fantasy - Sketching Details

Best Films of 2024

2024 was an amazing year for weird and fascinating films.

The Beauty and the Beast Opera Version Review (Film, 1946/1994)

There is no wrong way to watch Cocteau’s The Beauty and the Beast. Might I recommend giving the Philip Glass opera adaptation a try?

Film

Best Films of 2023

These are what I consider to be the Top 10 films of 2023. As a reminder, my primary focus is horror, sci-fi, and fantasy, so I likely recognize films and media on this kind of list that other people don’t. For me, especially, this was a fantastic year for

Games

Coming Soon: Palia

Palia is a new MMO life-sim game entering Open Beta this Thursday, 10 August, on PC.

Film

Best Films of 2021

2021 was an exciting year for film, seeing everything from a musical standup comedy special briefly taking over the world to an active adaptation of an introspective play by Shakespeare. These are Sketching Details’ picks for the best films of year.

Film

The Choreography of Encanto

Assistant choreographer and animation reference consultant Kai Martinez has shared videos of the live choreography reference in comparison to the final animation of Encanto. It’s pretty remarkable to explore.

Film

Encanto Review (Film, 2021)

Encanto is Disney’s new fantasy/musical about the magical Madrigal family. Every child and grandchild has a gift except for Mirabel, but Mirabel is the first family member to realize something might be wrong.

Film

Nightbreed, The Director's Cut Review (Film, 1990) #31DaysOfHorror

Nightbreed, The Director’s Cut, is an alternate version of Clive Barker’s horror/fantasy film about a society of monsters living in secret in a city within a cemetery.

Books/Print

Spookier Times Episode 16: Slice of Life Fantasy, Roald Dahl, and Matilda

More contemporary fantasy styles can use one thing slightly out of the ordinary to explore dark and complex issues in a way that still feels magical. Roald Dahl was a master at this, and Matilda tackled a slew of important social issues with a little girl that could literally fight back with her bra

Announcements

Announcing SD Media Digest

Hey everyone. I’m really excited to announce a new quarterly publication from Sketching Details.

Announcements

Thank You

I just wanted to come on and thank you all for the the support the past few weeks. The Take Out & Other Stories: A Collection of Weird Fiction relaunch has gone better than I expected. Many of you took the time to enter the giveaway and interact with my

Announcements

Spookier Times Episode 11: Writing Genre Fiction & Take Out

Enter the giveaway.

Announcements

Coming Soon: Take Out & Other Stories: The Audiobook

Take Out & Other Stories: A Collection of Weird Fiction is my debut short story collection from 2013. I’ve felt guilty for not releasing an audiobook version for a very long time, and I have finally rectified that mistake.

Film

Tigers Are Not Afraid Review (Film, 2019)

In Tigers Are Not Afraid, Estrella uses three wishes granted to her by her school teacher to fight back against the horrors of the drug trafficking gangs taking over her hometown.

Film

Spookier Times Episode 8: Best Genre Films of 2020

In this special episode of Spookier Times, we look back at the best fantasy, sci-fi, and horror films of 2020.

Film

Top 11 Films of 2020

2020 will go down as a historic year for the arts, a forced cultural reset that gave a wide range of art usually cast to the side a large platform through streaming access during a global pandemic. Of the Top 11 films of 2020, three were able to have a traditional theatrical release where anyone cou

On Wed. We Write Fiction

for you, a Short Story

Here’s the second entry in On Wednesdays, We Write Fiction. I started in fantasy and thoroughly crossed over to its twin city, horror. As always, all credit goes to me: writing, editing, narrating, scoring. Enjoy.

Film

Onward Review (Film, 2020)

Onward opens with a montage of historical high fantasy epics in the town. Flash forward to the present, and the town is still populated with high fantasy creatures. They just live like us in modern society. Ian, a shy elf, is celebrating his sixteenth birthday. He wants to be like his dad, who sadly

Film

Frozen II Review (Film, 2019)

I will say that I enjoyed Frozen II in spite of myself. The quality of the animation is great. The music is so much more adventurous and tuned into the strengths of the returning voice cast. The expanded mythology has some fascinating elements that can surely pay off when the inevitable Frozen III i

Film

Cats Review (Film, 2019)

Imagine an inescapable force haunting society. No one knows for sure how it came to be, but it did. It is real. It is here. It is now and forever. Now and forever. That’s not a threat; that’s a promise.

Film

The Best Movie Musicals of the Decade (2010-2019)

The criteria for the list is rather simple. A great musical has to have a great song score. The singing has to be good. The songs have to service the story and the story needs to hit the emotional heights necessary to justify a song. And, most importantly, the film must have released between 2010 an

Film

Pokemon Detective Pikachu Review (Film, 2019)

Pokemon Detective Pikachu poses an interesting challenge when it comes to a review. The film is incredibly well produced, but the actual bones of the film are not good. Even for a children’s film, the plot is pure nonsense. I enjoyed the film for what it was while also realizing the…creative limitat

Film

Unicorn Store Review (Film, 2019)

Kit is not happy. She fails out of art school, moves back in with her overly protective parents, and winds up taking on a temp job just to reclaim any sense of respect in the world. Her dreams have always been considered unrealistic but no one bothered to tell her until she faced her first big failu

Event

Errementari Review (Film, 2018) #31DaysofHorror

Errementari is a retelling of one of the oldest folk tales in the world. “The Smith and the Devil” is the tale of a blacksmith who makes a deal with the devil. Whatever the deal is, the blacksmith uses his new power to trap the devil and torment him until the deal is broken and the smith regains con

Event

Stephanie Review (Film, 2018) #31DaysofHorror

Stephanie is a horror film about isolation and fear from the perspective of a young child. Stephanie is living on her own. We see her try to do the best she can to survive. She cooks with the few ingredients left in her house—some frozen and canned fruits and vegetables—that aren’t rotting. Aside fr