The New Classics: The Descent

Michael Cusumano here to discuss the movie scene that scared me more than any other in my adult life.

There are some tried and true rules of horror filmmaking that get trotted out whenever the topic is discussed. There is The Hitchcock Rule about the difference between suspense and surprise, and The Jaws Rule about withholding the monster from view until absolutely necessary. I propose adding a new rule to the list of horror maxims: The Descent Rule, named after Neil Marshall’s 2005 terrifying excursion into the caves of Appalachia: Structure your story so that it’s scary even if the main threat never arrived. 

Scene: The Tunnel
The Descent didn’t invent this principle, of course...

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A moment of contemplation and anger. What will future movies say about this time in American history?

by Nathaniel R

I've hesitated writing anything about the current state of the US since this isn't a politics site but a film site. But it's naturally been difficult to concentrate on movies these past few days. You may have noticed the postings were fairly sparse after our big Friday event (which was recorded a couple of weeks back). The real world is definitely burning. Sometimes you can only stare at the flames and wonder how much they'll consume. And wonder what is your individual and/or collective place in stoking them or extinguishing them, because aren't we always doing one or the other if we're not preventing them in the first place?

The US is a scary place right now. It's an especially scary time for black people of course. Black Lives Matter. That should be obvious to everyone. It's soul-crushing that it still apparently isn't to far too many people. The US has an anger problem (in general) but in this case the anger fueling the protests is entirely justified...

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Almost There: Taron Egerton in "Rocketman"

by Cláudio Alves

Because it's Pride Month and Rocketman is new to streaming on Hulu and Amazon Prime, this week's Almost There subject is Taron Egerton in Dexter Fletcher's Elton John biopic. In the most recent awards season, this Welsh actor probably came quite close to an Oscar nomination, both thanks to his performance as well as his aggressive campaigning. The nature of his role helped too, of course. Biopic roles are, literally, the Academy's favorite flavor of Oscar bait. Still, in the year after Bohemian Rhapsody's controversial victories, Rocketman had to content itself with a Best Original Song win. As for Egerton, he got Golden Globe, BAFTA and SAG nods, but failed to secure the Oscar nomination, ending up just outside the Best Actor lineup…

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Curio: Movie-Loving Face Masks

Curated by Nathaniel R

Here's a PSA for you. Since we've rebooted the Curio column, dedicated to movie art, we figured we should point out that you can have your art on your PPE. Face masks are the new norm, so here's  a way to make this uncomfortable reality a little more fun and tolerable. Show off your fandom...  

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Jo March across time

by Cláudio Alves

19192019

Since its original publication, Louisa May Alcott's Little Women has been one of the most beloved works of American Literature. Even beyond the US, Alcott's semiautobiographical novel has had a great impact, becoming many a young girl's beloved book for over a century. Considering such success, it's no wonder that the story of the four March sisters was quick to jump from the page to the big screen. The first cinematic adaptations way back in the silent era in 1917 and 1918.

Unfortunately, those two features have been lost, though we still have four widely available talkies based on the novel. Let's look at those four features after the jump...

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