Category: The Thing

TSJ Talks John Carpenter’s THE THING … Now on YouTube!

TSJ Talks John Carpenter’s THE THING on the Re-Creative Podcast

For those of you who don’t download podcasts, here’s an easier way to listen to my 45-minute segment on the Re-Creative with hosts Joe and Mark.

TSJ Talks John Carpenter’s THE THING!

TSJ Talks John Carpenter’s THE THING!

Last week, I joined the guys from the Re-Creative Podcast and our topic of the evening was my second favorite film of all time, John Carpenter’s The Thing.

My First Book Signing in Ages

My First Book Signing in Ages

On Sunday, I made the long voyage to Indigo/Chapters London North in London, Ontario for a book signing to promote my newest books, Fatal Depth and An Island of Light.  I say this tongue in cheek, because the store is in the same city in which I live:  London, Ontario.  Usually I’m driving hours to a signing … this time, it was only twenty minutes.  It was heaven.

John Carpenter’s Contribution to Speculative and Science Fiction Redux

John Carpenter’s Contribution to Speculative and Science Fiction Redux*

John Carpenter is my favorite director.

I think that’s pretty obvious if you’re familiar with my blog, Life After Gateway. My post “The Greatest Trifectas in Film History” made it clear that I believe him to be a visionary director whose massive appeal in the SF genre is on par with Cameron, Spielberg, and Abrams.

Link

 

John Carpenter’s Contribution to Speculative and Science Fiction Film

 

This week, speculative fiction blog Aurelia Leo published an article I wrote on legendary SF director John Carpenter.  Over the decades I’ve searched out any property I could find that Carpenter has directed.  Find my thoughts on many of his SF films at the link, including THEY LIVE, PRINCE OF DARKNESS, THE THING, and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK.

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The Greatest Trifectas in Film History

 

The Greatest Trifectas in (Recent) Film History by TSJ

While writing the blog entry “Where Has the Character-Driven Action Film Gone?” (found here) I mentioned the idea of a trifecta — or “triple” — in film history. There are few directors who can create successful film after successful film. Having one critical and commercial hit is difficult enough. Having two in a row is even harder. And three? Nearly unheard of.

I decided to create a list of the greatest triples in film history. Even the concept seemed absurd, however — what gives me the right to create such a list? Who am I to say one director created a “better” trifecta than another? Moreover, how does one define success or failure in the creative/artistic industry? Sometimes a box office hit can be a critical failure, or vice versa. Well, to be blunt, this is my blog. I’ll write what I want. However, to identify triples and narrow the field it was necessary to create a list of criteria that I would follow.

TSJ’s Top Three Movies of All Time

 

People often ask me about my favorite movies. I try to watch a lot of thrillers and horror, especially in the Science Fiction genre, I like to talk about movies, and I enjoy reviewing great ones on my blog. So, I figured that this might be a good place to write an article about my top three films of all time.

Counting down from Three to One …

TSJ on the Imposter Theme in Science Fiction

John Carpenter’s THE THING, 1982

In 2013, coinciding with the release of my first novel, THE FURNACE, I wrote an essay for John Scalzi’s website on the Imposter Theme in Science Fiction.  It’s a common plot element in the genre, and I encountered it repeatedly in my formative years.  The novels INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and THE PUPPET MASTERS feature the theme.  John Carpenter’s THE THING had a massive impact on me when it was released, and THE FURNACE is actually an homage to it and the novella it was based on, WHO GOES THERE?

On Horror and Science Fiction Influences

A few weeks back, I had the pleasure of participating in a radio program with host Gail Barker.  I spoke about Horror/Science Fiction movies and how they inspired me to write.  Movies like ALIEN and THE THING.  In the 1980’s, during my most formative years developing my creativity, a wave of slasher films hit theaters.  Parents hated them, but believe it or not, they taught me about the importance of emotion in all stories, regardless of genre.