Vampire’s Kiss is a film that is so outrageous and satirical, that merely trying to describe it without resorting to hyperbole seems almost impossible. The film, which was written and directed by Robert Bierman, is the kind of story that both repels and intrigues the viewer, often doing so at the exact same time. The…
Spellbound (1945)
The pleasure of being a completionist when it comes to certain artists is that it allows you to pay attention to smaller works that you might otherwise ignore due to them being overshadowed by the more major achievements. I’ve been gradually working my way through the work of Alfred Hitchcock, and while it has been…
The Whale (2022)
Every few years, there is a film that comes along that is so striking and ambitious, the process of leaving the cinema is nearly impossible, whether it be the result of awe-inspired wonder, or the abundance of emotions that wash over the viewer. The Whale was a very difficult film to walk away from –…
Fancy Pants (1950)
There may be many different forms of humour, but comedy has always been driven by a few major tenets, with every work that sets out to provoke some form of laughter following either one or a combination of these concepts. Mistaken or false identities have always been a very reliable source of humour, going back…
Peter von Kant (2022)
They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery – but for François Ozon, it has never only been about paying tribute to his artistic heroes, but infusing his films with a celebratory spirit that vividly praises their work, getting to the heart of what makes each one of them such important influences in…
Switching Channels (1988)
They say imitation is the finest form of flattery – but when you outright piggyback off the success of another work of art in order to try and glean some of that acclaim, then there is a conversation to be had about the ethics of taking inspiration from other projects. Broadcast News is one of…
Desperate Characters (1971)
It’s often been said that in order for a story to be effective, all one needs is a single location, a pair of good actors and a strong script that gives them something to do. It’s the foundation for a lot of theatre, and as a result has inevitably found its way into cinema as…
The Stepford Wives (2004)
It’s high time that we start the critical re-evaluation of The Stepford Wives, the remake of the undersung New Hollywood classic that has often been dismissed as a paltry attempt to recreate the magic of the original. Frank Oz is a director that many of us have learned to put absolute faith in – his…
Knock at the Cabin (2023)
There are some filmmakers that have such unsteady careers, you can almost visualize their work as a series of peaks and valleys, with the shift in quality sometimes signalling a decline in their dedication to their work, or simply having lost the skill needed to be an effective filmmaker. The best one of these people…
Mexicana (1945)
There’s nothing quite like good old-fashioned entertainment, which is essentially the best way to describe most musicals produced during the Golden Age of Hollywood, long before there was a rise in the more subversive or challenging musicals that would come in later decades. The only problem is that they were produced at such a staggering…
The Postmodern Pelican 