I’d like to start this discussion with a brief personal anecdote, which I believe helps establish a clear foundation for the forthcoming conversation. In 2019, I visited the World Press Photo Exhibition in Hanoi – and while there were dozens of incredible photographs, one stood out to me. The photograph, taken by Philip Montgomery, is…
Dirty Work (1998)
Hindsight is both a curse and a blessing, especially when it comes to the eventual critical reanalysis that every film will subsequently have at some point in its life, whether positive or negative. This is particularly relevant to the subject of today’s conversation, the Bob Saget- directed comedy Dirty Work, which was reviled as a…
Babylon (2022)
We’ve spoken on many occasions about the fact that Hollywood’s favourite topic of conversation is itself – you’d struggle to find someone within the industry that didn’t operate in a way where they loved nothing more than the sound of their own voice. There is certainly not any shortage of works that make bold and…
The Rose (1979)
From its very first moment, in which we see a small group of people enter a garage, which has posters and photographs of many counterculture icons plastered across every inch of the walls, we know that The Rose is going to be a challenging film, precisely because in this group of people, the one person…
Decision to Leave (2022)
For over half a century, we have seen many filmmakers engage in an act of chasing after Alfred Hitchcock – obviously not in the literal sense, but rather in how there have been concerted efforts to follow the guidelines he meticulously set down in his long and prolific career, with the term “Hitchcockian” becoming one…
I Know Where I’m Going! (1945)
One of the universal truths that we should all come around to believing is that, regardless of how much we try and attribute their films to being the product of style over substance, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger were masters of their craft. Whether or not we find value in the spectacles of Black Narcissus…
Tender Mercies (1983)
At a cursory glance, Tender Mercies does not seem like a particularly noteworthy film – designed mainly as a vehicle for Robert Duvall, who was at the peak of his career as an actor, having been dominant in a range of films throughout the 1970s that made him one of the most sought-after actors working…
Pearl (2022)
Comparison can sometimes be a major impediment to the process of appreciating art, especially when it comes to looking at two works that share similar sources or creators, and where one is far better than the other – it can become less of a case where we are celebrating the superior one on its own…
Buck and the Preacher (1972)
Sidney Poitier was a revolutionary by every definition of the word – as an actor he broke boundaries, and as a social activist he spent decades fighting for marginalized communities, using his status as one of the most prominent artists of the past century to influence and challenge oppressive structures, which often included taking on…
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957)
One of the more peculiar trends that we see happening in film comes when we realize that there are certain instances where specific years tend to be particularly strong in terms of looking at a particular subject, which is rarely intentional. 1957 is likely the best year for media satires, solely due to the fact…
The Postmodern Pelican 