Beast: Australia’s first MMA film, starring Russell Crowe, is cheesy yet oddly comforting

By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia

For a nation obsessed with professional sport, there is a surprising dearth of Aussie sports films. There have been, of course, a handful of memorable ones: The Club (1980), The Coolangatta Gold (1984) and, more recently, The Final Winter (2007).

But apart from the low-budget 2024 film Life After Fighting – understandable if you haven’t heard of it, it made less than A$6,000 at the box office – Beast is the first Australian film to be set in the world of mixed martial arts.

Patton…

Read complete article

~	How common is sex-selective abortion in Australia, really?

~	How methane policy will make or break the climate crisis

~	A new reuse symbol aims to be as recognisable as the recycling logo – and make more of a difference

~	Most Americans broadly support public education for undocumented students – regardless of their political affiliation and religion

~	When private equity firms buy mobile home parks, rent increases leave residents with few affordable options in rural areas

~	Inflation and immigration fears threaten to dampen Miami’s economic benefits from the World Cup

~	How ‘monoculture’ became a catchall for two opposing anxieties – that we no longer share enough, and that we all share too much

~	PFAS in ski wax: Despite bans, these forever chemicals linger in wax rooms, study shows – so does their health risk

~	Politics with Michelle Grattan: Graeme Samuel on ‘doomsday’ attacks on the federal budget

~	Climate change may shift hailstorms towards Earth’s poles – new study