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"It's not a place you can get to by a boat or a train. It's far, far away. Behind the moon, beyond the rain..."
With Disney's Oz: The Great and Powerful opening in theaters nationwide today, moviegoers will finally have the opportunity to return to the incredible fantasy world created by L. Frank Baum in his Land of Oz books. For those who have never ventured to Oz before, there are all manner of wonders in store, from talking dolls and toothy fairies, to flying monkeys and witches, both good and wicked. What's great about fantasy movies like Oz: The Great and Powerful is that they offer so much more than colorful characters and an entertaining story — they provide an entire new world to explore. If you could book a vacation to any fictional land depicted in fantasy movies, where would you go?
Rate the Top 10 Movie Fantasy Lands You Would Love to Visit >>
Posted 03.08.13 by BrentJS -
"If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword."
Fans of high fantasy — fantasy that takes place on an epic scale in an imaginary world in which otherwise supernatural creatures and forces are simply a part of the natural environment — were all but left out in the cold in 2012, while superheroes, aliens and secret agents were free to run amok on the big screen. Where were all of the wizards, dragons and elves? Except for animated movies and the pair of Snow White adaptations, high fantasy movies have been noticeably absent from the Cineplex of late.
Thankfully, fans of the fantasy sub-genre will not have to wait much longer with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opening in only a matter of days and Russian director Sergei Bodrov's (Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan) new fantasy adventure, Seventh Son — that's a begrizzled Jeff Bridges in the hood and cloak above, playing an aging knight who must train a new apprentice (Ben Barnes) to help him battle a malevolent witch (Julianne Moore) that seeks to destroy him — debuting next year. In anticipation of the return of magic to movie theaters, help us rate the best high fantasy movies of all time (beyond time).
Rate the Top 10 Best High Fantasy Movies >>
Image courtesy Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures
Posted 12.05.12 by BrentJS -
Warring kings, luminous princesses, brave knights-errant, seductive ladies-in-waiting, armor, swords, bodices — we love everything about the Middle Ages. (Except for the plague; that wasn't cool.) Medieval fiction and its genre cousin, High Fantasy (Medieval fiction with magic!), have inspired some of the most epic movies of all time, grandiose tales of conflict and conquest that play out in worlds both romantic and terrifying.
ReelzChannel will proudly be journeying back into the Middle Ages on Oct. 17th with the debut of the first part of our epic eight-part mini-series World Without End, adapted from acclaimed author Ken Follett's follow-up to The Pillars of the Earth. As we begin our two-week countdown to the big event, help us put together a list of the Top 10 Epic Medieval Movies of all time.
medieval moviesFriday 12:00p ET / 9:00a PT
Rate the Top 10 Epic Medieval Movies >>
Posted 10.03.12 by BrentJS -
A remake of director John Boorman's 1981 take on the King Arthur Legend, Excalibur, has been in the works since 2009, with director Bryan Singer (X-Men, Superman Returns) attached to helm the project. Singer took a break from putting the finishing touches on his next directorial effort, Jack the Giant Killer, and spoke to SFX at the Sitges Film Festival, only to reveal that his Excalibur remake was no more.
Yeah, unfortunately it is no longer going to happen. I was really enthused to do it. I’m a fan of John Boorman’s movie and it was my intention to get it going after Jack The Giant Killer was completed. The project was with Warner Bros. and what happened is that another King Arthur project was brought to them during that time. Basically, it was just more ready to go into production than ours was. That is why our version of Excalibur ended up being negated. But, when that happened, it allowed me to go straight into developing Battlestar Galactica — which I think will be really exciting.
more on Battlestar Galactica >> Posted 10.20.11 by Ryan -
Bryan Singer may be setting himself up to direct both a Battlestar Galatica and an Excalibur remake, but Variety reports that Singer is also "flirting with directing" X-Men: First Class, the spin-off written by The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz that would follow the adventures of a teenage incarnation of the X-Men team.
Singer has admitted that he regrets leaving X-Men: The Last Stand and has even mentioned interest in directing X-Men Origins:Magneto, though he cited Magneto's Nazi back story as a possible deal breaker, considering the amount of Nazi-related movies on Singer's resume already. That may be the reason Singer is turning his attention to First Class.
X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner has said, "Nothing would please me more than to bring Bryan on for another [X-Men] movie," and considering the amount of movies being lined up, like Deadpool and possibly a Gambit movie, there should be another X-Men project for Singer should he pass on X-Men: First Class."
And despite all those other projects in the works, Singer's next feature may end up being Jack the Giant Killer, a riff on Jack and the Beanstalk about a boy who travels to the land of giants to rescue a princess.
Posted 08.24.09 by Ryan -
Writer-director-producer Bryan Singer has had many ups and downs in his career. After he received critical acclaim for directing The Usual Suspects, a taut crime thriller with a surprise ending, Singer became a fan favorite with X-Men and X2.
Lately, however, his films have not been very well received. Singer has been blamed for the demise of the Superman franchise thanks to his meddling with the character's mythology in Superman Returns and the poor box-office results it generated. His last film, Valkyrie, was poorly received, opening in fourth place and inciting protests in Germany for casting Tom Cruise in the title role.
Singer is looking to get back on track, but he seems mired in controversy. The recent announcement that he was going to produce and direct a big-screen version of Battlestar Gallactica, a property that he planned to relaunch before the Syfy Channel series, was met by the fan community with equal parts enthusiasm, confusion, and anger.
Now, Singer's looking to resurrect another old concept with Excalibur, the 1981 film directed by John Boorman that helped launch the careers of Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byne, and Patrick Stewart. Though Singer has closed a rights deal for Excalibur through Warner Bros., Boorman still shares an interest in the property, so it's unclear just how the production will come together.
Posted 08.22.09 by BrentJS