Ruth Bushi

England

Journalist and Writer at Freelance

Freelance journalist published in the Guardian, Independent etc. Covers film & fiction at https://t.co/rmL8jasBFJ. Writes short stories that don't win prizes.

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Articles

Best eBook publishing platforms 2025 - Save the Student

1 month ago | savethestudent.org | Ruth Bushi

Writing an eBook can make you money and turn you into a self-published author. Here are the best eBook publishing platforms and how to choose a publisher.
Angels and Demons (2009): the God article

Mar 16, 2025 | thehaughtyculturist.com | Ruth Bushi

Decoding the “other” angel code at work in 2009 conspiracy thriller Angels and Demons. For an organisation seemingly dedicated to doing and being good, the Catholic Church holds a rather contradictory place in cinema. It’s hard to think of another named organisation which has powered so many negative narratives in western film-making. Countless horror stories are grounded in the “terror-ism” of religious (but especially Catholic) ritual.
A beautiful rage: James Baldwin’s “The White Man’s Guilt”

Feb 23, 2025 | thehaughtyculturist.com | Ruth Bushi

The lyrical incandescence of Baldwin’s 1965 essay, “The White Man’s Guilt” – and how it predicts the world we’ve inherited. Few things can prepare you for James Baldwin’s writing in “The White Man’s Guilt”. The words in his brief essay are not dressed in pompous finery, and yet – or perhaps because of it – they’re poetic, powerful and, at every step, recognisably true.
The Pope’s Exorcist: horror that hides a multitude of sins | opinion

Feb 10, 2025 | thehaughtyculturist.com | Ruth Bushi

A whole other level of “Bible-bashing”: the Pope’s Exorcist tackles Satan, scooters and Church scandal … but buries a bigger horror. Forgiveness may not be an obvious go-to weapon of warfare, but Father Gabriel Amorth (Russell Crowe) has his reasons. Charged with expelling the demons that possess vulnerable people, this Catholic priest turns to prayer, puns and the power of confession to get the job done.
Fracture (2007): the three-body bullet and the poisonous tree

Feb 1, 2025 | thehaughtyculturist.com | Ruth Bushi

Legal thriller Fracture is how-dunnit more than whodunnit – with a gloriously sinister side. Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) is an aeronautical engineer with a fine eye for detail and murder on his mind. His beautiful young wife Jennifer has been cheating on him, and Crawford is ready for revenge. What follows is no crime of passion, though. Rather than lashing out, Crawford plays the long game to astonishing effect. When Jennifer gets home from seeing her side guy, Crawford shoots her in cold blood.
The Institute: School of hard, hard knocks | Review

Jan 19, 2025 | thehaughtyculturist.com | Ruth Bushi

Stephen King’s 2019 novel The Institute looks beyond demonic scares, yet retains the horror and smoldering rage of stories like Carrie and It.If I didn’t sleep much as a teenager, that’s at least partly thanks to Stephen King. When I read The Shining, I was convinced – and still am – that it’s an American literary classic. I was also, for the most part, utterly terrified by it. Naturally, I devoured King’s other horror big-hitters shortly after, many of which similarly left their mark.
Identity (2003): motels, mayhem and “me”

Jan 13, 2025 | thehaughtyculturist.com | Ruth Bushi

How Identity whittles down ten strangers to reveal a killer … and why the answer was staring you in the face the whole time. There’s something about 00s thriller Identity that may seem strangely familiar on first glance. For starters, this tale of a serial killer bumping off guests at a remote motel has more than a whiff of Psycho to it. Later, one of Identity’s characters likens what’s happening to a film she once saw. In it, ten strangers are lured to an island and bumped off one by one.
Doubt (2008): secret sin and the all-seeing eye

Dec 10, 2024 | thehaughtyculturist.com | Ruth Bushi

An accused priest is innocent and guilty all at once in Doubt, a movie which reveals itself from the margins. Doubt is the title of John Patrick Shanley’s play-turned-film, but it’s also the cradle on which the story is suspended. The film begins with Father Flynn’s sermon on doubt, and ends with his accuser crumbling in uncertainty.
The Contestant asks: “how far will you go to be entertained?”

Nov 24, 2024 | thehaughtyculturist.com | Ruth Bushi

An incredible story about the contestant of a Japanese game show, Clair Titley’s documentary is a disturbing portrait of our thirst for reality TV. This is going to sound like an urban legend, or the plot of some horror movie, but it’s a matter of public record. In January 1998, 22-year-old Tomoaki Hamatsu auditioned for a Japanese reality TV show. Nasubi – as kids had called Hamatsu growing up – didn’t know what the new series was about.
Why shunned horror The Turning deserves more credit

Nov 16, 2024 | thehaughtyculturist.com | Ruth Bushi

Although much maligned, 2020 horror film The Turning is a bold and inventive take on classic ghost story The Turn of the Screw. It’s been a minute since its lacklustre theatrical release, but The Turning remains largely unloved. Critics and viewers alike cite pacing, plot and ending among its failings. Others say it misses the nuance of Henry James’s original short story altogether. I disagree. The Turning is one of the better adaptations of The Turn of the Screw.