The international cinema expert was beloved for his film reviews, particularly on television with Margaret Pomeranz * David Stratton’s closing credits: ‘I’ve done the best I could’ David Stratton, the revered Australian film critic and beloved co-host of television programs The Movie Show and At The Movies with fellow critic Margaret Pomeranz, has died aged 85. Born in the English town of Trowbridge in 1939, Stratton was sent to live with his grandmother in Hampshire during the second world war. An avid filmgoer, she took Stratton to the cinema almost every day, which changed his life. In the 2017 documentary David Stratton: A Cinematic Life, Stratton said he watched “at least one” film he hadn’t seen every day, and had seen more than 25,000 films in his life. Continue reading...

The prime minister, however, did not follow France’s lead with plans to recognise a Palestinian state Anthony Albanese has condemned Israel for “the killing of civilians, including children” but stopped short of saying Australia would recognise a Palestinian state, as France has committed to doing. In the Australian government’s strongest condemnation of Israel yet, the prime minister said the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in denying access to aid “cannot be defended or ignored”. Continue reading...