Monthly Archives: March 2010

Obama in Science Fiction Imagery

My satirical post comparing Obama’s health care legislation to The Twilight Zone episode “To Serve Man” led to my surfing the Internet for how the President has been depicted in science fiction imagery. I found several examples from my favorite sci-fi films and television that speak for themselves without any need for written commentary.

TheoFantastique Interviewed at Fangoria’s “Beyond the Pale” Blog

My friend Dave Canfield is a fellow fan of horror and all things fantastic. He explores our common passion in a variety of forums, including as a Chicago film critic writing for Twitch, and as a writer for Fangoria online. His blog at Fangoria, Beyond the Pale, recently featured my thoughts on horror and spirituality […]

Barack Obama: The Twilight Zone Revisited

As the nation continues to debate the health care reform bill, now the law of the land, it is interesting to recall one of the more curious aspects of the legislation. During the debate as Democrats rallied votes within their own party to pass the bill, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi made the strange […]

The Church of Jediism and Religious Conflict in the Workplace

While catching up on various blogs and websites dealing with the fantastic in the blogosphere I came across a news item at SF Gospel. It touched on a conflict between a religious group and an employer on appropriate attire in the workplace. What sets this conflict apart from others that have taken place in the […]

TheoFantastique Welcomes Spring

Although Fall is my favorite time of year with the change of seasons and Halloween, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the first day of Spring. TheoFantastique welcomes the new season with an image called “Zombie Garden,” discovered at Zombie Info, but created by Shirt Woot where this design is available on a […]

Joshua Bellin: Battle for Terra and Environmental Apocalypse

With all the national debate over healthcare in the United States these days it’s easy to forget the other national debate that will begin once the furor over healthcare legislation dies down, and that is the environment with cap-and-trade. Hollywood is fond of environmental apocalypse films these days, and while the reader is no doubt […]

Avatar, Hollywood, and Warring Worldviews

In my previous post I commented on Hollywood’s lack of public recognition of the significance of films of the fantastic as demonstrated through the Academy Awards. Although three such genre films were nominated, including District Nine, Star Trek, and Avatar, predictably none of them won in major categories, and Avatar did not win Best Picture. […]

Oscars Snub the Fantastic

It was just last month that the media took note of Hollywood’s recognition of the significance of science fiction with the nominations of Avatar, Star Trek, and District 9 for Academy Awards. In an article titled “Otherworldly and Oscar-worthy: Science fiction’s profile soars,” USA Today writes, quoting Vivian Sobchak, author of Screening Space: The American […]

Review and Commentary: Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks

Not long ago while I was reflecting on the layers of significance underlying Avatar and its connection to fantasy, I first became aware, through Cinefantastique Online, of an article by Ethan Gilsdorf touching on these topics which he had written for Psychology Today. I was intrigued by the insights that Gilsdorf brought to the subject […]

Clash of the Titans Remake: Contrasting CGI Creatures with Stop-Motion Artistry

Some of my favorite and formative influences of the fantastic as a child and teenager were the fantasy films of Ray Harryhausen. I was so taken by Harryhausen’s use of stop-motion animation to bring creatures to life that I saved my paper route money and purchased an 8mm camera with single frame capacity that allowed […]

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