The Postmodern Pelican

Cat People (1942)

If you read any material that discusses the life and times of Val Lewton, you will come across one word that is perhaps most defining of him as an artist – “atavistic”. The word, which means that which relates to the antiquity or ancestral worlds, is something that remained one of the primary themes behind…

Swimming Pool (2003)

There are some films that don’t only allow for ambiguity, they outright encourage it, since there is nothing quite like a strong and impenetrable story to keep audiences engaged. One of the most interesting examples of this comes in the form of Swimming Pool, the remarkable and highly-questionable erotic thriller by François Ozon in his…

Dinner in America (2022)

There has been few concepts that have corrupted the social psyche more than that of suburbia. The idealistic image of charming houses situated behind white picket fences, inhabited by representatives of the perfect nuclear family based on a Norman Rockwell-esque social utopia, has never been feasible. Yet, those who dare to speak out on the…

Blazing Saddles (1974)

Here is an unimpeachable, almost gospel truth: absolutely no one makes films like Mel Brooks. Somehow, this obscure television writer and comedian born and raised on the tail-end of the peak of vaudeville flourished into one of our greatest filmmakers, someone whose work reflects nothing short of pure, unhinged artistic brilliance. He is one of…

Incredible but True (2022)

You have to give credit to Quentin Dupieux for the sheer audacity that guides his career – who else has the gall to make the films that absolutely no one asked for, but yet feel almost essential once we spend some time with them? With a directorial career that started under his musical moniker of…

Yentl (1983)

Change is always something that needs to be appreciated, and in hindsight we can look back at certain ideas and how general perceptions around them have shifted over time. The reputation of certain artists often change over time, whether veering upwards or spiralling downwards. In the case of Barbra Streisand, she has always been one…

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (2023)

There is a very niche but widely embraced sub-genre of cinema, which usually centres on older British characters going about their daily routine, until they are confronted with a challenge that forces them to acclimate to whatever changes are necessary, usually leading to hilarity and soulful introspection. It is a heartwarming style of storytelling, and…

His Girl Friday (1940)

There have been countless attempts to adapt Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s wonderful play The Front Page into every conceivable medium, and they have all achieved varying degrees of success. Everyone from Billy Wilder to Kathleen Turner had their sights set on luxuriating in the hilarious and irreverent world that the playwrights had created, which…

Beau Is Afraid (2023)

Culturally, we are usually predisposed to categorize absolutely everything, with our tendency to compartmentalize absolutely every work we come across being one of the many universal quirks that we find throughout the history of art, and something that has driven us to the point where everything has to be considered aligned with a specific set…

Taipei Story (1985)

It’s increasingly difficult to not wax poetic about Taipei Story, which is almost universally the case when it comes to the work of Edward Yang, who remains one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, and someone who may have only directed a handful of films before his untimely demise, but where…