Tag: Movies

Beruna

Liberating the River God, by Justine Sweet. Concept Art for the 2008 movie Prince Caspian. But… there was nothing in the text about a waterfall at Beruna. And surely, when Aslan did this, it was clear, sunny day … ?  

Mock-up

The Dawn Treader mock-up used in the movie, looking less than impressive next to modern dock equipment.

Give me a call.

Alfred Hitchcock in a publicity shot for Dial M for Murder, 1950  

Worldbuilding Wednesday 5/6/20: Let’s Talk About Princess Irulan and Her Sisters

I’ve always considered Dune and its many sequels more science fantasy than science fiction. Sure, there’s starships and other planets, not to mention sandworm biology, but there’s also a Catholic-like sisterhood with sinister mind powers, swordfights, a Chosen One trope, and a feudal society with emperors, princesses, and dukes. Herbert cribbed a lot from human …

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Rubber

The industrialized world depended on rubber once. There was rubber everywhere. But then, one day, it came to life.

Worldbuilding Wednesday 1/15/20: Martial Arts Movies

Martial arts movies (kung fu in Hong Kong, wu xia pian in Mandarin) burst onto the international scene in the 1960s and early 1970s with the rise of charismatic actor Bruce Lee (he’s at the center of the pic above wielding nunchucks.) If you were not alive at the time, it’s hard to understand the …

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Welcome, Winter.

An early 20th century representation of a Scandinavian frost giant, from the silent movie Conquest of the Pole  by French film pioneer Georges Méliès.  To me the creature looks more like a goofy Russian ventriloquist’s dummy.  Which is no less horrible than a bloodthirsty spirit to my eye, but probably not what the director intended.

Worldbuilding Wednesday 10/30/19: Witches!

Witches are a staple of fantasy and horror fiction. In their broad definition, they mean any kind of magic-using female. But for this list I’m going to use a more narrow definition: the Halloween type of witch, evil, cackling, out to do no good. The kind that brews potions in a big black cauldron and …

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Cloverfield Lane

Cloverfield Lane creature design, as envisioned by artist Kurt Papstein.  

Horror Genres

Easy-to-comprehend diagram of Horror genres. Some changes I’d make: Move “Creepy Kid” under the Monster genre The genres at the bottom aren’t really genres, they’re more like themes… …with the exception of Goth, which is a legitimate genre IMO. The Supernatural subgenre under Paranormal is just wrong. I’d call it Metahuman or Mutant and class …

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