It’s been just over a decade since Ryan Coogler emerged with Fruitvale Station, a complex and engaging character study that examined a plethora of themes that are too familiar to contemporary audiences. Over the past few years, he made a small handful of films, each one brilliant and dynamic, and touching on complex themes that…
Author: The Postmodern Pelican
The Well-Digger’s Daughter (1940)
When it comes to sharp but meaningful satire, few writers were more adept at capturing the social and cultural milieu more than Marcel Pagnol. As both a playwright and filmmaker, he is responsible for several of the most important texts in the history of French literature, being an influential artistic force in both theatre and…
Love Hurts (2025)
We all carry remnants of our past, which we tend to prefer to keep hidden, at least to a certain extent – but the bigger the secret, the more challenging it is to conceal it, which can often lead to complications when the truth is unearthed, especially when they relate to more morally questionable aspects…
Sherlock Jr. (1924)
With every discussion of Buster Keaton’s work we’ve been engaging in over the last few months, the conversation inevitably is steered towards remarking on how, despite it having been roughly a century since these films were produced, they remain as fresh and exciting as ever, and have aged remarkably well, assisted by the support and…
Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (1997)
There is a clear distinction between comedy films meant to be appreciated at the time of their release and those which tend to achieve their greatest success in the years that follow, usually when discovered by new generations of viewers. Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion is an obvious example of the latter – it…
Companion (2025)
We all yearn for perfection in some form or the other – whether it is related to ourselves or someone else close to us, there is something very appealing about the prospect of meeting the ideal, regardless of the cost or consequences. In his ambitious directorial debut, Drew Hancock uses it as the foundation for…
September 5 (2024)
On the 5th of September in 1972, the world was glued to their television screens, since it was the first live broadcast of the Olympic Games, which were taking place in Munich, and which was perhaps the most publicized games up until that point (there is an argument to be made for the previous time…
The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
Every small town has its secrets lurking beneath the idyllic surface. There have been so many works that situate themselves in quaint hamlets and use these settings as the foundation for examinations of the darker and more perverse side of society, usually being fashioned as darkly satirical subversions of common perceptions of small-town life. One…
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2022)
Over a decade ago, a curious little film was released – the title was Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, and (as the title suggests) centres on an anthropomorphic shell on his daily adventures. In subsequent years, a couple of sequels were released, each one beautifully made and just as endearing. The shorts were the…
Hello, Dolly! (1969)
While they have come to be seen as somewhat passé (despite frequent efforts to revive the genre), the big-budget musical adaptation is a remnant of the past – there was a period where it was at its peak and a few brief moments in which it seemed to be making a return, but it has…
The Postmodern Pelican 