If there was ever a lesson to be learned from crime films made during the Golden Age of Hollywood, it was that crime doesn’t pay. It was incredibly rare to find a film focused on a criminal that ends with them getting away with the crime, or at least not facing some consequences as a…
Carnival Night (1956)
As one of the formative voices in Russian cinema, Eldar Ryazanov had quite a bit to prove them it came to defining his national cinema. His two-part film The Irony of Fate is arguably the greatest comedy to ever come out of the country, and many of his other films (such as my personal favourite,…
Undine (2021)
Undine is the kind of film that becomes more meaningful after having seen it. Christian Petzold is an undeniably gifted filmmaker, but his brand of hyper-intelligent cultural critiques often work better once the viewer has had some time to digest the work and come to terms with its innumerable themes on our own time. The…
The Red Balloon (1956)
As clichéd of an expression as it may be, there are some films that truly define the concept of dynamite coming in small packages. We’ve seen short films produced over the years that manage to be beautiful, poetic and thoroughly entertaining works – but one of them truly shows how valuable time is, in the…
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Steven Spielberg is the kind of director who, when he hits the mark, can legitimately make a case for one of the most captivating filmmakers of his generation, but can also be accused of insincerity when his work isn’t particularly strong, and clearly just the result of a small idea and a large budget. However,…
The Queen (1968)
In the canon of iconic queer films, The Queen has always held a very special status, being one of the first documentaries that explicitly looked into the lives of members of the LGBTQIA+ community. In this instance, Frank Simon was documenting the preparations around the 1967 edition of the Miss All-America Camp Beauty Contest pageant…
All Hail Elaine May
When it comes to Elaine May, she is much more than just a well-known director and screenwriter – she’s the epitome of a Hollywood institution, an icon of the entertainment industry that has somehow managed to wear every proverbial hat in the business, especially at times when being a woman in Hollywood was not particularly…
The Girl from Missouri (1934)
When it comes to Hollywood in the 1930s, any devotee is likely to have a good working knowledge of the Pre-Code era, the time between the peak of silent cinema and the introduction of the Hays Code, which sought to dictate what could be portrayed on screen, placing particular emphasis on stringent rules that prevented…
Peas and Whiskers (1986)
Håna (Gösta Ekman) is a bit of a loser – he doesn’t have a steady job, relying on some lacklustre attempts to start a business to get by. This arrangement works splendidly for him, since he is mostly funded by his mother (Margaretha Krook), a wealthy dowager who proclaims herself to be the widow of…
The Last Shift (2020)
Albion, Michigan is not a particularly pleasant place to live, often being referred to by derogatory names, mostly by its residents, who don’t see anything particularly positive about the small town. One of the staples of the community is Oscar’s Chicken and Fish, a regional chain of fast-food restaurants that is just as gaudy as…
The Postmodern Pelican 