Sometimes, the only way to appreciate life is to escape from reality for a short while. For some, this means venturing into the virtual world, whereas for others, it involves retreating into nature, which is the perfect way to recalibrate one’s soul to be more aware and present. It may sound slightly esoteric, and perhaps…
Author: The Postmodern Pelican
A Sense of History (1992)
We all have intrusive thoughts from time to time, and they usually range from mildly concerning to outright terrifying. For most of us, these remain fleeting moments in our minds, but for others, they serve as an unavoidable impulse to cause harm, whether to themselves or others. This is likely the concept that inspired Jim…
The Dead Zone (1983)
Stephen King occupies a strange place in the contemporary literary landscape – he’s still objectively one of the most popular authors, and his books tend to be widely anticipated by audiences. Yet, his work is also viewed as slightly passé, particularly because it seems to lack the kind of spark that defined his earliest novels…
First Time Female Director (2024)
There is a general rule of thumb that drives the film industry – if an actor is around for long enough and dedicated to the craft of filmmaking, there will come a point where they endeavour to step behind the camera. This is oddly most prominent amongst comedians, since there is some kind of pipeline…
A Touch of Larceny (1959)
It seems to be a universal experience to fantasize about a situation where we simply disappear, which normally entails sailing off to some remote island where we can live our days in paradise – and the concept of imagining what those who remain behind may think in such a scenario is also quite fascinating, since…
Bad Taste (1987)
Years before he came to be seen as the very definition of tenacity in the form of his endeavour to adapt the titanic novel The Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson was a lesser-known New Zealand filmmaker who simply wanted to direct stories that interested him, paying tribute to existing genres while forging his own…
Daddio (2024)
It may not be a regular occurrence (and has becoming increasingly more rare considering how internally we tend to live our lives in the digital era), but there is something profoundly beautiful about encountering a stranger with whom she share only a few moments, but which you still carry deep within your heart for a…
Earthworm Tractors (1936)
Capitalism can easily be reduced to a straightforward question: Do we live to make money, or do we make money to live? For the protagonist in Earthworm Tractors, based on the syndicated stories and later bestselling novels by William Hazlett Upson, both the stories and the novels somehow manage to be true. Alexander Botts, whose…
Freud’s Last Session (2023)
There are some historical figures that are brought to the screen in a way that feels definitive of their legacy, whereas there are others that have yet to be the subject of a film that perfectly represents their place in the global culture. Sigmund Freud occupies the latter category, and while there have been a…
The Méliès Mystery (2021)
For as long as we have been celebrating the history of cinema, there has been a concerted effort to cite someone as the proverbial “father” of the medium. There is a debate around who we can consider the first true pioneer, so it would seem that the most appropriate solution is not to label an…
The Postmodern Pelican 