Mythgard Movie Club: Blade Runner 2049

Tonight, I’ll be joining the Mythgard Movie Club podcast to talk about Blade Runner 2049, one of my new favorite movies. Back in January, we had a roundtable discussion about Blade Runner (you can find it here), and even though I’ve read books about the original Blade Runner and listen to the Shoulder of Orion Blade Runner podcast, I still gained new insights and appreciation for that film. Looking forward to our discussion tonight. You can watch it live (here) or download the podcast episode here later this month.

Mythmoot

This weekend, I’m attending the Mythgard Institute’s fifth Mythmoot, a conference that brings together fans and academics to talk about speculative fiction. I’m presenting a paper on the politics of Frank Herbert’s Dune. The schedule is available on the Mythmoot website. Hope to see some old friends there!

Mythgard Movie Club – Solo: A Star Wars Story

Once again, I’ll be joining the Mythgard Movie Club to talk about Star Wars. This time, we’re going to review Solo: A Star Wars Story. Join us at 8:30 pm EST tonight or catch us later through the podcast feed. You can check it out here.

The “Alien” Female

On May 3, I’ll be joining the Mythgard Movie Club to talk about Ridley Scott’s classic sci-fi movie Alien. Here I share my thoughts on what the film means to me, especially when it comes to gender representation in cinema…

During the past few years, female fans have become increasingly vocal in their disappointment over the lack of female protagonists in science fiction and fantasy. To be honest, I initially found this somewhat puzzling – not because I didn’t want female action heroes, but because I thought we already had them. When I was growing up, the biggest pop culture franchises featured characters like Princess Leia and Sarah Connor, while Dana Scully, Xena, and Buffy dominated on the small screen. My favorite sci-fi action hero was (and still is) Ellen Ripley. 

Mythgard Movie Club: The Last Jedi

I had the honor of joining the Mythgard Movie Club last week to talk about The Last Jedi. It was honestly one of the better discussions I’ve heard about the film. Whereas most of the discussion has been dominated by the polarized reaction to certain scenes, we tried to focus on understanding the themes in this film.

You can listen to the audio-only version here or watch the video below:

“Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell” by Susanna Clarke

Mythgard Academy is offering a free podcast course on Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. In preparation, I read the book and watched the BBC TV miniseries adaptation. Here are my thoughts on the novel:

Neil Gaiman calls Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell  “unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years.” Friends of mine, including fellow blogger Katherine Sas, have raved about the novel and have asked Mythgard to cover it for years. Needless to say, my expectations were high…

“The Princes Bride” by S. Morgenstern (abridged by William Goldman)

A long time ago, in a land far, far away, I was bored. Bored enough to try reading a new book (but not bored enough to read Twilight, because even though this was a long time ago, it was after Twilight came out). A friend of mine recommended a book by S. Morgenstern called The Princess Bride. He said Morgenstern provides a refreshingly accurate depiction of Florinese history, as well as a critical examination of Florinese fantasy tales. Although I aced the “Map of the Modern World” exam at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, I knew relatively little about the kingdom of Florin and decided to try the book.