No one writes women quite like Pedro Almodóvar, at least not anyone who has been working in the medium of film in the last forty years. From his earliest days of subversive, darkly comical morality tales that took him to the furthest corners of society, to the present moment where he has engaged with many…
The Power of the Dog (2021)
As a cinematic population, we know better than to question Jane Campion or the decisions she makes when he endeavours to produce a film, even if this a surprisingly rare event (which only adds to the mythology surrounding the director, who is often regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of her generation, her name…
I Killed My Mother (2009)
When it comes to cinematic wunderkinder, few have had a career as impressive as Xavier Dolan, whose initial success came from the fact that he directed his first feature film at the young age of only twenty, an achievement that is all the more impressive considering his directorial debut wasn’t an amateur production, but rather…
The Mass Is Ended (1985)
We have a seemingly endless supply of films that focus on the intimate lives of priests, ranging from the stark realism of Robert Bresson’s Diary of a Country Priest, to the politically-charged complexities of Paul Schrader’s First Reformed, to the outright terrifying brutalism of Maurice Pialat’s Under the Sun of Satan. We’ve seen many stories…
Wild Indian (2021)
I’ll start with a bold statement – Wild Indian is one of the year’s best films, and yet very few people seem to be talking about it. The film, which is the feature-length directorial debut of Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr., is one of the many fantastic works produced by and within the Native American community,…
Sitcom (1998)
While his name has come to be associated with a range of prestige dramas and well-constructed comedies, there was a time when François Ozon was more known for his transgressive, boundary-pushing films that were the embodiment of bad taste in a way that no one else of his generation seemed willing to work. This is…
King Richard (2021)
There is nothing particularly remarkable about King Richard, the biographical drama that recounts the formative years of Venus and Serena Williams, as filtered through the perspective of Richard, their hard-working father who did everything he could to make sure that his plans to raise a couple of the greatest tennis players came to fruition. The…
After the Curfew (1954)
There are two major schools of literature that explore the post-war experience – the first are those that look at the literal destruction caused by conflict, whether it be physical in the form of cities ravaged by warfare, or the more long-lasting kind, which focuses on the social and economic changes. The second category contains…
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)
As far as unconventional cultural icons go, there are few more legendary than the woman who carried the surnames Bakker and Messner at different points in her life, but is most lovingly known by the name Tammy Faye. Starting out as the obedient, god-fearing wife of a hedonistic televangelist, and eventually turning into something of…
Dial M for Murder (1954)
There are many distinctive signs of a great director – whether it be a strong visual style, the ability to extract strong performances from their actors, or just the general skillfulness needed to entertain an audience. My personal belief is that any talented director should be able to take a strong script that contains only…
The Postmodern Pelican 