Comicsphere: Invisible Inc by Brendan McGinley & Tomas Aira

With some stories it is the art that arrives with you first; with some it is the words – neither of these is a bad thing, they just speak of different techniques perhaps, but with Invisible Inc from Brendan McGinley and Tomas Aira they’ve hit their stride from the first page and created a great [...]

Film Hick: 88 Minutes (2008)

Directed by: Jon Avnet. Cast: Al Pacino, Alicia Witt, Leelee Sobieski, William Forsythe, Deborah Kara Unger. Rated: R. Running Time: 108 minutes.
It seems like a topsy turvy world where an Al Pacino movie doesn’t make the grade, but I have to say that this was the case with 88 Minutes. I can’t in all conscience [...]

Turn The Page: Out Of The Gutter Issue 5

Out Of The Gutter never pulls any punches and Issue 5 is no exception. If you like your fiction mean and dirty; want writing that has that gut-churning authenticity which keeps you coming back for more, then this is the place. Matthew Louis gives us stories from Charlie Stella, Vicki Hendricks, and others that provide [...]

Television Whitenoise: Leverage

Cast: Timothy Hutton, Aldis Hodge, Alec Hardison, Christian Kane, Eliot Spencer, Beth Riesgraf, Gina Bellman.
Okay, well, when I sat down to watch this I didn’t know it was a remake of a British show – would that have coloured my opinion? Maybe, considering that trend kind of peed me off recently, suggesting, as remakes do, [...]

Turn The Page: The War Against Cliche by Martin Amis

When you read a book of essays you are hoping to get an insight into the subjects under discussion that you may not have arrived at by yourself; or you are looking for an opinion on something that you are not knowledgeable about yourself – you seek to educate yourself; or perhaps you want an [...]

Film Hick: This Is England (2007) by Shane Meadows

Directed by: Shane Meadows. Starring: Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Jo Hartley, Andrew Shim, Vicky McClure, Joseph Gilgun. Rated: 18. Running Time: 101 Mins.
I’m sure there are other British directors out there doing sterling work; in fact I know there are, but are there any who are exactly like Shane Meadows? Or, rather are there any [...]

Take Art: Fernando Chamarelli

I think I found Fernando Chamarelli using stumbleupon to browse Flickr so it was one of those wonderful fortuitous moments that occasionally lead us somewhere that we are going to enjoy visiting many times.
His profile describes the influence of Brazilian and Pre-Columbian art upon his work but as well as seeing that I see many [...]

Rebellious Jukebox: Aimee Mann

Aimee Mann brings it all to the table — great lyrics, great voice and great delivery. I know a lot of people got into her with Til Tuesday, her former band (a pleasure I discovered later), but my first exposure was ‘I’m With Stupid’ when she was corralled in with a whole load of supposedly [...]

Turn The Page: Memoirs Of An Exquisite Mephistophelian by Mike Padilla

My wife’s BFF, all-round good guy and fucking polymath talent, artist and poet Mike Padilla has a book out and though I have been a bit slow to hip you all to it — here you go: Click The Book Cover and go and get yourself a great read and support great poetry!
Also check out [...]

Turn The Page: Naked & Raw by R. Monaleza

My good friend R. Monaleza has just released the second book in a poetic trilogy that carries on the journey of self-discovery that she embarked on with ‘Manifesto Of A Menopausal Woman’ and will be continued in ‘Unbound’ (due for release in January 2009). Please support an up and coming writer with a lot to [...]