3.
That intimacy doesn’t just develop an aesthetic sense. It also develops an empathy for the athletes involved.
Continue readingWilliam Luu: Calling it a Day
Posted in fighting, Kickboxing, Martial Arts, MMA, Muay Thai, Women's fighting with tags healing, life, love, mental-health, Rebellion Muay Thai, Roots 31, W.L. Fight Photography, William Luu, writing on August 20, 2026 by Jarrod Boyle
William Luu: Calling it a Day
Posted in fighting, Martial Arts, MMA, Muay Thai, Women's fighting with tags Blitz Martial Arts Magazine, facebook, Instagram, International Kickboxer Magazine, Perry Cale, social media on August 14, 2026 by Jarrod Boyle
William Luu: Calling it a Day
Posted in fighting, Martial Arts, MMA, Muay Thai, Women's fighting with tags ADHD, Dana White, Fight photography, Holly Holm, Nugget McNaught, One Championship, photography, Powerplay Gym, Rebellion Muay Thai, Rhonda Rousey, RWS, The Iliad, UFC, William Luu on July 13, 2026 by Jarrod Boyle
As far as this blog is concerned, William Luu is the best fight photographer in Australia. His photos transcend the win-and-loss dynamic that plays out across rounds: his images speak of the drama and lyricism that constitutes the perpetual pulse at the centre of fighting. His images transcend the simple record of what happened to become a literal window on the why.
Continue readingShare this:
Romper Stomper: Revisited
Posted in Film, Pretensions toward cultural theory, Real Men with tags A Clockwork Orange, Australian Film Industry, Chris McGill, Footscray, Geoffrey Wright, Hando, Karens, Little Alex, Martin Scorsese, Nazi, Romper Stomper, Russell Crowe, Sergei Eisenstein, skinheads, Stanley Kubrick, Taxi Driver, Travis Bickle, VCA on May 26, 2026 by Jarrod Boyle
‘It hasn’t aged well. Although, I must admit I haven’t seen it.’
- Blithe dismissal from woke idiot working in State Government.
When I snuck into the cinemas to see Romper Stomper at fifteen years of age, I was totally overwhelmed. The skins and their lives were exhilarating and terrifying: simultaneously attractive and repulsive. The film was over before I knew it, and I felt like I’d been dragged down many of those back alleys of Footscray by the hair.
Continue readingShare this:
Is Wuthering Heights the Best Novel Ever Written?
Posted in Observation, Reading with tags All the Pretty Horses, Emily Bronte, gothic, gothic novel, Martin Scorsese, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Wuthering Heights on April 3, 2026 by Jarrod Boyle
2.
It’s the only book I’ve ever finished and then picked up to read again. This certainly does not mean it is an ‘easy’ read. For a modern reader, it’s actually pretty difficult, and I believe this is a direct result of Emily Bronte’s first-rate skills as a novelist. She is a beautiful writer, and her grasp of the English language is unsurpassed.
Continue readingShare this:
Is Wuthering Heights the Best Novel Ever Written?
Posted in Observation, Reading with tags book-review, books, Emily Bronte, gothic, gothic novel, In Search of Lost Time, literature, Pyramids, Robert McKee, Taj Mahal, War and Peace, Wuthering Heights on March 22, 2026 by Jarrod Boyle
1.
A wise friend of mine rejects the idea of there being such a thing, because it suggests that novels are like horses and the race makes assessment into a simple matter of comparison in a single field of endeavour.
Continue readingShare this:
The Monk
Posted in Observation, Reading with tags Ambrosio, Angel Clare, books, Breasts, Fiction, Matilda, Matthew Lewis, poetry, short-story, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, The Monk, Thomas Hardy, writing on February 25, 2026 by Jarrod Boyle
2.
Certainly, this is high drama, and skilfully rendered by Mr Lewis. I have not chosen to recount it here for that reason, however. I reproduce it because the breast, probably the only breast Ambrosio has encountered – aside from his mother’s when he was an infant – appears to him as an enigma of overwhelming power.
Continue readingShare this:
The Monk
Posted in Observation, Reading with tags book-review, book-reviews, books, Fiction, Gothic literature, literature, Matthew Lewis, The Monk on February 9, 2026 by Jarrod Boyle
1.
A very literate friend of mine once described The Monk as the most boring book ever forced upon him by an educational institution. Any book that comes to take up that kind of notoriety is often contingent on timing: my friend was 19 when he encountered The Monk, and it may have become his central focus of regret in signing up to study Gothic literature.
Continue readingShare this:
Black Rabbit
Posted in Film, Netflix, Real Men with tags Abel Ferrara, Black Rabbit, book-review, books, Catholic, Fiction, Jason Bateman, Jude Law, Martin Scorsese, Netflix, New York, reviews, writing on January 22, 2026 by Jarrod Boyle
2.
The golden rule of commercially successful narrative art is that the writer has to push their characters into insoluble situations, and have them find their escape. Those escapes are the watermark of quality.
Continue readingShare this:
Black Rabbit
Posted in Film, Netflix, Real Men with tags Abel Ferrara, Anora, Benny Safdie, Black Rabbit, Jason Bateman, Jude Law, Netflix, New York, Sean Baker on January 16, 2026 by Jarrod Boyle
The eponymous Black Rabbit is a restaurant, a ‘nightclub for grownups’, to quote protagonist Jake Friedkin. While the business is a hit, proprietor Jake (played by Jude Law) is painfully over-extended.
Continue reading
Theme Park at its Darkest 