Sunday screening: Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) + The Phantom Empire: The Lighting Chamber (1935)

Electric Sheep Subterranea – Pan’s Labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno) / The Phantom Empire: The Lighting Chamber

Electric Sheep presents subterranean screenings of minor masterpieces, oddball B-movies and genre classics in the convivial surroundings of Cinéphilia West.

Join us every second Sunday of the month for a feature film and a chat, preceded by an episode from a serial or series, which will be shown over a season of screenings.

Teaser poster for El laberinto del fauno by Mike Mignola

On Sunday 13 December, as part of our season of underground-related films, we are very pleased to present Guillermo del Toro’s much-loved Pan’s Labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno).

In this wonderful Gothic fairy tale set during the Spanish Civil War, a young girl named Ofelia has to confront both the monsters of fascism and the terrifying creatures of her imagination. Smoothly moving between real and magic world, Pan’s Labyrinth tells the moving tale of a child’s initiation to life and death.

Price: £5 on the door/free entry for ‘Cinéphilia Club’ members
Courtesy of Optimum Home Entertainment
Dir: Guillermo del Toro, 2006, Spain/Mexico/USA
Certificate 15

The Phantom Empire Poster

This will be preceded by the third episode of our popular Sunday serial, the sci-fi Western musical The Phantom Empire (1935), in which a cowboy, who is also a radio show host, stumbles upon an ancient but highly advanced civilisation living under his ranch… see what happens next!
Has to be seen to be believed! If you missed last month’s instalment and want to catch up, you can do so here…

Every second Sunday of the month, Cinéphilia West.

ENTRY TO THIS SCREENING, AS TO ALL CINEPHILIA EVENTS, IS LIMITED TO MEMBERS. You can buy membership on the door. Now including day membership for £5
For £10 a month, members, and one guest, are allowed free entry to all scheduled screenings and special film events, as well as 10% discounts off all books and DVDs in the shop and all the food and drink at the café; alternatively, members can pay £55 for a six-month membership or £100 for a 12-month membership. There will be up to a dozen monthly exclusive events, please check the Cinéphilia website for details.

SUNDAY 13 DECEMBER, Cinéphilia West, 171 Westbourne Grove, London W11 2RS, 7pm
More info at www.cinephilia.co.uk

Electric Sheep Magazine Winter 2009

Cover of Electric Sheep Magazine Winter 2009 featuring Yang Ik-Joon in Breathless

The latest and possibly final edition of Electric Sheep magazine has just been released and is available from various stockists… Electric Sheep is edited by Virginie Sélavy with assistance by Alex Fitch, Sarah Cronin and Toby Weidmann.

It’s a measly £3.75 in shops / £14 for 4 issues on subscription; ESM is in good bookshops now and available online (with a 30% discount) at wallflowerpress.co.uk

This issue includes (excerpts / not final versions) comic strip reviews of Where the sidewalk ends by Hannah Berry and Whirlpool by Mark Stafford, plus illustrations by Daniel Locke and James Stringer to accompany articles on Edgar Wallace ‘Krimi’ films and Biker movies respectively plus words (review of Stingray Sam) and a picture (to illustrate a review of Day Night Day Night) by “We are words and pictures” a.k.a. Matt Sheret and Julia Scheele.

The magazine also includes a conversation between Alex Fitch and Andrew Cartmel (Doctor Who script editor 1987-89) about the enduring appeal of The Prisoner, an article by Andrzej Klimowski about creating posters for Jim Jarmusch films, reviews of upcoming film and DVD releases and much, much more…

Electric Sheep Magazine also has additional content online including our latest podcast which features an interview with Oscar winning director Joseph Strick and reviews of the recent rereleases of Lone Wolf and Cub, Silent Night, Deadly Night and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

For more info click here:

Recommended events:

Lost Treasures of the Black Heart

…a night dedicated to unsung heroes and hidden gems. It’ll be on Tuesday 8th December, upstairs at the Black Heart pub in Camden Town. Doors are at 7pm and it’s £5 on the door.

We Are Words + Pictures will be joining Solipsistic Pop to sell Paper Science and selected comics at this night curated and hosted by Josie Long. It’s going to be a blast!

More info at the We Are Words + Pictures blog

Click here to visit The Stroke Association website

Donate to The Stroke Association and get free DVDs / CDs in exchange…

BBC audio director Neil Gardner (The Brightonomicon / Doctor Who: Hornet’s Nest) is offering choice items from his CD, DVD and book collection in exchange for donations to The Stroke Association and will match any amount donated x 2!


Get your stocking fillers from Neil and donate to a good cause….

More info here…

Today’s screening: The Lodger (1927)

Electric Sheep Film Club: The Lodger – a story of the London fog (1927)

For the eighth meeting of the Electric Sheep Film Club at the Prince Charles Cinema off Leicester Square, we’re showing the classic London-set thriller about paranoia in the days of Jack the Ripper:

The Lodger – a story of the London fog (1927)

15 frames from the opening of The Lodger by Alfred Hitchcock

Considered by Hitchcock as his first real film, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog is a silent sexual psychodrama set in a foggy, gloomy London terrorised by a killer loosely modelled on Jack the Ripper. As blonde women are murdered around the city, a sinister gentleman takes up lodgings at the house of an elderly couple and is soon showing an interest in their pretty blonde daughter. A real sense of menace pervades the story and the visual inventiveness makes the film a fantastic treat.

Do not miss this very special, one-off event: we are very proud to present the acclaimed musicians Minima who will be performing a live, improvised rescore of the film. Minima will be doing a Q & A after the film with ESM assistant editor Alex Fitch.
Please note the later than usual starting time.

Price: £6.50/£5.00 Prince Charles members
Certificate PG
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock, UK 1927

Wednesday 2nd November, 9pm, Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Place, WC2
More info at www.princecharlescinema.com and www.electricsheepmagazine.com

FILM WRITING COMPETITION:
Film students and aspiring film writers are invited to enter our film writing competition: write a 200-word review of the screening of The Lodger with rescore by Minima and send it to ladyvengeance[at]electricsheepmagazine.com, marked ‘Film writing competition’ in the subject line. A film professional will select the best review, in this instance Ian Francis, co-director of 7 Inch Cinema and Flatpack Festival, which returns in March 2010. Deadline: December 16.
The selected review will be published on the Electric Sheep website. This is a regular feature of the Electric Sheep Film Club. You can read last month’s winning review of Repulsion here.

IMDb page for The Lodger
View 1000 frames of The Lodger at the ‘Hitchcock wiki’
Listen to Electric Sheep assistant editor Alex Fitch talk to BBC sound engineer Robin Warren about Hitchcock’s Notorious, to Alex Hogg from Minima about scoring silent movies and to Oscar winning director Joseph Strick in our most recent podcast

For info on the latest print issue of Electric Sheep magazine, please click here

In association with

Recommended events:

Woodrow Phoenix at Brighton Library
Woodrow Phoenix, esteemed author of the astonishing graphic road-rage-busting RUMBLE STRIP, and so much else, will be doing his thing at the Jubilee Library this coming Thursday 3rd December at 6pm. His publishers Myriad Editions would be delighted if you could join them for a pre-Christmas drink and to hear Woodrow talk about art, words, life, and his experience of comic workshopping with 150 kids at a go, during his recent British Council tour of India.

Jubilee Library, Jubilee St, Brighton, BN1 1GE

Thursday 3rd December at 6pm…

Bad Santa screening

Sasquatch Cinema is a monthly film night held at the new Shortwave cinema in 10 Bermondsey Square, London, SE1 3UN (Tel: 0207 357 6845). / nearest tube Borough (Northern line).

We will be showing an eclectic range of films including cult classics and rarities you may not have seen before.

The next film we will be showing is a late night screening of Bad Santa – staring Billy Bob Thornton on Friday, 11th December at 22:30.
The traditional Christmas tale will never be the same with the cleverly twisted, merrily irreverent story of a Santa so bad he’s wickedly funny. This is one of the best Christmas movie’s of all times.
The cinema has a bar, and you can even bring your drinks in and watch the film!

The entry fee is £5.00. Tickets are sold on the night on a first come – first served basis. Email: gabzucc[at]yahoo.com for more info.

Please view Sasquatch Cineama’s facebook / myspace pages for more details about the film

Today’s screening: Repulsion (1965)

Electric Sheep Film Club: Repulsion (1965)

For the seventh meeting of the Electric Sheep Film Club at the Prince Charles Cinema off Leicester Square, we’re showing the classic London-set thriller about paranoia and claustrophobia:

Repulsion (1965)

Catherine Deneuve in Repulsion

One of Roman Polanski’s finest films and the first he made in the UK, Repulsion charts the mental disintegration of a sexually troubled, beautiful young woman played by Catherine Deneuve. As elegant as it is creepy, Polanski’s taut psychological horror thriller superbly conveys the character’s claustrophobic loneliness and contrasts the mundanity of her life in 60s London with the startling surreal hallucinations that increasingly take over her inner world. An absolute 60s classic.

With thanks to BFI. The film will be followed by informal discussion with Electric Sheep writers in the bar.

Price: £5/£3.50 Prince Charles members
Certificate 15
Dir: Roman Polanski, UK 1965

Wednesday 4th November, 8pm, Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Place, WC2
More info at www.princecharlescinema.com and www.electricsheepmagazine.com

FILM WRITING COMPETITION:
Film students and aspiring film writers are invited to enter our film writing competition: write a 200-word review of Repulsion and send it to ladyvengeance (at) electricsheepmagazine.com, marked ‘Film writing competition’ in the subject line. A film professional will select the best review, and we are delighted to have renowned Polish film poster designer Andrzej Klimowski as our judge this month. Deadline: November 18. The selected review will be published on the Electric Sheep website. This is a new regular feature of the Electric Sheep Film Club. You can read last month’s winning review of Rollerball here.

IMDb page for Repulsion

For info on the latest print issue of Electric Sheep magazine, please click here

In association with

Recommended events: Autumn comics conventions…

5th to the 26th of November: Comica, the three week festival of comics in and around the Institute of Comtemporary Arts in London includes appearances by Eddie Campbell, David Lloyd, Brian Talbot, James Jean and Tara McPherson. – more info at www.comicafestival.com

19th to the 22nd of November: The Thought Bubble sequential art festival in Leeds which includes appearances by Paul Cornell, Gary Erskine, Garen Ewing, Andy Diggle, Frank Quietly and many more – more info at www.thoughtbubblefestival.com

Today’s screening: Rollerball (1975)

Electric Sheep Film Club: Rollerball (1975)

For the sixth meeting of the Electric Sheep Film Club at the Prince Charles Cinema off Leicester Square, we’re proud to be showing the classic SF movie:

Rollerball (1975)

Rollerball illustration by Sean Azzopardi

One of the best dystopian sci-fi movies to come out of the 70s, Rollerball focuses on an ultra-violent sport used to keep an overpopulated planet under control and probes its links to politics, the media and big conglomerates. When a star player refuses to obey the owners of his team, the stage is set for a Gladiator-like confrontation between a rebellious individual and the corporate power that seeks to crush him.

With thanks to Park Circus. The film will be followed by informal discussion with Electric Sheep editor Virginie Selavy and other writers from the magazine in the bar.

Price: £5/£3.50 Prince Charles members
Certificate 15
Dir: Norman Jewison, USA 1975

Wednesday 7th October, 8pm, Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Place, WC2
More info at www.princecharlescinema.com and www.electricsheepmagazine.com

FILM WRITING COMPETITION:
We are launching a new competition in connection with our Prince Charles film club for film students and aspiring film writers: to enter the competition, you need to write a 200-word review of Rollerball and send it to ladyvengeance (at) electricsheepmagazine.com, marked ‘Film writing competition’ in the subject line. An ‘industry’ expert will select the best review, in this case SCI-FI-LONDON director Louis Savy. Deadline: October 21. The selected review will be published on the Electric Sheep website. This is to be a regular addition to the Electric Sheep Film Club.

IMDb page for Rollerball

For info on the latest print issue of Electric Sheep magazine, please click here

Also, the October 2009 online issue of Electric Sheep is now available and includes Alex Fitch’s interview with with Marc Price about his ‘£45′ Zombie film Colin , our round-up of the 2009 Frightfest including mini-reviews of Pontypool, Triangle and Trick ‘r Treat plus Alex’s article on ‘Retrofitting the future’ in Ghost in the Shell 2.0 and Evangelion 1.0…

In association with:

Recommended events: Autumn comics conventions and events…

5th to the 26th of November: Comica, the three week festival of comics in and around the Institute of Comtemporary Arts in London includes appearances by Eddie Campbell, David Lloyd, Brian Talbot, James Jean and Tara McPherson. – more info at www.comicafestival.com

19th to the 22nd of November: The Thought Bubble sequential art festival in Leeds which includes appearances by Paul Cornell, Gary Erskine, Garen Ewing, Andy Diggle, Frank Quietly and many more – more info at www.thoughtbubblefestival.com

November Small Press events:

Handmade and bound - The Affordable book arts and zine fair, Sunday 1st November at the St Aloysius Social Club, near Euston,

The Small Press Comiket, Sunday 8th November which is part of the fortnight long Comica festival at The ICA, on The Mall, in Central London

“Are you zine friendly?”, Thursday 12th November, an Alternative Press event at the Foundry in Hoxton, promoting a new small press web resource: the Zine Friendly blog! And that’s at 86 Great Eastern Street.

For more info about all these events please visit: comicsandzines.wordpress.com

Electric Sheep Magazine Autumn 2009

Electric Sheep Magazine Autumn 2009 cover

The latest edition of Electric Sheep magazine has just been released and is available from various stockists… Electric Sheep is edited by Virginie Sélavy with assistance by Alex Fitch and has reviews / interviews by various Resonance FM programme makers including Virginie, Alex and Philip Winter (all contributors to I’m ready for my close-up)…

It’s a measly £3.75 in shops / £14 for 4 issues on subscription; ESM is in good bookshops now and available online (with a 15% discount) at wallflowerpress.co.uk

This issue’s illustrations (not final versions) include:

ALUCARDA illustration by James Stringer

Excerpt from COFFIN JOE box set review by Daniel Locke

Ther’s tha devil movin’ in my blood. The latest issue of Electric Sheep looks at religious extremes on film from Christic masochism to satanic cruelty. The extraordinary White Lightnin’ explores the Old Testament world of demented mountain dancer Jesco White while Klaus Kinski disastrously reinterprets the New Testament in Jesus Christ Saviour…

Three of the many faces of RASPUTIN by Julia Scheele

Plus: Previews of Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Raindance 09, political animation, louche mariachi rockabilly Dan Sartain picks his top films, subversives Alejandro Jodorowsky and Kenneth Anger dynamite divine myths and Alex Fitch looks at the history of Rasputin on Film.

Click here for more details of the current issue, or here for the previous one…

Also: listen to our most recent podcast in which Alex talks to cult Italian film director Dario Argento and prog rock band Goblin

Today’s screening: White Lightnin’

Electric Sheep Film Club: White Lightnin’

For the fifth meeting of the all new Electric Sheep Film Club at the Prince Charles Cinema off Leicester Square, we’re proud to be showing the London premiere of:

Dominic Murphy’s White Lightnin’ (2009)

Still from White Lightnin by Dominic Murphy

A dark, surreal semi-biopic about glue-sniffing, hard-drinking, hell-raising Appalachian mountain dancer Jesco White (impressively played by newcomer Ed Hogg), British director Dominic Murphy’s controversial debut feature takes us deeper and deeper into Jesco’s crazed visions and wild religious fantasies, culminating in horrific revenge and violent redemption.

We are delighted to welcome Dominic Murphy for a Q and A after the screening. Note the later than usual starting time of the screening.

With thanks to Momentum Pictures. White Lightnin’ starts its theatrical run at the ICA and Rich Mix (Bethnal Green), London, on September 25.

Price: £5/£3.50 Prince Charles members
Certificate 18 (TBC)
Dir: Dominic Murphy, UK 2009

Wednesday 3rd September, 9pm, Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Place, WC2
More info at www.princecharlescinema.com and www.electricsheepmagazine.com/events

IMDb page for White Lightnin’

For info on the latest issue of Electric Sheep magazine, please click here

In association with:

Today’s screening: Carnival of Souls

Electric Sheep Film Club: Carnival of Souls

For the fourth meeting of the all new Electric Sheep Film Club at the Prince Charles Cinema off Leicester Square, we’re proud to be showing:

Herk Harvey’s Carnival of Souls (1962)

Still from Carnival of Souls by Herk Harvey

This seminal atmospheric horror film influenced such masters of fright and strangeness as George A Romero and David Lynch. After surviving a car crash that left her friends dead, Mary Henry is beset by nightmarish visions involving a menacing ghost and becomes increasingly isolated from her community. As daily life is gradually contaminated by the otherworldly, the film takes on the texture of a horrific dream, fluid and eerie, rich, dark, deep and infinitely memorable.

The film will be followed by an informal discussion with Electric Sheep writers in the bar.
Price: £5/£3.50 Prince Charles members
Certificate 15
Dir: Herk Harvey, USA 1962

Wednesday 5th August, 8pm, Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Place, WC2
More info at www.princecharlescinema.com and www.electricsheepmagazine.com/events

IMDb page for Carnival of Souls
Wikipedia entry on Herk Harvey

For info on the latest issue of Electric Sheep magazine, please click here

In association with:

Electric Sheep podcast: The current state of Gay cinema part 2 (Monika Treut / Paul Morrison)

Electric Sheep podcast:

The current state of Gay cinema part 2 (Monika Treut / Paul Morrison)

Monika Treut interview originally broadcast 08/05/09 in an edited version on www.resonancefm.com

Federico García Lorca played by Javier Beltrán and Robert Pattinson as Salvador Dali in Little Ashes

In the second of two podcasts looking at the current state of gay cinema, Virginie Sélavy interviews experimental film maker Monika Treut about her work including the new film Ghosted which had its UK premiere at this year’s London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. Also, guest interviewer Chris Patmore, from Film and Festivals magazine talks to director Paul Morrison about his film Little Ashes, featuring Twilight star Robert Pattinson as Salvador Dali, which looks at the relationship between Dali and the poet Federico García Lorca, as played by Javier Beltrán (Part 2 of 2)

For more info about the variety of formats you can download this podcast in / stream, please visit www.archive.org

Links: Read Alex Fitch’s article about gay cinema at www.electricsheepmagazine.com
IMDb pages on Little Ashes and Ghosted
Info about the UK premiere of Ghosted and the LLGFF on tour at www.bfi.org.uk
Listen to the previous Electric Sheep Podcast which features Virginie’s interview with Kenneth Anger

For info on the latest issue of Electric Sheep magazine, please click here

Related news:

Pho and Muc: comics and photos at the Arts Bar, Camberwell

Julian Hanshaw, winner of the 2008 Observer graphic short story competition for his comic strip “Sand Dunes and Sonic Booms”, exhibits images from his forthcoming travelogue / Thai cookery graphic novel “The Art of Pho”, alongside photos by Rob Athill of Saigon’s late night food vendors…

20th-26th July 5.30pm – late
Arts Bar (above Funky Munky),
25 Camberwell Church Street,
London SE5 8TR

Meet the artists at a special squid party night on the 23rd…!

also: Kevin O’Neill at the Illustration Cupboard

14 July – 08 August 2009

The Illustration Cupboard is pleased to present the first British exhibition of the world-famous graphic-novel artist Kevin O’Neill.

Monday – Friday 10am to 6pm / Saturday 12pm – 5pm / www.illustrationcupboard.com

and: Alternative Press Festival 2009

Wednesday 29th July – Sunday 2nd August 2009

A festival of events over five days celebrating the small press, self publishing and being creative in the print media.

Anthology Book launch / Wednesday 29th July / 7pm – 9pm

Free / Housmans radical booksellers / 5 Caledonian road / London / N1 9DX / www.housmans.com

Are you zine friendly? / Thursday 30th July / 7pm – late

Free / The Foundry / 86 Great Eastern Street / London / EC2A 3JL / www.foundry.tv

Spoken Word night out! / Friday 31st July / 7pm – Late

Free / The Griffin / 93 Leonard Street / London / EC2A 4RD

Collaborama! / Saturday 1st August / 11am – Late

Free / The Miller / 96 Snowsfields road / London Bridge / SE1 3SS / www.themiller.co.uk

Alternative Press Fair / Sunday 2nd August / 11am- 7pm

Free / St Aloysius Social Club / 20 Phoenix road / London / NW1 1TA

More info about all events at comicsandzines.wordpress.com and www.alternativepress.org.uk

plus: Laydeez do Comics ….

Is a graphic novel reading group or forum with a focus on comic works
based on life narrative, the drama of the domestic and the everyday.

Launching the first meeting in July 2009 the group is being set up by illustrator Nicola Streeten and artist Sarah Lightman. As well as selecting favourite works to base discussion on, artists, academics and fans will be invited to speak. A platform for people to test new works and ideas or works in progress will also be included.

The Sewing Room / The Rag Factory / 16-18 Heneage Street, London E1 5LJ

6.30-8.30pm, Monday 27 July / Guest Speaker: Sarah McIntyre, creator of Vern & Lettuce comic

More info here…

Electric Sheep podcast: The current state of Gay cinema part 1 (Kenneth Anger / LLGFF)

Electric Sheep podcast:

The current state of Gay cinema part 1 (Kenneth Anger / LLGFF)

Interview originally broadcast 03/07/09 in an edited version on www.resonancefm.com

Kenneth Anger at the Imperial War Museum, photo by Damon Cleary

Following London Gay Pride weekend, in the first of two podcasts looking at the current state of gay cinema, Alex Fitch looks at this year’s London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and at the short film collection ‘Boys on film 2: In too deep’. Virginie Sélavy interviews infamous gay experimental film maker Kenneth Anger about his work, from the Magick Lantern Cycle of the second half of the last century to his current interest in digital media and manipulation. (Part 1 of 2)

For more info about the variety of formats you can download this podcast in / stream, please visit www.archive.org

Links: Read a transcript of Virginie’s interview with Kenneth Anger and Alex’s article about gay cinema at www.electricsheepmagazine.com
Anger’s Wikipedia and IMDb pages
Article about Anger’s recent films at www.artforum.com
Buy Boys on film 2 from peccadillopictures.com
Info about London Pride film screenings

For info on the latest issue of Electric Sheep magazine, please click here

Related news:

The London Japanese Art Festival
is on the weekend of the 11th / 12th of July at Richmond Adult Community College and includes:
Manga and Anime Art Exhibition, craft and sales tables from Manga shops, toys and dolls and all sorts of Japanese art and culture related goods.
Talks by Helen McCarthy and Paul Gravett
Martial Arts
Kimono dressing (kitsuke) and kimono fashion show
Cosplay Masquerade and presentations
Manga drawing workshops
J-Pop Party
Set photo shoots and roving photographers
Origami and other paper art
Calligraphy
Koto music
Japanese Dancing
Taiko Drumming
Japanese food and drink, including Pocky, obento and sake, as well as the open cafe area
Three Yatai – Takoyaki, Okonomi-yaki, Yakisoba, Donbri

UK PREMIERE : OCEAN WAVES

The Japanese Art Festival is proud to announce that the event will be hosting the premiere of the Studio Ghibli anime Ocean Waves. Studio Ghibli is better known as the Oscar-winning animation studio who brought us Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle.

Never before released in the UK, Ocean Waves centres around the life of Taku, an average high school student. But soon his quiet life will be turned upside down with the arrival of Rikako: a beautiful exchange student from Tokyo. By the end of term Taku will have learnt a valuable lesson in love and friendship.

The Ocean Waves screening is courtesy of Optimum Releasing.

More info at www.japaneseartfestival.com

also:

Kevin O’Neill at the Illustration Cupboard

14 July – 08 August 2009

The first British exhibition of his original artwork from.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Marshall Law
Nemesis the Warlock
Judge Dredd

The Illustration Cupboardis pleased to present the first British exhibition of the world-famous graphic-novel artist Kevin O’Neill.

As one of the most respected and highly regarded names in this field Kevin O’Neill’s illustrative work has led him to rub shoulders with distinguished writers, directors and film stars. Most widely known for his collaborations with writer Pat Mills on Marshal Law (see over) and Nemesis the Warlock in 2000AD Kevin has also worked with Alan Moore on The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which was recently turned into a blockbuster Hollywood film starring Sean Connery.

An exciting and sometimes controversial artist this unique event offers fans and collectors an opportunity to view thirty pieces of Kevin’s original drawings and paintings never seen before, and provides visitors to London during the summer season a chance to visit a truly special event.

All artwork is available for purchase, and signed books will also be for sale.
The exhibition will continue on our first floor gallery throughout the remainder of August.
Artwork can be viewed and purchased off our website from 8th July.
Prices range from £500 – £7500

Monday – Friday 10am to 6pm
Saturday 12pm – 5pm

More info at www.illustrationcupboard.com

Today’s show: The films of Kenneth Anger

Today on Resonance FM:

I’m ready for my close-up: Kenneth Anger

Kenneth Anger at the Imperial War Museum, photo by Damon Cleary

To herald the arrival of London Gay Pride weekend, Virginie Sélavy talks to infamous experimental film maker Kenneth Anger about his career, from ground breaking shorts such as his Magick Lantern Cycle and Scorpio Rising in the 1960s, to his recent return to the medium after a twenty year break.

5pm, Friday 03/07/09, Resonance 104.4 FM / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast soon after transmission at www.electricsheepmagazine.wordpress.com

Links: Read a transcript of Virginie’s interview with Kenneth Anger at www.electricsheepmagazine.com
Anger’s Wikipedia and IMDb pages
Article about Anger’s recent films at www.artforum.com
Info about London Pride film screenings

Related news:

The London Japanese Art Festival
is on the weekend of the 11th / 12th of July at Richmond Adult Community College and includes:
Manga and Anime Art Exhibition, craft and sales tables from Manga shops, toys and dolls and all sorts of Japanese art and culture related goods.
Talks by Helen McCarthy and Paul Gravett
Martial Arts
Kimono dressing (kitsuke) and kimono fashion show
Cosplay Masquerade and presentations
Manga drawing workshops
J-Pop Party
Set photo shoots and roving photographers
Origami and other paper art
Calligraphy
Koto music
Japanese Dancing
Taiko Drumming
Japanese food and drink, including Pocky, obento and sake, as well as the open cafe area
Three Yatai – Takoyaki, Okonomi-yaki, Yakisoba, Donbri

UK PREMIERE : OCEAN WAVES

The Japanese Art Festival is proud to announce that the event will be hosting the premiere of the Studio Ghibli anime Ocean Waves. Studio Ghibli is better known as the Oscar-winning animation studio who brought us Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle.

Never before released in the UK, Ocean Waves centres around the life of Taku, an average high school student. But soon his quiet life will be turned upside down with the arrival of Rikako: a beautiful exchange student from Tokyo. By the end of term Taku will have learnt a valuable lesson in love and friendship.

The Ocean Waves screening is courtesy of Optimum Releasing.

More info at www.japaneseartfestival.com

also:

Kevin O’Neill at the Illustration Cupboard

14 July – 08 August 2009

The first British exhibition of his original artwork from.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Marshall Law
Nemesis the Warlock
Judge Dredd

The Illustration Cupboardis pleased to present the first British exhibition of the world-famous graphic-novel artist Kevin O’Neill.

As one of the most respected and highly regarded names in this field Kevin O’Neill’s illustrative work has led him to rub shoulders with distinguished writers, directors and film stars. Most widely known for his collaborations with writer Pat Mills on Marshal Law (see over) and Nemesis the Warlock in 2000AD Kevin has also worked with Alan Moore on The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which was recently turned into a blockbuster Hollywood film starring Sean Connery.

An exciting and sometimes controversial artist this unique event offers fans and collectors an opportunity to view thirty pieces of Kevin’s original drawings and paintings never seen before, and provides visitors to London during the summer season a chance to visit a truly special event.

All artwork is available for purchase, and signed books will also be for sale.
The exhibition will continue on our first floor gallery throughout the remainder of August.
Artwork can be viewed and purchased off our website from 8th July.
Prices range from £500 – £7500

Monday – Friday 10am to 6pm
Saturday 12pm – 5pm

More info at www.illustrationcupboard.com

Today’s screening: Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy

Electric Sheep Film Club: Oldboy / Oldeuboi

For the third meeting of the all new Electric Sheep Film Club at the Prince Charles Cinema off Leicester Square, we’re proud to be showing:

Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy (2003)

Still from Oldboy by Park Chan-wook

In Park Chan wook’s extraordinary visual assault, a man is kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years without knowing why. When he is finally released from this Kafka-esque nightmare, he is hell-bent on revenge and seeks to uncover his tormentor’s identity. What follows is a twisted cat and mouse game that takes the protagonist and the audience through extremes of emotion, exploring the dark energy of vengeance. Exhilarating, horrifying, blackly humorous and heart-wrenching in equal measure, this is an unmissable masterpiece of cinematic cruelty. Oldboy was Park’s breakthrough movie in the UK, cementing his reputation as one of the most original and challenging directors currently making movies in the Far East.
Please stay after the film to chat with other film-goers and Electric Sheep writers in the bar after the screening. (with thanks to Palisades Tartan)

Wednesday 1st July, 8pm, Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Place, WC2
More info at www.princecharlescinema.com and www.electricsheepmagazine.com/events

IMDb page for Oldboy
Wikipedia entry on Park Chan-Wook
Read Virginie’s interview with Park in Electric Sheep Magazine
Read Alex Fitch’s interview with Park in Wheel me out magazine / listen to the podcast

Related news:

The London Japanese Art Festival
is on the weekend of the 11th / 12th of July at Richmond Adult Community College and includes:
Manga and Anime Art Exhibition, craft and sales tables from Manga shops, toys and dolls and all sorts of Japanese art and culture related goods.
Talks by Helen McCarthy and Paul Gravett
Martial Arts
Kimono dressing (kitsuke) and kimono fashion show
Cosplay Masquerade and presentations
Manga drawing workshops
J-Pop Party
Set photo shoots and roving photographers
Origami and other paper art
Calligraphy
Koto music
Japanese Dancing
Taiko Drumming
Japanese food and drink, including Pocky, obento and sake, as well as the open cafe area
Three Yatai – Takoyaki, Okonomi-yaki, Yakisoba, Donbri

UK PREMIERE : OCEAN WAVES

The Japanese Art Festival is proud to announce that the event will be hosting the premiere of the Studio Ghibli anime Ocean Waves. Studio Ghibli is better known as the Oscar-winning animation studio who brought us Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle.

Never before released in the UK, Ocean Waves centres around the life of Taku, an average high school student. But soon his quiet life will be turned upside down with the arrival of Rikako: a beautiful exchange student from Tokyo. By the end of term Taku will have learnt a valuable lesson in love and friendship.

The Ocean Waves screening is courtesy of Optimum Releasing.

More info at www.japaneseartfestival.com

Electric Sheep Magazine Summer 2009

Electric Sheep Magazine Summer 2009 cover

The latest edition of Electric Sheep magazine has just been released and is available from various stockists… Electric Sheep is edited by Virginie Sélavy with assistance by Alex Fitch and has reviews / interviews by various Resonance programme makers including Virginie, Alex and Philip Winter (all contributors to I’m ready for my close-up)…

It’s a measly £3.25 in shops / £12 for 4 issues on subscription; ESM is in good bookshops now and available online (with a 15% discount) at www.wallflowerpress.co.uk

Click here for more details of the current issue, or here for the previous one…

Electric Sheep Magazine Summer 2009 illustrations by Sean Azzopardi, Douglas Noble and Daniel Locke

This month’s illustrators include: Sean Azzopardi - Invasion of the Bodysnatchers (1978) / The Invasion (2007 – not shown), Douglas Noble – Hardware (1990), comic strip review – and Daniel Locke – Westworld (1973) / I, Robot (2004 – not shown) and articles on the work of ‘Beat’ Takeshi, Joseph Losely and Patricia Highsmith’s (talented) Mr. Ripley plus interviews with Marc Caro, Ole Bornedal and Helen McCarthy…

ESM also continues online as a monthly magazine between print issues including exclusive interviews like Alex Fitch talking to acclaimed Britsh directors Peter Greenaway and Michael Winterbottom and reviews such as Mark Stafford looking at The Good, the bad and the weird…

Illustration news:

LUC @ 176

The one month countdown starts now!

London Underground Comics’ latest event takes place at the 176 Project Space in Chalk Farm, London and features over 40 of the UK and beyond’s finest small press creators selling their wares in one of north London’s most beautiful gallery spaces.
Free tea and coffee, live DJs, animation projected on the 40 foot wall of the gallery and much more.

Exhibitors include: .
Oli Smith, Oliver Lambden, Sean Azzopardi, Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, Melody Lee, David Baillie, Douglas Noble, Marc Ellerby, Jamie McKelvie, Kieron Gillen, Jake Harold, Dan Lester, Francesca Cassavetti, Sally-Anne Hickman, Richy K Chandler, Josceline Fenton, Phil Spence, Paul Rainey, Howard Hardiman and many more…

27th June, 176 Prince of Wales Road, London, NW5 3PT
More info: londonundergroundcomics.com / www.projectspace176.com

also:

An exhibition of Shaun (The Arrival) Tan’s prints, and 4 original pastels, is on at
The Illustration Cupboard at 22 Bury Street, SW1Y 6AL until 22nd June
More info at www.illustrationcupboard.com

Today’s screening: Takashi Miike’s Audition

Electric Sheep Film Club: Audition / Ôdishon

For the second meeting of the all new Electric Sheep Film Club at the Prince Charles Cinema off Leicester Square, we’re proud to be showing:

Takashi Miike’s Audition (1999)

Still from Audition by Takashi Miike

Enfant terrible Takashi Miike’s most notorious work remains genuinely shocking. The story of a middle-aged man who, following his son’s advice, holds auditions to find a new wife is the pretext for an exploration of fantasy, desire, cruelty and obsession that is as visually beautiful as it is gruesomely disturbing.
…and then chat with other film-goers and Electric Sheep writers about the film in the bar after the screening. (with thanks to Palisades Tartan)

Wednesday 3rd June, 8pm, Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Place, WC2
More info at www.princecharlescinema.com and www.electricsheepmagazine.com/events
IMDb page for Audition

Comics news:

LUC @ 176

The one month countdown starts now!

London Underground Comics’ latest event takes place at the 176 Project Space in Chalk Farm, London and features over 40 of the UK and beyond’s finest small press creators selling their wares in one of north London’s most beautiful gallery spaces.
Free tea and coffee, live DJs, animation projected on the 40 foot wall of the gallery and much more.

Exhibitors include: .
Oli Smith, Oliver Lambden, Sean Azzopardi, Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, David Baillie, Douglas Noble, Marc Ellerby, Jamie McKelvie, Kieron Gillen,Jake Harold, Dan Lester, Francesca Cassavetti, Sally-Anne Hickman, Richy K Chandler, Josceline Fenton, Phil Spence, Paul Rainey, Howard Hardiman and many more…

27th June, 176 Prince of Wales Road, London, NW5 3PT
More info: londonundergroundcomics.com / www.projectspace176.com

also:

An exhibition of Shaun (The Arrival) Tan’s prints, and 4 original pastels, is on at
The Illustration Cupboard at 22 Bury Street, SW1Y 6AL until 22nd June
More info at www.illustrationcupboard.com

Today’s Screening: Bad Timing

Electric Sheep Film Club: Bad Timing

For the first meeting of the all new Electric Sheep Film Club at the Prince Charles Cinema off Leicester Square, we’re proud to be showing:

Nicolas Roeg’s Bad Timing (1980)

Still from Bad Timing by Nicolas Roeg

Billed as ‘a terrifying love story’, this controversial, unjustly overlooked film by Nicolas Roeg is a dazzling, provocative and ferocious dissection of a couple’s disintegration, starring Theresa Russell and Art Garfunkel. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see this stunning film by the director of Performance and Don’t look Now on the big screen!
…and then chat with other film-goers and Electric Sheep writers about the film in the bar after the screening. (with thanks to Park Circus)

Wednesday 6th May, 8pm, Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Place, WC2
More info at www.princecharlescinema.com and www.electricsheepmagazine.com/events

Sci-Fi London 8

Sci-Fi London 8 logo

It’s nearly the May Bank Holiday, which means it’s also nearly time for this year’s Sci-Fi London – The London International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantasy Film

Now in its 8th year, Sci-Fi London has developed into a more wide-ranging science fiction festival than ever before. Sci-Fi London now includes talks on literature, science and comic books that not only sit alongside the film events in the programme, but provide a dialogue with the screenings: TV and radio writers will discuss sci-fi comedy while comic book artist Kevin O’Neill will talk about his drawings on screen and the film based on them, Hardware (1990), which will be shown afterwards.

Image from Hardware, directed by Richard Stanley

A perennial and popular strand at SFL is the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 all-night screenings, where fans of SF B-movies watch a TV version of those films, with heckling by an onscreen astronaut and two robots. This year’s festival takes that idea into the realm of stand-up comedy, screening one of the films showing in the festival again with a live redub of the soundtrack by improv comedians who include Cariad Lloyd, Gemma Whelan, Sara Pascoe (Free Agents), Humphrey Ker (Penny Dreadfuls) and Paul Foxcroft. Elsewhere there are different kinds of interaction with SF fans. For the first time in its history, SFL 8 will screen a ‘fan-film’, The Hunt for Gollum, which boasts production values similar to any of the authentic Lord of the Rings films and should keep devotees of the saga happy before the official prequel hits the big screen. In addition, SFL features an on-stage reading of a radio play script, The Brightonomicon, by some of the original cast, allowing the audience to see behind the scenes of something they’d normally only hear. The films at this year’s SFL are a mixture of old and new, Western SF and films from further afield:

The City of Lost Children / La cite des enfants perdus directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet

As well as The City of Lost Children (1995), featuring a Q and A with co-director Marc Caro performed by Alex Fitch with translation by Virginie Sélavy, there’s a kids screening of Jim Henson’s Labyrinth (1986), Ever Since the World Ended (2003), and four of the best Star Trek movies from the 1980s, which fans can see for free. World cinema is represented by Turkish comedies G.O.R.A. (2004) and A.R.O.G. (2008), Japanese SF epic Twentieth-Century Boys part 2 and a selection of Israeli short films.

Image from Stingray Sam directed by Cory McAbee

New films and premieres include Bill Plympton’s Idiots and Angels, Stingray Sam (from the director of The American Astronaut, a low-fi American indie favourite of recent years) and new Japanese / American co-produced animé Afro Samurai: Resurrection, featuring the voices of Samuel L. Jackson and Lucy Liu. Perhaps the most obvious example of combining old and new at the festival is Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell 2.0, which is a remix of the original film, replacing all of the backgrounds and some of the characters with new visuals. Whether Oshii’s interference with his own film is on the level of George Lucas’s endless tinkering with Star Wars – making it worse each time – or Ridley Scott’s various re-edits of Blade Runner – all equally as good and as unneeded – remains to be seen.

A longer version of this article first appeared in Electric Sheep Magazine online

Hectic Peelers screening: Not Quite Hollywood

Hectic Peelers screening: Not Quite Hollywood – The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!

Not Quite Hollywood poster

MONDAY 6 APRIL, Roxy Bar and Screen, 7:30pm, FREE: Resonance FM and Electric Sheep Magazine present Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!, a brilliantly entertaining documentary that celebrates Australian genre cinema of the 70s and 80s. Expect a fast-paced, breathless 102-minute ride packed with outrageous stunts, shameless nudity, bloody terror and countless crazy anecdotes!
The film will be introduced by Electric Sheep Magazine editor Virginie Sélavy.
With thanks to Optimum Releasing.
7.30pm, 06/04/09, Roxy Bar and Screen, 128-132 Borough High Street London SE1 1LB

To find out more about other Electric Sheep Screenings, please click here and for the latest issue of the magazine, please click here

Links: Not quite Hollywood page at www.imdb.com
Interview with director Mark Hartley at www.filmdetail.com
Official Australian home page for the documentary

In association with:

Electric Sheep / Wheel Me Out magazines Spring 2009

Electric Sheep Magazine Winter Spring cover

The Fourth Wallflower Press edition of Electric Sheep magazine has just been released and focuses on Tainted Love to celebrate the release of the sweet and bloody pre-teen vampire romance Let the Right One In, with articles on incestuous cinematic siblings, François Ozon’s tales of tortuous relationships, destructive passion in Nic Roeg’s Bad Timing, Julio Medem’s ambiguous lovers and nihilistic tenderness from Kôji Wakamatsu. Also Alex Fitch reviews Timecrimes and looks at the similarities between Wall-E and the Planet of the Apes (!), Tania Glyde discusses her ‘alter-ego’ in The Last Seduction and Virginie Selavy interviews Tomas Alfredson, author of Let the Right one in…

In good bookshops now and available online (with a 15% discount) at www.wallflowerpress.co.uk and features illustrations by Oli Smith, Emma Price and Tom Humberstone and a new comic strip by Mark Stafford.
It’s a measly £3.25 in shops / £12 for 4 issues on subscription.

Click here for more details of the current issue, or here for the previous one…

 

Let the right one in illustration by Tom Humberstone

WALL-E and EVE on the Planet of the Apes illustration by Oli Smith

 

The Red Squirrel illustration by Emma Price

Watchmen article illustration by Mark Stafford

 

ESM continues online as a monthly magazine between print issues including exclusive content such as Alex Fitch’s article on the West London Fantastic Film society and Virginie Selavy’s interview with Kim Ji Woon

Also:

Cover of Wheel Me Out magazine #3

The third issue of the new online magazine Wheel Me Out has just been released and features transcripts of Alex Fitch’s interviews with comic book creators Dave Gibbons and Bryan Talbot plus audio drama scribe Mark Wright. WMO also features Ananda Pellerin’s interviews with Ocean’s Eleven director Steven Soderbergh and DJ Max Tundra…

Hectic Peelers Screening: Cronos

Hectic Peelers screening: Guillermo Del Toro’s Cronos

Still from the film Cronos directed by Guillermo Del Toro

MONDAY 9 MARCH, Roxy Bar and Screen, 7:30pm, FREE: For this month’s Electric Sheep / Resonance FM film screening, we are very proud to present Guillermo del Toro’s first feature Cronos (1993), a sumptuously filmed, atmospheric vampire tale, which, just like Pan’s Labyrinth, has at its heart a little girl faced with horrors of a real and supernatural kind. An imaginative re-invention of the vampire myth and the first collaboration between Del Toro and actor Ron Perlman before Hellboy, it is also a moving love story as well as an oblique take on the USA’s predatory relationship to Mexico.
The film will be introduced by Electric Sheep Magazine editor Virginie Selavy.
With thanks to Optimum Releasing.
7.30pm, 09/03/09, Roxy Bar and Screen, 128-132 Borough High Street London SE1 1LB

To find out more about other Electric Sheep Screenings, please click here and for the magazine, please visit www.electricsheepmagazine.com

In association with:

Strip! at Christmas…

Resonance FM is broadcasting repeats from Monday 22nd December to Sunday January 4th, 2009, so there’ll be no Strip! broadcast Christmas day as I’m sure you’d all rather be watching the Queen’s Speech. However, Strip! will be er… stripped throughout the week after with a daily repeat of the best episodes of the last three months from Monday 29th December – Friday 2nd Jan at 2.30pm daily:

Strip!: Charles Burns’ Fear(s) of the dark
Guest presenter Virginie Sélavy talks to the renowned American comic book artist and writer Charles Burns about Black Holeand the French portmanteau film Fear(s) of the dark…
Originally broadcast September 25th 2008,
repeat: 2.30pm Monday 29th December 2008

Alex Fitch talks to Alan Moore

Strip!: Alan Moore’s ‘From Hell’ and Psycho Geography
Alex Fitch talks to writer and magician Alan Moore about collaborating with artist Eddie Campbell on his masterpiece From Hell and the two comic book adaptations of his performances Snakes and Ladders and The Birth Caul.
Originally broadcast October 23rd 2008,
repeat: 2.30pm Tuesday 30th December 2008

Strip: Eddie Campbell – the life and many deaths of the artist
Alex Fitch talks to artist / writer Eddie Campbell about his books The Fate of the Artist, The Black Diamond Detective Agency and The Amazing, Remarkable Monsieur Leotard.
Originally broadcast October 30th 2008,
repeat: 2.30pm Wednesday 31st December 2008

Alex Fitch talks to Jill Thompson

Strip!: The art of Jill Thompson
Alex Fitch talks to Jill Thompson about her spooky graphic novellas for all ages: Magic Trixie and Scary Godmother and about drawing DC comics such as Sandman and Wonder Woman…
Originally broadcast November 13th 2008,
repeat: 2.30pm Thursday 1st January 2009

Strip!: The work of Art Spiegelman
Guest presenter Grant Rogers talks to Pulitzer prize winning author Art Spiegelman about his seminal work Maus and the 30th anniversary republication of Breakdowns, his sophomoric collection of underground strips…
Originally broadcast November 27th 2008, repeat:
2.30pm Friday 2nd January 2009

The next new episode will follow at the usual time and day on January 8th 2009 and Alex Fitch will be talking to acclaimed children’s illustrator and comic book artist Raymond Briggs about his career…

Electric Sheep Magazine Winter 2008

Electric Sheep Magazine Winter 2008 cover

The third Wallflower Press edition of Electric Sheep magazine (co-presenter(s) of the Hectic Peelers cinema nights with Resonance FM) has just been released and is available from various stockists… Electric Sheep is edited by Virginie Sélavy with assistance by Alex Fitch and has reviews / interviews by various Resonance programme makers including Virginie, Alex and James DC (all contributors to I’m ready for my close-up / Strip!), and features illustrations by Strip! guests Tom Humberstone, Dan Lester, Mark Stafford (left to right below), and future Strip! guest Lee O’Connor.

It’s a measly £3.25 in shops / £12 for 4 issues on subscription.

Click here for more details of the current issue, or here for the previous one…

 

 

ES also continues online as a monthly magazine between print issues including exclusive interviews like Alex Fitch talking to acclaimed Britsh directors Peter Greenaway and Michael Winterbottom and reviews such as Oli Smith looking at The Mindscape of Alan Moore…

Sunday Shock Therapy: Swedish Horror and alternative Christmas Fayre

This Sunday at “Vibe Live” above the Vibe Bar at 91 Brick Lane, London E1 6QL, Electric Sheep Magazine is proud to present the return of our FREE quarterly screening event to help promote the new print issue of the magazine. In keeping with the print issue’s theme of snow, we have a couple of Swedish horror movies “Frostbite(n)” (2006) and “Terror in the Midnight Sun / Rymdinvasion i Lappland” (1959) starting at 2pm and an alternative Christmas Fayre featuring products from Cinéphilia, London Underground Comics (featuring the work of Oli Smith, Dan Lester and Sean Azzopardi + comics by Tom Humberstone and Mark Stafford), Where It’s At Is Where You Arerecords, Sophistikitten retro lingerie, and cakes!
What else are you going to do on a cold Sunday afternoon in East London?
The first 20 people in get a free copy of the new issue of Electric Sheep! You will also have the possibility of winning a year’s subscription to the magazine!

Sunday Shock therapy flyer

Electric Sheep podcast: Cutting Edge Animation

Electric Sheep podcast: Cutting Edge Animation
(Charles Burns interview previously broadcast 25/09/08 on Resonance 104.4 FM as an episode of “Strip!”)

Following on from last month’s look at Osamu Tezuka’s classic animé, the Electric Sheep Podcast is exploring more experimental animation from 1970s surrealism to the very latest French comic strip inspired cartoons.
Tom (How to date a girl in ten days) Humberstone and Alex Fitch chat about the early films of David Lynch which mixed animation and live action to beguiling effect and how Lynch may have been influenced by his peers such as Terry Gilliam and Jan Švankmajer. Also: Virginie Sélavy talks to Charles Burns about his contribution to the French portmanteau film Fear(s) of the dark and about his acclaimed graphic novel “Black Hole”…

For more info, please visit the home of this podcast at www.archive.org

Links: Wikipedia pages on David Lynch, Charles Burns and Fear(s) of the dark
Tom’s website

In association with:

Today’s show: Charles Burns’ Fear(s) of the dark

Strip!: Charles Burns’ Fear(s) of the dark
5pm 25/09/08 Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com

Guest presenter Virginie Sélavy talks to the renowned American comic book artist and writer Charles Burns, who’s famous for such titles as El Borbah – masked Wrestler and detective – and Black Hole, a Cronenbergian tale of teenage body horror that’s currently being adapted into a movie. Virginie interviewed Charles when he was in London promoting the French portmanteau film Fear(s) of the dark / Peur(s) du noir which is being released in cinemas on October 3rd and features a prominent segment written by Burns and animated in the style of his comics…

Repeated at 11.30pm Sunday 28/09/08 on Resonance 104.4 FM

Links: to follow…

3rd October at The Apollo West End Cinema, 19 Regent Street, London

Sci-Fi London presents Oktoberfest, a one day / all night genre film festival presenting the latest and best Sci-Fi, Horror and Fantasy entertainment including zombie, anime and Mystery Science theatre 3000 'all nighters' and UK premieres of new movies including Terra, Zombies Zombies Zombies (!), Strait Jacket and the pilot episode of J.J. Abrams' Fringe…More info at www.sci-fi-london.com/festival/2008/oktoberfest

Sci-Fi London Oktoberfest logo

Plus: The Jonthan Cape / Observer graphic fiction competition is back on, with the deadline being 17/10/09 to design a short story in comic book form to fit two pages of The Observer…Jonathan Cape / The Observer graphic short story competition…

Jonathan Cape / The Observer graphic short story competition

Also: At Harrods, Knightsbridge, Rich Johnston has curated an exhibtion of original comic book art by industry luminaries such as Sean Phillips and Raymond Briggs, open from now until the end of October…
More info at www.comicbitsonline.com and at Sean’s blog

Electric Sheep Magazine Autumn 2008

The second Wallflower Press edition of Electric Sheep magazine (co-presenter(s) of the Hectic Peelers cinema nights with Resonance FM) has just been released and is available from various stockists… Electric Sheep is edited by Virginie Sélavy with assistance by Alex Fitch and has reviews / interviews by various Resonance programme makers including Virginie, Philip Winter, James DC (all contributors to I’m ready for my close-up) + Paul Gravett and Alex Fitch (Strip!), and features illustrations by Tom Humberstone, Oli Smith and Sean Azzopardi plus a comic strip by Mark Stafford (IRFMCU)

It’s a measly £3.25 in shops / £12 for 4 issues on subscription.

Click here for more details of the current issue, or here for the previous one…

ES also continues online as a monthly magazine between print issues including exclusive interviews such as Alex Fitch talking to acclaimed Canadian director Guy Maddin…

I’m ready for my close-up: Cine-Excess 2008

I’m ready for my close-up: Cine-Excess 2008
Originally broadcast 18/04/08 on Resonance 104.4 FM

An episode of “I’m ready for my close-up”, Virginie Selavy talks to Xavier Mendik about Cine-Excess II.
Launched last year as part of Sci-Fi London, the Cine-Excess festival was so successful that it returns this year as an independent festival hosted by the ICA (London) from May 1-3. Over three days, this cult extravaganza offers academic papers alongside film screenings and talks by leading genre filmmakers and critics. The guest of honour this year is Roger Corman, who will be presented with a lifetime achievement award. We talked to Xavier Mendik, director of the Cult Film Archive at Brunel University, author of a number of books on cult cinema and organiser of Cine-Excess.
Read a transcript of this interview at www.electricsheepmagazine.com
(mp3 format, 27min 40sec / 39.8mb)

For more info and a selection of different file formats you can download or stream, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.com

Links: Info about Cine-Excess II and the Cult Film archive at Brunel University

Electric Sheep podcast: Modern silent movies

Electric Sheep podcast: Modern silent movies

A new series of Electric Sheep Magazine podcasts begins with a chat between Alex Fitch and Virginie Selavy about the phenomenon of modern silent movies (or rather films without dialogue), inspired by the release of the new Argentine fantasy movie ‘La Antena’. Other films discussed include early surrealist films, the work of Guy Maddin and the last film written by Ed Wood – ‘I woke up early the day I died’. The episode was recorded at Resonance FM by Robin Warren.
You can stream the show by clicking here and pressing the play button or right click here to save the mp3 file direct to your computer… (mp3 format, 27mins / 25.8mb)
Links: Electric Sheep Magazine
Screening times of La Antena at the ICA
Robin’s band: Liberation Jumpsuit

In association with:

I’m ready for my close-up: Sci-Fi London 2008

I’m ready for my close-up: Sci-Fi London 2008
Originally broadcast 25/04/08 on Resonance 104.4 FM

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Alex Fitch talks to Virginie Sélavy about this year’s Sci-Fi Festival, held over the May Bank Holiday in London. This year’s festival sees premieres of award-winning Argentinian film La Antena, Marc Caro’s directorial debut Dante 01 and a variety of other intriguing cult films

Today’s show: Modern Silent Movies

Today at 5pm on Resonance 104.4 FM, I’m ready for my close-up: Modern Silent Movies

Hear Alex Fitch talk to Virginie Sélavy about the phenomenon of modern silent movies, or rather (with the exception of Cowards bend the knee) modern films without dialogue. The show is inspired by the release of the award-winning Argentinian film La Antena next week and covers the films of Guy Maddin, the early surrealists, Disney and others…

Links: Sci-Fi London page on La Antena
Alex’s review of La Antena at Electric Sheep Magazine
Wikipedia pages on Guy Maddin and Surrealist Cinema
Alex’s previous shows on silent movies

Today’s show: Sci-Fi London 2008

Today at 5pm on Resonance 104.4 FM, I’m ready for my close-up: Sci-Fi London 2008

Hear Alex Fitch talk to Virginie Sélavy about this year’s Sci-Fi Festival over the May Bank Holiday in London. This year’s festival sees premieres of award-winning Argentinian film La Antena, Marc Caro’s directorial debut Dante 01 and a variety of other intriguing cult films.

Links: This year’s festival programme
Wikipedia page on Sci-Fi London
Listen to the interview that Alex conducted with Louis about last year’s festival

Panel Borders: Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis

Panel Borders: Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis
Broadcast 24/04/08 as part of Strip! on Resonance 104.4 FM

Guest presenter Virginie Selavy’s interview with cartoonist and film maker Marjane Satrapi whose film and graphic novel Persepolis breaks new ground in terms of depictions of the Middle East, comic book adaptations and autobiography.
Edited by Alex Fitch

Today’s show: Breaking conventions

Today’s show is all about breaking conventions. Not just because I like a good pun but also because half of today’s interviews were recorded at conventions over the easter weekend last month, while Virginie Selavy’s interview later in the show is with cartoonist and film maker Marjane Satrapi whose film and graphic novel Persepolis breaks with convention in terms of depictions of the middle east, comic book adaptations and autobiography.
Over the Easter weekend there were two very different conventions going on in London, both of which mixed industry, professionals and fans. Alex attended Orbital, the sci-fi literary convention held at a hotel near heathrow and interviewed a variety of fans and sci-fi professionals about their interests and trade.
You can hear all 8 of the interviews from Orbital at www.sci-fi-london.com but as two of the writers featured are also comic creators you can hear Alex Fitch’s interviews with Neil Gaiman and last week’s guest, Bryan Talbot on today’s show.
Before that, in order to record the show in two places at once, small press creator, Oliver Lambden, who draws the popular indie comic Tales from the flat, interviews a variety of creators and one girlfriend at the post pub get-together after the UK Web & Mini Comix Thing, a comic book convention for self published and internet comic creators which was held in Mile End. At the same time as that, a rival mini comix protest was held in Camden, so Oliver talked to attendees of both, about what they got from either attending the East End convention or boycotting the event and heading west.

Thursday 24/04/08 5pm, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com

Links – Selavy / Satrapi:
Random House page on the Persepolis graphic novels
Review round up”
Wikipedia page on Marjane Satrapi
Print version of Virginie’s interview at Electric Sheep Magazine

Lambden / UK Web & Mini Comix Thing
Info on comics by… Oliver Lambden & Laurence Powell, Jake Harold, David Baillie, Mike Rouse-Deane, Dan Lester, Sean Azzopardi, Oli Smith, Adam Cadwell and Marc Ellerby
Small Press Info blog – bugpowder.com
London Underground Comics – distributor of small press titles @ Camden Market on Saturdays

Fitch / Orbital
Orbital Eastercon website
Bryan Talbot’s ‘official fanpage’
Neil Gaiman and Paul Cornell’s blogs
Listen to the complete Eastercon coverage at Sci-Fi London

Podcast: Art House cinema podcast, Winter ‘07 / ‘08

Yup, it’s Electric Sheep Magazine & Resonance FM’s latest Art House cinema podcast featuring reviews of films released last autumn at ‘Art House’ cinemas in London… This show is presented by Alex Fitch with contributions from Virginie Sélavy (editor of Electric Sheep Magazine) , comedienne Jessica Fostekew and beloved Resonance FM engineer (and electronic musician) Robin Warren… Featuring reviews of Jesus Camp, KM31 / Kilometro treinta y uno, Southland Tales, The Saragossa Manuscript, The Kite Runner, Paranoid Park, 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days, Dan in real life, No country for old men, Our daily bread / Unser taglich brot and Sweeney Todd: The demon barber of Fleet Street. In this episode there’s also an exclusive interviews with Rigoberto Castaneda about his film KM31 and there’s an extract from Jessica Fostekew’s performance of the monologue Looking for Sweeney Todd. This is a hour long special edition.

You can stream the show by clicking here and pressing the play button or right click here to save the mp3 file direct to your computer…

Links: You can read print versions of the reviews in Electric Sheep Magazine
Londonnet’s guide to all the times and locations of all films currently showing in the Capital’s cinemas
Listen to Jess’ complete Sweeney Todd monologue
Robin’s band: Liberation Jumpsuit
(mp3 format, 61mins / 58.9mb)

Podcast: Art House cinema podcast, Autumn ‘07

Finally, it’s Electric Sheep Magazine & Resonance FM’s latest Art House cinema podcast featuring reviews of films released last autumn at ‘Art House’ cinemas in London… This show is presented by Alex Fitch with contributions from Virginie Sélavy (editor of Electric Sheep Magazine) , comedienne Jessica Fostekew and Sean Price… Featuring reviews of Daywatch, Control, The Counterfeiters, Princess, Blame it on Fidel, 30 Days of night, Never Apologise, Planet Terror and Weirdsville. In this episode there’s also exclusive interviews with Anders Morgenthaler (Princess), Malcolm McDowell & Mike Kaplan (Never Apologise – a personal visit with Lindsay Anderson). This is a hour long special edition.

You can stream the show by clicking here and pressing the play button or right click here to save the mp3 file direct to your computer…

Links: You can read print versions of the reviews in Electric Sheep Magazine
Londonnet’s guide to all the times and locations of all films currently showing in the Capital’s cinemas
Watch Alex’s complete interview with Malcolm McDowell & Mike Kaplan
Further screenings of Never Apologize throughout the U.K.
(mp3 format, 58mins / 55.3mb)

Panel Borders: Nevermore

Panel Borders: Nevermore
Originally broadcast 10/01/08 as part of Strip! on Resonance 104.4 FM

Guest presenter Virginie Sélavy talks to Jamie Delano & Matt Brooker (a.k.a. D’Israeli) about their contributions to the Edgar Allan Poe collection Nevermore: adaptations of The Murders on the Rue Morgue and The Pit and the Pendulum
Visit the home of this episode at archive.org

Links: Info about Nevermore
Wikipedia pages on Matt Brooker (D’Israeli) and Jamie Delano

Today’s show: Literature and comics

Today at 5pm on Resonance 104.4FM – Strip!: Literature and comics

In the first Strip! of the new year, Duncan Nott presents a quartet of interviews on classic literature and comics: Alex Fitch talks to David Brawn from Harper Collins about their Agatha Christie graphic novels, Duncan talks to Karen Wenborn from Classical Comics about their Shakespeare adaptations and guest presenter Virginie Selavy talks to Jamie Delano & Matt Brooker (D’israeli) about their contributions to the Poe collection Nevermore…

104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast at www.panelborders.com

Links: Info about Nevermore
More info about Harper Collins‘ comics
Classical Comics’ website

Tonight’s show: Gypsy Caravan and the Raindance Festival

Also, tonight at 10.30pm, I’m ready for my close-up is back on air, starting with a compliation of two interviews recorded for podcast. Alex Fitch talks to Gypsy Caravan director Jasmine Dellal and I for India director Sandhya Suri plus Virginie Sélavy interviews Suzanne Ballantyne, lead programmer of the Raindance Festival.

If you’d like to hear those interviews in their original context you can do so now and you can find links on each of the two pages:
Suzanne Ballantyne (Art-house cinema podcast) /
Jasmine Dellal and Sandhya Suri (IRFMCU 13/09/07)

Podcast: Art House cinema podcast, September ‘07 – Raindance special

It’s Resonance FM’s latest Art House cinema podcast featuring reviews of films released this month at ‘Art House’ cinemas in London and also showing at the Raindance Film Festival… This show is presented by Alex Fitch with contributions from Virginie Sélavy (editor of Electric Sheep Magazine) and Michael Hall (video shop manager and lead singer of the band Nebraska… In this episode there’s also an exclusive interview with Suzanne Ballantyne, lead programmer of the Raindance Festival.
You can stream the show by clicking here and pressing the play button or right click here to save the mp3 file direct to your computer…

Films reviewed include Disturbia, Syndromes and a century, Drawing Restraint 9, The Amazing Lives of the fast-food grifters, Exhibit A and The Boss of it all.

Links: You can read print versions of Virginie’s reviews in Electric Sheep Magazine
Londonnet’s guide to all the times and locations of all films currently showing in the Capital’s cinemas
Alex’s interview with Allan Moyle, director of festival opener Weirdsville

(mp3 format, 28mins / 26.9mb)

Podcast: Looking back at "Sweetback"

Tonight’s show is now available to download… (mp3 format, 28.5mb)

Continuing I’m ready for my close-up’s exclusive run of online podcasts*…

In a show recorded live at the inaugural Resonance FM / Electric Sheep Magazine monthly film club at the Roxy Bar and Screen in London’s Borough High Street, Virginie Sélavy introduces a talk and Q & A conducted by Joel Karamath.
Joel, host of the ICA’s Uncut film night, looks at the career of Melvin van Peebles and his seminal film Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song.
As the talk was performed in a surround sound theatre with Joel & Virginie standing close to both the speakers and the recording device, there is unfortunately a pronounced echo in the playback, however sit back and imagine Joel is performing his speech with a megaphone at a political rally in the 1970s and suddenly it might feel a lot more authentic! Tonight’s show was recorded and edited by Alex Fitch.

*While Resonance FM moves studios across London… The podcast only shows will then be broadcast on FM later in the Autumn

For more info and a selection of different file formats you can download or stream, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.com

Links: Electric Sheep Magazine
Virginie’s review of the film
The Roxy Bar and Screen’s website and page on yesterday’s event
Wikipedia’s page on the movie
Joel’s notes on other black movies @ bfi.org.uk
Info on Joel’s film night at the ICA

Podcast: Art House cinema podcast, August ‘07

Looking for something to do on a rainy August bank holiday? Why not listen to Resonance FM’s latest Art House cinema podcast featuring reviews of films released this month at ‘Art House’ cinemas in London for advice… This show is presented by Alex Fitch with contributions from Virginie Sélavy (editor of Electric Sheep Magazine) and Kim Morgan (former presenter of the Resonance FM show Midnight Sex Talk, whose birthday it is today)… In this episode there’s also an exclusive interview with Sandhya Suri, director of I for India.

You can stream the show by clicking here and pressing the play button or right click here to save the mp3 file direct to your computer…

Films reviewed include I for India, Transylvania, 12:08 East of Bucharest, Born and Bred and Hallam Foe.

Links: You can read print versions of Virginie’s reviews in Electric Sheep Magazine where you’ll also find a transcript of Alex’s interview with Sandhya.
More info about what’s on at the ICA and the Renoir
Londonnet’s guide to all the times and locations of all films currently showing in the Capital’s cinemas

(mp3 format, 36mins / 34.1mb)

Podcast: Art House cinema podcast, July ‘07

Yes, we know it’s really late again, but you can now hear Resonance FM’s latest Art House cinema podcast featuring reviews of films released this month at ‘Art House’ cinemas in London and is presented by Alex Fitch, Virginie Sélavy (editor of Electric Sheep Magazine) and Jessica Fostekew (a member of the comedy improv group The Institute, who is in a variety of shows at the Edinburgh festival)…

You can stream the show by clicking here and pressing the play button or right click here to save the mp3 file direct to your computer…

Films reviewed include Edmond, Taxidermia, Buy it now and Running Stumbled.

Links: You can read print versions of Jess and Alex’s reviews at www.backprojection.com and Virginie’s in Electric Sheep Magazine
More info about what’s on at the ICA

(mp3 format, 30mins / 29.3mb)

Podcast: Alejandro Jodorowski and the art of the sublime

Last night’s show is now available to download… (mp3 format, 27.1mb)

For more info and a selection of different file formats you can download or stream, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.com