It Means What It Says: 50 Years of Trying to Understand THE PRISONER

I have an essay on the use of allegory in The Prisoner which will appear in the upcoming charity anthology It Means What It Says: 50 Years of Trying to Understand “The Prisoner.” This will be an e-book, edited by Ed Fordham, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the TV show, with profits going to the Ty Gobaith Children’s Hospice in Conwy, Wales. It will be released in early fall to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the show.

A Closer Look at the Russian Films of MST3K

Over at Midnight Only I’m reviewing the original, unedited, un-dubbed Russian films which were featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (the occasion: celebrating the return of the show to Netflix in 2017). In addition to seeing what the films have to offer when divorced of silhouettes mocking from the bottom of the screen, I’m comparing the films to the original Russian and Finnish legends, epic poems, and fairy tales from which they’re derived.

So far I’ve reviewed Sampo (aka The Day the Earth Froze) and Sadko (aka The Magic Voyage of Sinbad), both directed by the Russian Walt Disney, Aleksandr Ptushko. Up next: Ilya Muromets (aka The Sword and the Dragon) and Father Frost (aka Jack Frost).