness for the NBN.

I began by reviewing the 47 films I saw at the 2015 Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) and I enjoyed it so much, I just can’t stop.

I will watch a range of films and with three daughters at home and a partner who likes action films, I will happily dip into the mainstream of feel good stories. My preference is for stories by and about women and I apply the Bechdel Test to each film I review – it’s a low bar and I am still surprised at how many films that are supposed to be appealing to a broad audience fail it.

The Bechdel Test is named after cartoonist Alison Bechdel who first proposed it in her comic Dykes to Watch Out For in 1985. The test assesses whether there are two named female characters in a film that have a conversation with each other that is not about a man. I know, it’s a very low bar. In 2016, only half of the top Hollywood movies passed the test.

For more about the Bechdel Test, watch this video The Bechdel Test for Women in Movies and check out the Bechdel Test Movie List website where users can rate films.