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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April Foolish Predix Pt 3: Directors and Screenplays

The even more foolish (in light of the current pandemic) annual tradition of "April Foolish Predictions" continues. As ever we're trying to suss out the Oscar race a year in advance. Well, 10 months in advance if you're getting nitpicky. We've previously covered Animated Features, Visual Categories, Music and Sound. Here's the index of predictions.

SCREENPLAYS
Depending on what happens with the calendar in terms of movie theaters reopening and distributor confidence Original Screenplay will be slimmer than usual. But how slim...?

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Have you caught up with "Cats" on streaming yet?

by Eric Blume

While many Americans are talking about their life in terms of Before and After the Pandemic, I'm now talking about my life in terms of Before and After watching Cats the movie.  The much-maligned Tom Hooper musical opus is currently available on iTunes and Amazon, so I felt I should give it a shot after all the chatter, here, and elsewhere.  But beware, kind viewer:  once you've seen this movie, there is no coming back.

Preface that I am not a "Cats" hater (or even a cats hater...they're not dogs, but that's not their fault).  I saw the almost-original Broadway production back when it was all the rage, so I have a tender spot for it in my heart...

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"Emma." and the matter of adaptation

by Cláudio Alves

The COVID-19 pandemic has confined us to our homes, making social distancing the rule and going to the movies an impossibility. Faced with such a threat, some studios have made their most recent movies available for rental and streaming online. Universal, for instance, has made it possible to watch Autumn De Wilde and Eleanor Catton's Emma. within the safety of our homes. After watching it, you might even like to read some reviews on the subject. As it often happens with challenging works of Art, many contrasting opinions can be found if you care to look. More interesting is the manner of these contrasts -- different people seem to have watched completely different movies…

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Review: The new "Emma."

by Lynn Lee

Now that we’ve revisited past Emma adaptations like 1996's Miramax release and 1995's Clueless, courtesy of Claudio, it’s time to turn our attention to the latest version, which just went wide last week.  It’s a production of relative newcomers, marking the directorial and screenwriting debuts, respectively, of photographer Autumn de Wilde and Booker Prizewinning New Zealand novelist Eleanor Catton, and starring a cast of mostly fresh faces headed by rising star Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch).  Whatever it’s lacking in big names it certainly makes up for in indie credit.

The result is an Emma that’s bright, fun, and funny – not attaining the sublime heights of Clueless but more successful than the 1996 Miramax version with Gwyneth Paltrow...

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