Foster on Film

What a year it has been in film. My best list is for fantasy and science fiction films, in all their many forms, so everything from dedicated scientists in the near future to dragons and elves to evil clowns (though no evil clowns will made this list). And it has been an amazing year for

We live in a wonderful age for superhero fans. When I was in college, none of the films in my top 10 existed, and only one of my top 20. I would only have been able to come up with two superhero films that were actually good. Now it is a snap to come up

Once again, a musical list that no one asked for, but it was on my mind, so here it is. Gabriel has been one of my favorite artists from before I had any idea on who he was. He was the mind behind the progressive band Genesis, and when he left it, so did most

Overrated does not mean bad. That’s obvious, but I feel I need to point that out to save myself from hate-filled emails. None of these would five would fit on my worst of 2012 list. There are things so much worse. These films are watchable, but have garnered far more praise than they deserve. #5

To go with my ranking of all of the Bond films last week, here is my ranking of the Bond villains. Everyone always says that the villain makes the Bond film. I don’t think so. But there is some relationship. I’m going with main villains, as there are lots and lots of villains. Henches will

I was asked by a friend (yes, a real one, not just a Facebook one) what the Best ‘50s—early ‘60s science fiction films were. I asked if we were talking “best” or “most important” and he said “Why not both?” As I’ve just finished a panel at Dragon Con on the subject, and making that

The second of the Big Three horror icons (Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr.), Boris Karloff found stardom with Frankenstein after struggling in silent films. He was grateful for his success and never minded being typecast, and typecast he was. If he wasn’t a monster, a monstrous servant, or a crazed killer, he was a mad doctor.

I remember years when getting a dozen fantasy and science fiction films was impressive. 2017 gave us 59. Yeah, if you look carefully you might find another or three, but I think I’ve done my share so this is my final ranking for the year. And its been a good year not only for having

I discovered Renaissance in the early ‘80s and was sucked into the beauty of their music. I hadn’t heard anything like them, and while I’ve run into copies and bands treading similar ground since, there’s nothing like the original. Back before “progressive rock” was a term, there was Renaissance, which along with Genesis  and Yes,

I ranked the Bond title sequences, and this is an addendum to that. I grant myself some knowledge of film so that ranking has some minimal meaning. This is just how much I like the songs. I claim nothing more than that. I’m ranking only the main title themes from both the EON and non-EON

Nothing brings the glow of good will, candy canes, and mistletoe to a geek’s heart more than the annual Christmas appearance of Doctor Who. Since his return in 2005, no holiday season has lacked a visit by the Time Lord: some dark, some light. I could explain who The Doctor is, the history of the

The Oscars are tonight, and I’ve never cared less. There is nothing of interest nominated. This isn’t exactly new. The Oscars are wrong almost every year in almost every way. So, I needed something cinema-related that was about as far form The Oscars as I could go. But I wasn’t prepared for a nunsploitation essay,