Halla (Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir) is a mild-mannered choir teacher who harbours a very unconventional secret – when she is not conducting the ragtag group of citizens in harmonious arrangements, she is the infamous “Woman of the Mountain”, a activist (some would call her a vandal) who has taken it upon herself to prevent the encroaching threat…
Author: The Postmodern Pelican
Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood (2019)
We get it – Quentin Tarantino loves movies. There aren’t many film directors who make it known how much cinema has influenced them as him – and it has been both an endearing quirk in the career of a filmmaker who has built a relatively iconic reputation from the work of others (this isn’t a…
Fantastic Planet (1973)
When it comes to animated films, very few are as original or daring as Fantastic Planet (French: La Planète Sauvage), the audacious French-Czech science fiction epic by René Laloux that has come to be seen as one of the most iconic animated films of the 1970s, and an indelible part of arthouse science fiction. A…
Ivan Vasilievich Changes Profession (1973)
Somewhere in a modern Russian metropolis stands a large apartment building, just like any other. Inside there are two occupants that we are very interested in, and who form the core of the story. The first is Aleksandr ‘Shurik’ Timofeev (Aleksandr Demyanenko), a meek but brilliant inventor who works on a variety of scientific projects,…
Serpico (1973)
I do wish I knew what Sidney Lumet was trying to do with Serpico, but from the looks of it, not even he was entirely sure. Most definitely not a bad film by any means (in fact, it has moments of excellence consistently throughout), but rather one caught between genres and tonal shifts, whereby it…
Frankenstein’s Monster’s Monster, Frankenstein (2019)
Sometimes, we find ourselves blessed with an unexpected gift. Earlier this year, Netflix continued to prove themselves as not only one of the most rapidly-ascending entertainment providers but also the facilitator of some truly astounding and original pieces. It came in the form of an obscure short film that bears the masterful title Frankenstein’s Monster’s…
Villa Amalia (2009)
Life is full of mystery, and there are certain things we can never truly understand: are we alone in the universe? What is the meaning of life? Is there a higher power? These are the questions that keep me up at night, or least they used to up until yesterday. These existential quandaries have now…
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)
There’s a certain sensation I very rarely get when watching a film – as much as I love cinema, I’ve been conditioned to the fact that many movies are really great, and you start to develop an inability to be truly amazed by films as regularly as you used to, with that childlike wonder seemingly…
Conversation Piece (1974)
Conversation Piece is the kind of film that reminds someone precisely why they love cinema. I know it definitely evoked deep and visceral emotions deep within me when watching it. Luchino Visconti had the ability to create the most hypnotic, beautiful expressions of existential issues, and in crafting this film, which is unquestionably one of…
My Little Loves (1974)
Daniel (Martin Loeb) lives a very pleasant life. He grows up in the French countryside, under the care of his loving grandmother (Jacqueline Dufranne), where he spends his day engaging in beautifully reckless childhood activities with his coterie of friends. He is a young man who enjoys the simple pleasures in life because that is…
The Postmodern Pelican 