Podcasts, radio shows, writing and more by Alex Fitch
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Panel Borders: Necessary Monsters
February 26, 2010 — 1 Comment
Panel Borders:
Necessary Monsters
Edited version broadcast 25/02/10 as an episode of Strip! on Resonance 104.4 FM
Cowboy 13 does his thing in the start of the three page epilogue to volume one of Necessary Monsters by Sean Azzopardi and Daniel Merlin Goodbrey
Concluding webcomics month on the show, Alex Fitch catches up with artist Sean Azzopardi and writer Daniel Merlin Goodbrey as the first series of their epic webcomic Necessary Monsters comes to its conclusion after a total of 125 pages serialised over two years. The series mixes a ‘black ops’ style spy thriller with the tropes of modern horror films and bizarre characters with ultra violence to maximum effect. Alex talks to Daniel and Sean about the progression of the strip, the various ways it’s been published and their collaborations with another webcomics creator – Douglas Noble – on a zombie western (The Rule of Death) and surrealistic thriller (Sightings of Wallace Sendek) respectively.
For more info about this podcast and a variety of formats you can stream or download, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.org
Links: Read Necessary Monsters online from page one, with more info about the cast of characters here
Reviews of chapters one and two and three and four on the Forbidden Planet International blog
Read an illustrated article on the construction of a page of the strip at www.comicmonsters.com
Sean’s website – www.phatcatz.org.uk
Daniel’s website – www.e-merl.com
Listen to Alex’s 2008 interviews with Sean and Daniel
Recommended events:
Five years of the Forbidden Planet International blog
The Forbidden Planet International blog celebrates its 5th birthday today and is an invaluable source of comics book and genre film news and reviews and a great friend of this blog. If you’ve never visited it before – and why not, it’s the 31st most influential blog in the UK according to Cision – now’s as good a time as any, with the latest post seeing the blog writers choosing their favourite authors and other recent posts include animation by Dylan Mercer, a review of Norwegian graphic novelist Jason’s latest book, info on Grant Morrison and Stephen Fry’s TV project and much, much more.
Web: www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog
RSS feed: www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/feed/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/fpinternational
ABC Warriors signing
Saturday 27th February, 1pm meet Pat Mills and Clint Langley signing ‘ABC Warriors: Volgan War Vol.2′
Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8JR
(more…)
Today’s shows: Necessary Monsters / The films of Park Chan-Wook
February 25, 2010
Today on Resonance FM:
Strip! – Necessary Monsters
Cowboy 13 does his thing in the start of the three page epilogue to volume one of Necessary Monsters by Sean Azzopardi and Daniel Merlin Goodbrey
Concluding webcomics month on the show, Alex Fitch catches up with artist Sean Azzopardi and writer Daniel Merlin Goodbrey as the first series of their epic webcomic Necessary Monsters comes to its conclusion after a total of 125 pages serialised over two years. The series mixes a ‘black ops’ style spy thriller with the tropes of modern horror films and bizarre characters with ultra violence to maximum effect. Alex talks to Daniel and Sean about the progression of the strip, the various ways it’s been published and their collaborations with another webcomics creator – Douglas Noble – on a zombie western (The Rule of Death) and surrealistic thriller (Sightings of Wallace Sendek) respectively.
5pm 25/02/10, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast online tonight…
Links: Read Necessary Monsters online from page one, with more info about the cast of characters here
Reviews of chapters one and two and three and four on the Forbidden Planet International blog
Read an illustrated article on the construction of a page of the strip at www.comicmonsters.com
Sean’s website – www.phatcatz.org.uk
Daniel’s website – www.e-merl.com
Listen to Alex’s 2008 interviews with Sean and Daniel
Also – Lucky Cat: The films of Park Chan-Wook
Song Kang-ho and Kim Ok-bin in the film Thirst by Park Chan-Wook
Today’s episode of Resonance FM’s Asian culture show is a Park Chan-Wook special to coincide with the UK DVD release of the Korean auteur’s vampire film Thirst. Zoë Baxter is joined in the studio by Mira Stout (author of bestselling novel “One Thousand Chestnut Trees”, playwright, and film critic) and Alex Fitch (broadcaster and assistant editor of Electric Sheep film magazine) to discuss Thirst and Chan-Wook’s oeuvre.
Korean tea and snacks will be sampled for the Dim Sum Lunchbox.
7pm 25/02/10, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast online soon at www.luckykitty.blogspot.com…
Links: Wikipedia pages on Thirst and Park Chan-Wook
Listen to Alex’s appearance on Lucky Cat last year regarding the films of Tetsuya Nakashima
Listen to Alex’s 2008 interview with Park Chan-Wook, also available as an interview in Wheel Me Out magazine
Recommended events:
Five years of the Forbidden Planet International blog
The Forbidden Planet International blog celebrates its 5th birthday today and is an invaluable source of comics book and genre film news and reviews and a great friend of this blog. If you’ve never visited it before – and why not, it’s the 31st most influential blog in the UK according to Cision – now’s as good a time as any, with the latest post seeing the blog writers choosing their favourite authors and other recent posts include animation by Dylan Mercer, a review of Norwegian graphic novelist Jason’s latest book, info on Grant Morrison and Stephen Fry’s TV project and much, much more.
Web: www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog
RSS feed: www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/feed/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/fpinternational
(more…)
Reality Check: The Problem of SF film making part one
February 25, 2010 — 6 Comments
Reality Check:
The Problem of SF film making part one
From left to right, Gerald McMorrow, Richard Jobson, Stuart Hazeldine, Cory McAbee and Marc Caro, photos by Chris Patmore
In a panel discussion recorded live at last year’s London Science-Fiction and Fantastic Film Festival, Alex Fitch discusses the many aspects of creating engaging and convincing SF scenarios on film with a quintet of eminent low budget film directors – Marc Caro (Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children), Cory McAbee (Stingray Sam), Gerald McMorrow (Franklyn), Stuart Hazeldine (Exam) and Richard Jobson (A Woman in Winter). The panel was sponsored by The Directors Guild of Great Britain and Mr Caro’s translator was Virginie Selavy. [part one of two]
For more info, please visit the home of this podcast at Sci-Fi London (Parts one and two will be broadcast as an hour long Clear Spot on Resonance 104.4 FM, 17/03/10).
Links: Wikipedia pages on Marc Caro, Richard Jobson, Stuart Hazeldine, Gerald McMorrow and Cory McAbee
More info about Sci-Fi London
Sci-Fi London 9: Life in 2050, April 28th - May 3rd, 2010
Recommended events:
Comic book signings
Thursday 25th February, 6pm, Andy Diggle and Jock will be signing ‘The Losers’ - a great Graphic Novel just about to become a great movie.
Saturday 27th February, 1pm meet Pat Mills and Clint Langley signing ‘ABC Warriors: Volgan War Vol.2′
Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8JR
Five years of the Forbidden Planet International blog
The Forbidden Planet International blog celebrates its 5th birthday today and is an invaluable source of comics book and genre film news and reviews and a great friend of this blog. If you’ve never visited it before – and why not, it’s the 31st most influential blog in the UK according to Cision – now’s as good a time as any, with the latest post seeing the blog writers choosing their favourite authors and other recent posts include animation by Dylan Mercer, a review of Norwegian graphic novelist Jason’s latest book, info on Grant Morrison and Stephen Fry’s TV project and much, much more.
Web: www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog
RSS feed: www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/feed/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/fpinternational
Drawn Out and Painted Pink, an exhibition of cartoons by Kate Charlesworth and David Shenton
Throughout February 2010 The Drill Hall will be hosting and housing Drawn Out & Painted Pink, a cartoon exhibition by Kate Charlesworth and David Shenton documenting LGBT history from the 1970s to now.
“Like the best foreign correspondents (only funnier) their cartoons and comic strips have painted a devastatingly accurate self-portrait of LGBT life in the UK… They’ve got us bang to rights in the ways we were, the ways we are and the ways we could be. These are social documents of the highest order.”
Ellen Galford
The Drill Hall, Bloomsbury, West End, London WC1E 7EX
Panel Borders: Little Terrors and (other) Psychiatric Tales
February 19, 2010 — 5 Comments
Panel Borders:
Little Terrors and (other) Psychiatric Tales
Edited version broadcast 18/02/10 as an episode of Strip! on Resonance 104.4 FM
Excerpts from Little Terrors by Jon Scrivens and Psychiatric Tales by Darryl Cunningham
Continuing our month long look at webcomics, Alex Fitch talks to two writer artists whose work started off telling fantastical tales, took a detour via stories set in Hell and its environs and are now doing work with a greater autobiographical element. Darryl Cunningham is the creator of the humourous superhero strip Super Sam and John by Night, whose sequel to that strip tells tales of the inferno, The Streets of San Diablo and more recently to critical acclaim has started rendering experiences from his day job in Psychiatric Tales; Jon Scrivens is the creator of Little Terrors, a popular strip that tells the tale of a friendly zombie who is trying to connect with his old friends, who have also turned into a variety of monsters, in the wake of an outbreak of the living dead. and Jon is just about to start on a new strip, When’s Graham, which mixes collegiate humour with a touch of time travel…
For more info about this podcast and a variety of formats you can stream or download, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.org
Links: Jon Scrivens – Comic: www.littleterrorscomic.com
Website: www.jonscrivens.com
Review of Sherlock Holmes by Jon at theatrehopper.com
Myspace page: www.myspace.com/zombie_soundtrack
Darryl Cunningham – Website: www.darryl-cunningham.blogspot.com
Super Sam and John-of-the-Night: interview and archive at forbiddenplanet.co.uk
The Streets of San Diablo: http://act-i-vate.com/75.comic
Info about the 2010 Web and Mini Comix Thing
Info about Blank Slate Books
Recommended events:
LAYDEEZ DO COMICS
The monthly meeting for female fans of comics and fans of women who make comics!
Next meeting: Monday 22 Febrary 2010, 6.30-8.30pm
Venue: The Rag Factory, 16-18 Heneage Street, London E1 5LJ
Guest Speaker: Kiriko Kubo, cartoonist, animation director and writer, creator of ‘Cynical Hysterie Hour’ and ‘Hime Mama’ (‘Princess mother-in-law)
Book for Discussion: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Full details: www.laydeezdocomics.com
Comic book signings
Thursday 25th February, 6pm, Andy Diggle and Jock will be signing ‘The Losers’ - a great Graphic Novel just about to become a great movie.
Saturday 27th February, 1pm meet Pat Mills and Clint Langley signing ‘ABC Warriors: Volgan War Vol.2′
Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8JR
(more…)
Today’s show: Little Terrors and (other) Psychiatric Tales
February 18, 2010
Today on Resonance FM:
Strip! – Little Terrors and (other) Psychiatric Tales
Excerpts from Little Terrors by Jon Scrivens and Psychiatric Tales by Darryl Cunningham
Continuing our month long look at webcomics, Alex Fitch talks to two writer artists whose work started off telling fantastical tales, took a detour via stories set in Hell and its environs and are now doing work with a greater autobiographical element. Darryl Cunningham is the creator of the humourous superhero strip Super Sam and John by Night, whose sequel to that strip tells tales of the inferno, The Streets of San Diablo and more recently to critical acclaim has started rendering experiences from his day job in Psychiatric Tales; Jon Scrivens is the creator of Little Terrors, a popular strip that tells the tale of a friendly zombie who is trying to connect with his old friends, who have also turned into a variety of monsters, in the wake of an outbreak of the living dead. and Jon is just about to start on a new strip, When’s Graham, which mixes collegiate humour with a touch of time travel…
5pm 18/02/10, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast online tonight…
Links: Jon Scrivens – Comic: www.littleterrorscomic.com
Website: www.jonscrivens.com
Review of Sherlock Holmes by Jon at theatrehopper.com
Myspace page: www.myspace.com/zombie_soundtrack
Darryl Cunningham – Website: www.darryl-cunningham.blogspot.com
Super Sam and John-of-the-Night: interview and archive at forbiddenplanet.co.uk
The Streets of San Diablo: http://act-i-vate.com/75.comic
Recommended events:
Drawn Out and Painted Pink, an exhibition of cartoons by Kate Charlesworth and David Shenton
Throughout February 2010 The Drill Hall will be hosting and housing Drawn Out & Painted Pink, a cartoon exhibition by Kate Charlesworth and David Shenton documenting LGBT history from the 1970s to now.
“Like the best foreign correspondents (only funnier) their cartoons and comic strips have painted a devastatingly accurate self-portrait of LGBT life in the UK… They’ve got us bang to rights in the ways we were, the ways we are and the ways we could be. These are social documents of the highest order.”
Ellen Galford
The Drill Hall, Bloomsbury, West End, London WC1E 7EX
Panel Borders: Comic Sushi and Public Servants
February 12, 2010 — 1 Comment
Panel Borders:
Comic Sushi and Public Servants
Originally broadcast 11/02/10 as an episode of Strip! on Resonance 104.4 FM
Excerpts from Depressed Cat by Lizz Lunney and Tozo by David O Connell
Continuing this month’s look at webcomics, Dickon Harris speaks to a couple of creators of very different online strips at the Movies Comics and Manga expo in London’s Docklands. Liz Lunney creates a variety of humourous and cute animal strips under the anthology title ‘Online Comic Sushi’ which she has also printed in collections such as ‘Bears in your Face / The Man with Tetris on his Chin’ and ‘I Love Dinosaurs and they Love Me’ which led to her inclusion in the American Indie publisher Top Shelf’s collection of online comics, Top Shelf 2.0.
David O’Connell also makes family friendly comics in the form of his ongoing web strip ‘Tozo: The Public Servant’, a European ‘Clear line’ style comic reminiscent of Hergé, which tells the tale of a police inspector on the island city of Nova Venezia, who has been ordered to investigate the murder of Luco Lello, an employee of the Financial Exchange. His investigations include the mysterious but troublesome Spider Empire and the Ombra Society, led by the sinister Lady Magdalene, who travel by airship and Tozo is always accompanied by his sidekick, the mecha-golem ‘Klikker’!
For more info about this podcast and a variety of formats you can stream or download, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.org
Links: Lizz Lunney – Website: www.lizzlizz.com
Blog: lizzlizz.blogspot.com
Pages at Top Shelf 2.0
Interview at threadless.com
David O’Connell – Website: http://www.tozocomic.com
Livejournal page: tozocomic.livejournal.com
Read Tozo: The Public Servant from the first page
Interview with David conducted by Garen Ewing
Listen to previews interviews about Clair Ligne comics conducted by Alex Fitch and Dickon Harris
Recommended events:
Alternative Press Fair
It’s going to be a completely FREE event celebrating all things self-published and DIY.
Comics and Zines, Radical Literature, Poetry, Printmaking, Book Arts and even a bit of DIY Fashion will come together in this carnival of modern cottage industry!
There will be a huge variety of things to see and do, including collaborative drawing and live screen printing where you can make your own poster of the day.
In the evening there will be a party to celebrate the first birthday of the Alternative Press Fair with an open mic night for all comers to try, also featuring poetry, spoken word and music. So come along and help us blow out the candles!
I’ts all happening at; St Aloysius Social Club, 20 Phoenix Road, London NW1 1TA
Nearest tube Euston
13th February, Noon-Midnight…
More info: http://comicsandzines.wordpress.com
Spend Valentine’s Day with We are Words + Pictures
14th February, at Notting Hill Arts Club
Two very special events brought to you by WAW+P.
3-7pm: Drop In + Draw.
Live art and workshops featuring Jamie McKelvie, Adam Cadwell and Tom Humberstone
Illustrators, writers and animators of all ages come together for an afternoon day of comic book art and fun. Featuring group-draw sessions, comic-themed activities and one-on-one tutorials, Drop In + Draw is open to artists of all abilities. You’ll be joined by Jamie McKelvie (X-Men: Divided We Stand, Suburban Glamour), Adam Cadwell (The Everyday) and Eagle Award-Winner Tom Humberstone (How To Date A Girl in 10 Days, My Fellow Americans), who’ll be on hand for sketches, advice and tips. So even if you can’t tell Batman from Manbat, or don’t know which end of a brush pen to hold, come on down and we’ll get you making comics.
Entry – £1 per person to cover materials.
7.30-late: Modern Romance.
A night of pop and music compered by Robin Ince. Featuring House of Starnge, Dogtanion and Judas Zero
A night of sunshine pop and four-color mayhem, Notting Hill Arts Club will be filled with comic art and live illustration while the bands play on. Compered by very special guest Robin Ince (The Office, Mock The Week, Nevermind The Buzzcocks, Radio 4 regular), the acts include confetti-wielding electro-pop heroes House of Strange, Dogtanion – whose single ‘Heavy Talk’ was one of Drowned in Sound’s ‘Singles of 2009′ – and intergalactic folk hero Judas Zero.
Once the bands have finished the We Are Words + Pictures DJs will play into the night, bringing the likes of M.I.A., Lady Gaga, The Flaming Lips and Los Campesinos! to the dancefloor.
Entry – £5 per person (£4 concessions)
Please note: these events are adults only. Sorry.
Notting Hill Arts Club, 21 Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3JQ
More info at http://wearewordsandpictures.com
(more…)
Electric Sheep Magazine version 4.0
February 11, 2010
Electric Sheep Magazine is dead…
Long live Electric Sheep online!
- Bloody Ballet montage by Julia Scheele
Available online now is the fourth incarnation of Electric Sheep Magazine. ESM started out as an online magazine, metamorphosed into an A5 print magazine available in selected Art House Cinemas, regenerated into a full sized magazine with a spine available in selected Art Galleries and book shops and is now online only again. This is not to say it won’t return to print again in the future, but for now we’re concentrating on the online version, bringing across some of the best features of the print magazine to the web. These include illustrations by top small press comic book artists such as Julia Scheele who is the first illustrator of our new ‘themes‘ section which brings the quarterly nature of the print magazine to a monthly section online….
- Excerpt from Asian Horror DVD collection review by Dan Lester
Our quarterly comic strip reviews are now also monthly online, starting with a new Asian horror film collection review by Dan Lester, who also provided us with our first print comic…
Plus in issue 36 of Electric Sheep Magazine online:
We explore the dark and supernatural side of ballet on film with articles on Suspiria, The Red Shoes and a review of Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary by Alex Fitch.
New cinema releases include Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Micmacs, reviewed by Mark Stafford and Japanese debut Asyl, which centres on an unusual ‘love hotel’ in Tokyo. We examine how Takeshi Kitano confronts his ‘Beat’ Takeshi persona in the long-awaited Takeshis’ to offer an iconoclastic dissection of fame. We discuss our favourite Hitchcock blondes in anticipation of the Blonde Crazy retrospective at Birds Eye View next month. In the DVD section, we review Fritz Lang’s unsurpassed classic M and Craig Baldwin’s conspiratorial history of Scientology Mock Up on Mu. We look at Kim Longinotto’s Gaea Girls and Shinjuku Boys, two documentaries on women living on the margins of Japanese society and as part of our exploration of online movies, we look at David Lynch’s website.
In Short Cuts, we have a report on the 7th London Short Film Festival, which once more offered many memorable moments, while in our Alter Ego column, transferring from our print incarnation, Welcome to Mars author Ken Hollings tells us why he would be Astro Boy if he was a film character. Finally, quirky pop genius Lightspeed Champion picks his favourite films in the Film Jukebox. Also listen to our latest podcast, in which Alex Fitch talks to Oscar winning actress Susannah York about her career.
Today’s show: Comic Sushi and Public Servants
February 11, 2010
Today on Resonance FM:
Strip! – Comic Sushi and Public Servants
Excerpts from Depressed Cat by Lizz Lunney and Tozo by David O Connell
Continuing this month’s look at webcomics, Dickon Harris speaks to a couple of creators of very different online strips at the Movies Comics and Manga expo in London’s Docklands. Liz Lunney creates a variety of humourous and cute animal strips under the anthology title ‘Online Comic Sushi’ which she has also printed in collections such as ‘Bears in your Face / The Man with Tetris on his Chin’ and ‘I Love Dinosaurs and they Love Me’ which led to her inclusion in the American Indie publisher Top Shelf’s collection of online comics, Top Shelf 2.0.
David O’Connell also makes family friendly comics in the form of his ongoing web strip ‘Tozo: The Public Servant’, a European ‘Clear line’ style comic reminiscent of Hergé, which tells the tale of a police inspector on the island city of Nova Venezia, who has been ordered to investigate the murder of Luco Lello, an employee of the Financial Exchange. His investigations include the mysterious but troublesome Spider Empire and the Ombra Society, led by the sinister Lady Magdalene, who travel by airship and Tozo is always accompanied by his sidekick, the mecha-golem ‘Klikker’!
5pm 11/02/10, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast online tonight…
Links: Lizz Lunney – Website: www.lizzlizz.com
Blog: lizzlizz.blogspot.com
Pages at Top Shelf 2.0
Interview at threadless.com
David O’Connell – Website: http://www.tozocomic.com
Livejournal page: tozocomic.livejournal.com
Read Tozo: The Public Servant from the first page
Interview with David conducted by Garen Ewing
Listen to previews interviews about Clair Ligne comics conducted by Alex Fitch and Dickon Harris
Recommended events:
Alternative Press Fair
It’s going to be a completely FREE event celebrating all things self-published and DIY.
Comics and Zines, Radical Literature, Poetry, Printmaking, Book Arts and even a bit of DIY Fashion will come together in this carnival of modern cottage industry!
There will be a huge variety of things to see and do, including collaborative drawing and live screen printing where you can make your own poster of the day.
In the evening there will be a party to celebrate the first birthday of the Alternative Press Fair with an open mic night for all comers to try, also featuring poetry, spoken word and music. So come along and help us blow out the candles!
I’ts all happening at; St Aloysius Social Club, 20 Phoenix Road, London NW1 1TA
Nearest tube Euston
More info: http://comicsandzines.wordpress.com
Spend Valentine’s Day with We are Words + Pictures
14th February, at Notting Hill Arts Club
Two very special events brought to you by WAW+P.
3-7pm: Drop In + Draw.
Live art and workshops featuring Jamie McKelvie, Adam Cadwell and Tom Humberstone
Illustrators, writers and animators of all ages come together for an afternoon day of comic book art and fun. Featuring group-draw sessions, comic-themed activities and one-on-one tutorials, Drop In + Draw is open to artists of all abilities. You’ll be joined by Jamie McKelvie (X-Men: Divided We Stand, Suburban Glamour), Adam Cadwell (The Everyday) and Eagle Award-Winner Tom Humberstone (How To Date A Girl in 10 Days, My Fellow Americans), who’ll be on hand for sketches, advice and tips. So even if you can’t tell Batman from Manbat, or don’t know which end of a brush pen to hold, come on down and we’ll get you making comics.
Entry – £1 per person to cover materials.
7.30-late: Modern Romance.
A night of pop and music compered by Robin Ince. Featuring House of Starnge, Dogtanion and Judas Zero
A night of sunshine pop and four-color mayhem, Notting Hill Arts Club will be filled with comic art and live illustration while the bands play on. Compered by very special guest Robin Ince (The Office, Mock The Week, Nevermind The Buzzcocks, Radio 4 regular), the acts include confetti-wielding electro-pop heroes House of Strange, Dogtanion – whose single ‘Heavy Talk’ was one of Drowned in Sound’s ‘Singles of 2009′ – and intergalactic folk hero Judas Zero.
Once the bands have finished the We Are Words + Pictures DJs will play into the night, bringing the likes of M.I.A., Lady Gaga, The Flaming Lips and Los Campesinos! to the dancefloor.
Entry – £5 per person (£4 concessions)
Please note: these events are adults only. Sorry.
Notting Hill Arts Club, 21 Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3JQ
More info at http://wearewordsandpictures.com
(more…)
Today’s screening: Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
February 10, 2010
Electric Sheep Film Club: Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
For the ninth meeting of the Electric Sheep Film Club at the Prince Charles Cinema off Leicester Square, here’s your antidote to forthcoming Valentine soppiness: promising ‘red-blood kisses’ and ‘white-hot thrills’, Kiss Me Deadly is a noir classic that has lost none of its power to shock and surprise.
Robert Aldrich’s Kiss Me Deadly
Take the money, do not open the box! - a still from Kiss Me Deadly by Robert Aldrich
From classic noir writer Mickey Spillane and the director of Whatever happened to Baby Jane comes this lurid thriller, with SF elements that influenced Raiders of the Lost Ark and Repo Man. Private investigator Mike Hammer, a thuggish, macho anti-hero, is drawn into a bottomless pit of conspiracy and corruption after picking up a mysterious and beautiful hitch-hiker. Exposing the black soul of America in the atomic age, this is as hard-boiled as it gets.
FILM WRITING COMPETITION:
Film students and aspiring film writers are invited to enter our film writing competition: write a 200-word review of Kiss Me Deadly and send it to ladyvengeance [at] electricsheepmagazine.com, marked ‘Film writing competition’ in the subject line. Jason Wood, director of programming at Curzon Cinemas, film journalist and author of 100 American Independent Films and 100 Road Movies among others, will select the best review. Deadline: Thursday 25 February. The selected review will be published on the Electric Sheep website in March. This is a regular feature of the Electric Sheep Film Club. You can read November’s winning review of Repulsion here.
Links: Info about Kiss Me Deadly at the IMDb
Saturday Screening: The Phantom of the Opera (1925) + live DJ score
February 5, 2010
Electric Sheep Subterranea – The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Electric Sheep presents subterranean screenings of minor masterpieces, oddball B-movies and genre classics in our new venue Notting Hill Arts Club.
Join us every second Saturday of the month for a feature film and a chat, preceded by short films, music and other attractions.
Phantom of the Opera poster
The earliest film version of the legendary figure and one of the first silent horror films, The Phantom of the Opera (1925) stars the great Lon Chaney as the horribly disfigured Erik who leads a secret and lonely existence beneath the Paris Opera. After falling in love with a beautiful young singer, he holds her prisoner in his underground lair. Darkly poetic and full of visual delights, the film creates a startling world of nightmarish beauty while Chaney superbly brings out the terrible humanity of the monster.
The film will be shown with a live DJ rescore by DJ Downfall.
Courtesy of Eureka Entertainment
+ WE ARE WORDS + PICTURES COMICS STALL
We Are Words + Pictures are a London-based team of illustrators and writers who bring comics to new readers through events, workshops, publications and market stalls. WAW+P will be bringing illustrator Anna Saunders to Electric Sheep Subterranea, where she’ll be drawing alongside the screening, as well as a selection of ‘zines and comics, which will be on sale in the bar. WAW+P are contributors to the new anthology Solipsistic Pop edited by Eagle Award winner Tom Humberstone, which aims to showcase the best in current British small press and underground comic books, and will be available for sale at the event.
+ DJS AND SHORT FILMS designed to compliment the main feature…
Every first Saturday of the month, Notting Hill Arts Club.
ENTRY TO THIS SCREENING IS FREE!
SATURDAY 6th FEBRUARY, Notting Hill Arts Club, 21 Notting Hill Gate
London W11 3JQ, 4pm
More info at Electric Sheep Magazine Online
(more…)
Panel Borders: Transmission X
February 4, 2010 — 1 Comment
Panel Borders:
Transmission X
Originally broadcast 04/02/10 as an episode of Strip! on Resonance 104.4 FM
Various Transmission X webcomics by Ramón Pérez, Karl Kershl and Cameron Stewart
Starting web comics month on the show, Alex Fitch talks to three members of the Canadian webcomics collective ‘Transmission X’ in an interview recorded during last year’s Comica festival after their signing at Orbital Comics. Cameron Stewart is best known for his work on Grant Morrison’s Seaguy and Batman and Robin, but has also been responsible for a online crime comic called Sin Titulo which between its first instalment in 2007 and its 89th page last autumn won the 2009 Joe Shuster Award for Best Webcomic. Also on the Transmission X site are a collection of other terrific strips in a variety of genres including Kukuburi and Butter Nut Squash by the prolific Ramón Pérez and The Abominable Charles Christopher by Karl Kershl. While they were on the London leg of their European tour, Alex caught up with Cameron, Ramón and Karl and talked about working in a variety of genres on the web, how this contrasts with their superhero comics for more famous publishers and the experience of updating web comics on a regular basis.
For more info about this podcast and a variety of formats you can stream or download, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.org
Links: Transmission X homepage
Transmission X youtube channel
Cameron Stewart – Sin Titulo webcomic
Cameron’s blog
Ramón Pérez – Kukuburi and Butter Nut Squash webcomics
Ramón’s blog
Karl Kershl – The Abominable Charles Christopher and North Sea Epoch webcomics
Karl’s blog
Recommended events:
Arthur Ransom Exhibition at Orbital comics
14 January- 14 February
Orbital Comics is pleased to present British comics legend, Arthur Ranson’s, premiere exhibition, showing art spanning throughout his prolific career from 2000AD and beyond and depictions of beloved characters such as Judge Anderson, PSI and Button Man…
8 Gt Newport Street
London WC2H 7JA
More info: www.orbitalcomics.com
Drawn Out and Painted Pink, an exhibition of cartoons by Kate Charlesworth and David Shenton
Throughout February 2010 The Drill Hall will be hosting and housing Drawn Out & Painted Pink, a cartoon exhibition by Kate Charlesworth and David Shenton documenting LGBT history from the 1970s to now.
“Like the best foreign correspondents (only funnier) their cartoons and comic strips have painted a devastatingly accurate self-portrait of LGBT life in the UK… They’ve got us bang to rights in the ways we were, the ways we are and the ways we could be. These are social documents of the highest order.”
Ellen Galford
The Drill Hall, Bloomsbury, West End, London WC1E 7EX
Today’s show: Transmission X
February 4, 2010
Today on Resonance FM:
Strip! – Transmission X
Various Transmission X webcomics by Ramón Pérez, Karl Kershl and Cameron Stewart
Starting web comics month on the show, Alex Fitch talks to three members of the Canadian webcomics collective ‘Transmission X’ in an interview recorded during last year’s Comica festival after their signing at Orbital Comics. Cameron Stewart is best known for his work on Grant Morrison’s Seaguy and Batman and Robin, but has also been responsible for a online crime comic called Sin Titulo which between its first instalment in 2007 and its 89th page last autumn won the 2009 Joe Shuster Award for Best Webcomic. Also on the Transmission X site are a collection of other terrific strips in a variety of genres including Kukuburi and Butter Nut Squash by the prolific Ramón Pérez and The Abominable Charles Christopher by Karl Kershl. While they were on the London leg of their European tour, Alex caught up with Cameron, Ramón and Karl and talked about working in a variety of genres on the web, how this contrasts with their superhero comics for more famous publishers and the experience of updating web comics on a regular basis.
5pm 04/02/10, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast online tonight…
Links: Transmission X homepage
Transmission X‘ youtube channel
Cameron Stewart – Sin Titulo webcomic
Cameron’s blog
Ramón Pérez – Kukuburi and Butter Nut Squash webcomics
Ramón’s blog
Karl Kershl – The Abominable Charles Christopher and North Sea Epoch webcomics
Karl’s blog
Recommended events:
Arthur Ransom Exhibition at Orbital comics
14 January- 14 February
Orbital Comics is pleased to present British comics legend, Arthur Ranson’s, premiere exhibition, showing art spanning throughout his prolific career from 2000AD and beyond and depictions of beloved characters such as Judge Anderson, PSI and Button Man…
8 Gt Newport Street
London WC2H 7JA
More info: www.orbitalcomics.com
Drawn Out and Painted Pink, an exhibition of cartoons by Kate Charlesworth and David Shenton
Throughout February 2010 The Drill Hall will be hosting and housing Drawn Out & Painted Pink, a cartoon exhibition by Kate Charlesworth and David Shenton documenting LGBT history from the 1970s to now.
“Like the best foreign correspondents (only funnier) their cartoons and comic strips have painted a devastatingly accurate self-portrait of LGBT life in the UK… They’ve got us bang to rights in the ways we were, the ways we are and the ways we could be. These are social documents of the highest order.”
Ellen Galford
The Drill Hall, Bloomsbury, West End, London WC1E 7EX
