Some characters are so extremely simple in design and purpose that they become timeless and live on long after their creators have departed, leaving behind a legacy that only becomes stronger with age. It was just under eighty years ago when audiences were first introduced to Casper the Friendly Ghost, whose reputation as the most…
Author: The Postmodern Pelican
One Battle After Another (2025)
We live in uncertain – and frankly quite terrifying – times, where nothing seems to make sense, politicians are the least trustworthy of all public figures, and we constantly seem to be on the edge of societal collapse, the decline of the culture seemingly being only a single word away. Yet, we continue to press…
Woman of the Year (1942)
We have seen countless examples of films that take a bold, universally applicable concept and reconfigure it to be the foundation for a hilarious and irreverent comedy. When George Stevens opted to direct the film based on the screenplay by Ring Lardner Jr. and Michael Kanin (whose brother was Garson Kanin, who in turn worked…
A House of Dynamite (2025)
When I was younger and far more anxious, I had a history teacher who was intent on educating his students on the nature of the world and how it functions – and when it came time to discuss nuclear war, he told us “don’t panic until they panic”, with the “they” in this instance referring…
Kontinental ’25 (2025)
By this point, there is no reason to resist proclaiming Radu Jude one of the most essential, radical voices in contemporary cinema. Watching his work is akin to seeing Jean-Luc Godard and his cohorts essentially rewrite the cinematic lexicon, capturing the cultural zeitgeist in a way that has never been done before – and Jude…
Late Bloomers (2011)
They say the only part of life more difficult than falling in love is maintaining the spark. For many longtime couples, it feels like the passion disappears after a while and is replaced with pleasant boredom more than anything else. While many of us may not be able to attest to having firsthand experience, it…
The Birthday Party (2025)
There’s nothing like family, a sentiment with which we all tend to agree – the only deviation comes in the form of determining whether it evokes positive or negative feelings in an individual, which is one of the reasons why it has become a topic frequently explored in every possible medium. Its the foundation for…
Café of the Seven Sinners (1940)
There is something appealing about escaping the humdrum existence of modern life and setting sail for distant lands, with many people finding that the more remote a location, the more they feel a sense of peace and tranquility. Many have sought the refuge of a distant land as their home, finding value in the promise…
Weapons (2025)
We’re living in an era where horror has finally become one of the most esteemed, respected genres – the days where it was viewed as merely a secondary genre to the melodrama and western are thankfully far behind us, even if we do find some of the passion directed to the dreadfully trite concept of…
It Was Just an Accident (2025)
How far would you go to get revenge on someone who you consider to have ruined your life? We often find ourselves in conversations about whether retribution is something that should be punished when it becomes violent, or if authorities should look the other way in situations where it can be justified. This is a…
The Postmodern Pelican 