“There must be satisfaction gained in accurately naming the thing that torments you.” These simple but evocative words are taken from Women Talking, the beautiful novel by Miriam Toews, who tells the story of a group of women in an isolated Mennonite community who, after the arrest of a group of men that had been…
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
While there was never an era where Hitchcock wasn’t producing work of an incredibly high standard (with the exception of a couple of less-successful works peppered between masterpieces), his later career was defined by his status as a master of his craft, which established him as one of the most important filmmakers of his generation,…
Cocaine Bear (2023)
We all remember the story of the bear that accidentally came into contact with a large amount of cocaine that had fallen from an aeroplane – even though this took place in 1985, many of us tend to be aware of it, mostly due to the periodic reminders of this event that proves that reality…
My Old School (2022)
At what point does playing with your identity and persona become outright fraud? For the young man known as Brandon Lee, there seemed to be a very narrow distinction between them – and for his classmates at Bearsden College, a middle-class high school in an affluent suburb of Scotland, the distinction was even narrower, since…
The Producers (1967)
There is a considerably solid canon of filmmakers that were driven by the desire to shock and provoke – some of them did it to push boundaries, others to expose the darker side of humanity, which they perceived as being concealed under layers of socially-mandated conventions that hide certain issues from public views. Perhaps the…
50/50 (2011)
When it comes to the subject of life-threatening diseases, we see that there are two major diversions in the world of exploring them through literature – either, they’re composed as bleak, harrowing stories of the trials and tribulations of those living with such diseases, or they’re irreverent comedies that try to bring out some humour…
Sneakers (1992)
Some films have got excellent concepts, while others have great casts. A few combine both of them with a strong story, excellent writing and an execution worthy of these qualities, which leads to unbridled entertainment. Sneakers is one such film, with the wildly inventive crime comedy directed by Phil Alden Robinson (written in collaboration with…
To Leslie (2022)
We all live with regrets – some are just small mistakes that bother us at arbitrary moments, while others are enormous errors in judgement that possibly changed the entire trajectory of one’s life, leading to further challenges that can take a major psychological toll on those who aren’t ready to confront the reality of the…
Phone Booth (2002)
Not many people can attest to having to present an idea to the great Alfred Hitchcock, and only had it rejected after intense deliberation resulted in neither the director nor writer being able to come up with a feasible way of making the film’s premise work, but where Hitchcock himself was so interested in the…
Brief Encounter (1945)
If we are looking at the history of romance on screen, we can divide it into two distinct eras – those films that were made before Brief Encounter, and those that were made after it. This isn’t a hyperbolic way of calling this one of the greatest screen romances ever committed to film – it’s…
The Postmodern Pelican 