A quick Google search is enough to plant the seed of doubt. Type in “the best horror movies of 2024” and dozens of results appear—but with a subtle difference: most of them are listed under another heading, “the best terror movies of 2024.” The reader may not even have noticed: in almost all of them, […]
Movies
Posted inCulture, Modern Era
When Rasputin’s Killer Sued MGM: The Origin of the Phrase “Any Resemblance to Reality Is Purely Coincidental”
Hardly anyone recognizes the name Felix Yusupov. He was a Russian aristocrat and a member of the imperial family, whose place in history was secured by his involvement in the assassination of Rasputin—a fascinating and unique figure well known to history enthusiasts. However, that episode had a curious epilogue years later when Felix, already in […]
Posted inCulture, Modern Era
The Extravagant 1903 Russian Fancy Dress Ball that Inspired the Costumes for “The Phantom Menace”
The days of February 11th and 13th in the year 1903 were special in St. Petersburg. If, in the words of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, someone were to peer through the large windows of the palace attempting to catch a glimpse of the party being held inside, they would have been somewhat confused to see […]
Posted inCulture
How Humphrey Bogart homaged chess in Casablanca, and named a gambit
Many readers may like chess and may even be good at it. What is not so likely anymore is that they have ever heard of the Humphrey Bogart gambit. The gambit is a move in which a piece – usually a single pawn – is sacrificed at the beginning of the game for strategic purposes. […]
