Lois Tilton February 13th, 2007
I don’t usually review films - in large part, because I rarely go out to see them. However, having recently viewed this one, I recognize it as the sort of fantasy tale that I do usually review. Here is my take - in which I discuss the ending of the film.
My reviews of short genre fiction can be read at www.irosf.com
Constance Ash January 17th, 2007
HBO has acquired the rights to turn George R.R. Martin’s bestselling fantasy series “A Song of Fire and Ice” into a dramatic series to be written and exec produced by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
This could be incredible!
Love, C.
Â
Kevin Andrew Murphy January 17th, 2007
Terry Pratchett has this bit in Hogfather about how all stories begin and end with blood, at least until they get all sugarfrosted with stuff that certain parents want to say “children want.” Well, as much as I liked Hogfather, both the book and the recent SkyOne miniseries, I have to say that not only does Pan’s Labyrinth both begin and end with blood, but there’s a marvelous amount of blood throughout it. And oh, was it refreshing.
It was also simply wonderful to watch a movie where the magic was used in service of the story, not trying to sell any variety of cute tie-in toy or get on the cover of Fangoria.
What is it? It’s a movie by Guillermo del Toro (who I nearly fainted on top of a few years ago at Comicon when the air conditioners gave out), in Spanish with subtitles, currently out in certain cities but going out everywhere Friday. Last Comicon, I had to crawl through a giant tree and stick my hand in slime to get a golden key as a movie promo, and this is the main character, Ofelia’s, first task as the fairytale unfolds. Except her key is cooler, she dodges bugs and toads rather than fanboys, and this all happens against the backdrop of Franco’s Spain rather than Comicon.
I don’t want to spoil anything except to say Go. Go now. Go if you’ve ever loved fairytales, especially the dark ones where wicked stepfathers are actively evil, monsters actually eat children, and virtue is its own reward.
Carol Berg December 22nd, 2006
I found Ursula Leguin’s article http://www.newstatesman.com/200612180040
entitled Imaginary Friends well worth reading. I think this is what many of us try to articulate when we hear, “Oh, my kids read fantasy. I prefer real stories.”
Carol
Constance Ash December 21st, 2006
The website also provides a difficult interactive that allows you to learn the name of the forthcoming and final Harry book.It doesn’t access very well, either because there’s something wrong with the links, or because it is heavily used.But here are the instructions for that part of it, courtesy of today’s NY Times. Remember to have your audio enabled. It’s pretty good stuff.
[ "Meanwhile, she set up a test for her Potter fans.
If you go to jkrowling.com, click on the eraser and you will be taken to a room -- you'll see a window, a door and a mirror. (By my own experience this link doesn't work, you have to get there via the one I provided above; nor does the eraser thingie work.)
If you go to , click on the eraser and you will be taken to a room -- you'll see a window, a door and a mirror. In the mirror, you'll see a hallway. Click on the farthest doorknob and look for the Christmas tree. Then click on the center of the door next to the mirror and a wreath appears. Then click on the top of the mirror and you'll see a garland.
Look for a cobweb next to the door. Click on it, and it will disappear. Now, look at the chimes in the window. (All of this works, by my experience, up to here -- then it just quits working; the key doesn't appear. Your cursor on the door knob turns the knob, but nothing else happens.) Click on the second chime to the right, and hold it down. The chime will turn into the key, which opens the door. Click on the wrapped gift behind the door, then click on it again and figure out the title yourself by playing a game of hangman." ]
However, by now you all already know the title of the last book is: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.Â
Love, C.
Kevin Andrew Murphy November 13th, 2006
Well, last night was a first for me for a couple things, the second of which was a complete surprise: It was not only my screenwriting debut (actually story credit with script consultation, but most of the dialogue is right from my short story), but also my acting debut, a cameo with two brief lines of dialogue.
I also have the contract in hand now, so I can go ahead and broach radio (or actually blog) silence. Last spring, I met up with Robert Mims, a new producer looking for material for a short film. I sent him a copy of “Clove Smoke,” a short of mine that’s been well-received and even translated into Spanish. Next thing I know, I’m looking at a screenplay adaptation by Robert’s writing partner, Justin Queen.
A thumbs up, and next thing we’re in the fast track. Principal shooting finished yesterday at the House of Shields in San Francisco, where I’d gone both to get to see the actual production of the filming of my story, and to set myself up for a cameo as background. Stephen Watts, the director, then surprised me by offering me the role of the bartender, since it gave me a speaking line and also offered some contrast visually since I’d known the color palette the production designer was going with and I’d dressed to match it, adding the red that the principal actors weren’t wearing for the scene.
I also got to meet the actors, Anissa and Jason, who are playing Aurora and Jimmy, a strange bit of serendipity giving them the same initials. They were great, both in terms of acting and in looking the parts. The second, in fact, even better than I’d pictured them, thanks to Anissa’s wardrobe (she’s also a model) and Kirsten Larsen’s skill as production designer. Richard Cascio, the director of photography, was also getting some amazing shots, or at least from what I was getting to see literally looking over his shoulder–one shot was from the bardtender’s perspective, so I was standing right behind him so Jason could get the right line of sight to my eyes for when we later reversed the shot.
And I stepped on a light box one of the grips had left behind the bar, mistaking it for some sort of platform you’re supposed to step on. However, one fluorescent bulb is not a disaster and it was fascinating to watch a full production up close. The dolly shot curving around the bar was particularly amazing.
What was also amazing was the location. The House of Shields is a hundred years old, literally, being built in 1906 and opened in 1908 (delays caused by the great quake and fire). Edwardian lamps, the bar from the old Palace Hotel, coffered ceilings and so on. Gorgeous. 
Kevin Andrew Murphy September 5th, 2006
I had never before conceived of the Norns as pinheads with topknots. However, as you can see from the attached picture, the maskmaker and costume director for The Shotgun Players in Berkeley did:
This is for their production of Ragnarok, Doom of the Gods which will definitely be playing next weekend (September 9th & 10th) in Berkeley and possibly the weekend thereafter (according to some portions of the website but not others).
The theater space is the old 1908 Â outdoor ampitheatre at John Hinkel Park, and yesterday at 4, the weather for the special Labor Day show was pleasant turning to cool over the two hours of the production.
I went with my friend Yvonne, who knew the playwrights, Conrad Bishop and Elizabeth Fuller, and introduced me to them. Elizabeth was also playing Frigga, Odin’s wife.
The actors ranged from passable to excellent, with the standouts being Ben Dziuba as Loki and Erin Carter as everyone from Helga, the actor’s wife, to Thokk, the woman without tears. Her delivery of Thokk’s soliloquy gave me a frisson, and that’s what good playwrighting and acting are all about.
But the masks. Yvonne said the first time she’d seen the production, they made her think of pig snouts. Myself, I was just wondering why, when Snorri was getting into his father’s medieval Swedish costume trunk, he was somehow pulling things that owed a lot more to Comedia del Arte than to anything Scandinavian. The time shifts to include current day referrences in the script were mild in comparison to the disjoint of the masks. Costuming the jotuns as clowns made a certain amount of sense given their trickster nature, but having the Norns be pinheads with topknots was just bizarre, and not in a good way.
There was a small turnout yesterday, but most of them were part of the Berkeley pagan contingent, so most everyone already knew the stories. Of the gods, Braggi was underused, acting more as spear carrier than poet in most scenes, and Iduna didn’t seem to have a line that wasn’t talking about her apples. But all in all, it was an enjoyable performance, and good to see something in the fantasy vein on stage as a new play.
Kate Elliott August 15th, 2006
1. Saving the World
Because the stakes don’t get any bigger than this!
Kevin Andrew Murphy August 14th, 2006
Just read Scott Lynch’s Eleven things I will serve my best never to put in a fantasy novel unless I am trying to undermine them, and in fact could do without entirely from now on, thanks. It’s a great list and I agree with all the items on it. But there are some I’d like to add, at least for myself:
1. Monsters that don’t eat children.
I’m sorry, but I have to ask–what’s not to like about children? They’re small, tender, slow-moving, and are easily lured into gingerbread houses–how hard can it be? Yes, fate, in the form of the author, may conspire against you, but that’s no excuse for not offing at least one child, even off stage in the past. This goes double for horribly evil dark wizards who lead reigns of terror across the countryside only to have it all blow up in their face when they try to kill even one baby. (Yes, this means you, Lord Voldymort, and tell the so-called “Wicked Witch” I said “Hi”).
Same problem, different day, with ancient evils, devils and demons who seem to be fans of The Godfather, starting out on their reigns of terror by killing family pets, then boring family retainers or dull recluses who no one would miss much anyway, then working up to the adults and still never quite getting around to the kids. Hello, you’re supposed to be the Forces of Hell, not uptight Italian Catholics still vaguely concerned with getting into Heaven.
When the average nursery bogey has a higher bodycount than you, how do you expect anyone to take you seriously?
David Louis Edelman August 4th, 2006
Since my post on The Five Elements Common to All Stories, I’ve been thinking about the obvious follow-up: what are the common elements of science fiction stories?
We can argue all day about what constitutes a science fiction story and what doesn’t. (And, heck, if you’re reading this blog, chances are nothing would make you happier.) But for the purposes of this post, I’m going to include both the genres commonly known as science fiction and fantasy, as well as their numerous branches and offshoots. Alternate history, cyberpunk, steampunk, epic fantasy, doorstopper fantasy, et cetera ad nauseum. Basically, if you would find it in the Science Fiction section of your local Barnes & Noble, today I’m calling it science fiction.
So what principles encompass all of these varieties of the genre? Is there any blanket that could possible cover the whole kit-and-caboodle? These characteristics have to be out there, because, as with Justice Potter Stewart’s famous dictum about pornography, we generally know science fiction when we see it.
Obviously we can include the previous five principles outlined in my earlier post. (And I think we can also probably include Point, which Sherwood Smith brought up in the comments.)
But the baseline elements common to all science fiction stories? I could only think of two.