Truthfully, I don’t know which is the more disappointing aspect of Killing Gunther. Is it the fact that it has such a good premise, but it squanders it by turning it into something that feels like an overlong and dreadfully unfunny sketch that was rejected from Saturday Night Live? Or is it the fact that…
Author: The Postmodern Pelican
Bird Box (2018)
When it comes to horror film (or any work that has the intention of creating fear or terror in the audience), I hold a few principles in very high regard – but the most important concept of horror cinema is what I call the Unseen Principle, which states that while seeing what we fear is…
Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
In 1964, the world was introduced to the first cinematic representation of one of literature’s most beloved creations, Mary Poppins. Julie Andrews’ made her explosive debut as the titular nanny and set herself up for a career of iconic roles, all because of her iconic portrayal of Poppins. Now, five decades later, we return to…
Hud (1963)
When it comes to film stars, very few people could match Paul Newman and his decades-long dominance of cinema, especially in the 1960s – with his piercing blue eyes, his subtle conviction in his willingness to challenge himself as an actor and ability to play any role across a number of genres, he truly was…
Tales from the Crypt (1972)
Of all the cinematic conventions that have seemingly gone out of style, none is more fascinating than that of the horror anthology. Perhaps not entirely absent, the days when films were built around short but impactful stories, often retaining some loose connection through wraparound sequences, are long behind us. A few months ago, I reviewed…
Multiplicity (1996)
There are many indications that the world is progressing in a number of ways, but none more so than the fact that our lives are becoming increasingly busy – there are individuals who have a great deal that they need to juggle in their day-to-day lives, including working jobs (more than one for some individuals),…
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
“With great power comes great responsibility” – since the debut of the Spider-Man character decades ago, these words have resounded in every incarnation of the character, who has become most likely the most significant creation of Marvel Comics, and has undergone so much change throughout the years. Cinematically, we have seen many different interpretations of…
The House That Jack Built (2018)
When we consider all the controversial filmmakers to have worked throughout the history of cinema, none of them is as deserving of the infamy as Lars von Trier. Since the 1990s, he’s been terrorizing audiences with an array of troubling works, and he constantly pushes the boundaries of the cinematic form, even when he is…
Roma (2018)
After seeing Roma, I sat in stunned silence. My heart was pounding, and the tears were welling up as if they hadn’t been flowing freely throughout the previous two hours. I wasn’t sure of what I had just experienced, but I knew that it was something that made my heart swell in ways films rarely…
Never Goin’ Back (2018)
There is a sub-genre of film that is rarely talked about, but we all secretly do enjoy it – the proverbial “dumb” comedy – from the era of slapstick to the modern stoner comedy, there have been films that rely on physicality in implausible situations to entertain audiences, opting for more simplistic methods of getting…
The Postmodern Pelican 