Avatar Surpasses Star Wars in Domestic Box Office
It had to happen eventually given the increasing and continued popularity of the fantastic in popular culture, and advances in special effects and digital wizardry on screen. MSN Entertainment is reporting that Avatar has now surpassed Star Wars for all-time domestic box office receipts at $491.8 million, moving into the number three spot. This means [...]
January’s Cinema of the Fantastic
2010 is here, and it begins with a month that includes three films that hold promise for fans of the fantastic.
The first is the vampire film Daybreakers. It tells the story of a a plague that spreads across the earth in 2019. This transforms “the majority of the world’s population into vampires. Humans are now [...]
Comic Review: Majestic-XII
Like any specialized blog or website TheoFantastique receives a number of review copies of items, including comics. Comic books and graphic novels are an expression of the fantastic in popular culture, and they have been discussed here in the past. But with this post we turn over comic reviews to a new guest columnist, Richard [...]
Coming Attractions
I continue to enjoy putting together the posts and content that becomes the exploration of the fantastic in pop culture that is TheoFantastique. With this post I let readers know about “coming attractions,” beyond my own commentary the topics and individuals I will be talking with and about on this fantastic journey. In no particular [...]
The Old West Meets the Undead: PCA/ACA Call for Papers
The combination of certain genres don’t work for me. In this case the Old West connecting with horror, specifically in the form of cowboys combined with zombies, vampires, and other horror icons, but apparently they work for some people and have become the focus of academic consideration. Following is a call for papers from the [...]
ZOMBIELAND: Great Comedy-Horror, and a Little Bit More
Last weekend Zombieland hit theaters in its debut and went on to defy a recession diminished box office, and in the process earned critical praise. This comedy (which also includes elements of road-horror, teenage angst, and coming of age films) takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where a mutation of the swine flu virus has turned [...]
Diary of the Dead: Romero’s Continued Commentary Through the Flesh-Eating Dead
Last weekend my teenage son bought me a copy of Diary of the Dead (2008), George Romero’s latest installment in his infamous zombie series of films. I realize that the movie has been out for a while and that a number of reviews and commentary have been posted, but given the focus of this blog I [...]
Patrick McGoohan: The Prisoner and the Scarecrow Passes Away
This seems to be the week for the passing of childhood heroes for monster kids and those of us raised on the fantastic in cinema and television. In a previous post I mentioned the death of northern California’s Creature Features host Bob Wilkins, and now news is being circulated that Patrick McGoohan has died. McGoohan [...]
Top Horror Films Controversy: Definitions, Biases, and Criteria
Ask a group of people what the “best of” may be in any given category and you’re likely to get a diversity of answers. Along with that may come a good deal of disagreement, and possibly controversy, especially if the answers are shared in a public forum. This is exactly the scenario that has taken place in [...]
Dark Scribe Magazine: Dark Genre Roundtable
I was asked by Vince Liaguno of Dark Scribe Magazine to be part of a discussion with a few fellow League of Tana Tea Drinkers (LOTTD) horror bloggers. The result is the “Dark Genre Roundtable” which can be found here. My thanks go to Vince and Dark Scribe for the interview and where I can [...]
