At first glance, you’d be forgiven for not thinking too much of Our Souls at Night, based on the premise and the general tone of the film. The adaptation of the novel by Kent Haruf, directed by Ritesh Batra, is not necessarily the most revolutionary piece of filmmaking, functioning as a solid, endearing romantic drama…
Author: The Postmodern Pelican
Turning Red (2022)
One of the benefits of being the industry leader in animation is that a more diverse range of stories can be told. I have previously expressed my concerns with the direction Disney and Pixar are heading with many of their films, with much of their recent input being disappointing to say the very least. However,…
Belfast (2021)
Growing up is difficult already, so having the constant threat of inter-faith violence lingering over your quaint Irish neighbourhood is not the most pleasant experience for a young boy trying to make his way through a world he has barely begun to understand. This is the starting-point for Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast (quite literally, with the…
The Thing Called Love (1993)
When it comes to the subject of Nashville, you essentially get two different kinds of films – those about outsiders making their way to the notorious Music City, or those bursting to get out of there and explore the wider world. Regardless of the specific approach, it is almost impossible to find a film set…
An American in Paris (1951)
Whether or not you find his particular brand of filmmaking effective, there are few names that evoke the idea of quality quite as much as Vincente Minnelli, whose career is filled to the brim with every kind of film, ranging from big-budget musicals to lush melodramas, intimate character-studies and barn-burning extravaganzas that have solidified their…
The Bright Side (2021)
“Dying is easy, comedy is hard” – these words appear whenever someone is talking about the frequent excursions many artists make when it comes to the subject of death. The great inevitability is a subject that has provoked and inspired directors for generations, especially when it comes to looking at it through the lens of…
Drive My Car (2021)
From a contemporary cinematic perspective, there are few artists quite as interesting as Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, who has steadily found his status growing in esteem, moving from the director of films like Happy Hour (more known for its intimidating running time than it is for the contents of those five hours of stunning filmmaking) and Asako…
People Will Talk (1951)
At the perfect intersection between screwball comedy and romantic melodrama resides People Will Talk, a daring and provocative film by the legendary Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who was operating at his creative peak around this time, having just redefined the Golden Age of Hollywood with the iconic All About Eve, as well as a range of…
The Lovers on the Bridge (1991)
Once you spend a considerable amount of time with Leos Carax and his films, you start to realize that he is not a director all that interested in playing by the rules, preferring to entirely dismantle the art of filmmaking on both the narrative and visual level, while still retaining a sense of control and…
Rosalie Goes Shopping (1989)
The sheer amount of stories that we’ve seen written about capitalism, either its joys or failures, is almost too staggering to count, especially since they extend to the very outset of the idea of free-market economy, which some viewed as being indicative of a new level of outright freedom, others seeing it as a way…
The Postmodern Pelican 