DISCUSSIONS FROM THE OTHERHOOD

Okay that was just a joke. We really don't know any. It seems that Thanksgiving doesn't spawn much in the way of horror or fantasy. We can all name Christmas films and Halloween films and even Easter films, but Thanksgiving,,, not so much. So if you know why that is or if you know of any to share with us, please stop by and school the crew tonight on Discussions From the Otherhood.

There has been an uphill battle for those of us from the African diaspora to claim spaces in the world of fantasy. Too often overlooked in Euro-centric tales or typecast as servants. buddies or magical seconds this particular genre tended to be a closed door. But now with projects like Asunda being developed at HBO, Jingle-Jangle appearing on the scene as wonderful Christmas eye-candy for the whol...

During World Fantasy Con I listened in on a panel where there was a discussion of Caribbean fantasy. One of the issues that emerged was the story of La Llarona, the crying woman. It seemed the Latinx version which was brought to Puerto Rico by the Spanish explained the crying ghosts torment was because she killed her children. The Haitian and Trinidadian versions however were that her children wer...

Space aliens come along and say, "Hey come to our planet we have a new type of baseball. Just make sure to bring your own human sized jug or marinade," and you all say, "Okay!' nor just :Okay" but "Can I somehow jump the line get there ahead of my neighbors?" A power-crazed demonic six-year old lives in your house and is running your town, but has have had a spanking or has any idea what a "time-o...

Using Shudder's Horror Noire as a touchstone we discuss the genesis of the current black horror industry.

Happy Halloween month! Tonight we are going to skim the library of Black Exploitation horror films from 1072's Blacula to 1995's Tales From the Hood, are these horror films classics or clunkers?

From Avatar to Transformers to the Witches, From Codename Kids Next Door to Woke, you don't have to see a character to know that they're supposed to be "Black." Does it matter whether its supposed to be negative or noble savage... why is the black voice consistently marginalized? Antebellum 45; Alien vs Predator 29; Blade 45; Utopia 55; these are the Metacritic scores for films featuring Black wom...

The Emmy Awards came and went. We you surprised at the winners? Let's talk about it. Also there are several shows being shuffled out in front of us claiming to be "woke." But are these shows truly woke or are they simply cashing in on the current trend? March began the lockdown. Some of us are still in closed houses and sheltering in place. In a fit of nostalgia what have you taken the opportunity...

On September 8, 2020 the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences released its promulgated rules regarding Best Picture nominees. https://www.oscars.org/news/academy-establishes-representation-and-inclusion-standards-oscarsr-eligibility. Having viewed the rules, do they support diversity or simply maintain the status quo? Join me, Cranston and Otto to talk about it.

Fantasy and science fiction are highly “adaptable” genres. Stories can be haunted houses in space (Alien, Event Horizon), westerns (Outland, Looper), even romances (The Time Traveler’s Wife, About Time). And they can be about cops and robbers—and aliens and werewolves and whatever the case may be. So in these future and retrofuture worlds... How do we lay down the law? Is Pre-Crime legal, is “reti...

Valjeanne Jeffers joins the crew to discuss her works and her inclusion in the upcoming SLAY anthology. We will also be looking at our favorite books, movies, television shows, through the prism of today (or even not that long ago). Do we “give them a pass” or “call them to task” with some of their more “questionable” elements? Does “diversity” in Middle Earth mean “hobbits, elves, fairies and tro...

Many of us went to bed last night or woke up this morning to the news of Chadwick Boseman's death. The star of several films featuring black men of character, fortitude and or vision has left us all too soon leaving a vacuum. We waited with 'bated breath anticipating the next Black Panther film that never came, even as Marvel rolled out yet another Guardians of the Galaxy, another Dr. Strange, ano...

In 1968 on Saturday mornings we were treated to the Banana Splits. a variety show cum cartoon extravaganza. Fleagle, Bingo, Drooper and Snorky were our friendly mascots in kids-only, kids-friendly world of adventures. So of course someone has to eff it up. Apparently in 2019 "someone" thought it would be a good idea to turn our childhood dreams into nightmares and releases a Banana Splits horror m...

It seems a long time ago that we started sheltering in place. And beginning in March many of us thought that this would be a great time to catch up on all those spec fic films and shows we had missed over the years and finally get an opportunity to view the more recent ones that have just aired. So why do we find ourselves watching the same shows over and over again? Is it the nostalgia of recalli...

The Emmy Award nominations were announced last week and SOME BIPOC received nominations for their work. Others did not. Join Penelope, Otto, Cranston, James and friends as we discuss whether the failure to name some and instead naming others has effects on our image and self-image. And tonight on Retro-B Theater we examine James Goodridge's recommended B-rated flick, The Equinox https://youtu.be/S...

Yes there is Lt. Uhura and Micheal Burnham in Star Trek, Alexa Woods in Alien vs. Predator, Dr. Karen in Blade, Zula in Conan the Destroyer, Watchmen's Angela Abar, Firefly's Zoe Allen Washburne, Mace Mason in Strange Dsys, Abbie in Sleepy Hollow (and Angela Bassett and Adina Porter playing several roles in American Horror Story). But this listing is a drop in the bucket to all the genre work that...

Meteor Man, The Last Dragon, Space Jam... should these and other films featuring people of color that suffered from lack of funding, lack technical support and talent get another bite at the apple? Also have you noticed that on IMDB.com films and shows featuring Black actors in major roles are routinely panned while the same films on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic receive positive reviews? Does IM...

We have a host of new and reimagined streaming services. Some offer content for free and others for very little but maybe we're getting what we pay for. Peacock, Apple TV, CBS All Access and Disney Plus, do these actually deliver; or is the price of $0 too much?

By their nature Sci-Fi, fantasy and horror have their fair share of B movies. But how do we define "B film?" Does the film have to be bad, or have B and lower list actors? Let us know your take and list your favorite B;s

Last week Jordan Peele's second season helming the Twilight Zone hit Netflix with 10 episodes of highly anticipated content. We have binged all ten. If CBS All Access is not in the cards for you... not to worry, take advantage of the One Week Free Trial! Join Penelope, Otto, Cranston and James as they discuss their takes on this Sci-Fi favorite!

Join Penelope, Otto & Cranston as they discuss dramatic Black Speculative Fiction and the elusive concept of Happily Ever After. Let's talk about Get Out, If Beale Street Could Talk and Miss Juneteenth among others. Why is Happily Ever After such a foreign concept for the Black film-going audience? Join us tonight to discuss Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror through the prism of the Black perspective!

In the past several years we have been exposed to the fact that the presumptively open literary worlds of science fiction and fantasy have been occluded with race and ethnic bias. Many people of color were surprised to discover that these biases even existed among those who could write convincingly of aliens, elves and all manner of mythological species without batting an eye. With this in mind, g...

In October 2019 many in the U.S. and the world were stunned by the explosively violent spectacle of the 1921 Tulsa massacre depicted in Damon Lindelof's turn on Alan Moore's The Watchmen. The violence carried out against the black community in Tulsa by their white neighbors, led many to the discover that this and other equally egregious massacres carried out against people of Africans descent. spa...

With the current global upheavals facing us from police brutality to COVID-19 and the environmental crises, are people needing the escapism provided by speculative entertainment or has speculative entertainment lulled and served to distract us from our world's mounting problems? Join us to talk it out.

Whether it's hope catharsis, or affirmation; which Twilight Zone or other spec fic anthology episode helps to get you through these trying times? Remember "The Obsolete Man", "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street", "Four O'Clock", "I am the Night - Color Me Black" "To See the Invisible Man" and more recently "Replay" and "Wunderkind" which of these and which others get you through these days of un...