When it comes to film studios, few were as distinctive in their ability to make a very particular kind of film as Ealing Studios, the esteemed British production company behind some of the greatest comedies of all time, whose prolific output was rapid but rarely anything less than impeccable. Of all their films, the one…
Author: The Postmodern Pelican
Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train (1998)
Death has many purposes. Scientifically, it’s the ceasing of all biological functions. Philosophically, it is the process where we come to accept our inevitable fate. Socially, it is the chance for all those who knew us (whether lovers, friends or adversaries) to reflect on their relation with the deceased. These are all the primary tenets…
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
Here are two unimpeachable truths – John Ford was the greatest director of westerns in history, and John Wayne the best actor to ever work in the genre. There’s a third truth that combines them both, in the form of the fact that when Ford and Wayne worked together, no one could come close to…
Away We Go (2009)
When one thinks of Sam Mendes, we normally associate him with more large-scale filmmaking that is produced on a much larger scope than many of his peers, whether it be multiple entries into a beloved spy action franchise, or his forays into the world of war in a couple of well-received films that made him…
Radio Days (1987)
Whenever the topic of Woody Allen’s output in the 1980s inevitably comes up, the devotees and general admirers of the director and his work doubtlessly will mention how this decade represented a seismic shift for the esteemed filmmaker. Following on from the more profound, dramatic material he produced at the tail-end of the 1970s, with…
The Whole Town’s Talking (1935)
While he did work across a range of genres, John Ford was mostly known for directing either action-packed, highly influential westerns, or searing historical dramas, either focused on particular individuals from the past, or an entire group at a specific time in America’s history. However, he did make a few forays into comedy, mostly in…
Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022)
While there have been divided reactions to his previous films, there’s very little doubt that Cooper Raiff is here to stay, representing the future of independent filmmaking. This isn’t some resounding praise (since it is understandable why he has been considering a polarizing figure), but rather an acknowledgement of the fact that he’s proven himself…
The Dream Team (1989)
There’s a sub-genre of comedy that was wildly popular throughout the 1980s, but has seemingly either been mangled to the point of being beyond recognition, or disappeared entirely. These films were based on a simple premise – either an individual or group of people set off for a day out in some major city or…
My Donkey, My Lover & I (2020)
Not since Robert Bresson defined realist cinema with his masterful Au Hasard Balthasar has a film about the friendship between a human and a donkey been as moving as My Donkey, My Lover & I (French: Antoinette dans les Cévennes), a film that celebrates love just as much as it does evoke a lot of…
Starman (1984)
The early 1980s saw a massive shift in the science fiction genre – they were no longer restricted to the realm of the B-movie, and could exist as a legitimate art form unto themselves, instead of being seen as niche genre work. This is very likely the result of the laborious effort put in by…
The Postmodern Pelican 