New and Forthcoming in SMART

The latest number (20.2 for Fall 2013) of Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching includes the following review:

DONALD WINEKE Book Review:  Shakespeare and the Middle Ages: Essays on the Performance and Adaptation of the Plays with Medieval Sources and Settings, edited by Martha W. Driver and Sid Ray

The forthcoming number (21.1 for Spring 2014) will feature the following essay:

JULIE ELB. Knights! Camelot! Action! Using Anachronistic Movies to Successfully Teach Medieval History.

Both numbers can be ordered direct from SMART at http://webs.wichita.edu/?u=smart.

Forever Knight Marathon Tomorrow

I've given up checking the listings for Chiller but do regularly check Syfy (and really need to update their listings on the blog), and I came across the following of interest in the programming for tomorrow, Friday, 4 October.

Oct 4	08:00 AM	Forever Knight	Dark Knight - Part 1
Oct 4	09:00 AM	Forever Knight	Dark Knight - Part 2
Oct 4	10:00 AM	Forever Knight	For I Have Sinned
Oct 4	11:00 AM	Forever Knight	Last Act
Oct 4	12:00 PM	Forever Knight	Dance By The Light Of The Moon
Oct 4	01:00 PM	Forever Knight	Dying To Know You
Oct 4	02:00 PM	Forever Knight	False Witness
Oct 4	03:00 PM	Forever Knight	Cherry Blossoms
Oct 4	04:00 PM	Forever Knight	I Will Repay
Oct 4	05:00 PM	Forever Knight	Dead Air

Robin Hood on Film/TV News

The upcoming 9th Biennial Conference of the International Association of Robin Hood Studies convenes from 31 October through 3 November at St Louis University and opens with a slate of panels on Robin Hood on screen. Details as follows. The complete program and conference information can be accessed at http://robinhood.slu.edu/index.html.

Thursday, 31 October

Session 1- Screen Games 1 [1:15 – 2:45 Il Monastero]

1. What a wicked game to play: The Robin/Guy/Marian Triangle in the 2006 BBC Robin Hood
Leah Larson, Our Lady of the Lake University

2. Playing the Bold Robin Hood: The Early Ballads in Season One of the BBC’s Robin Hood
Kelhi DePace, Auburn University Montgomery)

3. Mummers and jousters: Gentrification in Robin of Sherwood
Laura Blunk, Cuyahoga Community College


Session 2 – Screen Games 2 [3:00 – 4:30 Il Monastero]
Chair: Colin Pajda

1. The Evolution of Maid Marian in Film
Haley Cole, Auburn University Montgomery

2. Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood and a game of variants
Joanna Szwed-Sliwowska, University of Warsaw

3. Through the Virtual Greenwood: A Discussion of Robin Hood Video Games
Thomas Rowland, Saint Louis University

CFPs PCA/ACA 2014 (11/1/13)

The Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association has published its calls for papers for the 2014 meeting in Chicago. Relevant areas include the following. Click the link for further details:


Medievalism in Popular Culture

Shakespeare on Film and Television

Tolkien Studies - Special Topic – New for 2014!

Adaptation (Film, TV, Lit., & Electronic Gaming)

 

Open Call Quarterly Review of Film and Video

A head's up from the MLA's Announcements of General Interest list:

Quarterly Review of Film and Video (QRFV) seeks new submissions on film, video, and moving-image studies. QRFV is devoted to providing innovative perspectives from a broad range of methodologies, including writings on newly developing technologies, as well as essays and interviews in any area of film history, production, reception, and criticism. The editors invite compelling, well-crafted essays on all aspects of film and the moving image—history, theory, and criticism—and welcomes essays on video games and video installations, the moving image in popular culture, and the ways in which the digital and filmic image now intersect in production, distribution, and exhibition. Also of interest are articles that explore the recovery of neglected films and issues arising from the digitization of the moving image, as well as interviews with directors, festival reports, and theoretical essays. QRFV regularly publishes 6–10-page book reviews. Potential reviewers should query the editors before undertaking a review. The editors also assign reviews. Submissions are accepted throughout the year; there is no deadline. The journal publishes five issues a year (four regular issues and one year-end special issue). Articles range from 20 to 35 pages in length, including notes and works-cited list, and may be in MLA or Chicago format. The complete guidelines for QRFV articles and reviews can be downloaded at http://eng-wdixon.unl.edu/format.html. The Transfer of Copyright Agreement, which must be downloaded, signed by the author, and submitted with each article or review, is at http://eng-wdixon.unl.edu/qrfv.pdf. Send submissions to wheelerdixon@windstream.net. For more information, write or call the editors, Wheeler Winston Dixon and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, Dept. of English, 202 Andrews Hall, Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln 68588-0333 (402 472-6064; fax: 402 472-9771).

Sinbad Marathon Today on Syfy

Syfy is airing a marathon of the new series Sinbad today. I saw the first episode and thought it had some promise (see teaser below and its Wikipedia page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinbad_(TV_series) ) but have not been able to catch the later episodes. The series, produced by British network Sky1, will be out on DVD and Blu-ray in the fall and can be viewed now on Amazon Instant Video and iTunes.





Here are the times and episode listings:

11:00 AM Sinbad, Season 1 : Pilot

12:00 PM Sinbad, Season 1: Queen Of The Water-thieves

01:00 PM Sinbad, Season 1: House Of Games

 02:00 PM Sinbad, Season 1: Old Man Of The Sea

03:00 PM Sinbad, Season 1: Hunted

04:00 PM Sinbad, Season 1: The Siren

05:00 PM Sinbad, Season 1: Homecoming

06:00 PM Sinbad, Season 1: Kuji

07:00 PM Sinbad, Season 1: Eye Of The Tiger

08:00 PM Sinbad, Season 1: For Whom The Egg Shatters

09:00 PM Sinbad, Season 1: Fiend Or Friend?

10:00 PM Sinbad, Season 1: Land Of The Dead

Sword in Stone and Robin Hood Updates

Advance reviews of both The Sword in thse Stone and Robin Hood Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Edition combo packs reveal that both releases will include concept art for scenes deleted from the films. Further details at the following site:

The Sword in the Stone:

http://www.criterionforum.org/DVD-review/the-sword-in-the-stone-dual-format-edition/disney/1202

http://moviemansguide.com/main/2013/07/review-swordinthestone-bd/


Robin Hood:

http://www.criterionforum.org/DVD-review/robin-hood-dual-format-edition/disney/1204

http://moviemansguide.com/main/2013/07/review-robinhood-bd/

Kozintsev’s Shakespeare Films by Tiffany Ann Conroy Moore

Sorry to have missed this:

Kozintsev’s Shakespeare Films: Russian Political Protest in Hamlet and King Lear
https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/kozintsevs-shakespeare-films/
Tiffany Ann Conroy Moore
McFarland

Price: $40.00
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-7135-5
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4766-0028-4
9 photos, notes, bibliography, index
202pp. softcover (6 x 9) 2012

Available for immediate shipment

About the Book

This book is a study of Grigory Kozintsev’s two cinematic Shakespeare adaptations, Hamlet (Gamlet, 1964), and King Lear (Korol Lir, 1970). The films are considered in relation to the historical, artistic and cultural contexts in which they appear, and in relation to the contributions of Dmitri Shostakovich, who wrote the films’ scores; and Boris Pasternak, whose translations Kozintsev used. The films are analyzed respective to their place in the translation and performance history of Hamlet and King Lear from their first appearances in Tsarist Russian arts and letters. In particular, this study is concerned with the ways in which these plays have been used as a means to critique the government and the country’s problems in an age in which official censorship was commonplace. Kozintsev’s films (as well as his theatrical productions of Hamlet and Lear) continue along this trajectory of protest by providing a vehicle for him and his collaborators to address the oppression, violence and corruption of Soviet society. It was just this sort of covert political protest that finally effected the dissolution and fall of the USSR.


Table of Contents

Acknowledgments viii

Preface 1

Introduction 3

1. Kozintsev’s Contexts 1: Hamlet in Russia in the 18th and 19th Centuries 25

2. Kozintsev’s Contexts 2: Soviet Hamlets from the Revolution until after Stalin’s Death 52

3. Hamlet in the "Thaw" and Kozintsev’s 1964 Film Adaptation 74

4. Kozintsev’s Contexts 3: Russian and Soviet King Lears from the 18th Century through World War II 106

5. King Lear Revisited in the Brezhnev Era: Kozintsev’s 1970 Film Adaptation 136

Epilogue 179

Chapter Notes 182

Bibliography 185

Index 193


About the Author

Tiffany Ann Conroy Moore teaches writing, literature, film and public speaking at several colleges in Southern New Hampshire.

[link updated 25 June 2018]

Reel Middle Ages at 15

For immediate release:

In 1999, Kevin J. Harty's The Reel Middle Ages: American, Western and Eastern European, Middle Eastern and Asian Films About Medieval Europe was published by McFarland and ushered in a renascence for the study of medieval subjects on film, television, and electronic games.

The Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages seeks help in commemorating the fifteenth anniversary of this ground-breaking work. If you are interested in helping us to further the study of the medieval on screen, please sign up to our moderated discussion list Medieval Studies at the Movies at http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/MSAM_DL/ , which will be re-launched later this year, and/or become a follower of our blog Medieval Studies on Screen at http://medievalstudiesonscreen.blogspot.com/ . Previous members of the discussion list are asked to contact the list moderator, as many accounts are now inactive.

Michael A. Torregrossa
Co-Founder, The Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages

From the Disney Vault Update

Disney is re-releasing both The Sword in the Stone (1963) and Robin Hood (1973) to Blu-ray next month as part of special anniversary editions including digital copies of both films (whether purchased as part of the DVD or Blu-Ray/DVD combo sets). Both were recently released as DVD special editions (in 2008 and 2006, respectively). No word yet on whether or not they will include any new extras. I append the advertisement from the Disney Movie Club. Both films can also be purchased from various online sellers, though, curiously, Disney's own DisneyStore.com fails to list either product.

Also of interest, the Disney Movie Club is offering Season 2, Volume 2 of the popular 1990s' series Gargoyles as a 3-disc club exclusive. The set completes the season (first released to DVD in 2005). The Gargoyles are originally from 10th century Scotland but active in the modern world, where they interact with a number of figures from medieval myth and legend, including Macbeth, King Arthur, the Lady of the Lake, Cú Chulainn, Odin, and the Weird Sisters from Macbeth. In addition, this half of the season introduces Titania (from Midsummer Night's Dream) into the Gargoyles universe and also integrates both her and Puck (also from MND) firmly into the Gargoyle's extended family.

Contents for Beowulf on Film

According to WorldCat here are the contents for Haydock and Risden's Beowulf on Film: Adaptations and Variations due out from McFarland this fall:

Introduction-a Freud complex and the problem of Beowulf in film / E.L. Risden --

Film theory, the sister arts tradition and the cinematic Beowulf / Nickolas Haydock --

The cinematic commoditization of Beowulf: The serial fetishizing of a hero / E.L. Risden --

Making sacrifices / Nickolas Haydock --

The hero, the mad male Id, and a feminist Beowulf: the sexualizing of an Epic / E.L. Risden --

Dragon, where art thou? "othering" in Beowulf films / E.L. Risden --

Meat puzzles: Beowulf and the horror film / Nickolas Haydock --

Our man Beowulf: Bowra, Ker, and the contemporary struggle with heroism / E.L. Risden --

Conclusion-the postmodern Beowulf / Nickolas Haydock.

In addition, in terms of cataloging, the book is listed solely as Beowulf -- Film adaptations; this is unfortunate, for it fails to link to the larger range of scholarship on medievalisms on screen.

Haines's Music in Films on the Middle Ages

Update number three for the night highlights an intriguing new book from Routledge (unfortunately the price may limit its reach):

Music in Films on the Middle Ages: Authenticity vs. Fantasy
By John Haines

To Be Published October 14th 2013 by Routledge

Series: Routledge Research in Music

Hardback: $125.00
978-0-415-82412-5
Available for pre-order

DESCRIPTION:

This book explores the role of music in the some five hundred feature-length films on the Middle Ages produced between the late 1890s and the present day, ranging from historical epics such as Joan the Woman (1917) to medievalist stories such as The Lord of the Rings (2001-3). Haines focuses on the tension in these films between authenticity and fantasy, between the surviving evidence for medieval music and the idiomatic tradition of cinematic music. The latter is taken broadly as any musical sound occurring in a film, from the clang of a bell off-screen to a minstrel singing his song; it includes both diegetic and non-diegetic modes. Medieval film music must is considered in the broader historical context of pre-cinematic medievalisms, on the one hand, and, on the other, of medievalist cinema’s main development in the course of the twentieth century as an American appropriation of European culture. The book treats six pervasive moments that define the genre of what could be called medieval film: the church-tower bell, the trumpet fanfare or horn call, the music of banquets and courts, the singing minstrel, performances of Gregorian chant, and the music that accompanies horse-riding knights, with each chapter visiting representative films as case studies. These six signal musical moments create a fundamental visual-aural core that is central to making a film feel medieval to modern audiences, and these musical stereotypes originate in medievalist works predating cinema by some three centuries.


CONTENTS:

Preface
1. The Making of the Middle Ages
2. The Bell
3. The Trumpet Fanfare and the Horn Call
4. Banquet and Court Music
5. The Singing Minstrel
6. Chant
7. The Riding Warrior
8. Conclusion
References
Filmography


AUTHOR BIO:

John Haines is Professor of Music History and Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Return of A Knight at the Movies

Two of three updates for the night:

This just in from Routledge--

A Knight at the Movies: Medieval History on Film, 2nd Edition 
By John Aberth

To Be Published June 30th 2014 by Routledge – 352 pages

Purchasing Options:

Paperback:
$39.95
978-0-415-82532-0
Not yet available

Hardback:
$130.00
978-0-415-82531-3
Not yet available


Details on the first edition are available from the publisher at http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415938860/ and on Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/Knight-Movies-Medieval-History-Film/dp/0415938864/.

The new edition includes about 20 additional pages. It is unknown at this point how extensive the revisions will be. It also not yet available for pre-ordering from Amazon.

Catching Up 7-18

A quick update for today.

Expect the recent TV listings for Chiller and Syfy to be updated by the end of the week. I am also slowly adding more productions to the link list on the margins of the blog.

Michael Torregrossa

Lee on Cold War Comics and Films

With apologies for the multiple cross-postings:

Lee, Peter W. “Red Days, Black Knights: Medieval-themed Comic Books in American Containment Culture.”Corporate Medievalism II. Ed. Karl Fugelso. Studies in Medievalism 22. Cambridge, Eng.: D. S. Brewer-Boydell & Brewer, 2013. 181-200. Print.

Haydock on Beowulf in SiM

From the latest volume of Studies in Medievalism:


Haydock, Nickolas. “Film Theory, the Sister Arts Tradition, and the Cinematic Beowulf.” Corporate Medievalism II. Ed. Karl Fugelso. Studies in Medievalism 22. Cambridge, Eng.: D. S. Brewer-Boydell & Brewer, 2013. 153-80. Print.

Coming Soon: Digital Gaming Re-imagines the Middle Ages

One last post for the night:


Digital Gaming Re-imagines the Middle Ages 
Edited by Daniel T. Kline 

Series: Routledge Studies in New Media and Cyberculture

To Be Published July 22nd 2013 by Routledge

Hardback: $125.00 978-0-415-63091-7
Available for pre-order


Digital gaming’s cultural significance is often minimized much in the same way that the Middle Ages are discounted as the backward and childish precursor to the modern period. Digital Gaming Reimagines the Middle Ages challenges both perceptions by examining how the Middle Ages have persisted into the contemporary world via digital games as well as analyzing how digital gaming translates, adapts, and remediates medieval stories, themes, characters, and tropes in interactive electronic environments. At the same time, the Middle Ages are reinterpreted according to contemporary concerns and conflicts, in all their complexity. Rather than a distinct time in the past, the Middle Ages form a space in which theory and narrative, gaming and textuality, identity and society are remediated and reimagined. Together, the essays demonstrate that while having its roots firmly in narrative traditions, neomedieval gaming—where neomedievalism no longer negotiates with any reality beyond itself and other medievalisms—creates cultural palimpsests, multiply-layered trans-temporal artifacts. Digital Gaming Re-imagines the Middle Ages demonstrates that the medieval is more than just a stockpile of historically static facts but is a living, subversive presence in contemporary culture.


Introduction: "All Your History Are Belong to Us": Digital Gaming Re-imagines the Middle Ages
Daniel T. Kline


Part 1: Prehistory of Medieval Gaming

1. The Right to Dream of the Middle Ages: Simulating the Medieval in Tabletop RPGs
William J. White


Part 2: Gaming Re-imagines Medieval Traditions

2. "Best and Only Bulwark": How Epic Narrative Redeems Beowulf the Game
Candace Barrington and Timothy English

3. Systematizing Culture in Medievalism: Geography, Dynasty, Culture, and Imperialism in Crusader Kings: Deus Vult 
Jason Pitruzzello

4. The Portrayal of Medieval Warfare in Medieval: Total War and Medieval 2: Total War
Greg Fedorenko

5. Gabriel Knight: A Twentieth-Century Chivalric Romance Hero
Angela Tenga


Part 3: Case Study 1 – World of Warcraft

6. Coloring Tension: Medieval and Contemporary Concepts in Classifying and Using Digital Objects in World of Warcraft 
Elysse T. Meredith

7. Sir Thomas Malory and the Death Knights of New Avalon: Imagining Medieval Identities in World of Warcraft 
Kristen Noone and Jennifer Kavetsky

8. Accumulating Histories: A Social Practice Approach to Medievalism in High Fantasy MMORPGs
Jennifer C. Stone, Peter Kudenov, and Teresa Combs

9. "Awesome Cleavage": The Genred Body in World of Warcraft 
Kim Wilkins


Part 4: Case Study 2 – Dante's Inferno, The Game

10. The Game's Two Bodies, or the Fate of Figura in Dante's Inferno 
 Bruno Lessard

11. Courtly e-Violence, Digital Play: Adapting Medieval Courtly Masculinities in Dante’s Inferno 
Oliver Chadwick

12. Shades of Dante: Virtual Bodies in Dante's Inferno 
Timothy J. Welsh and John T. Sebastian

13. The Middle Ages in the Depths of Hell: Pedagogical Possibility and the Past in Dante's Inferno 
Angela Jane Weisl and Kevin J. Stevens


Part 5: Theoretical and Representational Issues in Medieval Gaming

14. We Will Travel by Map: Maps as Narrative Spaces in Videogames and Medieval Texts
Thomas Rowland

15. Author, Text, and Medievalism in The Elder Scrolls 
Michelle DiPietro

16. Technophilia and Technophobia in Online Medieval Fantasy Games
Nick Webber

17. The Consolation of Paranoia: Conspiracy, Epistemology, and the Templars in Assassin's Creed, Deus Ex, and Dragon Age 
Harry J. Brown


Part 6: Sociality and Social Media in Medieval Gaming

18. Casual Medieval Games, Interactivity, and Social Play in Social Network and Mobile Applications
Serina Patterson

Wood's The Medieval Filmscape

Coming this December from McFarland. Wood is no stranger to Medieval Studies on screen, but the idea that this is "an informal attempt at defining the genre" does worry me a bit (not to mention the fact that medievalism on film is transgeneric). More to follow as available.


The Medieval Filmscape:Reflections of Fear and Desire in a Cinematic Mirror
William F. Woods 

Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-4651-3
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4766-1341-3
ca. 20 photos, filmography, notes, bibliography, index
softcover (6 x 9) 2013
Price: $40.00
Not Yet Published, Available Fall/Winter 2013

About the Book

This book is an informal attempt at defining the genre of medieval film by describing its features and analyzing its effects and their significance, there being few works presently available that work toward such definition. There are three parts: the introduction enters the medieval film world, describing its typical features and showing how they create a convincing sense of its time; three short chapters discuss authenticity, simplicity and spectacle--the roots of film medievalism; and six longer chapters comment on individual films. Works are discussed that extend the reach of the genre, such as Dreyer’s La Passion de Jeanne D’Arc with its emotional range, or Bergman’s Seventh Seal, which creates a universal symbolism. In short, the author describes what goes into a medieval film and how it affects its audience, while offering suggestions about why its themes are meaningful to us.

About the Author

William F. Woods is the M.V. Hughes Professor of English at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas. He lives in Wichita.

Beowulf on Film Update

McFarland has recently updated the cover art for Haydock and Risden's Beowulf on Film Adaptations and Variations to mach its title. Still no details on the contents. 

CFP Women and Community in the Ancien Régime: Traditional and New Media (10/1/13)

Came across the following on the Medieval Academy blog, and it seems worth re-posting. Note specific request for approaches using film (and, presumably, other representations of the medieval on screens).

The Fourth International MARGOT Conference
June 18-20, 2014
Barnard College, New York City

Women and Community in the Ancien Régime: Traditional and New Media

Scholarly Focus

This three-day conference will feature research and teaching approaches that explore how women participated in and contributed to different kinds of community in medieval and early modern Europe.  Conference sessions will feature presentations based on texts and images in traditional manuscript and print format, as well as work that employs new technology and media projects. The conference will be interdisciplinary, and will consider the function and importance of female communities in the natural and social sciences, religion, literature, history, music and fine arts.

Presentation topics may explore women in:

• Medical communities; midwifery
• Religious communities and non-orthodox or heretical groups
• Salons and académies
• Women and the Republic of Letters
• Epistolary communities
• Literary circles
• Artists’ and performing artists’ communities
• Guilds
• Oral communities; storytelling
• Print and Manuscript format
• Digital resources of all kinds
• Online publication of texts and images
• Database design and creation
• Material culture and artifacts
• Film

Resources and approaches used may include:

This conference is co-sponsored by the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

PROCEDURE FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL:

We welcome three types of submissions:

1. Demonstrations/showcasing of existing projects which will include discussion of their creation and implementation for research and/or teaching
2. Abstracts for regular paper presentations
3. Proposals for entire sessions (including the names, titles, and abstracts of three/four presenters)

Regular papers will last for 20 minutes, and will be followed by 10 minutes of discussion. Project demonstrations will last for 30 minutes followed by 15 minutes of discussion. We ask participants to include the following information in their proposal:

1. Paper or Session title
2. Session type – Regular or Project Demonstration
3. 250 word abstract
4. Contact information and bio paragraph

The Committee will look at all the proposals and their compatibility with the sessions that are planned. As far as possible, we will try to avoid parallel sessions.
The language of the Colloquium will be English.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION:

The deadline for submitting your proposal is October 1, 2013.
Please submit proposals by e-mail to the conference committee:
Prof. Laurie Postlewate: lpostlew@barnard.edu.
Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by October 15, 2013. Information about the conference, including registration, accommodation at negotiated favourable rates, will be provided early in 2014. We will periodically update information here.
We look forward to your participation,

The Conference Committee:

• Christine McWebb (University of Waterloo)
• Laurie Postlewate (Barnard College, Columbia University)
• Catherine Dubeau (University of Waterloo)

For more information, please see http://margot.uwaterloo.ca/conference-2014/

Kalamazoo Update

Blog members should be interested in the following details on our sessions for this year's Medieval Congress. The complete program can be accessed at: http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/sessions.html.

Thursday, 9 May 3:30 PM
Session 114: Fetzer 1005

Still Getting Medieval on Television: Medieval-Themed Television of the Twenty-First Century and Its Impact on Medieval Studies (A Roundtable)

Sponsor: Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages

Organizer: Michael A. Torregrossa, Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages

Presider: Suanna H. Davis, Abilene Christian Univ.

Hybrid Medievalisms in Arthurian Romance and the Historical Evolution of the Genre from Print to Television
Kevin Teo Kia Choong, Nagoya Univ.

When Bows Don’t Bow: Sherwood and Camelot in Conflict
Elizabeth Bernhardt, Abilene Christian Univ.

Kaamelott/Camelot on the Small Screen
Tara Foster, Northern Michigan Univ.

Medieval Themes in the Contemporary Newsroom
Charlotte A. T. Wulf, Stevenson Univ.

Medievalism in Television’s Popular Series Once Upon a Time
Mikee Delony, Abilene Christian Univ.

Saturday, 11 May 12:00 PM

Valley III Room 303

Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Villains of the Matter of Britain; Institute for the Advancement of Scholarship on the Magic-Wielding Figures of Visual Electronic Multimedia; Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages
Business Meeting and Reception

Michael

Middle Ages in Film and Video Games CFP (6/15/13)

Medieval Studies on Screen CFP for the Medieval Academy in 2014:

CALL FOR PAPERS
2014 ANNUAL MEETING OF THE MEDIEVAL ACADEMY OF AMERICA
and the Annual Meeting of the Medieval Association of the Pacific, 2014
Hosted by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies
EMPIRES AND ENCOUNTERS

The 2014 Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America will be held jointly with the Medieval Association of the Pacific on 10–12 April, in Los Angeles at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and hosted by the UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

Topics.

The Program Committee solicits papers for the sessions listed below. For information about a specific session, contact the session organizer.

16. Medievalism: The Middle Ages in Film and Video Games
Organizer: Anita Obermeier (University of New Mexico)

Complete CFP and details at http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.medievalacademy.org/resource/resmgr/pdfs/call_for_papers_ucla.pdf.

New Book Beowulf on Film

Comics soon from McFarland, though there is a conflict between the title online and the cover art. Further updates as available.


Beowulf on Film:Adaptations and Variations
Nickolas Haydock and E.L. Risden

Print  ISBN: 978-0-7864-6338-1
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4766-0617-0
photos, bibliography, notes, index
softcover (6 x 9) 2013
Price: $40.00
Not Yet Published, Available Fall/Winter 2013

About the Book

Why did the most read work in English literature go without cinematic adaptation for so long? And why, after so much neglect, did five major film adaptations of the poem appear between 1999 and 2008? This book explores the growing list of films based on or inspired by the Old English epic poem Beowulf, and thus joins the ongoing consideration of film medievalism. If the films lead audiences back to the original, the will discover a work of great cultural, linguistic, and inherent visual power--but will the pervasive influence of cinema affect the future reception of Beowulf? The films derived from it constitute an interesting if yet incomplete body of variants with their own specific social commentary: they inevitably sway not only from the story, but also from the themes and concerns of the original to those more interesting to the filmmakers. The films under consideration here, like all others, respond to the zeitgeist: they measure the pulse of how we are processing inherited notions of heroism in contemporary media, and they teach us more about our own times than about the poem from which they derive.

About the Author

Nickolas Haydock is professor of English at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez. In addition to movie medievalism and film, he also writes about medieval Scots literature.

E.L. Risden is a professor of English at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin. He has published books and essays on medieval and Renaissance studies as well as poetry and fiction.

Mulan and Mulan II Trailer

Advertisement scan from last night seems a bit muddy, so here is the official trailer:




Additional videos at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-muvh_380IafMMO3fC55frFmfTG0tiyX.

Mulan News

Mulan and Mulan II are set to be re-released as a special fifteenth-anniversary Blu-ray combo set according to the following advisement from the recent Peter Pan Diamond Edition:

Syfy March 2013

Third of three posts today on Syfy to finally catch me up-to-date. The following represent this month's listings for Syfy airing in March 2013 on the network. Note that season five of Merlin continues here and concludes next month.


SAT., 2 MAR
02:00 AM
Merlin: The Hollow Queen


SUN., 3 MAR
04:00 PM
Face Off: Make It Reign


MON., 4 MAR

01:30 PM
Movie: Stargate: The Ark Of Truth
    
05:30 PM
Movie: Outlander


TUES., 5 MAR
02:00 PM
Face Off: Make It Reign


FRI., 8 MAR

03:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Black Forest
05:00 AM
Merlin: The Hollow Queen

08:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Witchville
10:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Book Of Beasts, The
12:00 PM
Movie: Merlin And The War Of The Dragons
02:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Beyond Sherwood Forest
04:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Black Forest

10:00 PM
Merlin: With All My Heart


SAT., 9 MAR
12:00 AM
Merlin: With All My Heart


SUN., 10 MAR
04:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Rise Of The Gargoyles


TUES., 12 MAR
01:00 PM
Face Off: Make It Reign


FRI., 15 MAR
10:00 PM
Merlin: The Kindness Of Strangers


SAT., 16 MAR

12:00 AM
Merlin: The Kindness Of Strangers

09:00 PM
Movie: Underworld: Evolution
11:00 PM
Movie: Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans


TUES., 19 MAR
12:00 PM
Face Off: Make It Reign


WEDNES., 20 MAR
03:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Dark Relic


THURS., 21 MAR
 03:00 PM
Movie: Wes Craven Presents: Dracula II: Ascension


FRI., 22 MAR
10:00 PM
Merlin: The Drawing Of The Dark


SAT., 23 MAR
12:00 AM
Merlin: The Drawing Of The Dark


TUES., 26 MAR
11:00 AM
Face Off: Make It Reign


WEDNES., 27 MAR
    
03:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Reign Of The Gargoyles
    
03:00 PM
Ghost Hunters International: Murders And Mysteries: England And New Zealand


THURS., 28 MAR
11:30 PM
Movie: Stargate: The Ark Of Truth


FRI., 29 MAR

03:30 AM
Merlin: Lancelot Du Lac
04:30 AM
Merlin: A Herald Of The New Age
    
02:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Rock Monster

10:00 PM
Merlin: The Diamond Of The Day - Part One


SAT., 30 MAR

12:00 AM
Merlin: The Diamond Of The Day - Part One
    
05:00 AM
Stargate Atlantis: Before I Sleep

06:30 PM
Movie: Blade II


SUN., 31 MAR
11:00 PM
Movie: In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale

Syfy February 2012

Second of three posts on Syfy. The following represent the medieval-themed listings from last month, February 2013. Note that season five of Merlin continues here.


FRI., 1 FEB
10:00 PM
Merlin: The Disir


SAT., 2 FEB
12:00 AM
Merlin: The Disir


SUN., 3 FEB
08:00 PM
Movie: Chronicles Of Narnia, The: Prince Caspian


MON., 4 FEB
04:00 PM
Movie: Chronicles Of Narnia, The: Prince Caspian


TUES., 5 FEB
06:00 PM
Face Off: Make It Reign [premiered in Jan.]


WEDNES., 6 FEB
12:00 PM
Ghost Hunters International: Hamlet's Castle: Denmark


FRI., 8 FEB
10:00 PM
Merlin: The Dark Tower


SAT., 9 FEB
12:00 AM
Merlin: The Dark Tower


SUN., 10 FEB

10:30 AM
Movie: Stargate: The Ark Of Truth

   
05:30 PM
Movie: Outlander


MON., 11 FEB
02:30 PM
Movie: Outlander


TUES., 12 FEB
04:00 PM
Destination Truth: Issie/Icelandic Elves [??]
05:00 PM
Face Off: Make It Reign


THURS., 14 FEB

09:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Beauty And The Beasts: A Dark Tale
11:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Grendel
01:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Beyond Sherwood Forest
03:00 PM
Movie: Dragon Wars
    
09:00 PM
Movie: Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans


FRI., 15 FEB

09:30 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Sinbad And The Minotaur

01:30 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Almighty Thor

06:00 PM
Movie: Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans

10:00 PM
Merlin: A Lesson In Vengeance


SAT., 16 FEB
12:00 AM
Merlin: A Lesson In Vengeance


TUES., 19 FEB
04:00 PM
Face Off: Make It Reign


WEDNES., 20 FEB
01:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Sinbad And The Minotaur
03:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Immortal Voyage Of Captain Drake, The


FRI., 22 FEB

03:00 AM
   
Syfy Original Movie: Dark Relic

10:00 PM
Merlin: The Hollow Queen
[1 week hiatus after this episode; season 5 continues beginning 8 March]


SAT., 23 FEB
12:00 AM
Merlin: The Hollow Queen


SUN., 24 FEB
10:30 AM
Face Off: Make It Reign


TUES., 26 FEB

01:00 AM
Merlin: The Hollow Queen

03:00 PM
Face Off: Make It Reign

Syfy January 2013

The first of three posts today to catch up-to-date with relevant listings on Syfy. The following represent the medieval-themed programming for January 2013.

In addition to the material listed, the network also premiered "Make It Reign", an episode of Face Off featuring designs for a medieval-like secondary world. At the time, I was unaware of its appropriateness, but, as new details have emerged, future air-dates have been added to later postings to the blog.

Of note, the month also featured the US premiere of the fifth (and final) season of Merlin, which recently wrapped up its five-year run in December 2012. The series aired on Syfy in January opening with a marathon of season four, and season five runs from January through April on the network. Season four is now available on DVD and Blu-ray, and season five is due out in April; both seasons (as well as the previous three) are (of course) available through the various digital download providers.


FRI., 4 JAN


[Merlin Season 4 marathon]
08:00 AM
Merlin: The Darkest Hour - Part 1
09:00 AM
Merlin: The Darkest Hour - Part 2
10:00 AM
Merlin: Aithusa
11:00 AM
Merlin: His Father's Son
12:00 PM
Merlin: A Servant Of Two Masters
01:00 PM
Merlin: The Secret Sharer
02:00 PM
Merlin: Lamia
03:00 PM
Merlin: Lancelot Du Lac
04:00 PM
Merlin: A Herald Of The New Age
05:00 PM
Merlin: The Hunter's Heart
06:00 PM
Merlin: The Sword In The Stone - Part 1
07:00 PM
Merlin: The Sword In The Stone - Part 2


10:00 PM
Merlin: Arthur's Bane - Part One
[Merlin Season 5 premiere]


SAT., 5 JAN
    
12:00 AM
Merlin: Arthur's Bane - Part One

02:00 AM
Movie: Merlin And The War Of The Dragons
04:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Book Of Beasts, The



WEDNES., 9 JAN
09:00 PM
Ghost Hunters: Irish Ruins


FRI., 11 JAN
10:00 PM
Merlin: Arthur's Bane - Part Two


SAT., 12 JAN.
12:00 AM
Merlin: Arthur's Bane - Part Two


FRI., 18 JAN

06:00 PM
Merlin: Arthur's Bane - Part Two

10:00 PM
Merlin: The Death Song Of Uther Pendragon


SAT., 19 JAN
12:00 AM
Merlin: The Death Song Of Uther Pendragon


FRI., 25 JAN
10:00 PM
Merlin: Another's Sorrow


SAT., 26 JAN

12:00 AM
Merlin: Another's Sorrow

03:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Thor: Hammer Of The Gods
    
11:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Rock Monster


SUN., 27 JAN

11:30 AM
Movie: Wes Craven Presents: Dracula II: Ascension

05:30 PM
Movie: Blade II

08:00 PM
Movie: Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans


MON., 28 JAN

02:30 PM
Movie: Blade II

05:00 PM
Movie: Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans

Vikings--Now on History

The History Channel premieres the nine-part series Vikings tomorrow 3 March at 10 PM EST. The series is based on the life and adventures of Ragnar Lothbrok. The following promotional videos appear on the network's YouTube channel.

Chiller March 2013

Quick update on Chiller for this month:

There are no noticeable listings with medieval content airing on Chiller in March 2013. However, recurrent series, such as Buffy and the Vampire Slayer, may include undocumented material.

Chiller February 2013

Here are the (slim) medieval-themed listings from Chiller for last month, February 2013:

TUES., 26 FEB
09:00 P ET
Movie: Vlad


WEDNES., 27 FEB
03:00 A ET
Movie: Vlad

Chiller January 2013

Moving closer to the present, here are the relevant listings from Chiller for January 2013. Details for all productions are available in the links lists.


THURS., 3 JAN
 07:00 P ET
Movie: Vlad

FRI., 4 JAN
 01:00 A ET
Movie: Vlad


FRI., 18 JAN
12:00 P ET
The Outer Limits: Shroud


FRI., 25 JAN
01:00 P ET
The Twilight Zone (1985): The Last Defender Of Camelot


SAT., 26 JAN

11:30 A ET
Movie: Vlad

11:00 P ET
Movie: Vlad

Medieval Afterlives in Popular Culture (New Book)

Out late last year from Palgrave Macmillan:

Medieval Afterlives in Popular Culture
The New Middle Ages
Edited By Gail Ashton and Daniel T. Kline

Palgrave Macmillan, December 2012
ISBN: 978-0-230-33734-3, ISBN10: 0-230-33734-1,
5.500 x 8.500 inches, 258 pages,
Hardcover $85.00

Drawing from an eclectic mix of scholars from the US, UK, and Australia,Medieval Afterlives in Popular Culture examines the persistence of medieval themes, characters, and situations in a variety of media from reality television to Virginia Woolf, Arthurian film to Disney animation, Shrek to historical fantasy. Each essay demonstrates that the Middle Ages are not relegated to a static past but continue to fashion a vital presence in contemporary popular culture, changing our assumptions about the flow of history and the creation of the present.

 

Contents (from WorldCat):

 

The YouTube prioress : anti-semitism and twenty-first century participatory culture / Candace Barrington --
Animated conversations in Nottingham : Disney's Robin Hood (1973) / Andrew Lynch --
Virginia Woolf's middle ages / Steve Ellis --
Dario Fo's Mistero Buffo and the left-modernist reclamation of medieval popular culture / Louise D'Arcens --
Acephalic history : a Bataillian reading of Monty Python and the Holy Grail / Daniel T. Kline --
Medievalism and periodization in Frozen river and The second shepherds' play : environment, class, miracle / Robert S. Sturges --
Time travel, pulp fictions, and changing attitudes toward the Middle Ages : why you can't get Renaissance on somebody's ass / Steve Guthrie --
H.P. Lovecraft's "unnamable" Middle Ages / Brantley L. Bryant --
Confession, contrition, and the rhetoric of tears : medievalism and reality television / Angela Jane Weisl --
Robin Hood, frenched / Richard Utz --
Brief encounters : Arthur's epic journey in Antoine Fuqua's King Arthur (2005) / Leslie Coote --
"My other world" : historical reflections and refractions in modern Arthurian fantasy / Philippa Semper --
Queer origins, deformed lies : seeding the future in Torchwood's "Children of earth" / Gail Ashton --
The medieval entertainment channel : the Shrek quartet / Kathleen Coyne Kelly.

About the editors:

Gail Ashton is an independent scholar and poet. She previously taught at the University of Manchester and the University of Birmingham and writes, edits, and reviews medieval and contemporary literature, especially Chaucer and poetry.

Daniel T. Kline is a professor and Chair of English at the University of Alaska Anchorage. He specializes in Middle English literature and culture, literary and cultural theory, and digital medievalism. He has published in Chaucer Review, College Literature, Comparative Drama, the Journal of English and Germanic Philology, and Philological Quarterly, among others. 

 

 

Praise:

 

'Spanning many centuries and multiple media, this collection will inform and delight specialists, generalists, and anyone else interested in how we shape the Middle Ages and they shape us. Through highly engaging case-studies, the authors thoroughly and thoughtfully explore the vast and sometimes surprising legacy of our medieval past. They challenge the most fundamental assumptions of (neo)medievalism and open new avenues of research into one of the most dynamic and wide-ranging fields in the humanities.' - Karl Fugelso, professor of Art History at Towson University and editor of Studies in Medievalism
'An insightful collection that confronts issues too often left implicit in studies of medievalism head-on. Together the essays pose an important challenge: to examine the persistence, contingency and plurality of medievalism, and the implications that has for periodization and the ongoing influence of the medieval on the modern.' - David W. Marshall, California State University San Bernardino and editor of Mass Market Medieval: Essays on the Middle Ages in Popular Culture

'The essays in Medieval Afterlives in Popular Culture are energetic and spirited. They explore the diversity of medievalisms in popular culture, asking powerful questions about modern critical, creative, and political investments in such forms of medieval re-creation. Through a series of detailed readings, the authors offer loving, critical attention to texts that are often dismissed or unregarded. The best of these essays go even further: to consider the role of medievalism in shaping our ideas of modernity, and the relationship between high and popular culture. This collection is packed full of fresh insights and readings, and will become essential reading for students and researchers working in this field.' - Stephanie Trigg, University of Melbourne

 

 

 

Disney Middle Ages (Complete at Last)

Here are the complete details on the recent collection Disney Middle Ages:

The Disney Middle Ages: A Fairy-Tale and Fantasy Past
The New Middle Ages
Edited By Tison Pugh and Susan Aronstein

Palgrave Macmillan, December 2012
ISBN: 978-0-230-34007-7, ISBN10: 0-230-34007-5,
5.500 x 8.500 inches, 304 pages, 6 b/w illustrations,
Hardcover $85.00

The Middle Ages depicted in Walt Disney movies have come, for many, to figure as the Middle Ages, forming the earliest visions of the medieval past for much of the contemporary western (and increasingly eastern) imaginary. The essayists of The Disney Middle Ages explore Disney's mediation and re-creation of a fairy-tale and fantasy past, not to lament its exploitation of the Middle Ages for corporate ends, but to examine how and why these medieval visions prove so readily adaptable to themed entertainments many centuries after their creation.

Contents:

Introduction: Disney's Retroprogressive Medievalisms: Where Yesterday Is Tomorrow Today; T.Pugh

PART I: BUILDING A BETTER MIDDLE AGES: MEDIEVALISM IN THE PARKS
Mapping the Happiest Place on Earth: Disney's Medieval Cartography; S.YandellDisney's Castles and the Work of the Medieval in the Magic Kingdom; M.BaylessPilgrimage and Medieval Narrative Structures in Disney's Parks; S.Aronstein

PART II: THE DISTORICAL MIDDLE AGES
'You don't learn it deliberately, but you just know it from what you've seen': British Understandings of the Medieval Past Gleaned from Disney's Fairy Tales; P.SturtevantThe Sorcerer's Apprentice: Animation and Alchemy in Disney's Medievalism; E.F.Labbie
The Sword in the Stone: American Translation and Disney's Anti-medievalisms; R.GossedgeWalt in Sherwood, or the Sheriff of Disneyland: Disney and the Film Legend of Robin Hood; K.J.HartyFuturistic Medievalisms and the U.S. Space Program in Disney's Man in Space Trilogy and Unidentified Flying Oddball; A.Foster

PART III: DISNEY PRINCESS FANTASY FAIRE
'Where happily ever after happens every day': The Medievalisms of Disney's Princesses; C.BradfordDisney's Medievalized Ecologies in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Sleeping Beauty; K.C.KellyThe United Princesses of America: Ethnic Diversity and Cultural Purity in Disney's Medieval Past; I.Mitchell-SmithEsmerelda of Notre Dame: The Gypsy Girl in Medieval View from Hugo to Disney; A.CravenReality Remixed: Neomedieval Princess Culture in Disney's Enchanted; M.S.Cecire

About the Editors:

Tison Pugh is a professor of English at the University of Central Florida. He is the author of Queering Medieval Genres, Sexuality and Its Queer Discontents in Middle English Literature, and Innocence, Heterosexuality, and the Queerness of Children's Literature.

Susan Aronstein is a professor of English at the University of Wyoming,. She is the author of Hollywood Knights: Arthurian Cinema and the Politics of Nostalgia and her articles on medieval Arthurian romance, medieval film, medievalism and popular culture have appeared in numerous books and journals.

Praise:

'An exciting excursion through Disney's entertainment kingdom. The exploration of Disney's 'retroprogressive' reimagining of the Middle Ages - from the medieval cartography of the theme-park maps and the fantastical geography of Wart's Camelot and Robin's Sherwood to the familiar iconography of Disney's fairy-tale castles and the increasingly diverse ethnography of his princesses - is lively, perceptive, and provocative. The Disney Middle Ages offers fascinating insights into American values and consumer practices; and it is essential reading for anyone interested in medievalism, film, or popular culture.' - Barbara Tepa Lupack, author of The Girl's King Arthur and Illustrating Camelot
 
"Witty, wry, and informative, this volume opens with an engaging introduction followed by thirteen essays that explore Disney's influence on contemporary readings of medieval sources as well as on modern perceptions of the Middle Ages. Stylishly written, the essays have wide appeal, reaching medievalists in all disciplines and well beyond to anyone who has ever encountered or who has been touched by a Disney film, owned a Disney product, or visited a Disney theme park. A model for other publications of its kind, The Disney Middle Ages presents fresh ways to consider popular culture in historical contexts and demonstrates Disney's apparently endless vitality in shaping modern notions of all things medieval." - Martha W. Driver, Distinguished Professor of English and Women's and Gender Studies, Pace University

Contents for Forni's Chaucer's Afterlife (At Last!)

Now available from McFarland (click link) and coming soon from other sellers:

Chaucer’s Afterlife: Adaptations in Recent Popular Culture
Kathleen Forni

Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-7344-1
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4766-0267-7


Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vi
Preface 1
Introduction: The Popular and the Professional 7
1. Modes of Intertextual Engagement 21
2. Chaucer the Detective 61
3. Chaucer on the TV Screen: The BBC’s Canterbury Tales and Jonathan Myerson’s Canterbury Tales 84
4. The Canterbury Pilgrimage and African Diaspora 106
5. The Chaucer Brand 122
Chapter Notes 133
Bibliography 151
Index 165

Chiller December 2012

A final post on 2012. The following represent Chiller's meager medieval-themed programming for December 2012.

Slim pickings this month:

SUN., 23 DEC
08:00 A ET
Supernatural Science: King Arthur

Chiller November 2012

The penultimate listing for 2012, a vampire-filled list of Chiller's relevant offerings from November 2012.

THURS., 1 NOV
01:30 P ET
The Twilight Zone (1985): The Last Defender Of Camelot


SUN., 11 NOV
10:00 A ET
Supernatural Science: King Arthur


TUES., 13 NOV
02:00 P ET
Supernatural Science : King Arthur


FRI., 23 NOV [part of the "Fangsgiving" celebration]
06:00 A ET
Forever Knight: Dark Knight
07:00 A ET
Forever Knight: Dark Knight: The Second Chapter
08:00 A ET
Forever Knight: For I Have Sinned
09:00 A ET
Forever Knight: Last Act
10:00 A ET
Forever Knight: Dance By The Light Of The Moon
11:00 A ET
Forever Knight: Dying To Know You
12:00 P ET
Forever Knight: False Witness
01:00 P ET
Forever Knight: Cherry Blossoms
02:00 P ET
Forever Knigh: Dark Knight
03:00 P ET
Forever Knight: Dark Knight: The Second Chapter
04:00 P ET
Forever Knight: For I Have Sinned
05:00 P ET
Movie: Vlad

11:00 P ET
Movie: Vlad


SAT., 24 NOV
 03:00 P ET
Movie: Vlad


MON., 26 NOV
 06:00 A ET
The Outer Limits: The Tipping Point

Chiller October 2012

Continuing the listings for Chiller, here are the details from October 2012.


Missed data for at least 10/1 and 10/7-8.


SAT., OCT 13
11:00 A ET
Movie: Vlad
11:00 P ET
Movie: Vlad


MON., OCT 22
11:00 A ET
The Outer Limits: Shroud


WEDNES., OCT 24
08:00 A ET
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Buffy Vs. Dracula


THURS., OCT 25
05:00 A ET
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Buffy Vs. Dracula

Jack the Giant Slayer

In addition to its Middle-earth franchise, Warner Bros. is presenting an alternate medieval secondary world in the upcoming feature film Jack the Giant Slayer. From the trailer (with opening narration from Ian McKellan, the Lord of the Rings's / Hobbit's Gandalf), the film looks like an attempt to tap into the continued popularity of neomedieval fare and presents both an action-adventure tale and love story. The film premieres this weekend, and additional details can be found by searching the Warner Bros. Pictures channel at YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/WarnerBrosPictures/videos?query=jack+the+giant+slayer).

Dragons Come to Life

DreamWorks' feature film How to Train Your Dragon has been a productive franchise of late with an animated series on Cartoon Network and, now, a live-action version called How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular. The studio includes a number of promotional videos for the stage show on its YouTube channel, including the following trailer.

Peter Jackson's The Hobbit

I don't believe I've posted anything on The Hobbit before. Given the popularity of the first trilogy, this looks like it will have an enormous impact on the popular conception of the the Middle Ages for many years to come. The second film of the Hobbit trilogy (!) is due in late 2013. Additional videos can be accessed at the Warner Bros. Pictures Channel on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE40EF62A81D1D1EB. 

Chiller September 2012

A mixed bag on Chiller last September 2012:


Missing data for Tuesday, 4 September; Wednesday, 5 September; and Tuesday, 11 September.


Fri., 7 Sept.

01:00 PM
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Selfless

TV Guide listing claims that vengeance demon Anya recalls her past--in Viking-era Sweden--here.


SUN., 16 SEPT
01:00 A ET
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Buffy Vs. Dracula


WEDNES., 19 SEPT.
06:00 A ET
The Outer Limits: The Tipping Point


THURS., 20 SEPT.
09:00 A ET
Forever Knight: Dark Knight
10:00 A ET
Forever Knight: Dark Knight: The Second Chapter
11:00 A ET
Forever Knight: For I Have Sinned
12:00 P ET
Forever Knight: Last Act
01:00 P ET
Forever Knight: Dance By The Light Of The Moon
02:00 P ET
Forever Knight: Dying To Know You
03:00 P ET
Forever Knight: False Witness
04:00 P ET
Forever Knight: Cherry Blossoms

Chiller August 2012

An all-Arthurian month on Chiller from August 2012:


THURS., 2 AUG
04:30 PM
Twilight Zone: Last Defender of Camelot


FRI., 3 AUG
02:00 P ET
Supernatural Science: King Arthur




SUN., 19 AUG
12:00 P ET
Supernatural Science: King Arthur

Chiller July 2012

Here is the first of six posts on Chiller's listings from 2012.

Chiller's medieval-themed listings included the following for July 2012:

Missed 1-2 July


THURS., 5 JULY
05:00 P ET
Movie: Vlad

Syfy December 2012

Last set of Syfy listings:

Medieval-themed content from December 2012:

Notes:
Missed data 12/23-12/24.
Syfy 20th Anniversary Special airs throughout the month. Medieval content unknown.


SUN., 9 DEC

03:30 PM
Movie: In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale

06:00 PM
Movie: Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade


MON., 10 DEC

12:00 AM
Movie: In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
    
03:00 PM
Movie: Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
    
09:00 PM
Syfy 20th Anniversary Special
11:00 PM
Syfy 20th Anniversary Special



WEDNES., 12 DEC
    
10:30 AM
Ghost Hunters International: The Spirit Of Robin Hood
    
08:00 PM
Ghost Hunters, Season 7: Knights Of The Living Dead



THURS., 13 DEC
 08:00 AM: Syfy 20th Anniversary Special
   


FRI., 14 DEC


02:00 AM
Syfy 20th Anniversary Special
04:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Rock Monster

08:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Black Forest



12:00 PM

Syfy Original Movie: Almighty Thor

04:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Rock Monster
06:00 PM
Syfy 20th Anniversary Special
   


SAT., 15 DEC
01:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Almighty Thor



SUN., 16 DEC

09:00 AM
Syfy 20th Anniversary Special
   
7:00 PM
Movie: Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans

11:30 PM
Syfy 20th Anniversary Special
   


MON., 17 DEC
03:30 PM
Movie: Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans


WEDNES., 19 DEC
1:30 AM
Syfy 20th Anniversary Special
   


WEDNES., 26 DEC
08:00 AM
Merlin: The Darkest Hour - Part 1
09:00 AM
Merlin: The Darkest Hour - Part 2
10:00 AM
Merlin: The Wicked Day
11:00 AM
Merlin: Aithusa



SUN., 30 DEC
08:00 PM
Movie: Chronicles Of Narnia, The: Prince Caspian



MON., 31 DEC
01:00 AM
Movie: Chronicles Of Narnia, The: Prince Caspian

Syfy November 2012

Medieval-themed listings from Syfy for last November 2012:

SUN., NOV 4

01:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Aladdin And The Death Lamp
02:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Beyond Sherwood Forest
04:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Black Forest


SAT., NOV 10
01:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Rock Monster


SUN., NOV 11

06:30 PM
Movie: Outlander

11:30 PM
Movie: In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale


MON., NOV 12

09:30 AM
Movie: Merlin And The War Of The Dragons
11:30 AM
Movie: Dragonquest
01:30 PM
Movie: In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
04:00 PM
Movie: Outlander


WEDNES., 14 NOV
    
08:00 AM
Ghost Hunters International: Witches Castle
09:00 AM
Ghost Hunters International: Spirits Of Italy


MON., 19 NOV
09:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Beauty And The Beasts: A Dark Tale
11:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Sinbad And The Minotaur
03:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Aladdin And The Death Lamp

07:00 PM
Movie: Chronicles Of Narnia, The: Prince Caspian
10:00 PM
Movie: Chronicles Of Narnia, The: Prince Caspian


TUES., 20 NOV.
05:00 PM
Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files - Glowing Gargoyle/Phantom Feline


SAT., 24 NOV
12:30 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Fire And Ice
02:30 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Dragon Dynasty
04:30 PM
Movie Marathon: Age Of The Dragons
06:30 PM
Movie Marathon: Dungeons & Dragons: The Wrath Of The Dragon God
09:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Dungeons & Dragons: The Book Of Vile Darkness
11:00 PM
Movie Marathon: Dungeons & Dragons: The Wrath Of The Dragon God



SUN., 25 NOV

01:30 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Dungeons & Dragons: The Book Of Vile Darkness

   
04:00 PM
Movie Marathon: In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale



WEDNES., 28 NOV
01:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie:    
Reign Of The Gargoyles
   



THURS., 29 NOV
08:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Book Of Beasts, The
10:00 AM
Movie: Merlin And The War Of The Dragons
12:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Beyond Sherwood Forest
02:00 PM
Movie: Dragonquest
04:00 PM
Movie: In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
06:30 PM
Movie: Dungeons & Dragons: The Wrath Of The Dragon God
09:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Dungeons & Dragons: The Book Of Vile Darkness
11:00 PM
Movie: Age Of The Dragons



FRI., 30 NOV

01:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Beyond Sherwood Forest
03:00 AM
Movie: Dragonquest

01:30 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Wyvern
03:30 PM
Movie: Dungeons & Dragons: The Wrath Of The Dragon God
06:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Dungeons & Dragons: The Book Of Vile Darkness

Syfy October 2012

Still catching up. I'll try to finish 2012 this weekend and start on 2013 next week.

The following represent the relevant listings for Syfy last October 2012:


Missed data for at least 10/1 and 10/7-8.

TUES, 9 OCT

09:00 AM
Ghost Hunters International: Castle Of The Damned

01:00 PM
Ghost Hunters International: Dracula's Castle


WEDNES., 10 OCT
03:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Witchville


THURS., 11 OCT
11:30 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Reign Of The Gargoyles
01:30 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Rise Of The Gargoyles


MON., 15 OCT
01:30 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Thor: Hammer Of The Gods


WEDNES., 17 OCT
01:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Dark Relic


SAT., 20 OCT
Oct 20
09:00 AM
31 Days Of Halloween Movie: Dark Prince: The True Story Of Dracula

09:00 PM
31 Days Of Halloween Movie: Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans


SUN., 21 OCT
05:00 PM
31 Days Of Halloween Movie: Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans

Coming Soon: Forni on Chaucer's Afterlife

Due out this spring from McFarland; contents details to follow when available:

Chaucer’s Afterlife: Adaptations in Recent Popular Culture
Kathleen Forni

Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-7344-1
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4766-0267-7
notes, bibliography, index
softcover (6 x 9) 2013
$40.00 [no price yet for ebook]
Not Yet Published, Available Spring/Summer 2013


About the Book:

This study explores Chaucer’s present-day cultural reputation by way of popular culture. In just the past two decades his texts have been adapted to a wide variety of popular genres, including television, stage, comic book, hip-hop, science fiction, horror, romance, and crime fiction. This cultural recycling involves a variety of functions but Chaucer’s primary association is with the idea of pilgrimage and the prevailing tenor is populist satire. The target is not only cultural elitism but also the dominant discourse of professional Chaucerians. Academics in turn may have doubts about the value of popular Chaucer; popular culture theory, however, would maintain that such skepticism has less to do with critical discrimination than the assertion of social distinction. Nonetheless, the fact that Chaucer has a popular afterlife, and remains a cultural product over which competing groups lay claim, attests to his current vitality.

About the Author:


Kathleen Forni is an associate professor of English at Loyola University Maryland. She lives in Baltimore.

Syfy September 2012

One more for today: the medieval-themed listings from Syfy for last September 2012.


Missing data for Tuesday, 4 September; Wednesday, 5 September; and Tuesday, 11 September.

SAT., SEPT. 1

04:00 PM
Movie Marathon: In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
06:30 PM
Movie Marathon: Outlander


SUN., SEPT. 2

01:00 PM
Movie: Outlander

08:00 PM
Movie: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian


TUES., 4 SEPT.
01:00 AM
Movie Marathon: Dracula 3000: Infinite Darkness


WEDNES., 12 SEPT.
11:00 AM
Ghost Hunters International: Chillingham
12:00 PM
same
Evil Unearthed (the Abbey of Lucedio and Nanteos Mansion)
3:00 PM
same
Fortress of Fear (Rasnov Castle)
4:00 PM
same
Headless Haunting (13th century nobleman; Orava Castle)
5:00 PM
same
Frankenstein's Castle
6:00 PM
same
Larnach Castle (in New Zealand)



THURS., 13 SEPT.
08:00 AM
Merlin: The Wicked Day
09:00 AM
Merlin: Aithusa
10:00 AM
Merlin: His Father's Son
11:00 AM
Merlin: A Servant Of Two Masters
12:00 PM
Merlin: The Secret Sharer
01:00 PM
Merlin: Lamia
02:00 PM
Merlin: Lancelot Du Lac
03:00 PM
Merlin: A Herald Of The New Age
04:00 PM
Merlin: The Hunter's Heart
05:00 PM
Merlin: The Sword In The Stone - Part 1
06:00 PM
Merlin: The Sword In The Stone - Part 2


FRI., 14 SEPT.

10:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Rise Of The Gargoyles

02:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Wyvern


SAT., 15 SEPT.

09:00 AM
Movie: Merlin And The War Of The Dragons
11:00 AM
Movie: Dragonquest
01:00 PM
Movie: Dragon Sword

05:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Black Forest
07:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Aladdin And The Death Lamp

11:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Aladdin And The Death Lamp


SUN., 16 SEPT.
03:00 AM
Movie: Sinbad And The Minotaur



THURS., 20 SEPT.
09:00 PM
Movie: Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans


WEDNES., 26 SEPT.
01:00 AM
Merlin: The Tears Of Uther Pendragon - Part 1
02:00 AM
Merlin: The Tears Of Uther Pendragon - Part 2
03:00 AM
Merlin: Goblin's Gold
04:00 AM
Merlin: Gwaine

Syfy August 2012

Continuing from last night, the relevant listings from Syfy's online schedule for August 2012:


FRI., 3 AUG
02:00 AM   
Sanctuary: "Fata Morgana"

WED., 8 AUG
10:00 AM
Ghost Hunters, Season 7: Knights Of The Living Dead

THU., 9 AUG
01:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Rise Of The Gargoyles


SAT., 11 AUG
11:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Rock Monster


SUN., 12 AUG
02:00 PM
Movie: In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale


MON., 13 AUG
11:00 AM
Movie: In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale


SUN., 19 AUG
09:00 PM
Movie
Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans


MON., 20 AUG
07:00 PM
Movie: Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans


THU., 23 AUG
06:30 PM
Movie: Outlander


FRI., 24 AUG
03:00 PM
Movie: Outlander

Syfy July 2012

More of the same:

Syfy for last July 2012:

Missed 1 and 2 July.


SATURDAY, 7 JULY
09:00 PM
Movie: Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade


SUNDAY, 8 JULY
06:00 PM
Movie: Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade


WEDNES., 11 JULY
08:00 AM
Ghost Hunters International: Larnach Castle

10:00 AM
Ghost Hunters International: Castle Of The Damned

02:00 PM
Ghost Hunters International: Dracula's Castle


THURS., 12 JULY

08:00 AM
Movie: Merlin And The War Of The Dragons
10:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Dragon Dynasty
12:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Fire And Ice

08:00 PM
Movie: Chronicles Of Narnia, The: Prince Caspian


FRI., 13 JULY
09:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Beauty And The Beasts: A Dark Tale

11:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Black Forest

05:00 PM
Movie: Chronicles Of Narnia, The: Prince Caspian



SAT., 14 JULY
03:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Rock Monster


SUN., 15 JULY
   
06:00 PM
Movie: Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans

11:30 PM
Movie: Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans


SAT., 28 JULY
04:00 PM
Movie: Outlander


SUN., 29 JULY
11:00 AM
Movie: Outlander

Syfy June 2012 Listing

Relevant content airing on Syfy last June 2012:

FRI, 1 JUNE

08:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Beyond Sherwood Forest
10:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Beauty And The Beasts: A Dark Tale

06:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Black Forest

11:00 PM
Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files - Glowing Gargoyle/Phantom Feline



SAT., 2 JUNE

03:30 PM
Movie: Outlander


[Missed listing for Sun. 6/3]



TUES., 5 JUNE
08:00 PM
Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files - Glowing Gargoyle/Phantom Feline



SAT., 9 JUNE
03:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Grendel


MON., 11 JUNE
12:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Rock Monster


TUES., 12 JUNE
07:00 PM
Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files - Glowing Gargoyle/Phantom Feline


FRI., 15 JUNE

03:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Dark Relic

02:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie: Almighty Thor


MON., 18 JUNE
12:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Riverworld - Part One
02:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie: Riverworld - Part Two



TUES., 19 JUNE

09:00 AM
Ghost Hunters International: Hamlet's Castle: Denmark

06:00 PM
Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files - Glowing Gargoyle/Phantom Feline


FRI., 22 JUNE
09:30 AM
Movie: Dracula 3000: Infinite Darkness
11:30 AM
Movie: Bram Stoker's Way Of The Vampire


TUES., 26 JUNE

05:00 PM
Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files - Glowing Gargoyle/Phantom Feline

10:00 PM
Hollywood Treasure: Vampires, Swords And The Queen Of The Night


WEDNES., 27 JUNE
12:00 AM
Hollywood Treasure: Vampires, Swords And The Queen Of The Night