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…
Author: The Postmodern Pelican
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…
Re-Animator (1985)
I believe if there is something that we can all agree on to a certain extent, it would be that the prospect of death isn’t the most exciting or comforting concept for many of us. This is a subject that Herbert West has been actively pursuing, suffering the obstacle of being expelled from medical school…
The Hand of God (2021)
Paolo Sorrentino loves roads. In nearly every one of his films, characters undergo a variety of journeys, whether it be physical, mental or spiritual. There is something about the idea of undergoing a shift, either in location or mentality, that drives several of his films. As the ancient adage goes, “all roads lead to Rome”,…
Welcome Mr. Marshall! (1953)
As a filmgoing culture, we were so fortunate to have someone like Luis García Berlanga, who dedicated so much of his life to making wonderful, insightful comedies that tell us as much about the culture in which he grew up as they did the most intricate details of the world at large. You can always…
The Postmodern Pelican 