There are some themes that we can consider universal when it comes to understanding the root of what drives us to create art – and while there are the more obvious choices, such as love, family and death (the trio of topics to which nearly every work of art can be traced), others are slightly…
Tag: reviews
Prizzi’s Honor (1985)
There’s a concept that tends to emerge in media from time to time, which is the idea that someone realises their life is in danger, but the person they fear is not some foreboding stranger, but rather someone very close to them, whether it’s a family member or lover. We’ve seen a few works over…
Sorry, Baby (2025)
There are some subjects so profoundly difficult to discuss that the idea of making a film about them, especially a comedy, is beyond unfathomable. Yet, nothing is truly impossible when we find a perfect blend of good intentions and strong storytelling skills, which is where we can situate ourselves with Sorry, Baby, a film that…
The Milky Way (1936)
It takes a very special person to keep audiences engaged while still redefining the art of cinema – and has anyone been more committed to this than Leo McCarey, a revolutionary filmmaker who rose beyond simply being a director-for-hire, crafting his own unique vision all the while challenging the confines of the medium that was…
Casper (1995)
Some characters are so extremely simple in design and purpose that they become timeless and live on long after their creators have departed, leaving behind a legacy that only becomes stronger with age. It was just under eighty years ago when audiences were first introduced to Casper the Friendly Ghost, whose reputation as the most…
One Battle After Another (2025)
We live in uncertain – and frankly quite terrifying – times, where nothing seems to make sense, politicians are the least trustworthy of all public figures, and we constantly seem to be on the edge of societal collapse, the decline of the culture seemingly being only a single word away. Yet, we continue to press…
Woman of the Year (1942)
We have seen countless examples of films that take a bold, universally applicable concept and reconfigure it to be the foundation for a hilarious and irreverent comedy. When George Stevens opted to direct the film based on the screenplay by Ring Lardner Jr. and Michael Kanin (whose brother was Garson Kanin, who in turn worked…
A House of Dynamite (2025)
When I was younger and far more anxious, I had a history teacher who was intent on educating his students on the nature of the world and how it functions – and when it came time to discuss nuclear war, he told us “don’t panic until they panic”, with the “they” in this instance referring…
Late Bloomers (2011)
They say the only part of life more difficult than falling in love is maintaining the spark. For many longtime couples, it feels like the passion disappears after a while and is replaced with pleasant boredom more than anything else. While many of us may not be able to attest to having firsthand experience, it…
The Birthday Party (2025)
There’s nothing like family, a sentiment with which we all tend to agree – the only deviation comes in the form of determining whether it evokes positive or negative feelings in an individual, which is one of the reasons why it has become a topic frequently explored in every possible medium. Its the foundation for…
The Postmodern Pelican 