I remember, many years ago, I saw a film called Holy Man, and I did enjoy it, despite it being nothing particularly memorable. It was a film that didn’t exactly define my cinematic education, but it was an entertaining one. In recent years, with the internet giving access to more extensive views and criticisms, I…
Blood (1989)
Regarding European cinema, there are few contemporary filmmakers that interest me as much as Pedro Costa, the great Portuguese filmmaker who has a reputation for meaningful, complex films that show a different side of his country. Not only do I feel a patriotic connection to him based on our shared cultural background, I consider him…
The Kings of Summer (2013)
The coming-of-age story is certainly not one that is lacking in terms of literature, particularly cinema. There are few stories quite as resonant as those about growing up, due to the fact that most of us, regardless of our upbringings, can relate to the insecurity, uncertainty, and anxiety of getting older. These kinds of stories…
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
There have been very few franchises that have been formative in the lives of many people as Star Wars. Despite the franchise only entering slightly later in my life than it should have, I can understand fully why George Lucas’ masterpiece of a space opera has been the definitive moment in the childhoods of multitudes…
sex, lies, and videotape (1989)
Over the course of a very prolific career, Steven Soderbergh has made a remarkably diverse set of films, ranging in genre and subject matter, bounding from convention to convention in a filmography that many filmmakers cannot attest to. Personally, I have a contentious relationship with Soderbergh, insofar as I oscillate between considering a true genius…
Inside Man (2006)
There are many reasons why I admire Spike Lee so relentlessly, but the most important one is that he is one of the few filmmakers who gives me exactly what I desire in a film – memorable stories, interesting characters, notable filmmaking style, and a great song over the opening credits (the most important aspect…
Thoroughbreds (2018)
What is it about a debut film that excites me so much? There is something so profoundly fascinating about the first film of a filmmaker’s career – and we can look back at the early work of any of the great stalwarts of cinema and find clues in their debuts that would evolve into their…
Black Girl (1966)
I’ve recently decided to broaden my horizons slightly and move out of my comfort zone (even if, based on my diverse taste in a wide-range of genres, I don’t have a well-defined comfort zone). One of my resolutions was to explore some unheralded cinema, such as films made in Africa, which have remained shockingly under-represented…
You Were Never Really Here (2018)
Lynne Ramsay has made four feature-length films, each of which have been tense, gritty and relentlessly realistic views of society, with Ramsay being particularly adept at showing the most explicit and shocking version of humanity through her films. Her latest film is You Were Never Really Here, a brutal crime thriller that manages to be…
Still Walking (2008)
Recently, in celebration of his victory of winning the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, I chose to watch a film by Hirokazu Kore-eda, a filmmaker I have been very aware of but had not had the opportunity to explore for myself yet. The film I opted to watch was Still Walking (Japanese:…
The Postmodern Pelican 