A Few Favorite Fantasy TV Shows and Movies

Over at USA Today Happily Ever After blog I'm interviewing other science fiction and fantasy authors about their favorite scifi TV shows and movies. Since it was my day to blog here, I thought I'd talk about some of my favorites in the fantasy genre.

Let's just start with Lord of the Rings and get that out of the way because I think the Peter Jackson movies are going to remain at the top of my list for a very long time. I was most fascinated by the elves, especially Elrond and his home in Rivendell. I'd go there in a flash! Aragorn, perfectly portrayed by Viggo Mortensen, Eomer perfectly portrayed by Karl Urban....why exactly wasn't there more of him in the movies???  One of my favorite small moments is when the White Tree in Gondor puts forth a single white flower because Aragorn is going to be king.

Moving from the epic scale, I really like Jumanji. There's something intriguing about a game coming to life - actually getting bigger than life. I really enjoyed the relationship between the Robin Williams character  "Alan" and Bonnie Hunt's "Sarah". The big flood-in-the-house scene is one of my favorites (not just because there's a crocodile). I love the ending, when Alan and Sarah meet with the two modern day kids again, under very different circumstances.

 I liked the old "Jason and the Argonauts," especially the scenes on Mount Olympus and the way the goddess Hera could talk to Jason through the figurehead of his ship...

As far as TV shows, I got totally addicted to "Charmed."

Something about the show really grabbed me and I watched it every day when it was syndicated on some local channel. I think - having no sisters myself - I loved the idea of the way the sisters interacted and took care of each other and yes, had their spats. I was very invested in the romance between Whitelighter Leo and Piper and I appreciated that the series evolved over the eight years. I also enjoyed the fact that there was a final episode and many of the plot threads were tied up for us faithful viewers!

I think I fell into reading Christine Feehan's Drake Sisters series because it had some of the same feel as "Charmed." I did enjoy that series very much, although it gets pretty dark as the books go on and I wasn't necessarily sold on all the Prakenskii brothers showing up as needed all the time.  I loved "Water Bound," the first novel in the continuation series, also set in the town of Sea Haven. The heroine Rikki is somewhere on the autistic spectrum and I was impressed by the way the hero adapts himself to her lifestyle.   Haven't been as enthralled by the next two books in the series because reasons... but I did love the first one.

So what are some of your favorite fantasy movies or TV shows?