The key to the success of any good film is often quite simple – have a good story and execution that matches or overtakes the level of ambition that went into its conception. Obviously it is integral to add other elements for the sake of diversity, but good art is really just a matter of…
Category: dark comedy
Strange Voyage (1964)
There is a very particular sub-genre of fiction, which we can refer to as small-town noir or pastoral gothic, and which we often find occurring in a lot of European and American cinema in the years following the end of the Second World War, whereby filmmakers ventured out of the cities and chose to explore…
Bartleby (2001)
While he is mostly known for his towering tome Moby-Dick, which is appropriately considered possibly the greatest American novel ever written, Herman Melville was a much more varied writer and someone who composed several tremendous stories, many of which have gone on to become incredibly influential in their way. One of the more prominent is…
Mother, Couch (2024)
They say home is where the heart is, but domestic despair tends to be carried with you wherever you go, lingering like a spectre ready to emerge at the most inopportune moments. This is a realisation that many who have ever experienced any kind of familial strife, even only marginally, will immediately recognise as an…
Nightbitch (2024)
There are few concepts simultaneously as comforting and disturbing as placid suburbia – the irresistible push-and-pull of a life defined by white picket fences and perfectly maintained lawns contrasted with the underlying knowledge that not everything is quite as it seems beneath the surface. David Lynch perhaps said it best when he stated “I discovered…
Apples (2020)
There are several cinematic movements that are still unfolding as we speak, with one of the most exciting and unique being the Greek Weird Wave, formed by filmmakers originating in Athens and other urban metropoles around the country, crafting films that are deeply unnerving and often take place in more peculiar, off-the-wall versions of reality….
Blink Twice (2024)
When an actor makes the decision to take the leap into directing, there are usually two broad categories of films that they tend to make – the first are extremely personal, simple endeavours that may not be particularly challenging but do feel like they come from a very meaningful place, whereas the second are high-concept…
The Kiss of Death (1977)
While he is viewed as arguably one of the most important filmmakers to have emerged out of the United Kingdom (perhaps only second to Sir David Lean in terms of cultural impact), there was a time when Mike Leigh wasn’t the massively acclaimed cinematic stalwart he is considered today, but rather a dedicated writer and…
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (2024)
Life can be difficult when you are immortal, which is a lesson that Sasha encounters the hard way. Part of a family of ancient vampires, she has only recently started to reach maturity, but much to her parent’s chagrin, she finds herself unable to hunt victims, leading them to become quite frustrated as it becomes…
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
Nostalgia is perhaps the most powerful drug when it comes to art, and like many substances, it tends to be abused quite frequently, especially in recent years when studios have grown increasingly reliant on replicating the success of existing properties. It seems like every year, we encounter examples of the dreaded triage of “reboots, remakes…
The Postmodern Pelican 