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

Reality Check: Genre (crossing) directors – Kaufman and Vigalondo

Reality Check: Genre (crossing) directors – Kaufman and Vigalondo

Charlie Kaufman interview originally broadcast 21/05/09 on Resonance FM as part of I’m ready for my close-up

Charlie Kaufman directs Robin Weigert in Synecdoche, New York

Charlie Kaufman directs Robin Weigert in Synecdoche, New York

Continuing our series of twice annual looks at pairs of directors who combine genres on screen to beguiling effect, Alex Fitch talks to Academy Award winning screenwriter turned director Charlie Kaufman about his new film Synecdoche, New York and the processes of getting his previous scripts Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich to the screen.

Nacho Vigalondo in character on the set of TimeCrimes

Nacho Vigalondo in character on the set of TimeCrimes

Alex also talks to Nacho Vigalondo, the director of the new Spanish film TimeCrimes / Los cronocrimenes which mixes the style of a 1970s psycho thriller with the tropes of a modern, cerebral time travel film.

For more info, please visit the home of this podcast at Sci-Fi London
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Panel Borders: Adapting the classics – Klimowski and Schejbal

Panel Borders: Adapting the classics – Klimowski and Schejbal

Edited broadcast 21/05/09 as the first half of an episode of Strip! on Resonance 104.4 FM

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Andrzej Klimowski

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Andrzej Klimowski

Continuing adaptation and inspiration month on the show, Alex Fitch talks to the illustrators of some recent literary adaptations in comic book format. Self Made Hero is a relatively new publishing company who have made a name for themselves with their range of Manga Shakespeare adaptations and are now doing European style graphic novels of literary classics. Alex talks to Andrzej Klimowski and Danusia Schejbal, their illustrators and adaptors of The Master and Margarita and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

For more info about this podcast and a variety of formats you can stream or download, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.org
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Panel Borders: Adapting the classics - Klimowski and Schejbal [ 26:47 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Panel Borders: Sherlock Holmes and Dorian Grey by Ian Culbard

Panel Borders: Sherlock Holmes and Dorian Grey by Ian Culbard

Edited broadcast 21/05/09 as the second half of an episode of Strip! on Resonance 104.4 FM

Extract from The Picture of Dorian Grey by Ian Culbard and Ian Edginton

Extract from The Picture of Dorian Grey by Ian Culbard and Ian Edginton

Continuing adaptation and inspiration month on the show, Alex Fitch talks to the illustrators of some new and recent literary adaptations in comic book format. Self Made Hero is a relatively new publishing company who have made a name for themselves with their range of Manga Shakespeare adaptations and are now doing European style graphic novels of literary classics. Alex talks to Ian Culbard, their illustrator of Ian Edginton’s adaptations of The Picture of Dorian Grey and The Hound of the Baskervilles…

For more info about this podcast and a variety of formats you can stream or download, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.org
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Panel Borders: Sherlock Holmes and Dorian Grey by Ian Culbard [ 26:36 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Panel Borders: Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula

Panel Borders: Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula

Dracula by Leah Moore and John Reppion

Dracula by Leah Moore and John Reppion

Continuing adaptation and inspiration month on the show, Alex Fitch talks to writers Leah Moore and John Reppion about their two current comic book projects, adapting Bram Stoker’s Dracula for sequential art and continuing the adventures of Sherlock Holmes in a new comic for Dynamite Entertainment. Leah and John talk about the process of condensing Dracula into five 32 page comics, while including Stoker’s often neglected prologue Dracula’s guest plus adding to the saga of Sherlock Holmes by putting the Master Detective on trial for murder and terrorist activities…

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Reality Check: The Arthur C. Clarke awards 2009

Reality Check: The Arthur C. Clarke awards 2009

Arthur C. Clarke awards 2009 longlist

Arthur C. Clarke awards 2009 longlist

Tom Hunter presents the Arthur C. Clarke awards

Tom Hunter presents the Arthur C. Clarke awards

In the first of our podcasts recorded at this year’s Sci-Fi London Festival, guest presenter Graham Sleight talks to a nominee and two former judges of the Arthur C. Clarke awards. In case you don’t know who won, why not listen to the podcast and hear the opening of the envelope and the winner’s reaction! Authors interviewed include Niall Harrison, Tanya Brown and Ian R. Macleod, with the award ceremony presented by Dr. Marek Kukula (Royal Greenwich Observatory) and Tom Hunter. Edited and recorded by Alex Fitch.

For more info, please visit the home of this podcast at Sci-Fi London
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Panel Borders: Muppets, giant cuboid roosters and other weird creatures!

Panel Borders: Muppets, giant cuboid roosters and other weird creatures!

The Muppet Show by Roger Langridge

The Muppet Show by Roger Langridge

Starting adaptation and inspiration month on the show: Alex Fitch and Robin Warren talk to two humour cartoonists – Roger Langridge and Hugh Raine (a.k.a. Shug) – about their work. Roger has just started drawing the new Muppet Show comic for Boom Studios! and has drawn the U.K. Doctor Who comic from time to time while Hugh has just completed the 37th and final issue of his comic Reet!, so Alex and Robin talk to Roger about his career so far and bringing Jim Henson’s beloved creations to the page, while Alex talks to Hugh about Northern humour, self-publishing and his influences…

For more info about this podcast and a variety of formats you can stream or download, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.org
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Reality Check: Gentlemen in Flight

Reality Check: Gentlemen in Flight

Illustration of Little Nellie by Edgar Aromin

Illustration of Little Nellie by Edgar Aromin

George Takei is Captain Hikaru Sulu

George Takei is Captain Hikaru Sulu

In a special episode looking at two of the great gentlemen of the sky, who first found fame in the 1960s with their piloting of classic Sci-Fi air/spacecraft, Chris Patmore talks to George Takei about being the helmsman of the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek in both the classic TV series and beyond while Alex Fitch talks to Wing Commander Ken Wallis about building and flying the gyrocopter ‘Little Nellie’ in You only live twice and its stablemate in The Martian Chronicles…

For more info, please visit the home of this podcast at Sci-Fi London
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Electric Sheep podcast: Figures in a landscape

Electric Sheep podcast: Figures in a landscape

Interviews originally broadcast 01/05/09 in an edited version as an episode of I’m ready for my close-up on www.resonancefm.com

Still from Helen by Desperate Optimists

Still from Helen by Desperate Optimists

Alex Fitch talks to the directors of two new films which take the starting point of a character walking through a landscape and twist it into unexpected directions. Alex talks to Bent Hamer, the director of the gentle new Norwegian comedy O’Horten which depicts the tale of a recently retired train driver who gets embroiled in a series of misadventures of the kind Victor Meldrew would be proud of from losing his shoes in a locker room and ending up with red stilettos to ending up in a car driven by a blind man. Alex also talks to Christine Molloy, one half of the film making duo Desperate Optimists, about their new film Helen, which concerns a young woman who takes part in a police reconstruction of a girl going missing and starts to take over her life from dating her boyfriend to getting maths advice from her parents.
Helen is released in selected UK cinemas on May 1st /
O’Horten is released in selected UK cinemas on May 8th

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

Links: Desperate Optimists‘ official website for info on Helen
Artificial Eye‘s official website for info about O’Horten
Listen to Alex’s interview with Joe Lawlor, the other half of Desperate Optimists about their series of short films – Civic Life

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

Alex Fitch and Electric sheep magazine editor Virginie Selavy will be interviewing Marc Caro co-director of The City of Lost Children about his work on stage after a screening of the film at the Apollo Piccadilly on Lower Regent Street at 9pm tonight, 01/05/09

and tomorrow, 02/05/09, at the same location at 4.15 Alex is chairing a panel with Marc Caro, Richard Jobson, director of A woman in winter, Cory McAbee (The American Astronaut) and Gerald McMorrow (Franklyn) called The problem of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Film-making and you can find more details about both at www.sci-fi-london.com

In association with: Electric Sheep Magazine logo

Electric Sheep podcast: Figures in a landscape [ 36:15 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Panel Borders: Ed Pinsent and Fast Fiction

Panel Borders: Ed Pinsent and Fast Fiction

Originally broadcast 23/04/09 as an episode of Strip! on Resonance 104.4 FM

Fast Fiction issue 11, cover art by Ed Pinsent

Fast Fiction issue 11, cover art by Ed Pinsent

Continuing comic book publishing month on the show, Alex Fitch talks to Ed Pinsent, the second editor of the 1980s small press anthology and market stall Fast Fiction, (following Phil Elliott and Paul Gravett respectively) which was a ground breaking publication in the history of British comics. Alex talks to Ed about his comic book work then and now, his processes of including work in the anthology and the reasons it came to an end.
Also in this episode we have a competition to win a complete set of Dare Comics’ The Hunter, so tune in / download the podcast for more details!

For more info about this podcast and a variety of formats you can stream or download, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.org

Links: Ed’s comics website – http://comics.edpinsent.com, and music magazine The Sound Projector
Listen to Ed’s bands, Mystery Dick and Pestrepeller on our musical cousin Stand Up Comics
Listen to Eddie Campbell and Paul Gravett talk about Fast Fiction
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Electric Sheep podcast: World Cinema, Spring 2009

Electric Sheep podcast: World Cinema, Spring 2009

Interviews originally broadcast 26/03/09 on www.resonancefm.com

Paolo Sorrentino directs Il Divo

Paolo Sorrentino directs Il Divo

In the latest edition of the Electric Sheep Magazine podcast, we’re looking at recent world and art-house cinema releases on DVD and in cinemas. Alex Fitch interviews the director (Christophe Van Rompaey) and star (Jurgen Delnaet) of the new Belgian rom-com Moscow, Belgium / Aanrijding in Moscou, while Jessica Fostekew talks to director Paolo Sorrentino about his new film Il Divo, which chronicles the life of former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti who has been tried for murder and ties to the Mafia, but acquitted due to the 24 year gap of getting the case before the courts.

Also, Alex reviews the Spanish Science Fiction thriller Timecrimes / Los cronocrímenes and our new reviewer David Warwick looks at the new DVD of Geoffrey Malins’ The Battle of the Somme (1916).

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

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Electric Sheep podcast: World Cinema, Spring 2009 [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download