When it comes to bad films, something that is not often discussed in much detail is that, if one waits long enough, even the worst films tend to have some kind of critical re-evaluation, even if it is small and restricted to quite a limited group of individuals. Every film considered the worst will be…
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023)
Animation is perhaps the last frontier when it comes to studios asserting enough considerable control over the productions that they become a brand, usually indicating an unimpeachable sense of quality. Whether Pixar, Disney or Studio Ghibli, the idea that these massively successful companies would produce anything below-par is almost unimaginable. Yet, the one studio that…
The Tied Up Balloon (1967)
Satire may take on many different forms, but there are generally two major ways to categorize it as a form of artistic expression – there are those satires in which the purpose is made quite clear and those that use allegory to the point where the viewer may need additional context to fully unpack the…
Monster (2023)
A couple of decades ago, Anne Carson wrote perhaps the greatest verse novel of the 20th century in the form of An Autobiography of Red, a daring and provocative work that centres on a modernised version of Geryon, a figure drawn from Greek mythology, mainly serving as one of the adversaries that stood in Herakles’…
The Lost King (2022)
They often say reality is stranger than fiction – it’s a well-worn adage that has reached the point of almost being a cliche, but it is still one that applies in certain cases. In this instance, its the story of Phillipa Langley, the working-class mother who decided to become an amateur historian based on a…
Citizen Saint (2023)
It was quite a notorious figure who once remarked that the easiest way to make a fortune is to start a religion. In the case of the inhabitants of a small mining town in Georgia, they discover an even more profitable way to become wealthy, which is the sudden discovery of a miner that has…
Good Grief (2024)
We all deal with death at some point in our lives – whether a friend or family member or even our inevitable demise, there comes a time when we have to come to terms with this enormous inevitability. There isn’t any good time for someone to die, but there is an additional layer of sadness…
Babe (1995)
Nostalgia is a powerful tool that not a lot of filmmakers have been able to harness particularly well, at least not in the sense of creating films that can be revisited later on and remain as resonant as they were when they were released, which is a tricky process that very few have managed to…
Tootsie (1982)
When it comes to comedy, a film can go one of three ways – the first option is that it becomes hopelessly dated as time goes on, especially if it is a very topic subject. The second is that it maintains its level of humour and is viewed as a funny but otherwise inconsequential product…
American Fiction (2023)
There is something magical that occurs when a cultural critic decides to step away from their podium and instead pursues the kind of work that they previously endeavoured to critique and discuss from afar. In the case of Cord Jefferson and his directorial debut American Fiction proved to be one of the most successful and…
The Postmodern Pelican 