Of Swords and Parasols

I usually am not interested enough in the superpopular/big things to get into them when they're still shiny and new and everyone is talking about them, which has made following reactions to Snow White and the Huntsman interesting, to say the least. (And often uncomfortable. I'm not even going to pretend that I can activate the critical part of my brain for most of the movie because that part of my brain refuses to care, but I'm well aware that it has problems and there are valid criticisms. Many, however, seem to be judging it as a movie in which the two main characters are women [Both in the "I have higher standards for female driven narratives" way and the "but epic fantasy is about dudes way. The former really isn't any better than the latter.], and not simply as a movie. That said, everyone should hunt down James Franco's review. Because while I don't agree with him on everything, it's an excellent review.) Anyway, back to my point. Interesting reactions. Particularly in regards to visuals and accusing it of LotR ripoffs.

Am I the only one who watched 80s high fantasy? Because, seriously, watch these two movies and then get back to me about who ripped off who for visuals and imagery:





(BTW, I'm 90% surethat an early thought process that eventually led to SWATH was along the lines of "What if Elora had been grown up in Willow?"

To cleanse my brain and remind myself that Cassie Edwards is not representative of the entire genre, I shall read a couple of good romance novels next. Well, Loretta Chase and Elizabeth Thornton usually write good books, so I shall assume the recent book by each that I have is good. Uhm...seriously...most things would look good right now. After that, I shall return to epic fantasy because...uhm...it's all, novelwise, I seem to really be inthe mood for the last couple months. Due to yesterday's infusion, I have...a wide selection. The first 4 are continuations of series I'm already reading. The others, as far as I know, are the first books of their series. If I am wrong, I feel I should be told.

[Poll #1126501]

And, since I am in the mood, fantasy vids.

This one cracks me up because of the song choice(yet, I can't 100% say it's inappropriate)



And, because nothing says "love" like an abducted, injured woman...

15 x Ever After: A Cinderella Story
10 x Labyrinth
15 x Princess Bride
15 x Stardust
40 x Willow

Teasers:

     


 

Just because I'm away from  my hard drive with hundreds and hundreds of pics stored on it does NOT mean anyone gets to escape.  As long as the obsession is at the forefront, you must all suffer.



 This is just a list with a few pics for each of my favorite fantasy movies(and yes, I just reused some pics).  The only order is alphabetical.

I blame this on  dangermousie.  (Actually, a lot of my LJ this last year can be blamed on her as she is the ultimate pusher.  Anyway...)

This is in absolutely no order whatsoever (simply what I clicked on first in the photobucket folder, and amount of pictures is basically whatever a 5 minute google search turned up), just my 10 favorite Big Screen romances spawned from the US.

Apparently, it takes a lot to qualify if you don't pick up a sword or other blade at least once.  This could explain why only 2 1/2 are from this century...


Why yes, I do like 5-6 doses of adventure with my romance...