Tribute to Ray Harryhausen: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 4:19
I was privileged to be a part of the “Tribute to Ray Harryhausen: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 4:19.” My thanks to CFQ, Dan Persons, Steve Biodrowski and Lawrence French: It is not an understatement to say that, for many who work within the industry of fantastic film and those who cover it, Ray Harryhausen was one […]
CFP – Larger Than Life: Superheroes at the Box Office
CALL FOR PAPERS Larger Than Life: Superheroes at the Box Office An area of multiple panels for the 2013 Film & History Conference on Making Movie$: The Figure of Money On and Off the Screen November 20-24, 2013 Madison Concourse Hotel (Madison, WI) www.filmandhistory.org/The2013FilmHistoryConference.php DEADLINE for abstracts: July 1, 2013 AREA: “Larger Than Life: Superheroes […]
Who Are the Next Titans of the Imagination?
Earlier this week Ray Harryhausen passed away. There was a wealth of coverage all over the media, and as expected, the fan community expressed a lot of appreciation and a sense of loss with his passing. But this has got me wondering. In the past I interviewed Paul Davids who produced the documentary The Sci-Fi […]
Ray Harryhausen Has Died: The Loss of a Fantasy Legend
For a few years now I have wondered when the day would come that I would have to write this piece. Sadly, today is that day. Various media outlets are reporting that Ray Harryhausen passed away Tuesday. Harryhausen was a huge influence on me as a child and teenager. When I first encountered his fantasy […]
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Can Universal’s Horror Monsters Be Revived?
Over at Crave Online Joe Belcastro has a piece on “How to Revive Universal’s Iconic Monsters.” Along the way he suggests ways in which the creatures might be re-invented, even with the potential, as he sees it, of them becoming “modern blockbuster franchises.” I really appreciate Belcastro’s attempt. I have a fondness for these monsters […]
Interview with Emily McAvan on The Postmodern Sacred
Emily McAvan has been on my radar since I first encountered her research in the sacred aspects of science fiction and fantasy. She teaches cultural, media and gender studies at Murdoch University and Curtin University, both in Perth, Australia. In the interview that follows we discuss aspects of her fine book The Postmodern Sacred: Popular […]
Joss Whedon and Religion: Essays on an Angry Atheist’s Exploration of the Sacred
Joss Whedon and Religion Essays on an Angry Atheist’s Explorations of the Sacred Edited by Anthony R. Mills, John W. Morehead and J. Ryan Parker Foreword by K. Dale Koontz Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-7290-1 Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4766-1253-9 notes, bibliography, index softcover (6 x 9) 2013 Not Yet Published, Available Fall/Winter 2013 through McFarland About the Book […]
Japanese Footage and Restored Ending to “Horror of Dracula”
For a while now we have heard of the lost footage from Hammer’s Dracula (U.K.)/Horror of Dracula (U.S.) that was found in Japan, and that a few seconds of this footage was incorporated into the ending in the restored Blu-ray of the film released in the UK. This footage has surfaced on YouTube and it […]
Documentary: Horror Europa with Mark Gatiss
Previously Mark Gatiss produced the BBC documentary A History of Horror. More recently he expanded on an exploration of horror’s historical expressions with Horror Europa: Actor and writer Mark Gatiss embarks on a chilling voyage through European horror cinema. From the silent nightmares of German Expressionism in the wake of World War I to lesbian […]
Bainbridge on eGods and Faith Versus Fantasy
PopMatters includes a lengthy excerpt and summary of an intriguing volume by William Sims Bainbridge, eGods: Faith Versus Fantasy in Computer Gaming (Oxford University Press, 2012). The publisher’s website includes the following description: What is the relationship between religion and multi-player online roleplaying games? Are such games simply a secular distraction from traditional religious practices, […]
