We’ve seen many works of fiction that present us with the most unconventional protagonists – vile and malicious career criminals that are portrayed in a slightly more positive light, their reputations almost being entirely repurposed to be vaguely heroic. One of the more captivating examples of this comes in The Captain from Köpenick (German: Der…

The death of Joseph Stalin in 1952 was a monumental event for a number of very obvious reasons, and has been engraved into the historical canon in a multitude of ways. However, some of the most interesting stories of this fateful day aren’t found in history books, but rather through the first-hand testimonials of the…

Russian comedy is certainly a very strange phenomenon, for a number of reasons. The first time we encounter it, we might think that it’s a bit of a contradiction, since there is a quality of seriousness that is often associated with the country, with most of the more prominent Russian films known internationally often being…

The absolute gall that Joel Schumacher had in naming this film Flawless, when it is anything but free of shortcomings, would be frustrating had it not been a work that had a lot of soul to it. I’m very divided on this film – on one hand, it is an overwrought and inconsistent story that…

When it comes to literary icons, few define British theatricality more than Noël Coward, who remains the gold standard for many playwrights, directors and actors. His career was long and filled with sojourns into nearly every genre and medium that was available to him, and found a niche within the world of literature that few…

There are some days where I consider The Station Agent to be a perfect film, while there are others where it completely slips my mind that such a staggering work of art exists, only at an arm’s length from bringing joy to anyone who decides to venture into Tom McCarthy’s wonderful world. A small and…

Sometimes, we tend to want to put away the overly serious, ambitious and artistically-resonant productions and instead simply just watch something entertaining. Mercifully, the film industry has never experienced a shortage of wonderfully exuberant productions, many of them produced through the partnerships of various comedic duos or troupes, which served as the foundation for countless…

Independent film has always been the safe haven for stories that don’t fit into the mainstream, and without the intrepid revolutionaries that pioneered the movement over half a century ago, many of these stories would’ve been lost to the ether. While certainly now far-removed from the time in which it was synonymous with underground art,…

From his earliest days as the irascible Tramp in his iconic silent films, to his evolution to one of the finest filmmakers to ever work in the medium, Charles Chaplin did everything he possibly could to imprint himself on the culture. He is most known for his astonishing work in the silent era, but his…

A group of archaeologists are hammering away somewhere in Europe when they quite literally come across a treasure trove, which included a solid-gold helmet that they estimate belonged to Alexander the Great when he was on his campaign to conquer the entire world. Their history-making discovery is soon interrupted by the arrival of three criminals,…