Horror Actressing: Jena Malone in "The Ruins"

by Jason Adams

I've talked a lot in my "Great Moments in Horror Actressing" series about the ritualized magic that can be summoned on-screen when an actor can get across genuine fear to an audience, but I've talked less about that emotion's trickier parasitic twin -- when an actress is called upon to display weakness. Fear in the context of a horror movie is acceptable -- we show up to these films to live through our fears vicariously; to ride on the Final Girl's coattails through the thorny weeds of nighttime terrors and to triumph over them, standing tall in the dawn.

But weakness, weakness is a slap in the face. A character that makes the wrong decisions over and over again, one who doesn't seem capable in the moment of learning from them, well who wants to watch that? These characters make us angry, sometimes viscerally so -- think of the long standing sneers that've met Shelley Duvall's Wendy Torrance in The Shining or Judith O'Dea's Barbra in Night of the Living Dead. Queens the both, and yet their trembling lips and wet noses inspire such vitriol from so many. Well you can and should definitely add to the whimpering, simpering heap of queens Jena Malone's Amy in Carter Smith's 2008 "When Plants Attack!" film The Ruins.

Amy just can't seem to catch a break...

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The New Classics: Amélie

By Michael Cusumano 

I worked at The Ritz art house theaters in Philadelphia when Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie was released in 2001. My location was the smallest in the chain so we’d never get the hotly anticipated indie titles. However, when it came time to program Amélie somebody goofed and decided it would be a good fit for my location. We couldn’t pack the mobs in tight enough. Jeunet’s giddy Parisian carousel sold out screenings for nine months straight. I watched a lot of theaters empty out in my years at the movies, but there was something about the beaming smiles on Amélie’s crowds as they stumbled out of the darkness that stands out in the memory. 

Since then the knock against Amélie is not that its highs aren’t real, but that they are sugar highs. Empty calories. Like a five-course meal sculpted entirely from marzipan. I get it. It’s easy to imagine skimming across the surface charms of Jeunet’s Paris like one of Amélie’s skipping stones without ever engaging the intellect. I can only reply that Amélie engages my intellect...

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Almost There: John Cazale in "Dog Day Afternoon"

by Cláudio Alves

On March 13th, 1978, John Cazale died of lung cancer at the age of 42. Before his untimely end, the Massachusetts-born actor had amassed an impressive list of credits, both on stage and onscreen. His filmography, as far as features are concerned, is of particular interest and amazement. He appeared in five films, six if you count The Godfather Part III, all of which were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar (a record!). Not only that, but his quintet from the 70s (The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Deer Hunter) represents a list of era-defining classics.

Of them, 1975's Dog Day Afternoon was surely the closest the actor ever came to a much-deserved Oscar nomination…

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Yes No Maybe So: Rebecca (2020)

I don't have the strength for a full Yes No Maybe So so it's BYO...YNMS  time in the comments!

But briefly, let's say. Yes: Kristin Scott Thomas looks promising (though is that her shouting at the end because that sounds like... too much ; Maybe So: The title font is kind of pretty with its understated flourishes; No: Why? As previously stated.

Emmy Review: Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

by Juan Carlos

We now reach this hotly contested category, consisting of Emmy favorites, Oscar winners, and a breakout performer. Aside from Regina King and Cate Blanchett, pundits were trying out several combinations of who would fill the remaining slots, especially with the decrease from six to five nominees. Unbelievable is competing for Limited Series, but neither of its widely predicted leads Merritt Wever or Kaitlyn Dever made it. Previous Emmy winners and nominees that were also in the running but didn't make it included Reese Witherspoon, Michelle Dockery, Helen Mirren, Ellie Kemper, and Aunjanue Ellis.

Without further ado, let's consider the lucky five who were nominated...  

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