I often question why, out of all the filmmakers I adore and admire, it is David Lynch who I consider to be the singular figure that not only altered my perspective of art but changed my life in some way. Why he has remained arguably the most important artistic figure in my life, an individual…
Author: The Postmodern Pelican
On Body and Soul (2017)
Two of the major cornerstones of cinema are romance and death, and very often filmmakers blend the two themes in the pursuit of making relatable statements on both of these inevitable, highly-resonant concepts. However, the concept of love has never been as inextricably honest in its relationship to our eventual demise than in Ildikó Enyedi’s…
Biloxi Blues (1988)
I do love a good war film. However, there is an abundance of war films that are concerned with showing the actual warfare and often gloss over the journey towards the warfare, namely the preparation of soldiers. Very few films manage to convey the brutal training regimes soldiers were subjected to in order to prepare…
My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea (2017)
Like many people, I was born into an era where Disney and Pixar films were the epitome of quality, and would regularly dominate the animation industry. I have absolutely nothing against these studios, and many of their productions defined my childhood and I still regularly find solace in some of their work. However, in all honesty,…
The Death of Stalin (2018)
I have always been an ardent devotee of comedy, and several years ago, I went in search of some obscure, alternative comedy that would satiate my desire to find something different to anything I had seen before. There were two television shows that I encountered that were of extreme fascination – The Day Today and…
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)
Let me not be vague – for the first hour of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, I absolutely despised it. Consider that I have yet to even marginally dislike anything David Lynch has done, nevermind outright resent something he has made, this was quite an uncharacteristic experience. For reasons that will be explained in…
I, Tonya (2017)
For centuries, audiences have had a certain obsession with artistic representations of true stories, reenacting historical moments and real-life events in a way that shows the inherent tragedy or historical significance that captivates us and keeps us thirsting for more. It has persisted from the earliest days of theatre to the present day, when audiences…
The Best Films of 2017
2017 was, in my humble opinion, one of the strongest years for cinema in recent memory, comparable to notable years such as 1948, 1950 and 1999. As a result of some of the extremely strong and distinctive work this year, creating a list has been an exhausting and difficult task, and many fantastic films have…
Phantom Thread (2017)
Like many people, I endlessly admire Paul Thomas Anderson. His rise from a wunderkind young independent filmmaker, having made such masterpiece as Boogie Nights and Magnolia, to one of the most respected cinematic forces working today, with films such as There Will Be Blood and The Master, has been extraordinary, and I personally have not…
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
Call Me by Your Name left me completely speechless. Sometimes when talking about a film I adored, like the best of people, I can exaggerate slightly and use figures of speech that are not entirely accurate or representative of what I feel or my actual response to an artistic work, and just serve to overhype…
The Postmodern Pelican 