The Disquieting Guest — A Few Thoughts On ‘The Quiet Ones’
The Marvel logo that introduces the company’s movies (and their respective trailers) is a pretty sharp piece of work. That flipping by of comic book images primes the viewers, gesturing toward the history of all that came before. I bet that many viewers feel a bit of a thrill the moment that logo appears, even if — when seeing a trailer for the first time — they don’t know what movie is coming up after those images. I have much the same reaction to the new Hammer logo, which you can check out here. Hammer Studios are a storied institution. They brought Quatermass to the big screen and revived Gothic horror with 1957’s The Curse of Frankenstein. That first pairing of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee has a hallowed place in horror history, as do the films that followed. But the late-sixties and early-seventies brought difficult times to Hammer. Films such as Rosemary’s Baby, Night of the Living Dead, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Exorcist changed the face of the horror film. Hammer’s period pieces, which had been so radical with their colour, gore and sexuality (tame though those elements appear today), now seemed quaint. Attempts to modernize (Dracula A.D. 1972) were met with mixed success (to put it kindly). The last theatrical hurrah was To the Devil… A Daughter in 1976, an attempt both to follow up the earlier success of The Devil Rides Out and mimic The Exorcist.
Book Review: The Best Fantasy and Science Fiction of the Year, Volume 8
While not quite Dozois-sized in the number of stories and pages it contains, The Best Fantasy and Science Fiction of the Year Volume 8 edited by Jonathan Strahan does have one major advantage over its counterpart. Strahan, unlike Gardner Dozois’s own yearly tomes, boldly mixes both science fiction and fantasy into one volume, rather than trying to figure out what belongs in Science Fiction and what is firmly in the domain of fantasy. Eight volumes in, Strahan’s editorial voice in selecting the best of the year from both SF and fantasy together is distinctive and strong. The stories are:
205. Mary Anne Mohanraj & Cecilia Tan at ICFA (An Interview) #WorldSFTour
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode205MaryAnneMohanrajAndCeciliaTanAtICFA/SandF%20–%20Episode%20205%20–%20Mary%20Anne%20Mohanraj%20and%20Cecilia%20Tan%20at%20ICFA.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSSri Lanka, erotica, and world sf futures, oh my! Mary Anne Mohanraj and Cecilia Tan join Julia and Shaun at ICFA to discuss a whole lot of amazing things. We cover the history of Circlet Press, the nature of erotic sf/f, Mary’s incredible The Stars Change, Sri Lankan politics, sexuality and genre, immigration from South Asia and assimilation in the West, and so much more. We hope you enjoy the episode! Note: If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 205 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: Mary Anne’s Website Mary Anne’s Books Mary Anne’s Twitter Cecilia’s Website Cecilia’s Books Cecilia’s Twitter Circlet Press You can also support this podcast by signing up for a one month free trial at Audible. Doing so helps us, gives you a change to try out Audible’s service, and brings joy to everyone. Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks! Thanks for listening. See you next week.
My Superpower: James L. Sutter
My Superpower is a regular guest column on the Skiffy and Fanty blog where authors and creators tell us about one weird skill, neat trick, highly specialized cybernetic upgrade, or other superpower they have, and how it helped (or hindered!) their creative process as they built their project. Today we welcome James L. Sutter to talk about how the power of talking about the important things relates to The Redemption Engine. —————————————— When asked what my superpower is, I’d usually talk about sneezomancy. For reasons unbeknownst to me, my sneezes are a reliable indicator of my general health. One sneeze means I’m getting sick. Two sneezes means I’m fine. Three or more sneezes means “wow, it’s dusty in here!” Not exactly the sort of thing that gets one onto the X-Men, right? So in getting ready for this article, I started rifling frantically through other powers. The ability to bend my thumb back, like, really far. The ability to eat several pounds of blueberries in a sitting without Serious Gastronomic Distress. The ability to consistently hit the high note in “Take On Me.” And then I realized that I actually have a superpower that permeates every aspect of my life. I can talk to people about things that matter. In fact, I adore it.
#20. Captain America: the Winter Soldier (2014) — A Shoot the WISB Subcast
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/ShootTheWISB20CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier2014/Shoot%20the%20WISB%20%2320%20–%20Captain%20America%20-%20%20the%20Winter%20Soldier%20%282014%29.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSShields, concussions, and giant floating fortresses, oh my! Shaun, Stina, Mike, David, and Jen join forces to tackle the latest entry in Phase 2 of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, Captain America: the Winter Soldier (2014). They certainly had a lot to say about this one! We hope you enjoy the episode! Spoiler Alert: the following podcast contains spoilers for the film being reviewed; if you wish to see the film without having it ruined for you, download this podcast and save it for later. Download the episode here. [audio http://archive.org/download/ShootTheWISB20CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier2014/Shoot%20the%20WISB%20%2320%20–%20Captain%20America%20-%20%20the%20Winter%20Soldier%20%282014%29.mp3] Show notes (info about our contributors can be found on the about page): Captain America: the Winter Soldier (2014)(IMDB) Comment away!
201. The Hugo Awards (A Discussion w/ Justin Landon and Natalie Luhrs)
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode201TheHugoAwardsWJustinLandonAndNatalieLuhrs/SandF%20–%20Episode%20201%20–%20The%20Hugo%20Awards%20w%20Justin%20Landon%20and%20Natalie%20Luhrs.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSControversies, award changes, and the Hugos, oh my! Justin Landon and Natalie Luhrs join Shaun, Paul, and Jen to discuss the recently announced Hugo Award nominees — the good, the bad, and the awesome. We hope you enjoy the episode! (Please support our efforts to bring the Skiffy and Fanty Show and the World SF Tour to Worldcon! Every little bit helps.) Note: If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 201 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: The Hugo Award Nominees Staffer’s Book Review Justin’s Twitter Radish Reviews Natalie’s Twitter Trading Rosemary by Octavia Cade You can also support this podcast by signing up for a one month free trial at Audible. Doing so helps us, gives you a change to try out Audible’s service, and brings joy to everyone. Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks! Thanks for listening. See you next week.
