2018 has been an exceptional year for documentary filmmaking, and any lover of non-fiction filmmaking has been spoiled with a panoply of diverse and audacious works on a variety of subjects this year. From the warmth of Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, to the enigmatic love letter to cinema in Shirkers to the thrilling mystery…
Author: The Postmodern Pelican
Into the Wild (2007)
“It is not about the destination, it is about the journey” – we’ve all heard this old adage, or something similar, at some point. It may be taut and often used to justify self-important metaphysical meanderings, but it does hold some portion of truthfulness. It is also very relevant to the subject of this review,…
Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
Sequels to popular films can be hit-or-miss. They have the capacity to be incredible, but more often than not, they could be seen as lesser versions of their predecessor, failed attempts to capture what made the original so successful the first time, this time without the same charm and effort of the original. In recent…
The Other Side of the Wind (2018)
I’m faced with a decision here – I’ve got two very different options as to how to proceed with this review. I could pretend that I loved The Other Side of the Wind, noting how it is an astonishing achievement, a beautiful parting letter from arguably the finest filmmaker of all time, a complex masterpiece…
We the Animals (2018)
After watching We the Animals, I sat in awed silence, unable to move for a considerable amount of time. My chest was heavy, and I was at a complete loss for words – the preceding ninety minutes had contained to be some of the most exhilarating filmmaking I have seen this year. There aren’t too…
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to my seminar. The title of today’s discussion is “A Beginners Guide to Making a Generic Musical Biopic”. If you look under your seats, you will find the starter pack for this course. It contains everything you need to make a bland, lifeless biopic of the legendary musical…
Ms. 45 (1981)
Revenge is a concept that cinema has been interested in for the longest time – I recently spoke at length about the revenge thriller in my review for Lady Snowblood. These are normally films that have a bilateral purpose – they prove to be action-packed thrillers, as well as fascinating character pieces, and they continue…
A Bucket of Blood (1959)
You need to have good taste to appreciate bad taste, which is an adage oft-repeated by the great stalwart for transgressive cinema, John Waters. One of the forefathers of the movement that took audiences on repulsive journeys into some very darkly comical places was Roger Corman, who remains one of the greatest filmmakers of his…
The Player (1992)
Robert Altman was a genius – this is pretty much an objective fact by this point, because, for decades, he provided the cinematic world with some of its greatest masterpieces, crafting one astonishing film after another, many of which have gone on to be hallmarks of filmmaking, with M*A*S*H, 3 Women and Nashville being amongst…
Swinging Safari (2018)
The problem with Swinging Safari isn’t that its a bad film (because it isn’t), but because it has so much going for it, yet it wastes all of it. The director is Stephan Elliot, who directed the cult classic The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, it has a great cast composed of some…
The Postmodern Pelican 