Before he made two of the greatest English-language films of all time – Amadeus and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Miloš Forman was a defiant, rebellious filmmaker in his home country who helped define the period we now affectionately refer to as the Czech New Wave, representing the political tension and social strife…
Category: comedy
Paddington 2 (2017)
Let me say this in absolutely no uncertain terms and with complete, unshakable confidence: Paddington Bear is probably the best thing to ever happen to the world of fiction. Is this sentiment hyperbolic? It certainly is. Is it also profoundly true? Absolutely, and I will stand by this idea with all my might. Paul King,…
Love, Simon (2018)
We all want to be ourselves. We can express who we are, show everyone our hidden talents and exhibit our unique traits and characteristics that make us nuanced, complex individuals. However, for some, there are aspects of their personal life that they cannot reveal to the rest of the world, due to intolerance and close-minded…
The Two of Us (1967)
It is always an amazing experience when you encounter a film that changes the way you look at cinema, especially one that is almost entirely new to you, not being considered one of the seminal cinematic masterpieces of all time. The last time I had this experience was about five years ago, when I watched…
Ocean’s 8 (2018)
Allow me to be frank – there are few films that I enjoyed watching this year more than Ocean’s 8, and that could be for a number of reasons. The film is a continuation of Steven Soderbergh’s highly-popular heist comedy film series, constituted of Oceans Eleven through Thirteen, films that also adhered to the manifesto…
Topper (1937)
There are few types of films that bring me as much joy as screwball comedies, and I have yet to encounter one I did not like. Their blend of perfectly-balanced humor, endearing romance, and masterful storytelling make them frequent films of comfort for me, with films such as The Awful Truth and The Philadelphia Story…
Paddington (2014)
As a child, one of the most delightful formative figures in my early formative years was the character of Paddington Bear, the overly-polite anthropomorphic creation of Michael Bond that has been pleasing audiences for sixty years now with his bright red hat, blue duffle coat and penchant for marmalade sandwiches. Like many, I was skeptical…
Where’s Poppa? (1970)
There are few people who know the comedy business better than Carl Reiner, with a career spanning from vaudeville to the Netflix era. While the majority of his most influential work was done for television, such as Your Show of Shows, Caesar’s Hour and the iconic The Dick Van Dyke Show, Reiner has put his…
Finding Your Feet (2017)
Most people, myself included, enjoy seeing films that challenge and stimulate our minds, giving us something to think about through defying conventions and being unique and approaching familiar stories in new ways. However, from time to time, one just needs a dose of pure escapism, usually on behalf of an entertaining but conventional film, such…
Redoubtable (2018)
Like any good scholar of the school of postmodern literature, I love metafiction. There is something so absurd about seeing or reading something in which the author or creator has a keen self-awareness that is often missing in most forms of literature. One branch of metafiction is metafilm, which is certainly not a concept absent…
The Postmodern Pelican 