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Quite a few movies based upon books are excellent, but some definitely are not. The 1995 Roland Joffé-directed adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's seminal novel "The Scarlet Letter" is perhaps one of the strongest examples of an adaptation that just didn't work, and for a variety of reasons. The film was absolutely decimated by critics upon its release and has a measly 13% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the most heavily-criticized aspect being the screenplay by Douglas Day Stewart, who also, bafflingly, wrote the Oscar-nominated script for "An Officer and a Gentleman." Perhaps his success with the romantic elements of that movie led Stewart to believe that turning Hawthorne's novel -- which is about an adulteress in 17th century Puritan Massachusetts trying to live her life after the fact -- into a kind of sultry tragic romance was a good idea, but the final result was a massive disaster. 

Joffé's "Scarlet...

Nothing quite screams the late aughts and early 2010's like a comedy loosely related to a classic work of literature. There was She's the Man starring Amanda Bynes, which was based on the William Shakespeare play Twelfth Night. There was the absolute classic that was 10 Things I Hate About You, starring Julia Styles and the late-great Heath Ledger, which was based on The Taming of the Shrew. In 2010, one comedy came about loosely related to Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Now, Easy A starring Emma Stone, is coming to Hulu next month.

Shot largely from the point of view of its two main characters, RaMell Ross’s masterly film takes you to the wrenching heart of this American south tale of brutal 60s racism

An unwritten rule of cinema is that great books very rarely make great movies. It’s not inevitable that a film adaptation of a literary classic will turn out to be a stinker, but plenty do: take Roland Joffe’s disposable and tawdry version of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Brian De Palma’s notorious butchering of Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities, and my personal nadir, Peter Jackson’s mangling of Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones. There are ways of side-stepping the curse of the literary adaptation, of course, a recent example being Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest, a picture that kept the title and the location of Martin Amis’s novel...

Released in 2004, director Robert Zemeckis' adaptation of The Polar Express is a modern Christmas classic. Based on Chris Van Allsburg's 1985 children's book of the same name, The Polar Express a fantastic film with thrilling moments, highlighting the magic of a round-trip journey to the North Pole. In fact, it's so fantastical that even the characters involved question whether the Polar Express was a dream.

It's easy to believe the adventures on the Polar Express didn't actually occur. After all, the story starts with the boy in his bed, falling asleep, and ends with him waking up on Christmas. The kids find themselves in mortal peril, and yet are never in any true danger, because much of the train ride has a dreamlike quality. It's only when the silver bell is unwrapped at the end that The Polar Express' veracity is proven.

Updated by Jordan Iacobucci on December 16, 2024: The Polar Express...

In this episode, we discuss some of the most important aesthetic issues in film and contemporary art.Alejandra Moffat is a Chilean dramaturge and writer. She has co-written relevan recent films from her country such as 1976, by Manuela Martelli; La casa lobo and Los hiperbóreos, by Joaquín Cociña and Cristóbal León, and Cuando las nubes esconden la sombra, by José Luis Torres Leiva, films presented in screens such as the Cannes Filmmakers Fortnight, the Berlinale, Jeonju and San Sebastián.She has written experimental films, documentaries, and animation projects, where the script is developed parallel to the production. In 2022, she published her first novel, Mambo.On the other hand, Juan Cardenas is a Colombian writer, author of seven novels and two books of short stories such as Los estratos, Zumbido, Ornamento and Elástico de sombra. In 2018, he was selected as part of Bogotá 39, of the Hay Festival, and in 2019 he won...

Fans of the horror genre are likely well aware that literary master Stephen King is no stranger to feature film adaptations of his work. In fact, over recent years, cinema has hit something of a renaissance for these adaptations, with movies like Gerald's Game, Doctor Sleep, and both chapters of It finding incredible critical and also financial success.

At the time of this writing, Stephen King has at least eleven adaptations currently in some stage of development, with titles like The Monkey, The Running Man, and The Long Walk likely to be released in 2025. But there's one terrifying Stephen King short story that you won't find on that list of titles: The Man in the Black Suit. Why hasn't it seen a feature film adaptation, and might it ever?

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Related 15 Amazing Horror Movies Recommended by Stephen King

Stephen King is one of the most influential figures in horror history,...

In maybe the best Saturday Night Live promo of the season so far, John Mulaney is joined by a surprise guest who wants to contribute some rather intricate, obscure and arcana-filled bits of writing for the new spot.

“Oh my God, Bob Dylan! What are you doing here?” Mulaney asks, surprised to see the rock icon in the studio.

Cut to cast member James Austin Johnson, trading his usual Trump drag for a wicked impression of latter-day Dylan.

“Season 50, they’re busting out the big guns,” this Dylan says in that unmistakable nasal drawl. “I won a Nobel in literature.”

So Mulaney agrees to give “Bob” a try, reading a cue card with the great one’s words: “Hey, it’s great to be back in the Big Apple. Herman Melville was born here, author of Moby Dick. That’s the ultimate fish story if you ask me.”

“Yeah, see that’s still off,...

Within the context of film discourse, the quote ‘every frame a painting’ is a figurative saying that refers to the fact that a movie is stunningly photographed to the point that each still image in isolation could stand as an artwork in and of itself. However, in the breathtaking work of Polish directors, Dk and Hugh Welchman, this takes a more literal meaning, as every frame of their films is indeed an oil painting handcrafted by a crew of around a hundred artists.

The Welchmans first used this arduous but incredibly rewarding animation technique in their previous film, the Oscar-nominated “Loving Vincent” (2017), which paid tribute to van Gogh by emulating his own brushwork, with the added difference of movement. Moreover, the color palette used for the film also resembled that found in the work of the late artist—different tonalities of blues, yellows, and greens. This time around, the filmmakers...

Get the latest scoop on everything you need to know about today’s Jeopardy! episode airing on Monday, 23 September 2024 including the Final Jeopardy, contestants and today’s winner!

Today’s Final Jeopardy 9/23/2024 (19th-Century Americans) – Monday, 23 September 2024

Among those who attended his 1864 funeral were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott & Franklin Pierce

Today’s Final Jeopardy Answer – Monday, 23 September 2024

The Final Jeopardy Answer is: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Final Jeopardy Explanation – Monday, 23 September 2024

The individual whose 1864 funeral was attended by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott, and Franklin Pierce was Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne was a prominent American novelist and short story writer, best known for his works “The Scarlet Letter” and “The House of the Seven Gables.” His death brought together these notable figures from different spheres—literature, education, and politics—highlighting the wide respect he garnered during his lifetime. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Bronson Alcott were both leading figures in the transcendentalist movement and prominent intellectuals of the era,...

Find out everything you need to know about the Jeopardy! Monday, 23 September 2024 episode, including the Final Jeopardy, answer and who won Jeopardy tonight!

Today’s Final Jeopardy – Monday, 23 September 2024

The Final Jeopardy for the Monday, 23 September 2024 episode is as follows:

Today's Final Jeopardy 19th-Century Americans - Among those who attended his 1864 funeral were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott & Franklin Pierce Today’s Final Jeopardy Answer – Monday, 23 September 2024

The answer for Today’s Final Jeopardy for the Monday, 23 September 2024 episode is:

Final Jeopardy Answer Who is Nathaniel Hawthorne? Who Won Jeopardy Tonight? – Monday, 23 September 2024

Looking to find out how the contestants did on Monday, 23 September 2024? Find out all the contestant scores below.

Returning ChampionContestantContestant Jen Feldman

Brooklyn, New York

High School Teacher

2 Day Winnings of $27,850

Final Score: $4,799

Round 2 Score: $8,800

Round 1 Score: $4,400David Erb

Seattle, Washington

Puzzle Designer

Winning Score: $17,655

Round 2 Score: $30,000

Round 1 Score: $5,000Dana Schwartz

Los Angeles, California

Writer

Final Score:...

Easy A is loosely based on the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and the ending draws inspiration from John Hughes' films. Olive Penderghast starts off as a nobody, but after a small lie to get out of dinner, she becomes the center of attention for her rumored sexual interactions, causing her to realize the negative side of notoriety. Easy A takes a strong anti-slut-shaming stance, emphasizing that women's sexual choices are nobody's business; however, some aspects of the film reinforce the very ideals it rejects, such as internalized misogyny and sexual shame.

The 2010 comedy movie Easy A tells a zany story with a resonant ending message that still matters today. When it comes to the best Emma Stone movies, many come to mind. However, few are as cherished as her breakout role in the teen comedy Easy A. The movie follows a teenage girl named Olive Penderghast, who...

Easy A, one of the best comedies of the 2010s, is now on Netflix. Easy A is a perfect companion to Anyone But You thanks to their similarities and connections. Despite their similarities, Easy A is a better movie than Anyone But You.

Netflixs catalog of movies continues to expand every week, and its now housing one of the most successful comedies from the 2010s, which is a must-watch after one of 2023s biggest box office hits. After a couple of rough years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, 2023 was a great year for cinema, with huge box office successes like Barbie and Oppenheimer, and others that became surprise hits, as was the case for Anyone But You. Loosely based on William Shakespeares Much Ado About Nothing, Anyone But You introduced the audience to Bea (Sydney Sweeney) and Ben (Glen Powell).

After a successful first date that soon turns sour, Bea...

Academy Award winner Emma Stone stars as Olive Penderghast in Easy A. Easy A marks Amanda Bynes' final film role. Other Easy A cast members include Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Lisa Kudrow, and more.

Easy A is one of the quintessential rom-coms of the 2010s, partly due to its all-star cast, which includes a two-time Academy Award-winning actress and a handful of Emmy Award-winning performers. The 2010 teen romantic comedy, directed by Will Gluck and written by Bert V. Royal, is partially inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's renowned 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter as it depicts a teenager, played by Emma Stone, who becomes known as the school's resident tramp. Similar to Hester in The Scarlet Letter, Easy A's protagonist dons a scarlet "A" on her clothing to embrace her perceived identity.

Emma Stone was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her...

Anya Taylor-Joy shines in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, flawlessly stepping into Charlize Theron's shoes and delivering a strong lead performance. The Witch showcases Taylor-Joy's talent for playing enigmatic figures, blending isolation and sympathy in her portrayal of Thomasin. Both Furiosa and The Witch highlight Taylor-Joy's ability to convey complex emotions, making her a standout in enigmatic roles.

Anya Taylor-Joy has rapidly become one of the most recognizable actors in the entertainment industry, thanks to a string of memorable roles in the likes of The Menu, The Queen's Gambit, Split and Last Night in Soho. She plays the lead in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and earned copious praise for her nearly silent portrayal of the post-apocalyptic warrior. She takes over from Charlize Theron, who memorably played an older Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road.

Taylor-Joy fills Theron's very large shoes admirably, adding another strong leading...

Before "Star Wars," there was "Thx 1138." A strange, dystopic science fiction movie packed with big ideas up to its eyeballs, "Thx 1138" is now mostly known as the feature directorial debut of one George Walton Lucas Jr. (though it also came back in conversation when the best episode of "Andor" paid homage to it). The future Lucasfilm founder originally created this story of repressed emotions and stymied sexuality as a student film, but by the time it was reimagined as a feature, it had gained backing from Warner Bros.

Lucas' American Zoetrope co-founder Francis Ford Coppola also had faith in the movie, and served as one of its producers. "Thx 1138" starred Robert Duvall, then already known for his work on stage and television, not to mention in films like "To Kill A Mockingbird," "M*A*S*H," and "True Grit." Future "Halloween" actor Donald Pleasence co-starred, along with a then-unknown actress named Maggie McOmie.

A subtle reference to Easy A in Anyone But You hints at a potential romcom cinematic universe. Natasha Bedingfield songs connect Easy A and Anyone But You, showcasing the director's musical tastes. A sequel to Anyone But You could mark Emma Stone's romcom comeback with a possible love triangle storyline.

Anyone But You includes a surprising connection to a fan-favorite 15-year-old romantic comedy starring Emma Stone that could create a shared romcom cinematic universe. With a high-concept premise and two up-and-coming stars in the lead roles, Anyone But You succeeded by bringing back a style of star-studded romcom that was thought to be a thing of the past. Loosely adapted from William Shakespeares Much Ado About Nothing, Anyone But You stars Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney as two people who hate each other, pretend to be in a relationship, and end up falling in love.

Shared cinematic universes are...

Short stories in the horror genre can be more terrifying than novels due to their ability to hold readers in haunting suspense and push their imagination. Classic short stories by authors like Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft serve as great inspiration for long-form screen adaptations, as proven by Mike Flanagan's Fall of the House of Usher miniseries. There are countless short stories, from Algernon Blackwood's "The Wendigo" to Octavia E. Butler's "Bloodchild," that deserve to be transformed into chilling horror movies.

Sometimes shorter is better when it comes to the horror genre. Due in part to their word-count restraints, short stories can often be more terrifying than novels. Writers aren't tasked with keeping the terror or suspense high for hundreds of pages. Instead, short stories hold readers in their haunting grasp and push them to imagine what's happening just beyond the page. That said, classic short...

Clockwise from upper left: Fast X (Universal), Asteroid City (Focus), The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Universal), Renfield (Universal)Graphic: AVClub

With so many streaming services tied to corporate parents who are all bleeding money now that the digital gravy train has plunged off the digital cliff, it’s hard to...

Anyone But You is a rom-com that revives a trope from the 90s and 00s with a clever twist. The movie is based on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and features a plot filled with deception and romantic complications. Unlike other Shakespeare adaptations of the past, Anyone But You earns its R-rating with explicit content, making it feel more innovative and distinct from its predecessors.

Not only does Anyone But You revive a rom-com trope from the late '90s and early ‘00s, but the movie improves on this convention with a clever new twist. Anyone But You stars Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell as Bea and Ben. A law student and a stockbroker, Bea and Ben meet by chance and share a magical night only for a mutual misunderstanding to leave them both bitter and regretful the next day. The two steer clear of each other but when Ben...

Of all the rude, crass, self-absorbed, ridiculous, inappropriate criminals on "Futurama" -- that is to say, most of the characters on the show -- none is more worthy of censure than Captain Zapp Brannigan (Billy West). Zapp works for Doop, an organization similar to the Federation from "Star Trek," but far more trigger-happy and willing to engage in resource theft. Zapp commands a massive warship called the Nimbus, although the craft is not half as big as Zapp's ego. Zapp is narcissistic, over-sexualized, vain, crude, uncaring, obsessed with velour, and endlessly abusive to his first officer Kif (Maurice Lamarche) whom he uses as a towel in the show's latest episode. West once said in an interview with Vanity Fair that Zapp Brannigan was what might have happened if William Shatner, the actor, was in charge of the starship Enterprise instead of Captain Kirk.

In the series' newest episode, "Zapp Gets Canceled,...

Recognized as two of the most popular female Batman villains, the fiendish pair of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy is more than just Gotham City Sirens. Their friendship has transpired into something more through both the canon of the comics and an extension of other DC-owned media. Fans were eager to "ship" them — or imagine Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy in a relationship — and DC Comics quickly caught on. The duo of evil-doers was never intended to end up as romantic partners at all, but ultimately their shared disdain for the patriarchal rule of society fed into a relationship on the outskirts of the mainstream. Their affinity for one another is complex, which makes the relationship between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy an unlikely but oddly fulfilling one.

Updated May 17, 2023, by Katie Downey: DC fans, this article has been updated with more information regarding Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy...

Vin Diesel, Daniela Melchior in Fast X Photo: Universal Studios What did we do to deserve Vin Diesel, that manly man of a vintage they haven’t been bottling since the heyday of Axl Rose’s first bandana? Vin’s tough but he’s tender. He puts women on the...

Vin Diesel, Daniela Melchior in Fast XPhoto: Universal Studios

What did we do to deserve Vin Diesel, that manly man of a vintage they haven’t been bottling since the heyday of Axl Rose’s first bandana? Vin’s tough but he’s tender. He puts women on the exact...

Twice-Told Tales

Blu-ray

Kino Lorber

1963 / 1.66: 1 / 120 Min.

Starring Vincent Price, Sebastian Cabot, Joyce Taylor

Written by Robert E. Kent

Directed by Sidney Salkow

Released in October of 1963, the first review of Sidney Salkow’s Twice-Told Tales appeared in 1623: “Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale.” That line from Shakespeare’s King John is a nice summation of Salkow’s horror anthology, an undernourished melodrama that finds its salvation in, no surprise, the reliably entertaining Vincent Price.

Nathaniel Hawthorne used that Shakespearean quip as the title of his own collection of reprinted material, published in March of 1837. The book had a cover price of one dollar, which might have been close to the budget for Salkow’s movie—a remarkably cheap-looking production, even for Admiral Pictures. The company, headed by Grant Whytock with funding from Edward Small, specialized in cutting corners—they even worked their chintzy magic on Roger Corman’s Tower of London,...

Cate Blanchett is about to get existential. Well, more existential than usual.

The Oscar winner’s latest film “TÁR,” which was written for her by director Todd Field (“Little Children”), centers on the fictional Lydia Tár, the first-ever female chief conductor of a major German orchestra. Yet her Egot-winning career high soon unravels after #MeToo allegations against her cloud Lydia’s creative peak. The film debuted at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, where Blanchett opened up about her take on the feature’s ultimate message.

“There are a lot of hot-button issues that come up, but it’s not about those things. It’s much more existential for me than that,” Blanchett explained during a press conference, via The Hollywood Reporter. “Although the film is almost entirely about a loose group of female characters, this film isn’t about women. It’s about humans and being human.”

While Fields’ first film...

For the 20th anniversary of "The Sopranos," creator David Chase talked about the times he clashed with HBO. The network did not like the title "The Sopranos" because it caused some confusion over what kind of show it would be, but what troubled them the most was the fifth episode in the first season, "College," which critics now regard as one of the greatest in both the series and television history. While taking Meadow on college tours, Tony spots a rat who entered witness protection, Fabian "Febby" Petrulio, and brutally strangles him. "College" is a crucial narrative turning point because it is the first time the audience witnesses Tony kill someone. Chase describes HBO's initial reaction to the scene:

"I got a call from Chris Albrecht, who ran HBO, screaming about, 'How could you do this?! You've created one of the most dynamic characters of the past 20 years, and you're just going to ruin him.

Eyes of Fire is an interesting film. A low-budget horror venture from the mind of Avery Crounse, it is a curious amalgam of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Sam Raimi. The storyline is a familiar one. Set in the 1700s, Reverend Will Smythe (Dennis Lipscomb) is a zealous preacher who entrances the simple Irish immigrant folk of Dalton’s Ferry. In between his fire and brimstone sermons, he can be found burning “witches” for heresy in his spare time. He becomes romantically involved with Eloise (Rebecca Stanley), the wife of settlement founder, Marion Dalton (Guy Boyd), an avid woodsman who goes on extended hunting trips to forage for the village. Of course, since he isn’t there to address his spouse’s needs, she turns to Will for spiritual guidance...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

A sequel to the 2010 teen comedy hit Easy A starring Emma Stone is reportedly in the works, with star Aly Michalka, who featured in the original movie, revealing several details of the potential project. Michalka, who played Stone's character's best friend in Easy A, even suggests that characters from the first movie would return. Does this mean we could see Emma Stone reprise one of her breakout roles?

"There are talks that there might be a sequel. That actually is semi real...It would be kind of like a new retelling but you'd see some of the characters from the original come back into the story."

While it does not sound like Easy A 2 is necessarily set in stone, this update from Michalka does line up with previous suggestions of a sequel. Back in 2019, Bert V. Royal, the screenwriter behind the original movie, had been tapped to write and direct a spin-off.

In 2010, Emma Stone, Penn Badgley and Aly Michalka put a modern twist on the famed novel The Scarlet Letter with the movie Easy A. And while Nathaniel Hawthorne never wrote a sequel to his 1850 book, Aly exclusively tells E! News, "There are talks that there might be a sequel." And no, this isn't just a rumor. The "Potential Breakup Song" singer says, "That actually is semi real," with the small caveat that it wouldn't necessarily follow Olive (Emma) and Todd (Penn). She shares, "It would be kind of like a new retelling but you'd see some of the characters from the original come back into the story." If that doesn't come to fruition,...

Season 2 of Apple TV+’s “Dickinson” is a story about whether or not to seek fame, and that plotline could just as easily be applied to Anna Baryshnikov, who plays Emily Dickinson’s (Hailee Steinfeld) sister, Lavinia. “I really tried to go into the show telling myself I was an Emily,” Baryshnikov told IndieWire. And so, despite not playing a character as well known, the actress made Lavinia into someone just as unique.

Baryshnikov took Lavinia, who started Season 1 as a cat-loving young woman desperate for normalcy, and transitioned her into a fun and sexily awkward character. When the series debuted, the actress explained she was more focused on the source material and translating “Vinnie” from page to screen. Season 2 was different. “I found a groove of working off of the character we created in Season 1 and getting to dip back into the historical facts when I felt I was getting lost or needed inspiration,...

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By Giacomo Selloni

The Act of Reading is Mark Blumberg's first documentary feature. One can categorize it as what's considered a "personal, or me documentary”, as it tells the story of his Ahab-like obsession of finally writing the book report on "Moby Dick" that, without doing so in eleventh grade, caused him to fail his English class. Damn that wickedly, wordy, white whale!

Show of hands from those of you reading this: how many of you can honestly say you made it through the entire novel? Anyone? Buhler? Yeah, neither have I. But we know the story, don't we? From the first line "Call me Ishmael" to the drowning death of Ahab, we all know a bit about the story. T'was obsession that did him in. A lesson, to be sure. Herman Melville's fanatical Ahab predates J.M. Barrie's Captain Hook...

You better knock, knock on wood. Why? Well, because today we're looking back on the iconic the teen comedy Easy A. The hit film starred Emma Stone as Olive Penderghast, a 17-year-old girl that lets a lie spiral out of control in order to increase her notoriety at school. Partially inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlett Letter, Stone's Olive finds herself getting ostracized and decides to stitch a red A into provocative clothing. Along the way, Olive becomes closer with her longtime crush, the school's mascot "Woodchuck" Todd (played by Penn Badgley). The cast also includes Amanda Bynes as Marianna Bryant, Dan Byrd as Brandon, Aly Michalka as Rhiannon Abernathy, Thomas Haden Church...

At the beginning of her Little Women film adaptation, director Greta Gerwig lovingly opens with the quote, "I had had lots of troubles; so I write jolly tales." That's from the author Louisa May Alcott herself, an ardent feminist and abolitionist whose life ran parallel with the writerly Jo March. The movie takes a meta approach in telling this story - we eventually see Jo (Saoirse Ronan) novelizing the story of her and her sisters in a book called Little Women, as Alcott did in her novel. Like Jo, Alcott came from a big family and confronted many personal struggles. While their lives were by no means carbon copies of each other, they did share striking similarities.

Born in 1832, Alcott was the daughter of transcendentalist parents who worked in education and social work. Similar to Jo, she grew up the second oldest child with three other siblings: Anna, Elizabeth, and Abigail.

When it came to the iconic Concord, Mass., home of Louisa May Alcott and the fictional home of the March family, “Little Women” production designer Jess Gonchor set out to create a neighborhood environment that would connect the Laurences’ mansion on one side, and the modest March house on the other. Though Alcott never named where the Marches lived, its commonly accepted that the Orchard House — the historically preserved Alcott home in Concord — was the central location for the original “Little Women.”

In Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of the time-tested family tale, the houses have never been so close — visually, in the film and on set.

Gonchor and his team built a replica of the Orchard House a few hundred yards from an early-1900s mansion that they used for exteriors of the Laurence home. It was the perfect find, with woods and even a pond nearby for the fateful ice-skating scene.

Emma Stone became a star after her breakout appearance in Superbad back in 2007, but her first major solo lead performance was in the 2010 comedy Easy A, a then-modern riff on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s literary classic The Scarlet Letter. Now, nearly a decade later, an Easy A spin-off film is officially in the works at Screen Gems. According […]

The post ‘Easy A’ Spin-Off Movie in Development, Original Film’s Writer to Write and Direct appeared first on /Film.

The House of the Seven Gables

Blu ray

Kino Lorber

1940 / 1:33:1 / 89 Min.

Starring Margaret Lindsay, Vincent Price, George Sanders

Written by Lester Cole

Cinematography by Milton R. Krasner

Directed by Joe May

In 1940’s The House of the Seven Gables, Margaret Lindsay transforms from sunny romantic to stone-faced recluse in the blink of an eye – her startling performance gives a 20th century hot foot to Universal’s 19th century melodrama.

Published in 1851, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel is set during the new era of enlightenment – a superstitious few may resist but the wheels of change are turning – just not fast enough for the Pyncheon family, a seemingly cursed dynasty plagued by corruption and cruelty.

Lindsay plays Hepzibah Pyncheon whose lover Clifford has been framed by his brother Jaffrey for the death of their father. A cold-blooded fop maintaining the family’s avaricious tradition, Jaffrey covets the distinctly gabled ancestral home and its hidden treasures.

Alec Bojalad Feb 26, 2019

Netflix's The Haunting is leaving Hill House in Season 2 in favor of Bly Manor. Here is what that might mean.

The Haunting of Hill House Season 2 isn’t really The Haunting of Hill House Season 2. As you know by now, Netflix has signed Hill House showrunner Mike Flanagan to a new deal and is turning last year’s Halloween horror hit into an anthology series.

That new “The Haunting of” (or maybe just “The Haunting”) will continue in 2020 with The Haunting of Bly Manor.

You guessed it. The Haunting Of Bly Manor, a new chapter in the Haunting series based on the works of Henry James, is coming in 2020. pic.twitter.com/nvhRBEfH2E

— The Haunting of Hill House (@haunting) February 21, 2019

What is Bly Manor, you ask? Glad you did, as we have answers. Just like The Haunting of Hill House was based on the classic...

Easy A is known by many as the film that shot actress Emma Stone into the big leagues. It's a movie about a high school girl named Olive, who learns very quickly that in high school, reputation is everything. The film is based loosely on the classic novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, where Hester Prynne is a woman who is shunned by her community for adultery. Easy A is a modern take on what women still have to go through to this day when it comes to having their character judged by the public.

Emma Stone may be the breakout star of this film, but there are so many other things that draw fans to Easy A. From Olive's quirky family, to Amanda Bynes' portrayal of Olive's arch nemesis Marianne, to the iconic "Pocketful of Sunshine" scene, there's plenty to love in Easy A. There are quite...

[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers from Season 1 of “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.”]

A love of horror runs in series creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s blood, and it comes out in “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” his dark take on the classic Archie Comics title “Sabrina the Teenage Witch.” In adapting his comic book for Netflix, he discussed some of those horror influences with Lee Toland Krieger, who would be setting the tone of the series by directing the first two episodes.

“He arranged a screening of clips from some of our favorite movies,” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “The three great witch movies are ‘Rosemary’s Baby,’ Dario Argento’s ‘Suspiria,’ and Robert Eggers’ movie ‘The Witch,’ that came out a few years ago. And then even more recently, Ti West’s movie, ‘House of the Devil,’ and Oz Perkins’ ‘The Blackcoat’s Daughter,’ starring Kiernan [Shipka] actually. In terms of devil movies, we talked about ‘The Omen,’ we talked about ‘The Exorcist,’ the...

Pamela Lillian Isley was a young botanist with a brilliant future ahead of her, but thanks to a strange twist of fate, she was transformed into the “Vined Vixen” we’ve all come to know and love. Her roots run quite deep in the mythology of the Caped Crusader, as she was created in 1966 by Robert Kanigher and Sheldon Moldoff. Ivy made her first appearance in Batman #181. Although she was conceived of as a love interest for Batman, Ivy has certainly come a long way since then.

Although it took quite a while for her to get a proper origin, Ivy’s creation was inspired by a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Rappaccini's Daughter”. The tale is about a girl who not only becomes resistant to poisons, but also poisonous to others after tending her father’s toxic garden. Ivy has been both villain and antihero, eco criminal and Mother Nature personified.

When one is in the mood for a romantic stroll through autumnal New England, the stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne offer transport. His fables and novels evoke that era with atmosphere, bringing the reader into a landscape of brisk wind and rich colors, surrounded by the possibility of enigmatic sorcery. Amongst the dying forests and chilly winds, his characters encounter demonic entities, ghosts, and their darkest temptations. His collection of Twice Told Tales, published at the start of his career, showcases a broad example of his themes.

Some of Hawthorne's tales are simply depictions of pastoral New England life; describing a child’s view of her small town in “Little Annie’s Ramble,” or observing village courtship as a storm approaches in “Sights from a Steeple.” Morality inspires and buoys almost all of his substantial stories, often in rather surprising ways. When writing about the Puritans, whose culture is based on infamously rigid moral standards,...

Several years before she won the Pulitzer Prize for “Topdog/Underdog,” Suzan-Lori Parks wrote a pair of plays seeking to riff on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlett Letter.” The more successful is “In the Blood,” which gets a spirited and stirring revival at Off-Broadway’s Signature Theatre complex — where its Brechtian counterpart, “F—ing A,” is playing just across the hall. For “In the Blood,” Parks reimagines Hester Prynne as an inner-city woman struggling to make ends meet as she raises her five children, each the product of a different, long-gone father. As played by the remarkable Saycon Sengbloh (“Scandal,...

Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter' may have served as the initial inspiration for Suzan-Lori Parks' ferocious 2000 drama, Fucking A, but, especially in director Jo Bonney's chilling Signature Theatre production, her sardonically abstract portrait of human cruelty may remind playgoers of another writer, Bertolt Brecht.

Suzan-Lori Parks has said that the original idea for her play “F—ing A” was something of a joke: “I’m going to write a riff on ‘The Scarlet Letter’ and I’m going to call it ‘F—ing A’!” This was before Parks had won the Pulitzer Prize for her breakout 2002 play “Topdog/Underdog.” More tellingly, it was also before she had even read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel. And like many an idea borne of an ill-informed joke, “F—ing A” doesn’t really sustain itself over its two-hour-plus running time. That’s the takeaway from director Jo Bonney’s occasionally stirring revival,...

Gothicism has been around for centuries, pervading architecture, music, literature, and film alike. Its roots are deep, and its identifying factors are strong—baroque style, high passion, and a healthy heap of darkness. Compared to architecture and music, Gothic fiction is fairly young, developing in the late 18th century with English authors such as Horace Walpole and Ann Radcliffe. No one was prepared, however, for the arrival of Matthew Gregory Lewis, who published his deliciously controversial novel The Monk at the ripe age of 19.

When The Monk was unleashed, the literary world had already been introduced to Radcliffe and Walpole’s gloomy melodramas, along with Romantic works from Germany and France. None of these stories contained the moral quandaries, the viciousness, or the sex and violence of Lewis’ novel. It tells the story of Ambrosio, the titular Monk, who is considered the holiest man in all of Madrid, until he...

Paul Martinovic Aug 3, 2017

The great Bryan Cranston talks to us about his new film Wakefield, his signature role in Breaking Bad, and lots more...

Despite being one of the most in demand actors on the planet, we were lucky enough to catch up with Bryan Cranston while he was over in the UK to promote his new film Wakefield, a dark, literate tale of midlife crisis and male entitlement. Our interview took place mere hours after the Breaking Bad star scandalised the nation’s breakfast tables by casually dropping the word ‘shite’ in an interview on Good Morning Britain with a star struck Kate Garraway. Of course, Bryan Cranston being Bryan Cranston, nobody really minded all that much.

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It’s this butter-wouldn’t-melt, all-pervading likeability that is used to killer effect in Wakefield, the story of...

Ambition in film doesn't get enough credit these days – maybe because it's so rare. But the daring of writer-director Robin Swicord is all over Wakefield. Based on a 2008 short story by E.L. Doctorow (and before that, an 1835 tale from none other than Nathaniel Hawthorne), the film gets whisper-close to Howard Wakefield (Bryan Cranston), a New York lawyer who turns his life upside down. He's so fed up with the Groundhog Day-ish sameness of his routine – working in his Manhattan office, commuting home to his wife Diana (Jennifer Garner) and...

Offred, wearing a uniform of prim hood and draping gown — its color might be described as Nathaniel Hawthorne Scarlet — is in the supermarket, moving past armed guards and listening to other hooded women prattle on about oranges.

“I don’t need oranges,” we hear her thinking to herself. “I need to scream. I need to grab the nearest machine gun.”

Could any actress other than Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss say that line with such a precise distillation of despair and scorn, fire and ice?

She’s perfect in this fascinating Hulu adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale, the famous...

Starting today, horror fans can check into The Institute at theaters and on VOD via Momentum Pictures, and we caught up with co-director Pamela Romanowsky to discuss collaborating with co-director James Franco, the movie's unique filming location, and much more.

Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us, Pamela. What attracted you to telling this story by Adam and Matt Rager?

Pamela Romanowsky: Well, the first question for me was “why a horror film?” I like films across lots of genres, but I’m not a horror buff, so this was a first for me. The horror films I do love are genre blending, movies that are character-based and explore things that are dark but still based in reality, and in the dark corners of human psychology. I’ve never really been scared of the supernatural, but people are certainly capable of terrifying and very dark things.

By Hank Reineke

Though Vincent Price would eventually garner a well-deserved reputation as Hollywood’s preeminent bogeyman, it was only really with André De Toth’s House of Wax (1953) that the actor would become associated with all things sinister. In some sense the playful, nervously elegant Price was an odd successor to the horror film-maestro throne: he was a somewhat aristocratic psychotic who shared neither Boris Karloff’s cold and malevolent scowl nor Bela Lugosi’s distinctly unhinged madness or old-world exoticism.

His early film career started in a less pigeonholed manner: as a budding movie actor with a seven year contract for Universal Studios in the 1940s, the tall, elegant Price would appear in a number of semi-distinguished if modestly-budgeted romantic comedies and dramas. His contract with Universal was apparently non-exclusive, and his most memorable roles for the studio were his earliest. In a harbinger of things to come,...