The following is going to sound like an insult, but it is said with nothing but affection: when it comes to literature, there are very few groups more devoted to the craft than those who follow young adult and romance fiction, to the point where it can border on obsessed, in the best way possible….
The Girl from Petrovka (1974)
For a large portion of the 20th century, relations between the United States and Russia (particularly during the era of the Soviet Union) were beyond fraught, with their rivalry and determination to assert dominance as the most powerful global entity leading to a series of conflicts over the years. This was not only a fascinating…
Undertone (2026)
There are many ways to look at horror and why it is arguably one of the most successful genres when it comes to fiction, regardless of the medium you are looking at it through. Whether a visual medium like film or television, or in the written form, there have been some incredibly influential works constructed…
All That Heaven Allows (1955)
I’ve grown incredulous of the phrase “they don’t make them like they used to” when it comes to film (or any kind of art), since this always feels like an attempt to deify the past, allowing nostalgia to become the only relevant metric when it comes to assessing a piece of work. There are films…
53 Sundays (2026)
There are a few universal themes that propel the majority of art, and very few are quite as resonant as that of family, for the sole reason that we can often find other very common themes (such as love, death and companionship) reflected in these stories, but very rarely the inverse. No matter the configuration…
Apex (2026)
We’ve all been in this situation – seated around a table at a dinner party, or in front of a blazing fire, where someone asks one question: what is the scariest animal? Some will mention vicious beasts like lions or sharks, others will try to be smart and say that the hippopotamus is unexpectedly dangerous,…
The Mariana Trench (2024)
Life is short, filled with joys and sadnesses, and it is all over far too quickly – but if we are lucky, we find someone with whom we can share the burden of navigating these challenges. Many of us are able to encounter kindred spirits, and occasionally they tend to come to us at seemingly…
Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass (2024)
“Reality is as thin as paper and betrays with all its cracks its imitative character” – these evocative words were written by Bruno Schulz in the late 1930s, and while the concept may not have existed in its entirety at the time, many scholars of postmodernism cite this as one of the most notable examples…
The Long Take: The Career of…John Waters (1946 – present)
Many years ago, I knew an older lady who, throughout her life, branded herself as a dyed-in-the-wool rebel, someone who made an entire living from refusing to abide by the rules, whether formal or unspoken. At a milestone birthday, I asked her what she considered to be her most rebellious act. Her response has stuck…
Cold Storage (2026)
The nature of cinema (or any artistic medium) is that it is divided into periods, and in each of these, certain genres and movements wax and wane, peaking in popularity and then declining. It’s the way the industry works, especially since they base their work on audience expectations and desires. As a result, certain genres…
The Postmodern Pelican 