Part I of August’s Graphic Novel Reads was a bit slim, but hopefully Part II will make up for it. I hope you find something of interest. If you do, please let me know.
Month: August 2015
It Follows (2014) David Robert Mitchell
It Follows (2014)
Dimension Films
Directed by David Robert Mitchell
Produced by Joshua Astrachan, Mia Chang, others
Written by David Robert Mitchell
Cinematography by Mike Gioulakis
Edited by Julio Perez IV
Music by Rich Vreeland (Disasterpeace)
Anchor Bay DVD (library)
(color, 1:40)
(Mild spoilers early; major spoilers later)
The problem with so, so many horror films lies in the fact that most of them are completely mindless explorations of one or more people frantically running for their lives from some type of bogeyman/creature/zombie/vampire/you fill-in-the-blank. An original, well-developed concept is extremely rare and when one finally appears, you hope against hope that something great is going to happen. With It Follows, something great does happen… up to a point. Yet whether that point is small mound of salt or a mountain is up to you.
Film Noir Releases in September
August has been a great month for film noir releases, so much so that anything afterward seems bound to disappoint. September, however, contains a few surprises…
The Small Press Expo is Getting Closer…
If you’re into comics and have never attended the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland, you’re really missing out. I attended last year for the first time and have been thinking about SPX 2016 ever since. If you have even the slightest interest in independent comics, you should come for at least a day. (Hey, it’s only $15 for Saturday, Sept. 19, $10 for Sunday Sept. 20, and $20 for both days.)
Some of the guests who’ll be there include:
Playing Favorites #6: “Dallas” – The Flatlanders (1972/1992)
(originally posted June 26, 2007)
“Dallas” by The Flatlanders (1972/1992)
Written by Jimmie Dale Gilmore
5 Against the House (1955) Phil Karlson
5 Against the House (1955)
Columbia Pictures
Directed by Phil Karlson
Produced by Helen Ainsworth, John Barnwell, Stirling Silliphant
Written by Stirling Silliphant, William Bowers, John Barnwell
Based on a story by Jack Finney
Cinematography by Lester White
Edited by Jerome Thoms
Music by George Duning
Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics I DVD
(black-and-white, 1:24)
The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) Val Guest
The Quatermass Xperiment [US title: The Creeping Unknown] (1958)
Hammer Film Productions
Directed by Val Guest
Produced by Anthony Hinds and Robert L. Lippert
Written by Richard Landau and Val Guest
Based on the BBC television play by Nigel Kneale
Cinematography by Walter J. Harvey
Makeup by Philip Leakey
Edited by James Needs
Music by James Bernard
Kino Lorber Blu-ray
(black-and-white, 1:22)
Tim Ginger (2015) Julian Hanshaw
Tim Ginger (2015) Julian Hanshaw (Top Shelf Publications)
Trade paperback, 150 pages
ISBN 9781603093507
Retail $19.99
From the moment I saw it solicited in Previews months ago, I knew I wanted to read Tim Ginger. I wasn’t familiar with the title or the creator Julian Hanshaw, but something about the cover connected with me. Maybe it was the guy with the eye patch, floating over the desert landscape. Maybe it was the rotary telephone resting on a tall table, its shadow casting on a blue trailer home that looked like it had been parked there since the Great War. Whatever it was that made me pick it up, it was one of my best reading decisions of the year.
Movies Watched in August 2015 Part I
Continuing with more Sherlock Holmes, movies from and about the 80s, and more.
Growing Up with Movies: Episode 2: The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
The last time I wrote a “Growing Up with Movies” post, I spoke about three movies that have had a lasting impression on me, three very different films by three different directors. (Yet, oddly enough, two of them were released in 1972.) Last time, I discussed Bonnie and Clyde. In this post, I’ll discuss a movie that I saw at the previously mentioned Town Theater in Forest, MS. What makes this movie unique is the fact that I saw it on five consecutive nights (and once during the day) as a 10-year-old.
How in the world could this happen?
Journeys in Darkness and Light 
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