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  • Film4 FrightFest Announces Opening & Closing Nighters

    Film4 FrightFest Announces Opening & Closing Nighters

    Film4 FrightFest The 13th announces opening and closing night films.

    Paul Hyett’s claustrophobic, psychological horror, THE SEASONING HOUSE is set to open this year’s Film4 FrightFest. Starring Sean Pertwee, Kevin Howarth and Rosie Day, this hard-hitting exploration of war-time sexploitation, set in a Balkan brothel, marks special-effects guru Hyett’s directorial debut.

    Hyett and the cast will be attending the premiere on Thurs August 23.

    Film4 FrightFest will close with the world premiere of Lionsgate’s TOWER BLOCK. Directed by James Nunn and Ronnie Thompson, this is a stunning suspense shocker. Trapped on the top floor of their run down East End home, a disparate group of neighbours are being targeted by a mystery sniper. This taut gripper stars Sheridan Smith, Jack O’Connell and Russell Tovey

    The directors and the cast will attend this fabulous finale to FrightFest the 13th

    Film4 FrightFest Co-director Alan Jones said today: “Once more Film4 FrightFest is delighted to be showcasing the key British talent of the future with our opening choice of THE SEASONING HOUSE, and our closing film, TOWER BLOCK. Both films are works of quality, sensitivity and bloody-minded bravado and the directors deserve to follow in the footsteps of such other talents we have promoted early in their careers, Christopher Nolan, Neil Marshall, Chris Smith and James Watkins”.

    Film4 FrightFest is pleased to announce the line-up will also include the UK premiere of [REC]³ Génesis, in which the [REC] myth gets brilliantly expanded by director Paco Plaza in this gruesomely hilarious second sequel in the groundbreaking Spanish zombie franchise. Both Paco and his leading lady Leticia Dolera will be attending the screening.

    Film4 FrightFest, the UK’s biggest genre film festival, runs from Thursday 23 August to Monday 27 August at the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square. The full line up will be announced on 29th June. Festival & day passes go on sale from 30 June. Tickets for Individual films are on sale from 28th July.

    Bookings: 08 714 714 714 or www.empirecinemas.co.uk

  • Hong Kong 15 Film Festival

    Hong Kong 15 Film Festival

    1st July marks fifteen years since Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty. To commemorate this special occasion, the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office, London, in association with Terracotta Festival, has put together an exciting film festival to showcase the best of current Hong Kong films as well as to look back on the last fifteen years and beyond.

    The ‘Hong Kong 15 Film Festival’ will take place at the Odeon Covent Garden, London, commencing 2nd July 2012 for a fortnight until 14th July. With guests in attendance and fifteen films carefully selected, the festival will pay tribute to the extraordinary story of this vibrant and energetic island city through the eyes of its film-makers.

    The diversity of Hong Kong cinema will be represented through a panorama of films divided in three sections: ‘Currents’, ’15 Years Review’ and ‘Shaw Brothers Classics’.

    The Festival will open with multi-award-winning drama, A Simple Life by acclaimed director Ann Hui, starring Hong Kong star Andy Lau and a comeback performance from the highly decorated Deanie Ip who won the Best Actress at the 68th Venice International Film Festival. The event will be attended by Roger Lee, the producer and writer whose life story the film is based on.
    Other highlights of the ‘Currents’ section include Life Without Principle by prolific filmmaker Johnnie To and The Bounty by Fung Chi Chiang.

    Made in Hong Kong, directed by Fruit Chan, is a groundbreaking film which found great local and international acclaim for its release 15 years ago. It remains an uncommon Hong Kong example of a true independent film and will open the ‘15 Year Review’section to lead the way for other highly influential contemporary Hong Kong directors such as Pang Ho Cheung, Andrew Lau and Alan Mak.

    ‘Hong Kong 15 Film Festival’ wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for the legendary Shaw Brothers Studios and, as an homage to the most significant film production company in the history of Hong Kong Cinema, festival goers will be able to indulge in two martial arts masterpieces on the big screen: 1967 blockbuster One Armed Swordsman and one of the greatest Kung Fu film, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978).

    Other cultural tributes for the occasion will take place such as the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival on Sunday 1st July in London and the screening of Big Blue Lake at the Cornerhouse in Manchester on Friday 6th July.

    Visit the festival website for regular Festival updates and ticket information:
    http://hk15filmfestival.com/

  • The Night Porter Comes To Blu-ray

    The Night Porter Comes To Blu-ray

    Coming soon is the release of one of the most controversial movies ever made, the scintillatingly sexy shocker The Night Porter– coming out on DVD and now also onto Blu-ray for the first time in the UK on 30th July.

    Despite having long divided critical and public opinion due to its shocking subject matter and imagery (respected critic Roger Ebert famously described it as “as nasty as it is lubricious, a despicable attempt to titillate us by exploiting memories of persecution and suffering. It is – I know how obscene this sounds – Nazi chic.”) The Night Porter is a courageous and uncompromising piece of filmmaking that has come to be regarded as a classic of European cinema. Comparable to Visconti’s ‘The Damned’, Bertolucci’s ‘The Conformist’ and Tinto Brass’ ‘Salon Kitty’, this is a powerful cinematic experience that once seen is impossible for forget.

    Controversy aside, The Night Porter is a true masterpiece, or as Twitch Film call it, “A superb piece of work anchored by two phenomenal performances from the leads… a film that deserves virtually every bit of acclaim it’s received.”

  • Martin Eden – Interview

    Martin Eden – Interview

    As the third post in our series of LGBT comic book characters and following our review of Martin Eden’s new all gay graphic novel volume Spandex Fast and Hard, HERE, Martin agreed to answer a few questions on his love of comic books, his inspiration for penning the series, and his thoughts on LGBT presentation on the pages of our favourite graphic novels.

    DP: The obligatory opening question – would you mind introducing yourself?

    ME: I’m Martin, I live in London. I wrote and drew an indie comic called The O Men for about 10 years, and now I’m working on Spandex, which has been picked up by Titan Books!

    DP: From the various references littered throughout Spandex it’s safe to assume you’re a fairly big comic book fan, have they always played quite an important part in your life?

    ME: Yes, absolutely! Like most British kids, I started off reading humorous comics like the Beano, and then I discovered superhero comics. Spider-man was my first comic, then I discovered the X-Men, then I went over to Vertigo comics, then indies… My tastes have changed a lot over the years, but I’ll never give up reading comics. I don’t read many superhero comics at the moment, I mostly read manga and indie stuff.

    DP: I prefer Marvel but tend to think DC’s Batman is the more interesting character, what’s your preference, Marvel or DC?

    ME: Marvel, definitely. I just love the way the characters are more human, whereas DC are more god-like and less identifiable. Also, I hated the DC names, like Elongated Man and Matter Eater Lad. I couldn’t take them seriously. I also found all the Earth 2 and JSA stuff really complicated (why are all those JSA guys still around?) – but I did read some DC stuff.

    DP: What inspired, or instigated your work in creating Spandex?

    ME: The idea just evolved naturally, and I thought it was a unique, original idea. I thought it would be fun to have a universe of mainly gay characters. It’s be something new for heterosexual readers if they were getting bored of the endless Marvel/DC ‘events’, and it would contain cheeky references for LGTB readers to enjoy.

    DP: Is there an element of yourself in your work, or is it all the product of a fantastic imagination?

    ME: There is a lot of me in the comic, mostly sub-consciously done, and mostly hidden and disguised. I find the thought of doing an auto-biographical comic a bit cringe-worthy, so I don’t do anything like that directly. So, I’d say that each member of the team is an aspect of my personality, and sometimes I indirectly address my own situations or issues in the comic, or something that I want to get off my chest.

    DP: In regards to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgener representation in comics, obviously it has evolved with the times, do you think it’s fair to say that between Marvel, DC, Archie, and a slew of independent comics that there’s a fair and accurate portrayal of LGBT culture?

    ME: It’s a difficult question. My first reaction when I think of a lot of current gay superheroes is that I’m a bit underwhelmed by them, because a lot of them don’t seem to do much. But then again, what can you do with them? How can you explore elements of sexuality in a comic that can be read by a kid? Is it the job of a comic to address and explore (any) sexuality, or is it the job of a comic to show the Fantastic Four fighting Doctor Doom? I don’t have the answers, but it’s nice to get a generally naturalistic representation of gay characters, and it’s a good first step.

    DP: As one of the first mainstream directly gay story lines, what was your reaction to Northstar’s coming out, and the HIV surrogate daughter story line, 20 years ago in Alpha Flight #106, and then the subsequent marginalisation of his sexuality for a while afterwards?

    ME: It was pretty bad, wasn’t it. There was all this fuss, and then Alpha 106 was pretty rubbish! And then Marvel barely dealt with Northstar’s sexuality for a long time. I guess it took them a long while to get their head around it – how do they deal with this storyline in a comic that is available for kids? It’s quite a mature subject matter. So for years, they didn’t really address it, but now Northstar is a much more well-rounded character, and it’s handled pretty well.

    DP: With the recent explosion of comic book movie conversions do you think we might get to see a gay superhero in mainstream cinema anytime soon?

    ME: I’m not sure. If you look at the Avengers movie, none of them are gay (or was Agent Coulson gay?), but that’s how they’ve always been written. There aren’t really any gay characters big enough for their own movie yet, and they shouldn’t just change a character’s sexuality to suit it. Maybe there should be a Spandex movie…

    DP: Who are your biggest influences, in terms of either artwork of narrative?

    ME: I learned a lot from John Byrne’s 80s Marvel comics, particularly Alpha Flight and Fantastic Four. The building-up of subplots and the way he wasn’t frightened to turn a character’s life upside-down. I admired Grant Morrison’s innovative characters and he has a really strong ear for realistic dialogue. And I’m in awe of Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, their artwork, and the way they build personalities and stories.

    DP: Do you have a favourite Superhero, or perhaps series?

    ME: I have lots… It’s a tough call. For series, I’d go for Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol. It was so unpredictable. For superhero… I’ll go for Crazy Jane from that comic. Such a brilliant invention – I really wish they’d bring her back.

    DP: Who do you think is the ultimate comic book villain?

    ME: Personally, I always had a soft spot for Titania, the poor luv. I always root for her whenever she turns up. But you know what, for me, I always go for really simple but exciting and fun and unique villains, like Gilded Lily and Pink Pearl in Alpha Flight. I miss seeing over-the-top people like that.

    DP: Are there any other comic books with a strong LGBT theme that you would recommend to our readers?

    ME: I think Love and Rockets. If you aren’t reading that, you’re missing out.

    DP: Finally, can you give us any insight into the future of Spandex and your work, what can we expect?

    ME: After the first book, there’s the four-part ‘O.M.F.G.’ storyline, which will hopefully be collected in Book Two. The ‘Les Girlz’ team attack Spandex and many secrets are revealed – including perhaps one of the most shocking twists in comics. After that, there is one more Spandex issue (‘Spandex Special’) and that’s it for Spandex. I really wanted to keep it as a short series.

    I’m working on collecting my old O Men series across five books. The final book will be all-original material, as I took a hiatus near the end of the series to do Spandex!

    Apart from that, I have loads of other ideas, so I’ll definitely do something after The O Men and Spandex. I’m just interested in growing and improving as a comic creator.

    –

    A big thank you to Martin for agreeing to answer our questions, Spandex Fast and Hard is available now through Titan Books and watch this space for future editions.

  • Spandex Fast and Hard – Book Review

    Spandex Fast and Hard – Book Review

    Martin Eden’s Spandex, a comic featuring an all gay team of superheroes, has just received its first volume graphic novelisation thanks to Titan books. Spandex Fast and Hard follows the stories of Prowler, Liberty, Glitter, Indigo, Butch, Mr Muscles and Diva as they battle crime, 50 ft lesbians, pink ninjas and a host of perilous dangers. While Marvel, DC and other large comic book power houses might have homosexual characters they are often perceived as being somewhat reserved, something that the characters from Spandex cannot be accused of. Here lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered characters make up the whole bill and the full range of fluid sexuality is on tap.

    The new hardback edition compiles the first three issues of the series, each with its own unique story. Issue one is an introduction of sorts, a short relatively simple story depicting the gang of superheroes tackling a 50ft lesbian – it is as gloriously ridiculous as it sounds! The second issue focuses on the fallout from the dramatic end of issue one and features a gang of Japanese pink ninjas, this is also the issue where a more complicated back story starts to creep in, some elements are hinted at that will hopefully become the feature of future comics. Issue three takes a more divergent approach to the previous two and attempts to tell a much larger story, and for that it is the most successful.  Although perhaps it could have been split between a couple of issues in order to explore the narrative nuances in more depth. Issue three’s presents the world having been enslaved by an androgynous and ambiguous creature, called Nadir, who turns the population into grey drones of despair with members of the Spandex team fighting to save themselves and humanity, the larger implication being that differences and uniqueness should be celebrated and not subverted for conformity.

    Spandex makes no attempt to hide the comic book history that it borrows heavily from, gladly wearing its references on it’s sleeves it is a celebration of comic book culture whilst also trying to add a new dimension; an overtly queer dimension. As is often the case independent comic books are able to focus more successfully on the wide range of LGBT culture making that the forerunning theme, rather than being a comic that just happens to have homosexual characters in it (though both cases have merit). Spandex is very much the former and while it is never explicit it focuses on a more adult storyline than the tepid, no contact relationships seen in mainstream comics.

    It’s the characters of Spandex that make it worth the read, heavily influenced by an amalgam of comic book references and queer culture they are at once an explosion of kitsch and camp and yet they also go beyond the stereotypes that they fill to the deeper characters that exist beneath. There are some references that appear all the way through, particularly to the Les Girlz, that feel like they are building to a bigger story arc, indeed there’s a sense that the next volume will be even more explosive than this one.

    Spandex is fun, breezy, simply drawn comic book. It might not be for everyone, but its certainly fun regardless of your sexuality. It could be criticised for moving too fast in some areas and not expanding upon certain scenes and ideas but it’s a fledgling series and it’s tenacity and excitement is both fun and intoxicating. There is a notable progression in the form of the storytelling that’s obvious just between these three issues that can only bode well for future editions. Visually it is a no muss no fuss kind of comic and the simpleness of the drawing style (that might draw criticism from purists) works in its favour. Spandex is a bold, bright and occasionally unashamedly tacky, and who can ask for more?

    Spandex Fast and Hard is available now from Titan Books.