Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

It is shaping up to be a wonderful time at the box office if you enjoy medieval and fantasy stuff. There are three movies out  that touch into the genre and they all look good. If you want to check out what is currently playing you can see a great listing at the imbd here: Now Playing

How to Train Your Dragon - Here is the plot: “A hapless young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely owner of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.” Does it get more fun than that? More on IMDB: How to Train Your Dragon

Alice In Wonderland - What can I say about this movie that hasn’t already been said? Johnny Depp and Tim Burton have teamed up to make some very memorable fantasy. More on IMBD: Alice in Wonderland

Clash of the Titans - This is of course a remake and if you remember the original Clash of the Titans you are in for a wild ride because this one is quite impressive when it comes to the look and feel. It is a testament to the effect that 300 has had on movie making. I am looking forward to this one! More info on IMBD: Clash of the Titans It currently stands at an 8.4 of 10 with over 1,000 ratings on IMDB.

Let’s not forget about Television

The New HBO Series “A Game of Thrones” This is based on the George RR Martin Ice and Fire series of novels, or more correctly on the first novel in the series by the same name. It is scheduled to start airing on HBO in april or may. You can check on the progress by going to the George RR Martin site here

Epic fantasy can be a difficult thing to translate over to television. For that matter it can be a difficult thing to translate over to the big screen. There have been some big successes and also some big failures. So, what is one of the early indicators of whether or not a movie or tv series in the genre will be good? You can get a good clue by who they are casting to act in it.
Well, HBO has given the green light to producing a series based on A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin which is the first book in the Song of Ice and Fire series. This is simply one of the best fantasy series ever written (It made my top five list).

Ok, about the cast

The cast is in place and it has some pretty heavy hitters. Sean Bean, who played Boromir in Lord of the Rings will play the lead role of Eddard Stark, and the role of Queen Cersei, will be played by Lena Headey who starred in 300 Opposite Gerard Butler. These are some big hitters and you really couldn’t ask for any better than that.

This is not going to be a light hearted epic fantasy romp. It is going to be adult fare which makes sense because that is what the books are. They are well written and very deep with lots and lots of political intrigue and a whole boat load of cloak and dagger stuff.  There is a lot of buzz about this series and they are saying it could be one of the best that HBO has produced.

This series could bring the genre of fantasy a long way.  They have a great cast in place and it is rumored that the network spent between 5 and 10 million on the pilot. This is something that I am really looking forward to it and here is a quote from HBO programming chief Michael Lombardo “The fantasy is so incidental, it has a very adult tone. You forget it’s fantasy while you’re watching it, and that’s what I love about it.”

The first installment of the series is predicted to air somewhere around March or April of 2011.

There is a new television show coming to Comedy Central on Thursday nights at 10pm. It is called “Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire” and it is a comedy that pokes fun at the whole genre of epic fantasy. The premiere of this show will air at 10PM April 9th.

So what is it? It is a new genre of television: Fantasy comedy; and it is spurred on by the stunning popularity of Lord of the Rings, Fantasy Gaming, Online Gaming, Dungeons and Dragons and all of these epic fantasy things that have come into the mainstream over the past decade.

I have watched an advanced copy of the one hour premiere of the show and I will give you my thoughts and opinion on it. But first you have got to read some excerpts of what Comedy Central says about the show:

“NEW YORK, NY, March 23, 2009 — From the time of the long ago past arrives “Krod Mandoon and The Flaming Sword of Fire,” COMEDY CENTRAL’s epic new half-hour, live-action series that chronicles the adventures of Krod Mandoon(Sean Maguire) and his hopelessly futile band of warriors as they take on the evil Chancellor Dongalor (Matt Lucas). Marking the all-comedy network’s first foray into fantasy-comedy, the groundbreaking series premieres on Thursday, April 9 at 10:00 p.m. marked by a special one-hour episode with limited commercial interruptions.

“Krod Mandoon and The Flaming Sword of Fire” is an outrageous, character-driven workplace comedy set in an ancient realm. Narrated by Chris Parnell (”30 Rock”), the series follows reluctant hero, Krod Mandoon (Maguire, “Meet the Spartans”), a thin-skinned and underconfident freedom fighter, who is the last great hope in the struggle against the evil ruler, Chancellor Dongalor (Lucas, “Little Britain USA”). To help fight the good fight, Krod has assembled a band of loyal, but remarkably ineffective freedom fighters: Aneka (India de Beaufort, “Run, Fatboy, Run”), the beautiful Pagan warrioress whose weapon of choice is sex; Zezelryck (Kevin Hart, “Fool’s Gold”), the young warlock whose greatest magical gift is spinning B.S.; Loquasto (Steve Speirs, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”), Krod’s oafish half human/half swine servant; and Bruce (Marques Ray, “Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘N Out”), who’s fierce and proud. Together, they must overcome a myriad of evil obstacles in their quest to save the world, including name-calling, hired assassins and a bisexual Cyclops (or biclops).

Viewers are introduced to Krod Mandoon and his band of freedom fighters during the epic hour-long series premiere, in which Krod, the son of a blacksmith and a stay-at-home mom, is revealed to be “The Golden One,” the last great hope in the rebellion against the cruel Meconian Empire and the wicked Chancellor Dongalor. Dongalor has not only imprisoned Krod’s mentor, the great General Arcadius, but is also in possession of the ultimate weapon of mass destruction, the Eye of Gulga Grymna, which he plans to wield over his subjects in his quest to rule the world, if only he can figure out how to unleash its awesome power. When Krod and his gang set out to rescue Arcadius, viewers will quickly learn that his newly-recruited band of semi-skilled warriors have clearly padded their resumes and that for Krod to succeed in thwarting Dongalor’s evil plans, he must grow thicker skin, overcome his germaphobia and work through his own sexual hang-ups with his Pagan girlfriend, Aneka.”

My thoughts on the show

I watched the hour premiere and enjoyed it. It was a funny and silly romp through the cliches of epic fantasy. I would call it good clean fun but its not! It comes on at ten oclock on the Comedy Channel so you know you are in for some ribald and bawdy comedy.

I have videos! Want to learn more? I have written more and have resources and more videos about the show on my fantasy guide website here: All About Krod Mandoon

- The official Krod Mandoon Website - Where you can find lots more stuff including more videos.

 There is no doubt that you have heard about the date December 21, 2012. There is a lot of buzz about it and I have talked about it in earlier blog posts, particularly concerning Nostradamus I have a few different posts including the lost book of Nostradamus here

The History Channel has produced a new show that focuses on Nostradamus and his predictions about 2012. You have got to watch this show and here is a video about it.  Here is a hair raising quote from the video:

“Thousands of people
Thousands of miles away
Thousands of years apart
All predict a cataclysmic event
Taking place on earth
On the exact same day
Can that really be a coincidence?”

That raises the hair on the back of my neck far worse than any horror movie I have ever seen. The show will premiere January 4th on the History Channel at 9pm 8 Central. I have lots more information about this show coming so stay tuned! Here is the video about the show: