“There is just no end to surprise. I feel sad for us and the queer part we play in our own disasters. But out of some persistent sense of large-scale ruin, we keep inventing hope. And this is where we wait…together” Through the hallowed halls of 20th-century literature, there are few writers more influential or…
Author: The Postmodern Pelican
Bones and All (2022)
“The world of love wants no monsters in it, so let me help you out of it.” What defines a monster? Is it physical deformity that separates one from the rest of society based on traits that terrify rather than attract? Could it be behaviour that goes against common social and cultural standards and places…
The Gold Rush (1925)
When you are dealing with someone who is widely considered not only one of the most widely celebrated actors and directors in the history of the film industry, but a cultural institution onto himself, an icon that is perhaps the most globally recognized icon in terms of cinema (outside of perhaps Marilyn Monroe), then it’s…
Oh, God! (1977)
One of the more callous but unintentionally popular jokes that circulate when it comes to the subject of religion is something along the lines of “faith is when you speak to God, whereas schizophrenia is when God speaks back to you” – and in an era which is becoming increasingly more secular as the church…
The Big Sleep (1946)
The sight of two shadowy figures in a room lit only by the dim glow of a desk lamp and the tips of their cigarettes – there are few images more memorable than this one, to the point where the entire film noir genre has been centred around such ideas (amongst others). The reason we’re…
Matilda the Musical (2022)
A source of a lot of curiosity for me comes when I ponder about whether an artist, when first committing pen to paper or brush to canvas, realizes how their work with take on an entirely different life, remaining resonant and compelling half a century after it is first introduced to the public. In most…
The Day of the Beast (1995)
A priest, a heavy metal musician and a television host walk into a building – this sounds like the set-up for a classic joke, but in reality is the central premise of The Day of the Beast (Spanish: El día de la bestia), the deliriously funny and hopelessly bleak dark comedy by Álex de la…
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
There are many inevitabilities in life, but it seems almost certain that among the more pleasant is the universal love for a good murder mystery. From the novels of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dame Agatha Christie, to The White Lotus and the endless criminal procedurals we see in film and television, we share a…
Lilo & Stitch (2002)
Why is that of all the genres we can consider, its animation that tends to age the finest? Perhaps we just carry the nostalgia of the films we adored when we were younger into adulthood, refusing to look beneath the veneer of those fond memories in fear of discovering those joyful days were spent with…
Yule Log (2022)
Let’s just start with a wise word of warning – Yule Log is a film that depends entirely on the element of surprise. It isn’t often that I advocate for someone to enter into a film without any prior knowledge, since the experience is so much more compelling if you don’t know what to expect…
The Postmodern Pelican 