Film, tv & radio

Mention Shaft and most people think of Gordon Parks' seminal 1971 film starring Richard Roundtree in a leather coat, walking the streets of Manhattan to Isaac Hayes' iconic theme …

The Kaiju (strange monster) film genre has a number of themes that go well beyond the ""big monsters stomping on cities"" motif. Since the seminal King Kong (1933) and the …

Despite the insatiable public appetite for all things Star Wars, the more analytical side of the saga is all too often ignored. This book offers a new way of seeing George Lucas' …

Zombie stories are peculiarly American, as the creature was born in the New World and functions as a reminder of the atrocities of colonialism and slavery. The voodoo-based zombie …

Looming onto the television horror landscape in October 2011, a new drama known simply as American Horror Story gave its eager viewers a lurid and graphic weekly dose of …

Unlike most makers of modern or futuristic films, George Lucas turned away from the standard special operatives or secret agents when he created the heroes for his epic ""Star …

The success of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels and HBO's Game of Thrones series underscores the perennial popularity of medieval history-or rather …

Widely regarded as Japan's greatest animated director, Hayao Miyazaki creates films lauded for vibrant characters and meaningful narrative themes. Examining the messages of his 10 …

This essay collection is a wide-ranging exploration of Vikings, the television series that has successfully summoned the historical world of the Norse people for modern audiences …

HBO's Carnivale was a critically-acclaimed, elaborate period narrative set in Depression era America that set the stage for the current explosion of cinematic storytelling on …