Today's show: Exploring the Smoking Cabinet

Today on Resonance FM at 3.30pm Alex Fitch is guest presenting Richard Thomas' show on Ephemera - Tight Pudding and is talking to Claire Cook, Simone Pyne and Kate Grove about the "Burlesque Cinema" weekend they've curated at the Curzon Soho Cinema and Volupte Lounge in London. The Smoking Cabinet mixes short films, features (The Blue Angel), live acts and talks to explore depictions of cabaret on film from the 1890s to the 1930s.

Tonight's event: Happiness of the Katakuris

Screening at the Roxy Bar & Screen: The Happiness of the Katakuris 7.30pm

It's time for this month's Hectic Peelers Cinema Club, so why not come down to the Roxy Bar & Screen on Borough High Street and watch Miike Takashi's delirious horror musical The Happiness of the Katakuris which mixes The Sound of Music, Psycho & The Evil Dead to great aplomb. A remake of the Korean black comedy The Quiet Family, ...Katakuris is one of Miike's most popular films (after Audition) and there will be an introduction and post-screening Q&A by Electric Sheep Magazine critics Richard Thomas, Virginie Selavy & Alex Fitch...
Doors open at 6.30pm.

Links: Roxy Bar & Screen
Electric Sheep Magazine
IMDb and Wikipedia pages on The Happiness of the Katakuris
Listen to Joel Karamath & Virginie Selavy's presentation of Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song at September's Hectic Peelers

N.B./ October's presentation of Belleville Rendezvous by Alex Fitch and Vincent Woodcock will be broadcast as this thursday's I'm ready for my close-up

Today's show: Neil Gaiman & Stardust

An extra airing of Panel Borders this week (to be repeated on Friday at 5pm):

Alex Fitch interviews writer, producer and graphic novelist Neil Gaiman about the big screen version of his illustrated novel Stardust as well as other adaptations of his work such as Anansi Boys and Neverwhere.
A BBC radio adaptation of Ananzi Boys is to be broadcast on the World Service on the 17th November* and Stardust is released in cinemas throughout the UK on Friday.
*Ignore my proclamation at the end of the episode where I suggest it's to be broadcast on wednesday - I got the month wrong... (d'oh)

Links: Neil's website
WIkipedia entries on Neil, Stardust and Anansi Boys
Official movie website
Dreamhaven's online book shop

Tonight's show: The p0rnification of visual culture

Tonight on "I'm ready for my close-up":

Alex Fitch talks to former presenter of Midnight S£x Talk - Tania Glyde - about the increasing p0rnification of visual media, from advertising to art, film to fromage. As both the ICA & Barbican in London have s£x based festivals on this month, it seems p0rn is being increasingly celebrated in our culture, so Alex and Tania look at some of the reasons why.
(Sorry to have to write the description in 'Leet' but I don't want dirty spam on my blog!)

10.30pm (BST) Resonance 104.4FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com

Links: Info about Cleaning up, Tania's new book
Article on s£x by Tania in The Independant
Buy books by Ms. Glyde from amazon.com

Please note: some of the following links contain images and words that might upset the prudish!... (ask guidance from your parents / therapist etc. before visiting)

Visit midnights£xtalk.com
Download episodes of Midnight s£x talk at podcasts.resonancefm.com including shows about:
S£x in the movies, the fascination with Psychos and Censorship, which feature Alex (!)
Info about The Barbican's s£x exhibtion, - Seduced - and last week's Swedish £rotica season at the ICA

Podcast: Cult entertainment for Autumn

Thursday night's show is now ready to download...
(mp3 format, 28.7mb)

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

Today's show: Running stumbled with Jonathan Maringouin

Today's I'm ready for my podcast 'repeat' on Resonance FM at 5pm...

Virginie Sélavy interviews John Maringouin, director of the documentary Running Stumbled, whose film is a semi-improvised recreation and document of the self destructive relationship between the director's father and his partner.

Originally podcast on August 9th, click here for more info...

Tonight's show: Cult entertainment for Autumn

Tonight on "I'm ready for my close-up" at 10.30pm on Resonance 104.4 FM, Alex Fitch is talking to two programmers of very different kinds of cult entertainment.
Robert Rider is a programmer at the Barbican cinema in London which has gained reknown for a variety of different events and festivals throughout the year. Today sees the start of their Brazillian film festival and November the yearly Children's film festival not to mention regular screenings of Silent movies with live accompaniment and their regular Anime slot.
Alex Geairns is a director of the Cult TV festival taking place in Oxfordshire from the 19th to the 22nd of October which is a gathering of fans, creators and stars of Cult TV from the 1960s to the present day and features such guests as Sylvia Anderson (co-creator of Thunderbirds), Matthew Graham (creator of Life on Mars) and Antonio Fargas (Huggy Bear in Starsky & Hutch)...

Links: Guide to the Cult TV weekend
Film homepage at The Barbican

Today's show: Looking back at "Sweetback"

On Friday afternoons on Resonance FM at 5pm, there's a new slot for repeats of I'm ready for my close-up. Rather than just repeat the show from the night before, we thought it might be nice to take the opportunity to broadcast some of the episodes that were podcast while Resonance was off-schedule during the summer for the benefit of luddites who don't go in for all this podcasting nonsense.

Today, we're airing a podcast from 3 weeks ago - Joel Karamath talking about the career of Melvin van Peebles and his seminal film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. This was recorded at the first Resonance FM / Electric Sheep film club at The Roxy bar and screen, so this seems a good time to air the repeat as the next film club is on Tuesday from 7.30pm where Alex Fitch will be talking to former Disney animator Vincent Woodcock about character design in animation alongside a screening of Sylvain Chomet's Belleville Rendezvous and his rarely seen short film The Old lady and the pigeons.

If you just can't wait 'til 5 o'clock, you can find the podcast here.

Podcast: The weird(sville) films of Allan Moyle

Tonight's show is now ready to download...
(mp3 format, 27.7mb)

N.B./ Tonight's show's contains very strong language !

So, if you are offended by such phrases as c**k-s**k*r and mother-f****r (which crop up frequently in Allan's reenactment of dealings with one of the producers of his films!), you have been warned!

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

Tonight's show: The Weird(sville) films of Allan Moyle

Concluding I'm ready for my close-up's exclusive run of online podcasts*...

Alex Fitch interviews Allan Moyle, the cult film director of such classic movies as Pump up the Volume and Empire Records about his career and his new film Weirdsville which opens next week's Raindance Film Festival.

Check back here around 10.30pm BST to download the show or click on one of the following links to download / stream the show from the Internet Archive, Feedburner or iTunes...

*While Resonance FM moves studios across London... Normal service will be resumed on Monday.
The podcast only shows will then be broadcast on FM in the Autumn

Links: Official Weirdsville site
IMDb pages on Weirdsville and Allan's films
Wikipedia page on Allan Moyle
Allan's website
Raindance Film Festival website

Podcast: Looking back at "Sweetback"

Tonight's show is now available to download... (mp3 format, 28.5mb)

Continuing I'm ready for my close-up's exclusive run of online podcasts*...

In a show recorded live at the inaugural Resonance FM / Electric Sheep Magazine monthly film club at the Roxy Bar and Screen in London's Borough High Street, Virginie Sélavy introduces a talk and Q & A conducted by Joel Karamath.
Joel, host of the ICA's Uncut film night, looks at the career of Melvin van Peebles and his seminal film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song.
As the talk was performed in a surround sound theatre with Joel & Virginie standing close to both the speakers and the recording device, there is unfortunately a pronounced echo in the playback, however sit back and imagine Joel is performing his speech with a megaphone at a political rally in the 1970s and suddenly it might feel a lot more authentic! Tonight's show was recorded and edited by Alex Fitch.

*While Resonance FM moves studios across London... The podcast only shows will then be broadcast on FM later in the Autumn

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

Links: Electric Sheep Magazine
Virginie's review of the film
The Roxy Bar and Screen's website and page on yesterday's event
Wikipedia's page on the movie
Joel's notes on other black movies @ bfi.org.uk
Info on Joel's film night at the ICA

Podcast: 'Bolly Horror' and the making of "Hell's Ground"

Tonight's show is now ready to download... (mp3 format, 28.4mb)

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

Tonight's show: 'Bolly Horror' and the making of "Hell's Ground"

Continuing I'm ready for my close-up's exclusive run of online podcasts*...
Alex Fitch interviews Pete Tombs, producer of Zibahkhana (Hell's Ground)** and writer of Mondo Macabro plus Tejinder Jouhal, a film programmer at the ICA about their season of 'Bolly Horror' movies.

**technically this is 'Lolly Horror' as the film was made in Pakistan, but I'm going with the ICA's name for their season...

Check back here around 10.30pm BST to download the show or click on one of the following links to download / stream the show from the Internet Archive, Feedburner or iTunes...

*While Resonance FM moves studios across London... The podcast only shows will then be broadcast on FM in the Autumn

Links: Info about the 'Bolly Horror' season at the ICA and tomorrow's screening of Zibahkhana
Reviews of Pete's books at The extraordinary movie and video guide
Info on the cross London India Now season
The Mondo Macabro DVD label
Wikipedia pages on Bollywood cinema, Lollywood cinema and Hell's Ground

Podcast: London Frightfest 2007

Tonight's show is now available to download... (mp3 format, 28.9mb)

Continuing I'm ready for my close-up's exclusive run of online podcasts*...

Alex Fitch interviews video shop manager Michael Hall about his thoughts on the horror genre and previews he's seen of this year's Frightfest horror film marathon in London, including reviews of Black Sheep, Daywatch and Disturbia. Also, in an interview conducted a year ago, Alex talks to film student Greta Mills about her perspective on last year's Frightfest including George Romero's (then) Zombie tetralogy and its unnecessary 'sidequel' Day of the Dead 2: Contagium!

*While Resonance FM moves studios across London... The podcast only shows will then be broadcast on FM later in the Autumn

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

Links: Official Frightfest homepage
Michael's band Nebraska's myspace page and website

Podcast: Running Stumbled with John Maringouin

Tonight's show is now available to download... (mp3 format, 42.4mb)

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

Tonight's show: Running Stumbled with John Maringouin

Continuing I'm ready for my close-up's exclusive run of online podcasts*...
Virginie Sélavy interviews John Maringouin, director of the documentary Running Stumbled, whose film is a semi-improvised recreation and document of the self destructive relationship between the director's father and his partner. The first part of the interview was included in last month's Art-House Podcast and tonight's show is edited by Alex Fitch.
Check back here around 10.30pm BST to download the show or click on one of the following links to download / stream the show from the Internet Archive, Feedburner or iTunes...

*While Resonance FM moves studios across London... The podcast only shows will then be broadcast on FM in the Autumn

Links: Official movie homepage
Read a partial transcription of Virginie's interview in Electric Sheep Magazine
Info about the remaining screenings of the film at the ICA

Podcast: Stuart Gordon and the cinema of the extreme

Last night's show is now available to download... (mp3 format, 26.6mb)

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

Tonight's show: Stuart Gordon and the cinema of the extreme

Concluding directors month on IR4MCU, Alex Fitch interviews director Stuart Gordon about his new film 'Edmond' based on the play by David Mamet. Having made his name with classic H.P. Lovecraft adaptations 'Re-animator' and 'From Beyond' in the eighties and sci-fi B movies in the nineties, Gordon has now returned to his experimental theatre roots with this adaptation that may garner his biggest audience yet...

10.30pm BST Resonance 104.4FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com

Links: Official movie website
IMDb pages on Edmond, Stuart Gordon and David Mamet
Wikipedia pages on Edmond, Stuart Gordon and David Mamet

Podcast: Making a new Picture of Dorian Gray

Last night's show is now available to download... (mp3 format, 28.7mb)

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

Tonight's show: Making a new Picture of Dorian Gray

In the second of today's shows leading up to Pride Weekend and continuing director's month on IR4MCU, Alex Fitch talks to British director Duncan Roy about his new movie. Following his terrific debut A.K.A., Roy returns to the topic of the social classes (albeit relocated to the New York art scene) with his adaptation of Oscar Wilde's classic novel...
N.B. Dorian Gray is showing next at The Cambridge film festival (download a PDF of the programme - it's on page 31) on the 12th & 14th of July...

10.30pm BST Resonance 104.4FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com

Links: Official movie website
IMDb page on The Picture of Dorian Gray
Duncan's myspace page
Interview with Duncan in Indie Wire magazine
Wikipedia list of Dorian Gray adaptations