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postmodernpelican.bsky.social
@postmodernpelican.bsky.social
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postmodernpelican.bsky.social
A POET (Simón Mesa Soto, 2025)

★★★★★☆☆

"One of the year’s most surprisingly daring works, and a masterful examination of a number of themes, A Poet is quite an achievement, even at its more challenging and intentionally incomprehensible"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/28/a...
A Poet (2025)
Living the life of a creative person is not always easy – for every world-renowned artist, there are a thousand who genuinely believe that they have the potential to make it in the industry, …
postmodernpelican.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:12 PM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
THEY LIVE (John Carpenter, 1988)

★★★★★☆☆

"One of the greatest pieces of satirical science fiction ever produced"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/31/t...
They Live (1988)
The general principle behind satire is that it needs to occupy one of two extremes – either, it needs to be subtle enough that we don’t realize what is being conveyed until a crucial mo…
postmodernpelican.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:15 AM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
CAUGHT STEALING (Darren Aronofsky, 2025)

★★★★★☆☆

"Offbeat, daring and frequently quite engaging, Caught Stealing is an unexpected triumph"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/28/c...
Caught Stealing (2025)
Some filmmakers immediately establish their identity from the start of their careers and essentially ride a wave of popularity for the rest of their lives. Then some seem to take some time to fully…
postmodernpelican.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:50 PM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
THE MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGET (Phil Rosen, 1942)

★★★★☆☆☆

"A tremendously entertaining and genuinely unsettling experimental film"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/26/t...
The Mystery of Marie Rogêt (1942)
Few authors earned their reputation more than Edgar Allan Poe, and his status as the quintessential master of the macabre, his style being embraced as some of the most important literature ever to …
postmodernpelican.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:47 PM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
EEPHUS (Carson Lund, 2025)

★★★★★☆☆

"A wonderfully effervescent, captivating blend of comedy and drama, destined to become a defining work of this decade"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/25/e...
Eephus (2025)
The term “eephus” is not particularly well-known to those of us who do not follow baseball. However, it is defined as a particular kind of pitch in which the ball is thrown with a relat…
postmodernpelican.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:46 AM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE (Scott Cooper, 2025)

★★☆☆☆☆☆

"Dull and unnecessary, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is a major disappointment, and a film that required much more nuance to actually leave a genuine impression"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/24/s...
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025)
I want to start with a brief story – in early 2014, I was in a strange place. I had just turned eighteen and was dealing with the challenges of finishing high school and entering a new stage …
postmodernpelican.com
November 16, 2025 at 8:45 PM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
LOST IN SEPARATION (Rainer Kaufmann, 2019)

★★★★☆☆☆

"A fun, entertaining and very charming comedy that knows how to approach the material without it feeling overwrought or unnecessarily convoluted"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/23/l...
Lost in Separation (2019)
Falling in love is easy, but maintaining that relationship is the challenge – so many stories have been built on this simple philosophical premise, it is surprising that people still tend to …
postmodernpelican.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:43 PM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
THE JERK (Carl Reiner, 1979)

★★★★★☆☆

"The Jerk is a comedic masterpiece, a well-crafted comedy with as much heart as it has a taste for artistic anarchy"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/22/t...
The Jerk (1979)
In the canon of works that are not only vitally important to the development of American humour, but vital to the entire cinematic process, we have The Jerk, a film that was initiated as a flight o…
postmodernpelican.com
November 16, 2025 at 8:42 AM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
BLUE MOON (Richard Linklater, 2025)

★★★★☆☆☆

"A work of extraordinary simplicity and neverending charm, being as funny and insightful as it is poignant and thought-provoking"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/21/b...
Blue Moon (2025)
While it is true that a piece of art should be able to stand on its own, where the context around its creation shouldn’t be a factor in the extent to which we enjoy it, there are some cases w…
postmodernpelican.com
November 15, 2025 at 8:40 PM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
TOP GUN (Tony Scott, 1986)

★★☆☆☆☆☆

"Top Gun is a film that earns its ire, especially in how it sometimes feels like it is looking at important matters through a lens that almost invalidates the reality on which it is based"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/20/t...
Top Gun (1986)
When it comes to films that are ordained as classics of cinema, you get two general groups – there are those that earn their reputation (either exceeding expectations or simply meeting them),…
postmodernpelican.com
November 15, 2025 at 1:39 PM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
URCHIN (Harris Dickinson, 2025)

★★★★★☆☆

"A film that covers an abundance of fascinating themes, each one more complex and engaging than the last"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/11/10/u...
Urchin (2025)
In her book Regarding the Pain of Others, Susan Sontag critically discussed how we position ourselves as empathetic beings, expressing our desire to help those who are less fortunate than us – but …
postmodernpelican.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:37 AM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
BLUE MOON (Richard Linklater, 2025)

★★★★☆☆☆

"A fascinating character study that isn’t always consistent in what it wants to say, but proves to be wholeheartedly exciting in ways that we may not initially realise"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/21/b...
Blue Moon (2025)
While it is true that a piece of art should be able to stand on its own, where the context around its creation shouldn’t be a factor in the extent to which we enjoy it, there are some cases w…
postmodernpelican.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:28 PM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
MY FAVOURITE CAKE (Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam, 2024)

★★★★☆☆☆

"A melancholic affair that is both a celebration of life and a poignant manifesto to its various challenges"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/19/m...
My Favourite Cake (2024)
Is it ever too late to start again? This is a question that has been asked since time immemorial and has been the subject of constant pondering by a range of philosophers. Social critics alike, who…
postmodernpelican.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:15 PM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
CHICKEN AND DUCK TALK (Michael Hui, 1988)

★★★★★☆☆

"A tremendously entertaining and oddly meaningful foray into the absurdity of everyday life"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/18/c...
Chicken and Duck Talk (1988)
Two art forms that have proven to be unexpectedly compatible bedfellows are cinema and cuisine, with food and film going together remarkably well, especially in instances when the two are combined.…
postmodernpelican.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:00 AM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE (Mona Fastvold, 2025)

★★★★★★☆

"The Testament of Ann Lee is a masterful musical drama that tackles intimidating subjects with poise, elegance and genuine curiosity, the results being both deeply disturbing and relentlessly sincere"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/17/t...
The Testament of Ann Lee (2025)
There are some topics that are naturally more suitable to the cinematic form, based on their universality and the fact that we can usually relate to them thoroughly in one way or another. However, …
postmodernpelican.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:15 PM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
MATT AND MARA (Kazik Radwanski, 2024)

★★★★★☆☆

"Matt and Mara is an exceptional examination of a number of compelling themes, handcrafted by a filmmaker whose ambition certainly matches his incredible ability to tell such stunning, intricately-woven stories"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/16/m...
Matt and Mara (2024)
Change is good – there isn’t anyone who has ever benefited from remaining the same, and whether it’s small shifts in attitudes or an entire overhaul of your identity and its exter…
postmodernpelican.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:43 PM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
AFTER THE HUNT (Luca Guadagnino, 2025)

★★★☆☆☆☆

"Not a very good film, and we discover quite early that After the Hunt is not going to do much in terms of realising its potential"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/09/a...
After the Hunt (2025)
We live in a time where watching your words has never been more essential. Even the simplest of statements, or a joke delivered to the wrong audience, could land someone in a position where their e…
postmodernpelican.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:40 PM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
ELEANOR THE GREAT (Scarlett Johansson, 2025)

★★★☆☆☆☆

"A generic film as far as its themes tend to go, and it struggles to elevate itself beyond the bare minimum"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/14/e...
Eleanor the Great (2025)
If you could be anyone for a day, who would you choose to be? No doubt the answer would run the gamut, from historical figures to world-renowned icons, or perhaps a more humble individual would cho…
postmodernpelican.com
October 22, 2025 at 4:07 PM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
MY SWEET LITTLE VILLAGE (Jiří Menzel, 1985)

★★★★☆☆☆

"A film that is as intellectually stimulating as it is emotionally warm, the two qualities working in tandem to create a truly unique experience"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/13/m...
My Sweet Little Village (1985)
Everyone who has lived in a major city or urban area has likely at some point in their life imagined the joys that would come from leaving the hustle and bustle of whatever metropolis that defines …
postmodernpelican.com
October 22, 2025 at 8:01 AM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN (Olivier Assayas, 2025)

★★★★★★☆

"Not the apex of the director’s work, but a reliable and entertaining thriller formed in the model of the kind of political potboilers that were dominant in previous decades"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/12/t...
The Wizard of the Kremlin (2025)
We are often misled into thinking that the head of state is the most powerful position one can be in, at least in terms of governance. These are the elected officials who are chosen by their popula…
postmodernpelican.com
October 21, 2025 at 4:05 PM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
BOX
October 21, 2025 at 8:01 AM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
In celebration of his newest cinematic triumph, I've dedicated another edition of my ongoing series assessing the careers of some of the greatest filmmakers to Paul Thomas Anderson, ranking all of his films and discussing each one of them.

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/15/t...
The Long(er) Take: The Career of…Paul Thomas Anderson (1970 – present)
At least once a year, I have been doing these features under a series I’ve called The Long Take, in which the premise is simple: choose a filmmaker I admire and gradually explore their work from be…
postmodernpelican.com
October 20, 2025 at 4:16 PM
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NOUVELLE VAGUE (Richard Linklater, 2025)

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

"Unnecessary and dull, Nouvelle Vague is a misfire, and a film that simply did not need to be made, especially when this is the final product"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/10/n...
Nouvelle Vague (2025)
There are few moments in cinema history more vital than the birth of the French New Wave, and regardless of how one feels about the movement or the artists involved in it, we cannot ignore the impa…
postmodernpelican.com
October 19, 2025 at 8:15 AM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
THE PENGUIN LESSONS (Peter Cattaneo, 2025)

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆☆☆

"Charming, heartfelt and always funny, the film is a triumph, capturing the heart and soul of this touching true-life story with genuine empathy,"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/06/t...
The Penguin Lessons (2025)
Education is the profession that makes all other professions possible – it’s a common saying, but one that has never wavered in its importance or relevance. Some even consider teaching …
postmodernpelican.com
October 18, 2025 at 4:03 PM
postmodernpelican.bsky.social
EDDINGTON (Ari Aster, 2025)

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

"a film that is designed to divide and unite in equal measure, a work of unmitigated brilliance by a director who has never felt impelled to explain anything to his audience"

postmodernpelican.com/2025/10/09/e...
Eddington (2025)
Every year, we find filmmakers who immediately skyrocket to the public consciousness, either through their directorial debut or through making a film that quickly establishes them as essential new …
postmodernpelican.com
October 18, 2025 at 8:00 AM