Is there any story that embodies the idea of the American Dream better than a Lithuanian fisherman trying to escape Soviet rule by literally leaping across the open waters of the ocean from one boat to another, in the hopes of defecting to the United States? What sounds like an amusing premise for a charming…
Author: The Postmodern Pelican
Claire’s Knee (1970)
The career of Éric Rohmer is one filled with contradictions, and we can see this clearly in any of his films, such as Claire’s Knee (French: Le Genou de Claire), which is often considered one of his crowning achievements. It is a film centred on dialogue, but it is never overly verbose. It is set…
Being the Ricardos (2021)
I Love Lucy isn’t just an iconic comedy show, it was an absolute institution. One simply cannot read any analysis on the history of television without this particular programme being mentioned, whether it be for its enormous viewership that put modern shows to shame, or its enduring legacy as one of the most important pieces…
The Earrings of Madame De… (1953)
Some films exist to tell a story, others to make the viewer feel a particular sensation. On some rare occasions, we even find a film that’s primary function is to weave together pure visual poetry. This is the most appropriate way to look at The Earrings of Madame De…, the wonderful romantic melodrama by the…
Don’t Look Up (2021)
There is a great film somewhere in Don’t Look Up, it just takes a short while to fully manifest. This is much more than can be said about the two previous forays by Adam McKay into a more serious-minded form of filmmaking, with his recent efforts being the infantilizing The Big Short, and the absolutely…
The Green Knight (2021)
There are three works I consider to be the greatest in the history of English literature – The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon, Beloved by Toni Morrison, and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, epic chivalric odyssey written by an anonymous poet, being one of the earliest surviving works of known literature. The…
Pickup on South Street (1953)
The image of Samuel Fuller is ingrained in the mind of anyone with a penchant for the latter days of the Golden Age of Hollywood – a grizzled, greying visage hidden behind an enormous cigar, serving as the genius behind some of the most revolutionary films of that particular era, and a pioneer of independent…
Robust (2021)
The odd couple trope is one that has been done to death in fiction, but yet it still yields such positive results nearly every time, since audiences seem to adore seeing the contrast between two wildly different individuals that are placed in close proximity to one another, hilarity and heartfelt antics very likely pursuing as…
Old Czech Legends (1953)
Everything that makes animated cinema so important can be found in Old Czech Legends (Czech: Staré pověsti české), the ambitious stop-motion epic by esteemed animator Jiří Trnka, who adapted the classic collection of short stories published in the late 19th century, Ancient Bohemian Legends by Alois Jirásek, which weaves together a combination of historical tales…
Nowhere Special (2021)
Death is a subject that has fascinated artists for centuries, with various works focusing on life’s most intimidating inevitability. The vast majority don’t question that it is going to happen to each one of us eventually, but rather the circumstances that surround it. Whether it be the actual process of coming to terms with one’s…
The Postmodern Pelican 