The Saga of Jonathan Volsung

Kenneth Branagh’s Mighty Thor

20 April 2011

Kenneth Branagh, Marvel, Superhero, Thor

It’s fair to say that when Marvel Studios announced back in 2008 that noted Shakespearean actor and director Kenneth Branagh was to direct Thor, there was an outburst of hysteria from some quarters. Even some of us who are fans of Branagh’s work from way back were a little surprised by the decision as there…

The Adjustment Bureau: almost a first-rate SF movie

5 April 2011

Gerard Wood

Reviews, Screen

The Adjustment Bureau has the makings of a first-rate SF movie. It looks great, has the pacing of a thriller and a refreshing focus on story and characters over effects with good performances all around (starring Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie and Terence Stamp). On one hand it’s a love story about two people…

Neil Gaiman’s American Gods heads for the big screen

29 March 2011

Gerard Wood

Books, Screen

Adaptation, American Gods, Fantasy, Neil Gaiman

In a recent interview with Digital Spy, Neil Gaiman revealed that American Gods is to be adapted for the big screen. Published in 2001, American Gods is Gaiman’s second novel and is said to be one of the most highly honoured works of modern fiction having won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, Locus and…

From dragon dung to box office gold: one studio’s journey

3 March 2011

Gerard Wood

Reviews, Screen

Who would have thought that a movie like Dungeons & Dragons (2000) could still hold a surprise after all this time? As a former player of D&D, I handed over my gold pieces to see the movie back in the day and was, well, overwhelmingly underwhelmed. That would have been the first and last time…

I Am Number Four: another Percy Jackson or rival for the Potter crown?

17 February 2011

Gerard Wood

Books, Reviews, Screen

Adaptation, Fantasy, Pittacus Lore

Pittacus Lore’s novel I Am Number Four was published in 2010, the first in a planned series of six books that will chronicle the adventures of an extraordinary young man with the very ordinary name of John Smith. Even before the ink had a chance to dry, the novel was snapped up by a film…

Merlin’s second season raises the bar for the TV fantasy series

1 February 2011

Gerard Wood

Reviews, Screen

Merlin

With the third season of Merlin come and gone in the UK and a fourth recently confirmed, it might seem a little late in the day to be looking back at Season Two of the BBC’s speculative fantasy about the coming-of-age of Merlin and Arthur. Frankly, any excuse to revisit this charming and thoroughly enjoyable…

Christopher Smith’s Black Death: no laughing matter

19 January 2011

Gerard Wood

Reviews, Screen

Game of Thrones, Valhalla Rising

Early on in Christopher Smith’s Black Death there are several moments when fans of Monty Python’s The Holy Grail might be tempted to crack a smile. Both movies are set at a time when England is ravaged by plague (“Bring out your dead!”) and infected with the sort of religious fervour and superstitious thinking that…

Review: A God Somewhere, by John Arcudi, Peter Snejbjerg & Bjarne Hansen

9 December 2010

Gerard Wood

Graphic Novel, Reviews

It’s been almost 25 years since Alan Moore’s Watchmen exploded onto the comic book scene. With its three-dimensional characters, moral complexity and more realistic depiction of violence, Watchmen introduced a new paradigm for the superhero graphic novel: Alan Moore took a sledge-hammer to the concept of the superhero and from the shattered pieces built something…

The Jesus-Lion roars again in BBC America’s boxed set of The Chronicles of Narnia

2 December 2010

Gerard Wood

Books, Screen

Adaptation, Fantasy

Long before director Andrew Adamson and Walt Disney brought C.S. Lewis’s magical world of Narnia to life on the big screen, the BBC took us there with an award winning children’s series made for television, The Chronicles of Narnia. I have no doubt that many who enjoyed the series some twenty years ago will remember…

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows delivers for the fans

22 November 2010

Gerard Wood

Reviews, Screen

Fantasy, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling

No surprises here: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One has routed the opposition in its first weekend, raking in US$330 million globally, $125 million in the US alone. In Britain, film 7 (and ¾?) in the Potter franchise smashed the previous record for an opening weekend held by Quantum of Solace with a…

New writing & Old

Kenneth Branagh’s Mighty Thor

The Adjustment Bureau: almost a first-rate SF movie

Neil Gaiman’s American Gods heads for the big screen

From dragon dung to box office gold: one studio’s journey

I Am Number Four: another Percy Jackson or rival for the Potter crown?

Merlin’s second season raises the bar for the TV fantasy series

Christopher Smith’s Black Death: no laughing matter

Review: A God Somewhere, by John Arcudi, Peter Snejbjerg & Bjarne Hansen

The Jesus-Lion roars again in BBC America’s boxed set of The Chronicles of Narnia

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows delivers for the fans

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