Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that uses magic or other supernatural elements as a main plot element, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic and magical creatures are common. Fantasy is generally distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by the expectation that it steers clear of scientific and macabre themes, respectively, though there is a great deal of overlap between the three, all of which are subgenres of speculative fiction.

In popular culture, the fantasy genre is predominantly of the medievalist form. In its broadest sense, however, fantasy comprises works by many writers, artists, filmmakers, and musicians, from ancient myths and legends to many recent and popular works.

Fantasy is studied in a number of disciplines including English and other language studies, cultural studies, comparative literature, history, and medieval studies. Work in this area ranges widely, from the structuralist theory of Tzvetan Todorov, which emphasizes the fantastic as a liminal space, to work on the connections (political, historical, literary) between medievalism and popular culture.

Fantasy (1938 magazine)

Fantasy was a British pulp science fiction magazine which published three issues in 1938 and 1939. The editor was T. Stanhope Sprigg; when the war started, he enlisted in the RAF and the magazine was closed down. The publisher, George Newnes Ltd, paid respectable rates, and as a result Sprigg was able to obtain some good quality material, including stories by John Wyndham, Eric Frank Russell, and John Russell Fearn.

Publication history

The first U.S. science fiction (sf) magazine, Amazing Stories, was imported into the U.K. from its launch in 1926, and other magazines from the U.S. market were also available in the U.K. from an early date. However, no British sf magazine was launched until 1934, when Pearson's launched Scoops, a weekly in tabloid format aimed at the juvenile market. Soon Haydn Dimmock, Scoops' editor, began to receive more sophisticated stories, targeted at an adult audience; he tried to change the magazine's focus to include more mature fiction but within twenty issues falling sales led Pearson's to kill the magazine. The failure of Scoops gave British publishers the impression that Britain could not support a science fiction publication.

Fantasy (Aldo Nova song)

"Fantasy" is the debut single by Canadian rock musician Aldo Nova and is his most popular work to date. Released on his eponymous debut album in 1981, the song climbed to #3 on the Mainstream rock chart, and #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The song was featured in a flashback sequence in the final episode of the popular television series Rob & Big. A cover version of the song, performed by Steel Panther, is the current theme song for the MTV show Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory.

VH1 listed it at #78 on its countdown for the 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s.

Music video

The video shows Aldo performing with his band at a concert. It is best remembered for its intro, which starts out with a man holding an electric guitar and two bodyguards holding machine guns, waiting for someone. Then comes a helicopter, landing from the sky, and Aldo comes out in a very contoured leopard-print suit, being escorted to the stage. When they encounter a locked door, which the bodyguards can't open, Aldo grabs his guitar and fires a laser into the door and it opens.

The Fame

The Fame is the debut studio album by American singer Lady Gaga. It was released on August 19, 2008 through Interscope Records. After joining Kon Live Distribution and Cherrytree Records in 2008, Gaga began working on the album with different producers, primarily RedOne, Martin Kierszenbaum and Rob Fusari. Musically, The Fame is a synthpop and dance-pop album that has influences of pop music from the 1980s. Lyrically, the album visualizes Gaga's love of fame in general while also dealing with subjects such as love, sex, money, drugs and sexual identity. Promotion was primarily through The Fame Ball Tour and multiple television appearances. The Fame was included as a bonus disc on the deluxe edition of the extended play, The Fame Monster (2009).

The album received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who commended the album's lyrical content and Gaga's musicianship and vocal ability. The album was a commercial success, topping the charts in different countries worldwide, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Poland and Switzerland. In the United States, it peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, while topping the Dance/Electronic Albums chart for 106 non-consecutive weeks. The Fame became the fifth best-selling album of 2009. It has sold 4.6 million copies in the United States as of March 2015 and is the seventh best-selling digital album in history. The album sold 15 million copies worldwide as of November 2010.

Vanity (1935 film)

Vanity is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Adrian Brunel and starring Jane Cain, Percy Marmont and John Counsell. The plot concerns a conceited actress, convinced of the general adoration in which she is held, faking her own death in order to gratify herself by observing the depth of grief caused by her demise. However the actual reactions to the "news" prove to be far from what she had expected.

Production

The film was a quota quickie production, made at Nettlefold Studios in Walton-on-Thames for distribution by Columbia Pictures. It was based on a play by Ernest Denny. It is now considered to be a lost film.

The film is the only known screen credit of Cain, who went on to achieve a degree of immortality in British culture after being chosen as "the girl with the golden voice", becoming the original voice of the speaking clock in the United Kingdom between 1936 and 1963.

Partial cast

Vanity (1947 film)

Vanity (Italian:Vanità) is a 1947 Italian drama film directed by Giorgio Pastina and starring Walter Chiari, Liliana Laine and Dina Galli. The film is based on a play by Carlo Bertolazzi. Chiari was awarded a Nastro d'Argento for best debut performance. It was made at the Icet Studios in Milan.

The film is set in nineteenth century Milan.

Cast

References

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