Blast from the Past: Tom Baker

20th January 201720th January 2017 Marshall Julius

Tom Baker is everything you’d expect him to be. Endearingly eccentric, infectiously enthusiastic and staggeringly honest, he’s funny, engaging and really quite mad. Meeting him is, appropriately enough, like traveling back in time. As a kid I loved his Dr Who, and today, sitting before him as a fortysomething man I feel equally charmed and disarmed by television’s largest larger-than-life hero.

I’m asking questions but I don’t think Baker can hear me. He’s on an oblivious roll, talking a mile a minute about life, death, fame, sport, art, literature, TV and the stage. Frankly, who would want it any other way?

Within a minute of our meeting he flashes a familiar mischievous glance, smiles broadly and exclaims, “When old ladies see me their bosoms tingle at the emotional memory of hugging their children in front of Dr Who.” And we’re off…

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Blast from the Past: John Carpenter

16th January 201716th January 2017 Marshall Julius Leave a comment

He smokes endlessly, wears faded blue jeans, talks about sports. By all appearances, John Carpenter is the guy next door. Have a drink with him, shoot the breeze, what the hell? Only thing is, he’s the man who made Halloween, Christine and The Thing. He is, in fact, the best friend a horror movie ever had, a devoted fan of the genre with the power to crawl under our skin and scare us half to death.

Monsters that cannot be stopped. Worlds on the brink of destruction. Heroes who don’t give a damn. Horror or sci-fi, fantasy or comedy, Carpenter knows exactly what we want and delivers the goods with style, intelligence, and perhaps most important of all, humour. Clearly, there’s a lot more to him than the guy next door, unless, that is, you happen to be neighbours with the likes of Wes Craven, George Romero or Dario Argento.

“I’ve always had a real affinity for horror,” confirms Carpenter, “and I know the genre very well. But the thing is, it’s not always my choice, I just get offered a lot of horror films.” Not that typecasting presents a problem. “It’s like we say in the States,” he adds sagely, “you gotta dance with the one who brung ya.”

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Donovan Clark’s Superheroic Money Art

3rd January 20173rd January 2017 Marshall Julius Leave a comment

An artist whose work we’ve shared twice before, and will likely share again, Donovan Clark chooses to give his art away, painting intricate images on single dollar bills and handing them out as tips in cafes and restaurants.

Here today is a fresh batch of superhero-themed bills from the Californian-born creator: Avengers, Justice Leaguers, half-shell heroes and an X-type, with a supervillain thrown into the mix for everyone to gang up on.

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Blast From the Past: Sarah Michelle Gellar

2nd January 20173rd January 2017 Marshall Julius Leave a comment

Achingly cool with just a hint of nerd, former vampire slayer Sarah Michelle Gellar balances her Hollywood pursuits and movie star marriage to Freddie Prinze Jr with such unexpected extra-curricular activities as flower arranging, antique book collecting and spending hours in front of the telly watching cartoons.

“I didn’t watch cartoons as a kid,” reveals Gellar, 38, “but then somehow in my teens when I got nostalgic for my youth, I got into them big time.” Behind the smiles and perfect hair, however, lies a crack in her teen scream queen persona. A terrible truth, now revealed. As a child she was banned from McDonald’s. Somehow she finds the strength to talk about it.

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Old School Actioner of the Week: Mad Max 2 (1981)

31st December 20163rd January 2017 Marshall Julius Leave a comment

This is what we want to see. No law. No order. No respect for life. Just a whole lot of crazy, dangerous bad guys in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where only the violent survive. From director George Miller comes the ultimate in round-bound chaos, a classic cult adventure featuring some of the most incredible stuntwork that you’re ever likely to see, and a grimly determined hero who’s every bit as crazy as the scum he exterminates.

Survival is the name of the game, and no one plays it better than Max (Mel Gibson). A lifetime ago he was a baby-faced cop with a family. These days he’s a man of mystery, a road warrior with nothing to live for but life itself. And killing, obviously. Let’s not forget the killing.

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For the Love of… The Incredible Hulk

30th December 20163rd January 2017 Marshall Julius 1 Comment

We’re huge fans of the way brainiac scientist Bruce Banner loses control and turns into an enormous green rage monster.

Inspired by a combination of Dr Jekyll, Mr Hyde and Frankenstein, The Incredible Hulk debuted in 1962, the creation of mad comicbook scientists Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Gaining his powers from a hefty dose of Gamma Radiation, the angrier Hulk gets, the stronger he becomes. Best not make him angry then, though honestly, we prefer him that way.

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The Terrifying Toddlers of Alex Solis

29th December 20163rd January 2017 Marshall Julius Leave a comment

Every kid’s a little terror sometimes, and if they’re born a monster, that’s doubly true.

A fiercely original, immeasurably gifted artist hailing from Chicago, Alex Solis creates visions of pop culture heroes and villains hilariously changed.

Here’s a weirdly adorable collection of ghastly tots that Solis calls Baby Terrors.

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Born To Be Bad: The Loopy Life and Twisted Times of Ed Wood, Jr

28th December 20163rd January 2017 Marshall Julius Leave a comment

Edward D. Wood Jr, writer, director, producer, actor and cross-dresser, failed like no other man in Hollywood history. The worst director of all time of the worst movie – Plan 9 From Outer Space – of all time, Wood balanced a supreme self-confidence and infinite enthusiasm for cinema with a profound lack of ability and a faulty sixth sense that encouraged him to make every mistake in the book.

Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, on October 10, 1924, Wood was an instant disappointment. Biographer Rudolph Grey, author of Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr, suggests that his parents had actually been hoping for a girl, a theory which goes a long way towards explaining why they often dressed their young son in girls’ clothing.

Years later, Wood revealed that his parents’ eccentric actions were most probably responsible for his transvestism. “They didn’t know what the hell they were doing to me!” he cried. “If you’re dressed up in little girls’ clothes at the age of five you really don’t have much choice in what happens afterwards.”

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The Weird and Wonderful World of Polish Movie Posters

27th December 20163rd January 2017 Marshall Julius Leave a comment

Tricky though it was for English-language movies to make it into Polish cinemas during the dark days of Communism, it was tougher still for local distributors to properly promote those films as, ahead of release, they’d see neither the feature nor receive any marketing materials.

Often all they had was a title, which meant creating the film’s accompanying poster was a shot in the dark. An odd, abstract and thrillingly random shot in the dark.

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The Perfect Poster Art of Drew Struzan

26th December 20163rd January 2017 Marshall Julius 1 Comment

“There is one artist every couple of decades who encapsulates the film experience. For my generation, and the generation right before me, Drew Struzan was the movies.” Guillermo del Toro

“His posters are classic. That’s not an opinion. It’s a statement of fact.” Leonard Maltin

“It’s not just an ad. It’s the first notes of the piece. It’s the beginning of the story.” Michael J. Fox

“He’s a storyteller. That’s what makes him unique. And ranks him with the great poster artists of all time.” Frank Darabont

“I had to almost live up to the art that we were later going to ask Drew to create for the poster.” Steven Spielberg

Before Photoshop, there was Drew Struzan…

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