Author Archives: alexfitch

About alexfitch

Co-presenter / producer of "Panel Borders", Thursdays 5pm Resonance 104.4 FM. Film reviewer for www.electricsheepmagazine.com Podcaster for www.sci-fi-london.com

Electric Sheep Magazine podcast: James Bond – Kill Command

Electric Sheep Magazine podcast: James Bond – Kill Command

The monthly show about cult and world cinema. In this month’s show, Electric Sheep Assistant editor Alex Fitch talks to the director – Steven Gomez – and cinematographer – Simon Dennis – of a excellent new British Sci-Fi thriller, Kill Command, about robots and drones in an army training exercise going on a murderous rampage, in a Q and A recorded at Hackney PictureHouse as part of SCI-FI-LONDON 2016. Also, University of Reading Professor of Television and Film Jonathan Bignell discusses the influences and connections that 1950s television had on the production of the early James Bond films and novels (Recorded at University of Brighton, Film and Screen Seminar, November 2015). Featuring classic tracks by Pink Floyd, Jimmy Lloyd and Dionne Warwick.

Originally broadcast 17th May 2016 on Resonance 104.4 FM (London)

Vanessa Kirby and friend in Kill Command / Barry Nelson, Peter Lorre et al. in Casino Royale (1954)

Vanessa Kirby and friend in Kill Command / Barry Nelson, Peter Lorre et al. in Casino Royale (1954)

Visit www.archive.org, for more info and formats you can stream / download.

Links: Info about the SCI-FI-LONDON premiere of Kill Command
More info on the creation of James Bond and the 1954 adaptation of Casion Royale

Electric Sheep Magazine podcast: James Bond – Kill Command [ 59:45 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Panel Borders: Exploring Avery Hill

Panel Borders: Exploring Avery Hill

A special episode looking at the output of Avery Hill Publishing: Alex Fitch talks to various creators and staff at this young British Comic Book company about their varied output. In a round table panel discussion Avery Hill co-publisher Dave White, publicity agent Katriona Chapman, plus artists Edie O.P., Matthew Swan, and Owen Pomery discuss moving from self publishing to having a company to help promote your work.

Avery Hill logo + art by Matt Swan, Edie OP and Owen Pomery

Avery Hill logo + art by Matt Swan, Edie OP and Owen Pomery

(Panel Borders continues on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 8pm, repeated the following day at 9am. Originally broadcast as the first half of a Clear Spot on Resonance 104.4 FM, 10th May 2016)
For more info and a variety of formats to stream or download this podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Avery Hill website
Owen Pomery’s blog
Edie OP’s website
Matthew Swan’s tumblr
Katriona Chapman’s website
Listen to Alex’s previous interview with Owen Pomery

Panel Borders: Exploring Avery Hill [ 41:23 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Panel Borders: The Arab of the Future

Panel Borders: The Arab of the Future

Alex Fitch talks to Charlie Hebdo alumnus Riad Sattouf about the first volume of his autobiographical strips about growing up in France, and the Middle East published as The Arab of the Future by Two Roads Books. Alex and Riad explore how the book relates to the latter’s experiences as a film-maker on such movies as Jacky in the Kingdom of Women, plus his interest in Victorian serialised entertainment by Dickens, and children’s adventure comics by Hergé.

Cover and interior of The Arab of the Future and poster for Jacky in the Kingdom of Women by Riad Sattouf

Cover and interior of The Arab of the Future and poster for Jacky in the Kingdom of Women by Riad Sattouf

(Panel Borders continues on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 8pm, repeated the following day at 9am. Originally broadcast as the second half of a Clear Spot on Resonance 104.4 FM, 12th April 2016)
For more info and a variety of formats to stream or download this podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: The Arab of the Future website
Info about the graphic memoir at tworoadsbooks.com
Wikipedia page on Jacky in the Kingdom of Women

Panel Borders: The Arab of the Future [ 32:33 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Electric Sheep Magazine podcast: Skolimowski and Kinoteka

Electric Sheep Magazine podcast: Skolimowski and Kinoteka

Celebrating this year’s Polish Film Festival Kinoteka, Alex Fitch talks to Oscar winning producer Jeremy Thomas and director Jerzy Skolimowski about the latter’s work on such films as The Shout, Essential Killing, and his latest movie 11 Minutes. Virginie Selavy talks to writer and filmmaker Daniel Bird about the late director Andrzej Zulawski, and his translation of the director’s Cosmos. With classic tracks by Blondie, Otis Spann, and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheel. Kinokteka continues at various London venues until 28th April, with Skolimowski’s autobiographical trilogy screening at Close-up between 22nd and 24th April.

Stills from the Shout and 11 Minutes by Jerzy Skolimowski / Cosmos by Andrzej Zulawski

Stills from the Shout and 11 Minutes by Jerzy Skolimowski / Cosmos by Andrzej Zulawski

Visit www.archive.org, for more info and formats you can stream / download.

Links: Kinoteka website
Listen to Alex’s 2010 interview with Andrzej Zulawski
Zulawski tribute page on facebook
Watch the trailer for 11 Minutes on youtube
Info about Close-Up Film Centre

Electric Sheep Magazine podcast: Skolimowski and Kinoteka [ 1:08:25 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Panel Borders: Space Dumplings

Panel Borders: Space Dumplings

Alex Fitch talks to Eisner Award winning artist Craig Thompson about his first full colour graphic novel Space Dumplings, an uproarious depiction of adventure and galactic travel published by Faber, in which the daughter of an interstellar salvage man goes on a trip of her own meeting aliens, giant robots and space whales. Fitch and Thompson also discuss the latter’s collaborations with other creators such as James Kochalka and Theo Ellsworth and how this might predict more work in the future, including a sequel to …Dumplings.

(Panel Borders continues on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 8pm, repeated the following day at 9am. Originally broadcast as half of a Clear Spot on Resonance 104.4 FM, 12th April 2016)

Cover and interior art from Space Dumplings by Craig Thompson / extract from “Conversation” by James Kochalka and Thompson

Cover and interior art from Space Dumplings by Craig Thompson / extract from “Conversation” by James Kochalka and Thompson

For more info and a variety of formats to stream or download this podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Craig Thompson’s blog
Info about Space Dumplings at faber.co.uk
Listen to Alex’s 2012 interview with Thompson about Habibi and Blankets

Panel Borders: Space Dumplings [ 34:41 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Reality Check: Building a better High Rise

Reality Check: Building a better High Rise

Following a screening of High Rise as part of the symposium J.G. Ballard in the Seventies, Alex Fitch talks to three members of the production team behind Ben Wheatley’s adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s High Rise. Dan Martin discusses arranging the special effects for the movie and creating realistic gore for Wheatley’s films, Mark Tildesley talks about dressing the set cost effectively and how this compared to working with Michael Winterbottom on Code 46, and Odile Dicks-Mireaux discusses making science-fictional clothes for the cast, including a James Bond style suit for Tom Hiddleston.

Alex Fitch talks to Dan Martin, Odile Dicks-Mireaux and Mark Tildesley on stage at the British Library after a screening of High Rise

Alex Fitch talks to Dan Martin, Odile Dicks-Mireaux and Mark Tildesley on stage at the British Library after a screening of High Rise

For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com

Links: Info about the British Library event where this podcast was recorded
High-Rise tumblr page
Electric Sheep podcast about High-Rise and the 1971 production of Crash

Reality Check: Building a better High Rise [ 51:40 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Panel Borders: Action – The Story of a Violent Comic

Panel Borders: Action – The Story of a Violent Comic

Guest presenter Professor Martin Barker (University of Aberystwyth) investigates the story of Britain’s notorious Action comic, which was launched on Valentine’s Day and banned by Halloween in 1976. Professor Barker explores the rise and fall of the comic, what elements of the strips were censored and censured, and how the legacy of Action was continued in “The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic” – 2000AD. Also, in a panel discussion entitled: “Poor, angry white kids”, Barker discusses Action with its writer Pat Mills and 2000AD artist Jim McCarthy. Edited, and recorded at Graphic Brighton / Cine-Excess 2015 by Alex Fitch.

(Panel Borders continues on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 8pm, repeated the following day at 9am. Originally broadcast as a Clear Spot on Resonance 104.4 FM, 8th March 2016)

The most notorious cover of Action, and the issue never printed / Barker, Mills and McCarthy at Graphic Brighton and Cine-Excess (photo by Lisa Mills) / cover of The Story of a Violent Comic by Martin Barker

The most notorious cover of Action, and the issue never printed / Barker, Mills and McCarthy at Graphic Brighton and Cine-Excess (photo by Lisa Mills) / cover of The Story of a Violent Comic by Martin Barker

For more info and a variety of formats to stream or download this podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Wikipedia page on Action
Pat Mills’ blog
Jim McCarthy’s website
Alex’s discussion with McCarthy, Milligan and Ewins about 2000AD and interviews with Pat Mills
Martin Barker and Roger Sabin’s discussion of Doonesbury at the Imperial War Museum
Graphic Brighton website
Cine-Excess website

Panel Borders: Action – The Story of a Violent Comic [ 1:15:26 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Electric Sheep Magazine podcast: Ballard and the Seventies

Electric Sheep Magazine podcast: Ballard and the Seventies

The March episode of the Electric Sheep Film Show is a J.G. Ballard special: ESM editor in chief Virginie Sélavy talks to his daughter, artist Fay Ballard, to director Harley Cokeliss, who made a version of Crash featuring J.G. Ballard for the BBC in 1971, and to director Ben Wheatley about his new adaptation of High-Rise, which is out in cinemas on 18 March. With classic tracks by The Shangri-Las, The Residents and The Specials. (Edited and introduced by Alex Fitch)

Still from Crash by Harley Cokeliss / Memory Box: About my Father by Fay Ballard / Still from High-Rise

Still from Crash by Harley Cokeliss / ‘Memory Box: About my Father’ by Fay Ballard / Still from High-Rise

Visit www.archive.org, for more info and formats you can stream / download.

Links: Fay Ballard’s website
Watch Crash (1971) by Harley Cokeliss
Read Virginie’s 2012 interview with Ben Wheatley
High-Rise official website

Electric Sheep Magazine podcast: Ballard and the Seventies [ 1:01:09 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Panel Borders: The Inflatable Woman, Rachael Ball

Panel Borders: The Inflatable Woman, Rachael Ball

Alex Fitch talks to cartoonist Rachel Ball about her graphic novel The Inflatable Woman, a magical realist tome loosely based on her experiences with breast cancer and dating, featuring talking penguins and unreliable lighthouse keepers! Fitch and Ball also discuss the latter’s tenure on Deadline Magazine and her next project Wolf Man. Recorded at Cartoon County, Brighton, January 2016.

Interior art and cover of The Inflatable Woman, Wolf Man and Lisa + Lulu by Rachael Ball

Interior art and cover of The Inflatable Woman, Wolf Man and Lisa + Lulu by Rachael Ball

(Panel Borders continues on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 8pm, repeated the following day at 9am. Originally broadcast as the first half of a Clear Spot on Resonance 104.4 FM, 9th February 2016)
For more info and a variety of formats to stream or download this podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Rachael Ball’s tumblr site
Info about The Inflatable Woman and other Bloomsbury Graphic Novels
More info about Cartoon County, Brighton.

Panel Borders: The Inflatable Woman, Rachael Ball [ 52:35 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Electric Sheep Magazine podcast: Frankenstein revived, Superman Lives

Electric Sheep Magazine podcast: Frankenstein revived, Superman Lives

In the February episode of the Electric Sheep Film Show, Electric Sheep Magazine editor assistant editor Alex Fitch talks to Jasper Sharp, artistic director of the Asia House Film Festival, which runs from 22 February, to actor Tony Todd about Bernard Rose’s new adaptation of Frankenstein, and to the director (Jon Schnepp) and producers (Holly Payne, Robert Pierce) of the documentary The Death of Superman Lives. With classic tracks by The Clique, Klark Kentt and The Crystals.
The Electric Sheep Film Show continues on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 8pm, repeated the following day at 9am.

frankenstein_superman

Blu-Ray cover for Frankenstein (2015) / Asia House Film Festival flyer / Jon Schnepp interviewed by Alex Fitch at BFI Southbank / The Death of Superman Lives poster



Originally broadcast as a ‘Clear Spot’, 17th February 2015 on Resonance 104.4 FM; The Electric Sheep Film Show continues on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 8pm, repeated the following day at 9am, on Resonance FM.

Visit www.archive.org, for more info and formats you can stream / download.

Links: Contribute to the Resonance FM fundraiser / ebay auction
The Death of Superman Lives website
Buy Frankenstein (2015)from amazon.co.uk
More info about the Asia House Film Festival and The Creeping Garden

Electric Sheep Magazine podcast: Frankenstein revived, Superman Lives [ 1:14:11 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download