Culture is nothing more than an expanded family history consolidated into historical fact – and there is nothing quite as beautiful as sincere pride in where one comes from. However, life has not always been easy for those who were born into one culture over another, especially when referring to particular moments in the past….
Author: The Postmodern Pelican
Puzzle of a Downfall Child (1970)
The 1970s are widely considered the era in which American cinema underwent its biggest shift in identity, both stylistically and thematically. The industry had always sought out ways to develop itself, but it was during this era, which we know as usually being grouped under the umbrella phase of New Hollywood, that most of these…
One Life (2024)
Some moments remind us of the power of humanity, and how compassion can change the world – and in 1992, when Nicholas Winton attended a taping of the pulpy British variety show That’s Life!, he expected to only be there to fact-check some information on a feature the show was doing on some of his…
The Notorious Landlady (1962)
While he arguably reached his comedic peak in 1959 with the release of Some Like It Hot (where he turned in the funniest performance of all time in his dual role of Jerry and Daphne), Jack Lemmon continued to push the boundaries of his craft well into the 1960s, which was one of his most…
All of Us Strangers (2023)
Saying goodbye is never easy, but what is even more difficult is losing someone before you get the opportunity to tell them how you feel. This is an experience that many would be lucky never to encounter since there’s nothing quite as harrowing as living with the regrets of never telling someone you love how…
Myra Breckinridge (1970)
When it comes to bad films, something that is not often discussed in much detail is that, if one waits long enough, even the worst films tend to have some kind of critical re-evaluation, even if it is small and restricted to quite a limited group of individuals. Every film considered the worst will be…
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023)
Animation is perhaps the last frontier when it comes to studios asserting enough considerable control over the productions that they become a brand, usually indicating an unimpeachable sense of quality. Whether Pixar, Disney or Studio Ghibli, the idea that these massively successful companies would produce anything below-par is almost unimaginable. Yet, the one studio that…
The Tied Up Balloon (1967)
Satire may take on many different forms, but there are generally two major ways to categorize it as a form of artistic expression – there are those satires in which the purpose is made quite clear and those that use allegory to the point where the viewer may need additional context to fully unpack the…
Monster (2023)
A couple of decades ago, Anne Carson wrote perhaps the greatest verse novel of the 20th century in the form of An Autobiography of Red, a daring and provocative work that centres on a modernised version of Geryon, a figure drawn from Greek mythology, mainly serving as one of the adversaries that stood in Herakles’…
The Lost King (2022)
They often say reality is stranger than fiction – it’s a well-worn adage that has reached the point of almost being a cliche, but it is still one that applies in certain cases. In this instance, its the story of Phillipa Langley, the working-class mother who decided to become an amateur historian based on a…
The Postmodern Pelican 