There are many things I love in life. I love my parents. I love my friends. I love playing online Tetris for free. I love a tall, ice-cold pint of beer. I love that the space bar will pause Youtube, Hulu, and Netflix Instant viewing.

I love all of these things and never have to defend that. But one thing I occasionally do find myself defending is my love of fantasy.

In a way, I get it. Fantasy is, on its surface, a genre packed to the gills with elves, dragons, and wizards — not exactly grown-up fair. How can a story with magic spells and dashing princes compare to the very realistic plays of Tennessee Williams, the written works of Jack Kerouac, or the films of Gus Van Sant? What makes fantasy so great?

In a word: metaphor.

For those not too proud to explore a work of fantasy and not too dense to look beneath its surface, the fantasy genre is a rich addition to the literary, film, and television canon because it explores very real human problems and desires by creating allegories through which to explore them.

Name any fantasy work that has withstood the test of time, and you will find in it a fable full of lessons of all too real applicability.

Michael Ende’s landmark novel, The Neverending Story, which was turned into a decent movie in the ’80s, is about a young boy named Bastian Balthazar Bux, who is neglected by his father and bullied by his schoolmates. He finds a book that transports him into another world called Fantasia, a world that is the embodiment of all the dreams and fantasies of the real world, which is being destroyed by an enemy called the Nothing.

The story is moving and absorbing not due to its host of magical creatures, but because it taps in all of us that longing to be a child again, to be able to lose yourself in worlds of your own creation, before the dark, unimaginative specter of adulthood falls upon us.

This theme of the wonder of a child’s imagination is explored many times over in fantasy, from The Wizard of Oz to The Chronicles of Narnia to Labyrinth.

While passionate, romantic love is a theme explored in virtually every genre imaginable, has there ever been a better representation of the honest, pure love between friends as there was in The Lord of the Rings? The entire sprawling epic that is Tolkien’s masterpiece essentially hangs on a single conceit: that we as an audience accept that Sam will do anything for Frodo.

This is a hard sell for some, because the notion of the power and beauty of platonic love is not a prevalent idea in our culture. Their relationship isn’t romantic so there’s no promise of sex. Frodo is hardly royalty so there’s no allure of vast treasures. Sam is committed to Frodo, with no reward expected, because that’s just the kind of person he is, and who wouldn’t want a friend like Sam? Who wouldn’t want to be a friend like Sam?

Toss in the fact that it’s two lowly hobbits, humble and small in stature, who succeed in saving the world, and you have a classic for the ages. It takes a story about hobbits to make us see the wonder in our fellow man.

This past year, the high fantasy television show Legend of the Seeker came into its own when episodes began appearing that were not necessarily part of the larger plot, but instead focused on characters by throwing them into fantastical situations that mirrored real life problems.

Kahlan, a young woman who was torn between her sense of duty and her love for her companion, Richard, was in one episode magically split into two people, and through this spell we came to learn much about her and how difficult her burden really was.

Another episode featured Cara, a woman who was abducted and brainwashed and turned into a killer. As she attempted to regain her humanity, she was turned into a Baneling (basically a sentient zombie), thus making her metaphorical fight to be a regular person quite literal.

The point is that we could have simply watched biopics of Margaret Thatcher or Patty Hearst, and I’m sure some would be content to do just that, but those projects are limited to the real and mundane. By steeping a story in allegory, you have a much larger canvas on which to paint.

I suppose the fantasy genre will always be overlooked by those who wish to appear highbrow. After all, magic and flights of fancy are a hard sell to the academic.

But for those of us in the know, fantasy has a way of engaging our suspension of disbelief by accessing the emotional truths in stories about hobbits and goblins, and reflecting the realities of our world through a supernatural lens. Like opera and musical theater, which engage our emotions through music rather than realism, fantasy will forever be a step removed from reality, but never so far that we can’t recognize it. And it’s because of that very distance from reality that the genre is able to remark on it so keenly.

Have a question about something fantasy-related? Please send an email to thetorchonlineoracle@gmail.com and be sure and include your city and state and/or country.

Q: So I must know: will Lucy Lawless be back in the second season — not the “prequel” — of Spartacus? Basically, did she die in the finale? — MAGPIE, Toronto, Canada

The Oracle Speaks:

First, a spoiler alert.

“She was still twitching at the end of Season 1, if you look,” Spartacus‘ executive director Steven DeKnight said at the recent Television Critics Association conference in L.A.

In other words, yes, she’ll be back, not just in the prequel, but also in the subsequent second season.

“You know, the original plan with Lucy and that character was to kill her at the end of the season,” DeKnight said. “Basically we had John Hannah and Lucy Lawless for only one season. That’s what we could get them for. Towards the end of Season One, Lucy was having such a great time, and we all loved her so much, there was interest in bringing her back. And I got a call from Rob Tapert saying, ‘Starz called, and they’d really like Lucy to come back, and you know, Lucy really wants to come back,’ and I said, ‘Absolutely not. She’s got to die. That’s the way the story goes.’”

But DeKnight soon changed his mind, he said. “The next day I called him up and said, ‘Rob, I got an idea. And we’re thrilled to have — Lucy will be back in Season Two. And where the story goes with her is really something special. I’m very excited about that.”

What of John Hannah? “John Hannah is a little harder to bring back, obviously,” DeKnight joked.

Q: Are lembas magic or is it just a really, really impressive Powerbar recipe? — Jonah, Dallas, TX

The Oracle Speaks:

We know what Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson thinks: in the movies, one bite of lembas bread “is enough to fill the stomach of a grown man” — which is, of course, physically impossible, so magic must be involved.

But in the book, it’s a little different: “one cake” is enough for “a full day’s march,” which is much closer to the laws of physics and means that magic isn’t necessarily involved.

Still, there are repeated references to the fact that lembas don’t just sustain the body; they also sustain the spirit.

“Lembas does put heart into you,” J.R.R. Tolkien writes. “A more wholesome sort of feeling.” And Gollum can’t eat the bread.

This could, of course, all be psychological; when eating lembas, people often think of the elves (and the beauty of Galadriel), which could definitely provide a psychological boost.

But then there’s the fact that the elves, who created lembas, are an immortal, magical race — literally created by the magic of Eru IIuvater. Everything they do is suffused with magic — although not necessarily magic of the spellbook and incantation sort.

And come on: one thin cake for a full day’s march?

Count on it. Lembas are magic.

A more interesting question is why is the word always italicized when plenty of other elven words are not?

Have a question about something fantasy-related? Please send an email to thetorchonlineoracle@gmail.com and be sure and include your city and state and/or country.

Looking to buy any of the projects mentioned in this article (or any other media)? Support TheTorchOnline.com by purchasing it through this link.

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

The Magic of Gaming is a weekly column with the latest news about fantasy-themed games.

Lots of gaming news, previews, and trailers this week as Gamescon kicks off in Germany.

Final Fantasy XIV Online (Sept. 30 on PC, and March 2011 on PS3) was unveiled for the first time yesterday. Both IGN and Gamespot have detailed write-ups of the game play that you can check out, so I’ll just post a few screenshots:

I want that guy’s house!

More details were released this week about BioShock Infinite (2012). Irrational Games creative director Ken Levine told Kotaku that the missing woman you’re hunting, Elizabeth, becomes a companion of sorts:

She’s an amplifier for your powers if you choose to have her be an amplifier for your powers … There’s no component of squad commands with her in the game. She is a self-driven entity. She will react if you go this way or that way on the field. She’ll say different things; she’ll react different ways verbally. She’s kind of a combination of what you saw on the screen and there’s a Left 4 Dead component about her in terms of her saying things that are driven by the simulation…

Frankly, I’ll be happy as long with whatever she does, as long as it doesn’t involve sticking corpses with a syringe.

BioWare has revealed the Advanced Classes for your Jedi in Star Wars: The Old Republic (TBD 2011): Sentinel and Guardian.

I’m not a huge Star Wars fan, but I’m looking forward to this game because BioWare’s behind it, and I’ve already played Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2 so many times I’m starting to see dialogue trees in real life.

Speaking of Dragon Age, the new DLC “Golems of Amgarrak” was released; I didn’t like it.

Dragon Age 2 finally has a release date! It drops March 8, 2011 in US and March 11, 2011 in Europe. Mass Effect 2 will be coming to PS3 in January.

Excalibur Online, a “free to play MMORT set in the days before Camelot,” started their open beta this week. Registration is free and you can start playing immediately.

A new extended trailer for The Lord of the Rings: War in the North (XBox, PS3, and PC, 2011) emphasizes the co-op gameplay.

New trailers/teasers were also released this week for Arcania: Gothic 4 (XBox, PS3, PC, Oct. 12, 2010), Tera (PC only, 2011), and Kingdom Under Fire II (Xbox and PC, late 2010).

Finally, for those who can’t get enough of Albion, Microsoft is making a special $60 Fable III-themed controller available for the XBox on Oct. 5, with a code to download a unique in-game tattoo.

You can buy a Fable novel the same day — Fable, The Balverine Order, which comes with a code for a unique in-game weapon. The novel’s synopsis reads:

The days of magic and adventure are fading away, giving way to the age of industry and science. As the aged last Hero sits upon the throne of Albion, two friends-the privileged Thomas and his loyal servant, John- set out for the East in search of a legendary beast: the vicious, rarely-seen balverine. But their desire for adventure may be their ultimate undoing-because their quarry has just found them…

You’ll have to spend a lot of gold if you want these and the exclusive location and quest that comes with the $79.99 Fable III Collector’s Edition (Oct. 26). Better get to bartending/woodchopping/blacksmithing!

Sarah Warn currently runs EntertainHer.com; you can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Looking to buy any of the projects mentioned in this article (or any other media)? Support TheTorchOnline.com by purchasing it through this link.

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Just because someone’s fictional, that doesn’t mean they can’t be involved in juicy scandal! Here’s all the gossip on your favorite fantasy characters:

• Readers of this site know that The Lord of the Rings‘ One Ring was created by Sauron during the Second Age in the fires of Mount Doom. But an upcoming book on the One Ring, Ring!, has revealed a little-known fact: Sauron made an earlier attempt at creating an item that would control all the other rings of power: the One Onion Ring, created deep within in the Deep Fat Fryers of Sammath Naur. Unfortunately, unlike the One Ring, which is impervious to everything except the fires of Mount Doom, the One Onion Ring was soon done in by a hungry orc with side of the delectable Tartar Sauce of Numenor.

• Tragedy to report from the offices of MTV. In preparation for the launch of their new winter series, Teen Wolf, the directive went out to hire “a new Teen Wolf publicist.” Unfortunately, a mix-up in human resources led them to hire an actual teen wolf … which was all well and good until the young man organized a promotional event for the show that happened to take place on a full moon. On the plus side, despite the carnage, the young man is reported to have terrific abs.
  

• Speaking of orcs, is it discrimination against them that caused Ugluki, the reigning Miss Mordor, to be expelled from the Miss Middle Earth Beauty Pageant, now underway in Caras Galadhon? She thinks so and has filed suit against the contest.  “Discrimination?!” declares one of the organizers. “She disemboweled one of the judges and wrapped his entrails around her head!” Responds Ugluki, “But that’s my talent!”

• Han Solo’s foul new celebrity fragrance, Rogue, is already being called the biggest flop in the history of celebrity fragrances. Solo takes full responsibility for the failure, saying, “It should’ve been a red flag for me when they said they were making it with Tauntaun guts.”

• Finally, I’ll leave you with this blind item about a certain green witch who once had a house fall on her sister, and then she — wait, that pretty much gives it away, doesn’t it? Doing blind items in fantasy is hard!

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

As we all know, Hollywood is a fickle mistress. For a movie to actually be made, a lot of items must first be checked off a list, and it’s not at all uncommon for projects to fold right before, on the day of, or even into actual shooting.

Nothing is ever guaranteed.

Not surprisingly, this means there are innumerable fantasy or sci-fi themed projects that have almost seen the light of day, but were ultimately canned. Here we take a look at a choice few.

Superman Lives

Back in the 90s, long before Brandon Routh pulled on the red-and-blue in Superman Returns, there was a lot of attention being given to another Kryptonian project. The buzz was partially good — written by Kevin Smith — and partially abysmal — starring Nicolas Cage.

I think most Superman fans can agree that this project disappearing is one of the best things to have ever happened to the Superman legacy, and indeed, movies in general. Seriously? Nicolas Cage?

Night Skies

Still fresh from the success of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Steven Spielberg was planning on making another flick about aliens. But rather than continue the sweet tone of Encounters, The Berg was planning a very different film. His imagination conjured up a dark, horrific tale where a family living in a farmhouse is terrorized by nasty aliens with mean tempers and long, hideously bony fingers that they reach out and touch you with, resulting in your death.

In a truly fascinating example of how nothing creative ever goes to waste, the film evolved into a family-friendly tale of a young boy bonding with an alien whose long, bony finger brings not death but healing, and ET continues to be one of the most loved movies of all time.

Ender’s Game

Controversial nutjob author Orson Scott Card’s tale of a heroic young boy who saves the world was written in 1985 (based on an earlier novella), and since then movie studios have been attempting to turn his work into a feature film. Unfortunately for Card, he wrote a tough story to translate to screen: an epic battle is fought by a group of adult-like genius children, which means expensive effects and a roster of characters that’s very hard to cast.

Toss in the fact that Card is a vicious, foaming-at-the-mouth anti-gay bigot, and you don’t really have a package many Hollywood types would come running to. Ender’s Game is likely to go down in history as the cool movie that could have been but never will.

Halo

Now here’s a film that has a slight chance of actually happening, but my guess is the project is just too ambitious for enough people to get on board and get their collective mojo working. One of the most popular shooters, the original Halo wowed audiences with its at-the-time ground-breaking visuals and wild but easily-digested science fiction storyline.

A movie seemed almost inevitable, and for a while, geek god Peter Jackson was even attached as a producer. Since then, momentum has fizzled, and while anything can happen, I wouldn’t hold your breath.

The Lord of the Rings … Starring The Beatles

Speaking of Peter Jackson, we all know the jovial Kiwi best for his outstanding job helming the Lord of the Rings films back in the early ’00s. Before these films, there was an animated adaptation of the classic, with the first part by Ralph Bakshi and the second by Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass.

But before the epic fantasy was even a twinkle in these filmmakers’ eyes, there was another group of Tolkien enthusiasts who wanted to make a Rings film. They went by the names John, Paul, George, and Ringo.

If that’s not bizarre enough for you, John Lennon had his eye on the role of … Gollum. Admittedly, the rest of the casting was actually pretty good: Paul as Frodo, Ringo as Sam, and George as Gandalf.

But while I love the Beatles, and I love The Lord of the Rings, like beer and ice cream, not everything we love should mix.

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Like you, we’ve gotten caught up in the Olympic hullabaloo over the last two weeks. There’s something about international cooperation and elite athletes and musical montages and Bob Costas’ voice that just fills us with unusual glee.

But as much as we like those things, we can’t help but think they might be improved upon with a little help from the fantasy world. Here are some sports we here at TheTorchOnline.com would really like to see in the 2014 Winter Games:

Panserbjørne Polo — Regular old horse and pony polo doesn’t have a place in the Olympics because, frankly, it’s too elitist and boring for the average citizen of the world. But what about polo carried out in the snowy mountains on the back of an armor-covered bear? Now, that’s exciting! Especially if the player’s dæmons are running interference! We know that, strictly speaking, panserbjørnes aren’t supposed to let humans ride them, but for a chance at international glory (and a shot at landing on the cover of a Wheaties box), we’re pretty sure plenty of bears would participate.

Tesseract Track Speed Skating — If you’ve seen one speed skating race, you’ve seen them all. Oh, sure, the sport tries to keep things fresh by mixing up the distances, but after about three races, we’re begging for a pile up. To add a little adventure to speed skating, we think it should take place in more than one physical plane. After a few laps around the ice, skaters would be forced to wrinkle to another dimension. And then another. And then back to their original track. Keep your balance and wits about you in that kind of race and you deserve to win a medal.

Flux Capacitor Bobsled — Quite similar to the Tesseract Track, but in this sport, teams would strap a flux capacitor to their sleds and be forced to hit 88 miles per hour before the track runs out. Teams will finish in the next Olympics. Not only does it add an element of surprise to the competition (teams won’t be able to study the second half of the track in the future!), it also keeps viewers on the edges of their seat for another four years. It also doubles the potential television coverage. Races are finishing up from the last Olympics, and races are taking off in the current Olympics.

Middle-earth Curling — Did you know that traditional curling stones are made from a specific kind of ailsite that can only be found on Ailsa Craig, off the coast of Scotland? Experts are pretty sure there’s only enough ailsite for about 20 more years of curling. It doesn’t matter much, though, because it’s not a very exciting game. What if, instead of securing ailsite from the Highlands, curling stones were forged in the fire of Mount Doom? With, say, one stone to rule them all, one stone to find them, one stone to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. We’d like that, wouldn’t we Precious? Tricksy little sweepsers, aren’t they? Yes, yes, Precious.

Turkish Delight Cook-off — The standard for Turkish Delight belongs to the White Witch of Narnia, of course. But this blasted cold weather makes us want more, more, more! Every four years, the best chefs in the country should come together and have a bake off to see who can create the most magical version of the dessert. It becomes infinitely more interesting if Tilda Swinton judges the competition on live TV. She would make Gordon Ramsey look like a puppy.

Wonkathon — Our favorite event of the Winter Olympics is the biathlon because it reminds us of Nickelodeon’s Double Dare obstacle course from when we were kids — only a little more dangerous on account of the guns. We think an actual obstacle course would be a good add to the Winter Games, especially if it was designed by Willy Wonka. Chocolate rivers, trippy boat rides, experimental TV equipment, magical animals, Oompa-Loompas: any athlete would be lucky to make it through alive! In addition to the medals, winners of the Wonkathon would receive a lifetime supply of everlasting gobstoppers. Though, if they really are everlasting, you’d probably only need the one.

Lightsaber Skating — Figure skating is a classic favorite. We love it, we really do. But we think we could amp the entertainment value (and athletic prowess) if we turned down the lights and required each skater to compete with lightsaber. The whizzing and twirling and jumping and tossing would be even more artistic (and awesomely dangerous) with the added equipment. Plus, the sport suddenly becomes marketable. What child would leave the arena without a lightsaber of his or her own from the souvenir stand? What adult, for that matter?

Quidditch Tournament — We’ve got nothing to add to J.K. Rowling’s magical competition. We’d just like to see it in the Olympics is all.

Now, be honest — would you rather watch the IOC’s version of the Olympics or our version of The Olympics?

• For those who love a little high fantasy with their gambling, Microgaming is unleashing video slot machines based on the Lord of the Rings movies. Makes sense — anyone who’s spent any time in a casino knows that the people hunched over the video slot machines bear more than a passing resemblance to Gollum.

• Arrr! Deadwood’s Ian McShane is in talks to join the cast of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth installment of the super popular series. It’s funny. I never realized how attached I was to Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann until I learned that the series was going on without them.

• While we’re on the subject of POTC, here’s a cool little report about the Black Pearl — the actual ship used in filming — arriving in Hawaii while they prep for the new movie. Is anyone else surprised to discover it’s actually a sea-worthy vessel?

• Early reactions to the new high-fantasy-spoof Your Highness are rolling in, and it’s looking good. But then, with a cast that includes James Franco and Zooey Deschanel, did we really have any doubts?

• Speaking of early reports, a few lucky chaps got a sneak-preview of some footage from the latest Narnia movie, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and were mighty pleased with what they saw. (Let’s hope so. I thought Prince Caspian was way too dark and depressing.)

• io9 has a list of 18 shows that they believe could save sci-fi and fantasy on the small screen. It’s a pretty exhaustive list, but oddly it includes the upcoming remake of La Femme Nikita. I was a huge fan of the series with Peta Wilson from the 9′0s, but I don’t remember it being science-fiction at all. Am I remembering it wrong?

• One of the shows on the aforementioned list is a possible US version of the hit British show Torchwood, which is of course a spin-off of another hit British show, Doctor Who. After hearing about it for years, I finally watched all three seasons, and was delighted to discover it actually exceeded the hype. But half of its charm was the Welsh and British accents, so I’m not sure how smoothly the transition to the states would work. Plus, given how creator Russel T. Davies loves nothing more than brutally killing his beloved main characters, I’m wondering if there’s anyone left loyal enough to give it a chance.

• You know how Barbie has had about a million jobs? Here’s a hilarious list of how 20 action figures spend their moonlighting time.

• For everyone out there who, like me, has been watching Lost since the very first season and who, like me, has a horrible memory, here’s a reminder of the great storylines that … uh … never actually went anywhere. Oh, yeah! Remember when Charlie was a horrible person? Forgot all about that.

• So there’s a movie coming out called Centurion, which tells the story of seven Roman soldiers who are stranded behind enemy lines when their legion is attacked and slaughtered in Britain. So, the guys who invaded and attempted to conquer an entire race of people … are the good guys? And the ancient Britons who are fighting back, led by a rather Boudicca-esque leader, are the bad guys? Interestingly, the film doesn’t have distribution in the states as of yet.

• Turns out both Matt Damon and Jake Gyllenhaal turned down the lead role in Avatar. Good move, guys. I mean, sure neither one of you is exactly hurting for cash right now, but still.

• Finally, just so everyone can stay on the same page with all of the genre shows that are currently on the air, Trekmovie.com gives us a handy-dandy renewal report card.

And you convinced yet that Dominic Monaghan is one terrific actor?

The Englishman, of course, became internationally famous as the lovable hobbit Merry Brandybuck in the Lord of the Rings movies.

A year after the last of those movies, he topped that with a break-out performance as the heroin-addicted musician Charlie Pace on Lost.

Then last year, he shook things up yet again with a turn as the mysterious and menacing Dr. Simon Campos on Flash Forward.

If you’re not convinced yet what a terrific, versatile actor he is, what in the world is it going to take?

Since Dominic is so often featured in genre-themed projects, we were eager to talk to him one-on-one. At a recent press event, along with several other reporters, we finally got a chance:

Question: Do you have theories about your character on Flash Forward? How much do you yourself know?

DM: I know some things. I know his motivation, I know where he’s going, where he’s headed. Then there’s other things that I don’t know.

I feel like if Simon doesn’t know, then I — Dom — doesn’t want to know. If Simon knows, then I want to know. So those are the questions that I’m asking [producers] David [Goyer] and Jessika [Goyer] in the writers’ room.

Q: Do you pay attention to what the fans say about you?

DM: Some stuff. I’ve been [to some sites] a couple of times and read a couple of things, what people think about the character and the show. I don’t tend to dive into too much, I don’t want to get too dangerous.

But I’m online, and I search around, and I go to forums.

Q: Do you ever see conspiracies on the online boards and think, “Oh, wow, you’re so wrong.”

DM: Or you’re so right! I saw a lot of stuff with Lost, and I saw a lot with Flash Forward where I think, “Wow, these guys are on it. These guys know what’s going on! These guys sound like they’re in the writers’ room, because they’re predicting things that are actually happening.”

Q: Between Lord of the Rings, Lost, and now Flash Forward, you seem to be doing a lot of fantasy and science fiction. Is that something you personally enjoy, or is that just a coincidence?

DM: I don’t necessarily know if it’s purely coincidental. I became an actor because of Star Wars. I watched Han Solo when I was seven or eight, and I thought, “That’s what I want to do.”

I have a large collection of fantasy in my film library, from Dark Star to Dark Crystal to Star Wars to Star Trek to 2001. Lots of sci-fi.

But I probably have more comedy, [more] America gangster movies than anything else.

It’s just good projects more than anything else. If you look at those three things, I don’t necessarily see the link being fan-based, ComicCon wet dreams. It’s more that they’re good projects. Lord of the Rings was a great script, Lost was a great project, Flash Forward was a great project.

I go where there’s good writing and a great chance to do something new.

Q: You mentioned Star Wars, which reminds me of Mark Hamill and the problems he had breaking away from the role that made him so famous. You made such an indelible impression in Lord of the Rings. Were you ever worried about being typecast?

DM: Yeah, and I had a year or so where I wasn’t working and felt as if I in danger of being locked into those movies and never get out of them again. I got very lucky with Lost. That was a very adorable character to play, and I think the audience very quickly leapfrogged with me from the character I played in Lord of the Rings to Charlie.

You’ve got work out your challenges in your job and set your mind on that goal. I know I can act, I know that I’m capable of acting, so really that as a challenge isn’t as complicated for me as navigating my way through the pigeonholes that people want to put me in.

I stopped worrying [too much] about learning my lines or being present on the set or giving a good performance, and I started concentrating my thoughts on how do I navigate my way through this business when I don’t look necessarily look like Paul Newman and I’m not built like Hugh Jackman. How do I do that?

Q: Was there anything you turned down?

A: Sure! I turned down a lot of pixie-like, elf-like [characters], guys who live under toadstools and bridges. And I turned down a lot of adorable best-friends-to-the-lead-guy, who’s just kind of a nice guy. I was like, “I don’t wanna do that.”

I still hold back. When I was younger, roles I played were much more comedic-based. I love comedy, and that’s something I ultimately I want to do. But I said to my agent going into my career in America, “I don’t want to do comedy until I’ve proven that I can do drama to a large audience.” Because then when I do comedy, they’ll say, “Oh, yeah, but he is a dramatic actor.” If you just do comedy, then you’re going to have a very hard time breaking into drama.

Q: Did you have to convince the producers of Flash Forward you could do “dark”?

DM: No, I don’t think so. They’re big fans of Lost. I think they saw something in Charlie that was dark enough. He had some dark moments. He can be a bad-ass when he feels like that.

I think David and Jessica wanted that. They were like, “We watch the show and we watched Charlie, and we liked it was he’s f***ing bad and not nice. And we want you to play that character all the time. So if you’ll let us, that’s what we want to write.”

I was like, yeah, that’s what I need now.

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

We all know the drill — we’re watching a nice magical adventure unfold before our eyes on the big or small screen, and the characters get to a point where they no longer have the option to be friendly. It’s time to throw down.

Maybe the spells are flying fast and furious, or maybe it’s a more subtle use of magic to assist a mostly physical blow, but one thing is for certain: even more so than standard fight scenes, battles that involve magic raise the dramatic stakes in any story, because when you’re hurling thunderbolts, you’re playing for keeps. Even when the stories they feature in are not exactly memorable (cough The Covenant cough), a good magical fight can be a visual feast. Here we count down some of our favorites.

10. Caleb vs. Chase (The Covenant)

Though at times this fight seems more like a mystical game of dodgeball using amorphous jellyfish-like energy, one can’t deny that it at least looks pretty cool when these dudes are blasting away at each other in a rain-soaked barn. It’s fun to see the mayhem that male witches can wreak on each other, when witchcraft is so often allocated to female characters.

Unfortunately, the movie itself sucked.

9. Raziel vs. Bavmorda (Willow)

Willow will always hold a special place in the hearts of many fantasy enthusiasts who emerged from that nebulous decade known as the ’80s. Part Star Wars, part Lord of the Rings, it featured a very hobbitish hero, a very Gandalf-ian sorceress named Raziel, and a mean, mean old witch name Bavmorda.

Bavmorda and Raziel are mortal enemies, and in the climax of the movie, as a huge battle takes place outside, a very private war is fought between these two magicians. Utilizing the latest visual technology of the time (Willow was one of the first movies to showcase morphing), the filmmakers introduced a wide-eyed generation to the wonders of a magical smackdown.

Watch the fight

8. Gandalf vs. Saruman (The Fellowship of the Ring)

When you see two wizards fighting, you expect to see some crazy fireballs being thrown around, but when Gandalf and Saruman threw down in The Fellowship of the Ring, it was just the telekinetic version of an old-fashioned bar room brawl, with the two tossing each other around with the force of their minds. Bruising, bloody, and awesome.

Watch the fight

7. Harry vs. Draco (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)

At this point in the Harry Potter series, we knew there was no love lost between the boy wizards Harry and Draco Malfoy, but they were just kids, and the last thing we expected to see was a full-on, wire-spinning melee, but that’s exactly what we got when they took each other on in Professor Lockhart’s dueling seminar.

6. Giles vs. Dark Willow (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Sweet Willow Rosenburg was the heart and soul of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, always a cheerful presence in a dark, demon-ridden world. But following the death of her true love Tara, she tapped into the vengeful part of her psyche and became a very bad witch. Who better to take her on than the mentor of the group, Giles, with a little borrowed magic from a coven of good witches?

5. Nancy vs. Sarah (The Craft)

An underrated gem from the angsty ’90s, The Craft showed what happened when the freaky girls in school have access to some seriously dark mojo. When good girl Sarah faces off with mean alpha-chick Nancy, all hell breaks loose in a spectacle of CGI mystical violence.

4. Pretty much every fight with Zedd (Legend of the Seeker)

Before Legend of the Seeker, the heir apparent to Xena: Warrior Princess, made its way to the airwaves, most people had never used the term “wizard’s fire” before (that is,  if they weren’t Terry Goodkind fans). But every time a fight breaks out on Seeker, you can bet that Zeddicus will be blasting away to his heart’s content, and it just looks awesome every time.

3. Buffy vs. Adam (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Though the show was as magical as they come, Buffy’s fighting style always stemmed from the very real world of martial arts. So when in the fourth season she learned that she’d need a little extra boost to face a Frankenstein-like foe, her friends Willow, Giles, and Xander all got together and gave her their energy in a little power-enhancing spell, causing Buffy to bust out some kick-ass matrix moves, as well as turn a bullet headed for her face into a pair of white doves, which are of course the symbol of peace. And who doesn’t love a little irony with their smackdowns?

2. Dumbledore vs. Voldemort (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)

Though the main event is reserved for the very end of the very last movie, we got a nice little treat when uber-baddie Boldemort took on the bastion of goodness, Dumbledore, in the fifth installment of the Harry Potter series. They fought with all four elements — fire, water, earth, and air — before Voldemort finally took his leave. But what an exit!

Watch the fight.

1. Gandalf vs. The Balrog (Fellowship of the Ring)

There are fights, and there are fights. When the Fellowship was fleeing the mines of Moria, they were accosted by a demon of the ancient world, a Balrog of Morgoth, a creature of shadow and flame, and a nasty attitude to boot. When Gandalf took him on to protect his friends, it was a true clash of the titans, instantly resetting the bar for what we expect to see on screen from anyone audacious enough to film a magic fight. For the gift you gave the world, Peter Jackson and company, we thank you.

Watch the fight.

Looking to buy something mentioned in this column (or any other media)? Support TheTorchOnline.com by purchasing it through this link.

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Have a question about something fantasy-related? Ask the Oracle! (Be sure to include your first name and the city, state, and/or country you are writing from.)

Q: Settle an argument: in The Two Towers movie when Gandalf the White appears to Aragon, Gimli, and Legolas in Fangorn Forest, he is at first mistaken for Saruman — and, in fact, he looks and sounds a lot like Christopher Lee, the actor who portrays the other white wizard. But Ian McKellen has said that that’s entirely his voice and his face. Can that be true? — MAGPIE, Toronto, Canada

A: McKellen definitely maintains that it’s his voice and face — he still says that it’s “All my own work in Fangorn” on his website.

But he is misremembering. In the DVD commentary, Peter Jackson calls the scene a “visual trick,” pointing out that, “Very briefly, Christopher Lee’s eyes are actually glued onto Ian McKellen’s face…You also hear Christopher Lee’s voice — it’s blended in with Ian’s. We did want people, at least the uninitiated, to think that this possibly was Saruman.”

Co-screenwriter writer Philippa Boyers confirms this version of events: “They both tried to sound like each other” in the looping, she says, but “Christopher Lee could imitate Ian McKellen more than Ian could imitate Chris Lee.”

Q: I’m curious what you and your readers think are the top fantasy book series. Motivation is selfish, too — I want to know what to read. I’m also interested it what people specifically don’t like, and why — e.g., the Narnia series is too religious, and the anthropomorphic animals don’t work for me.  Also not liking Stephen Donaldson. With that, I’ll list mine: The Lord of the Rings, A Wizard of Earthsea, and Harry Potter. — Robert

A: The Oracle would strongly agree with The Lord of the Rings and Earthsea, but would also enthusiastically add A Song of Fire and Ice by George R. R. Marin, the first Kushiel trilogy by Jaqueline Carey, and (yes) The Chronicles of Narnia and The First and Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (but not the third trilogy, which is almost unreadable).

Among kids’ books (of which I’m a fan), I’d also add almost anything by Roald Dahl, but especially Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (although not the terrible sequel, Charlie and Great Glass Elevator). The Oracle also loved Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story and Momo, The Chronicles of Pyrdain by Lloyd Alexander, Libba Bray’s Gemma Doyle trilogy, the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, and Kenneth Oppel’s Airborn books.

Harry Potter? Truthfully, the Oracle enjoyed them, but found most of the books badly in need of editing, and many of plot-lines forced, especially the conclusion. The Oracle also always thought the following books or series were over-rated, in order from least to most over-praised: A Wrinkle in Time, Inkheart, The Sword of Truth, The Wheel of Time, The Sword of Shannara, and Twilight. (Full disclosure: The Oracle doesn’t read all the books in series he doesn’t like, so perhaps these books improved over time.)

But the Oracle is far more interested in hearing what readers think!

Q: Another question: what is fantasy? For me, it’s not just supernatural. Magic has to be part of that reality. For example, The Dragonriders of Pern series isn’t strictly “fantasy” to me — the planet has spaceflight. Though the dragons can traverse space and even time, my memory is that this ability is never framed as magical, and no other magic seems to exist. — Robert

A: With something as complicated as literature, descriptive genres are, of course, mostly arbitrary, and made that much more so by all the writers who are defiantly (and wonderfully) blurring the boundaries. Labels are just labels, after all.

Here at TheTorchOnline.com, we define “fantasy” broadly. In general, if it involves magic, we cover it, but we’d throw in the dragons of Pern too, even without magic, just because they’re mythical creatures. We also cover some paranormal and “otherworld”-themed projects, as well as some projects involving history-based adventure and/or palace intrigue. Most superheroes also fall under our rubric.

As I said, it’s all pretty arbitrary, and “speculative fiction” is rapidly becoming a catch-all term — although it also includes hard science fiction, outright horror and slasher, and other genres that we almost never focus on here.

Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously said about hard-core pornography that it was hard to define, but “I know it when I see it.”

I think the same is true of fantasy. But like hard-core pornography, what’s “fantasy” for me may not be that for someone else. Viva la difference!

Q: In 1976, I read a vast number of science fiction anthologies, and read a story about an outpost planet that only ever had one human inhabitant, but they kept going mad with the loneliness. The story was about the latest man, who was promised a solution from earth. Eventually the ship arrived, but it appeared to disappear.  The closing line of the story was the “sound of a seagull”. Any idea who wrote this, and where it could still be obtained? — Errol

A: Sadly, this is beyond even the All-Knowing, Fantasy-Question-Answering Oracle’s near-omniscience. But perhaps a reader can help us both out.

Looking to buy something mentioned in this column (or any other media)? Support TheTorchOnline.com by purchasing it through this link.

Have a question about something fantasy-related? Ask the Oracle! (Be sure to include your first name and the city, state, and/or country you are writing from.)

Follow us on Twitter.

• For the next four weeks, they’re offering tours of the set for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader at something called Movie World, which is a theme park in the Gold Coast of Australia.

• Earlier this week, I complained that I was reading critics’ list of the best movies of the 00s and they didn’t include The Lord of the Rings, but in fairness, here’s a list of all the critics who did. I especially appreciate the critics who included all three movies in three different spots, not just lumping them together in one slot. Interestingly, Metacritic says that The Return of the King was the best-reviewed of the all the decade’s Best Picture winners.

• Is Avatar unconsciously racist (or at least racially insensitive)? The argument is that the story of minority-liberation is told, yet again, from the POV of a member of the “white” majority; racial minorities are allowed to be sort of “side-heroes” in their own story, but they really exist only to motivate the main character, who is the one who does all the changing. It’s a compelling argument, but I agree with this writer, that the “racist” argument misses the point of the movie, that Jake’s transformation has all the elements of good drama. More baldly, I’d also point out that the way the existing movie is framed, it’s far more likely to seen by a “white majority,” exposing them to the whole issue of the oppression of native and indigenous people; in short, the audience is “transformed” along with Jake. But since “the Great White Hope” is typically the only way this story is ever told, I totally get how some native people could be annoyed.

• Speaking of politics, is Pixar socially conservative? Uh, frankly, I’m annoyed and offended by the whole idea that only conservatives care about “family” — I’d argue that, rhetoric aside, the exact opposite is often true. As for The Incredibles being somewhat Ayn Randian, I had no idea that Mr. Incredible was supposed to be any kind of role model. I interpreted the character to be an annoying, arrogant, entitled a**hole.

• Thanks to Avatar and Harry Potter (and, in must be said, Twilight and Transformers), Hollywood set a record. And it’s not just because ticket prices are up (in part, due to 3-D); overall ticket sales were up 4% too.

• EW does a survey which results in Harry Potter being named “entertainer” of the decade. I’m not exactly sure what this means, but I suppose it’s fair.

• Ten (funny) reasons why 2010 will be crap. Here’s what they say about Voyage of the Dawn Treader (to be released this year): “Oh really? You’re really going to make all the Narnia movies, even though The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe is literally the only one that people like? The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader hasn’t got any witches OR wardrobes in it, plus all the adorable child actors from the first film are all about 35 years old by now. Plus it’s about a boat. Plus if they keep making Narnia films, we’ll eventually have to put up with The Horse And His Boy, a story about a horse. And a boy. Crap crap crappity crap.”

• Peter Jackson and Patrick Stewart have both been knighted. I should hope so! But I hope it doesn’t make me a geek when I point out that Stewart was already a knight, having played King Leondegrance, Guinevere’s father, in the 1981 film Excalibur.

• After Robert Downey Jr. has been on all the talk shows joking that Sherlock Holmes and Watson are secretly gay, the rights-holder to the character says she would withdraw her permission if this was pursued in future films (but, of course, she’s not anti-gay!). First, Downey is clearly joking. Second, there’s no way in hell a studio would invest this much in a movie without first making sure they have iron-clad sequel rights.

• Jon Stewart discusses fan reaction (positive and very, very negative) to Star Wars with George Lucas. Truthfully, it’s pretty interesting, especially talking about the generational differences. (Stewart says, hilariously, “My son says his favorite movie is The Phantom Menace. And I’ve explained to him, ‘No, it isn’t!’”

• Stephen King named 2012 as one of his favorite movies of 2009. Apparently, when he was knocked over by that van a few years back, he took a serious blow to the head!

• Follow us on Twitter.

Looking to buy any of the projects mentioned in this article (or any other media)? Support TheTorchOnline.com by purchasing it through this link.