Continuing director’s month on IR4MCU, Alex Fitch interviews British director Paul Spurrier who unexpectedly followed his debut film ‘Underground’ (starring Ian Dury and Nick Frost) with ‘P’, a Thai horror film made with a local cast and crew. This interview was the first one recorded for Close-up (nearly 2 years ago – so, sorry about the sound quality) and as tonight’s episode is the 50th show Alex has done for Resonance, it seemed a nice way to celebrate the occasion…

Originally broadcast 14th June 2007 (mp3 format 28.3mb)

Links: Wikipedia page on Paul Spurrier
Official P movie website
Buy P on PAL Region 4 DVD
about.com article on Thai ghosts
frightfest website
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

It’s the start of directors month on I’m ready for my close-up and we’re kicking off with a film that’s new and topical…
Alex Fitch interviews Nick and Marc Francis, directors of the feature length documentary Black Gold, which is released in cinemas tomorrow. Nick and Marc talk about the challenges of making the film, their desire to make their film stand out from other films in the genre and reactions from corporations and multi-nationals to their film.
Originally broadcast 10.30 pm, 7th May 2007 (mp3 format, 29.9mb)

Links: The Black Gold website
portafilter.net, a discussion group for coffee enthusiasts
Wikipedia pages on Black Gold , Fair Trade and The World Trade Organization
A glossary of Coffee terminology
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

There were 2 interviews with Paul Cornell on “I’m ready for my close-up” last week – the first conducted by Graham Sleight at the British Science Fiction Association meeting in January about Paul’s history as a writer, the 1990s Doctor Who novels and Marvel comics… The second by Alex Fitch, was recorded more recently concerns Paul adaptaing Human Nature for the small screen and also writing for the second series of ITV’s Primaeval… Plus an interview with Hugo award winning critic and writer Farah Mendlesohn about the work of the BSFA…
Originally broadcast 10.30 pm, 31th May 2007 (mp3 format, 26.7mb)

Links: Download / read the original novel online
Paul’s blog
Graham’s website
Farah’s blog
Wikipedia pages on Paul Cornell, the novel Human Nature and the BSFA
The BSFA’s website
The BBC’s Doctor Who website
Pre-order Paul’s graphic novel Wisdom from Forbidden Planet international
Download the trailer for / buy Paul’s most recent Doctor Who audio CD – Circular Time
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

Recorded at this year’s Bristol international Comic Expo – Alex Fitch interviews the makers of the new Blake’s 7 internet radio series – writer Ben Aaronovitch, actor Owen Aaronovitch who plays ‘Gan’, sound designer / actor Alistair Lock who plays ‘Zen’ and producer Andrew Sewell. Originally broadcast 17th May, 2007 (mp3 format, 28.3mb)

Links: Listen to the new Blake’s 7 at www.blakes7.com
Wikipedia pages on Blake’s 7 and Ben Aaronovich
IMDb page on Owen Aaronovich
Outpost Gallifrey page on Alistair Lock
Interview with Andrew Sewell at www.blakes-7.co.uk
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

Alex Fitch interviews Helen McCarthy, author of ‘Hayao Miyazaki – Master of Japanese Animation’, ‘500 Manga heroes and villains’ and co-author of ‘The Anime encyclopedia’ about the season of Japanese animated films she’s curated at the Barbican which coincides with the 90th anniversary of the medium. The season continues this month with a sold-out screening of Satoshi Kon’s new film Paprika, so Alex and Helen talk about the director as well as the work of his predecessors and contemporaries such as Miyazaki and Ôtomo plus the continuing influence of manga artist Osamu Tezuka.
Originally broadcast 10th May, 2007 (mp3 format, 28.7mb)

Links: If you want to queue for returns, here’s info on the Barbican Japanimation season… …plus next month’s ‘Animate the World’ season
Wikipedia pages on Satoshi Kon, Hayao Miyazaki, Katsuhiro ÅŒtomo, Osamu Tezuka and anime in general
For the latest Anime news, why not check out otakunews.com
Buy 500 Manga Heroes and Villains and The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917 from amazon.com
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

Belatedly celebrating Walpurgis Nacht, Alex Fitch interviews Stephen Thrower, editor of the legendary Eyeball magazine about his Grindhouse festival on Saturday 5th May at the Riverside Studios cinema in Hammersmith; Stephen showed 6 rare American splatter movies to help illustrate his book (Nightmare USA) and introducing Q&As with the film-makers. Alex and Stephen talk about the history of Grindhouse cinema, its influence on recent teen slasher movies and reasons why Tarantino’s latest is looking like a flop…
Originally broadcast 3rd May, 2007 (mp3 format, 26.8mb)

*Yeah, alright, Psycho started filming in 1959, so strictly speaking, it’s 48 years of American Splatter, but that doesn’t have quite the same ring to it!

Links – Buy Stephen’s book from fabpress.com
Wikipedia page on Stephen Thrower
Kamera.co.uk review of Eyeball Compendium
For more info, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.com
 

Alex Fitch interviews Louis Savvy, organiser of Sci-Fi London, the capital’s annual science fiction and fantasy festival about this year’s event. Sci-Fi London is held from the 3rd to the 6th of May and this year features such films as Recon 2022: The Mezzo incident and Plane Dead (a.k.a. Flight of the living dead), documentaries like Future by design and also runs concurrent with Cine-excess, a conference on cult cinema that includes screenings of David Mamet’s Edmond and Gyorgi Palfi’s Taxidermia. Alex and Louis discuss these films, the highlights of last year’s festival and (natch) the current state of sci-fi on the big and small screens.

Originally broadcast 26th April 2007 (mp3 format, 27.3mb)

Links: Sci-Fi London homepage
Cine Excess homepage
Taxidermia review at backprojection.com
If you’d like to buy any of the films that Louis Mentioned which showed in last year’s festival:
Die you zombie bastards!, C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America and The Machinist are available to buy on PAL region 2 DVD, while
Subject Two and Recon 2020: The Caprini Massacre are only available on NTSC Region 1 DVD…

For more info, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.com

To see a list of all episodes of I’m ready for my close-up that are available to download, please visit the archive page

N.B./ This year’s Sci-Fi London features a special 1950s Hammer quadruple bill on May 5th, all the proceeds of which go to help Resonance FM… So, if you were intrigued by my mention of Stolen Face on our Halloween show last year, now’s your chance to see it as well as: X the Unknown, Four Sided Triangle and the seminal British Sci-Fi film Spaceways! Click below for details…