Category: Book

Book: REVOLUTION IN 35MM

A new book! Not mine, but one in which I have written a chapter, edited by the talented duo of Andrew Nette and Samm Deighan, Revolution in 35mm: Political Violence and Resistance in Cinema from the Arthouse to the Grindhouse, 1960 to 1990.

Andrew Nette, who contributed to my own book on Bride of Frankenstein, asked me to pen a piece on political violence in feminist cinema. It’s fair to say, I was reluctant. The pitch was broad, and feminist cinema is outside my comfort zone. However, after a little coaching from Andrew and negotiating a narrower focus on three seminal films of the late second-wave – A Question of Silence (1982, dir. Marleen Gorris), Born in Flames (1983, dir. Lizzie Borden) and Camila (1984, dir. Maria Luisa Bemberg) – I decided to challenge myself and give it a crack.

The result can be found in the final chapter of Andrew and Samm’s book, with a title that can’t be repeated here (a direct quote from the concluding moments of the Gorris film).

This book reads good, looks good (that cover – sigh) and even smells good. I hope you buy it.

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BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN’s honourable mention at the 2024 Rondos

The votes are in and, while BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN – the product of many talented film writers didn’t win a 2024 Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Book of the Year (non-fiction), it did get an honourable mention. Huzzah!

Thank you to all of those who voted, and congrats to the winners 🙏

PS. If you’re not familiar with Rondo Hatton the Man, here’s some more info (and a glorious mug you’ll never forget – see featured image): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rondo_Hatton

PPS. Time for a celebratory smoko with Frankie 🚬

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Touched by an angel: Miss Salome Jens

Jez and I have been doing the media rounds for our book on SECONDS. The fruits of our labour include this piece that we wrote for the excellent publication, Diabolique Magazine, featuring an interview with the divine Miss Salome Jens that was conducted specifically for the SECONDS book.

She also talks about her noteworthy screen debut in ANGEL BABY (1961, additionally Burt Reynolds’ debut), which is quite the film, if you’re not familiar with it.

I encourage you to read on, and appreciate the mastery of an actor who has never really been appreciated for the full extent of her talents.

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Buy the book on SECONDS

Want to know more about John Frankenheimer’s criminally overlooked monolith of paranoia, SECONDS (1966)?

SECONDS by Jez Conolly and Emma Westwood, part of the Constellations series of sci-fi cinema books, is available from your favourite book pusher but you can also buy direct from the publisher, Liverpool University Press.

It may be the best film you’ve never seen. So watch now then digest this tasty monograph.

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Pre-order SECONDS book

This book has been brewing for a while now, so I couldn’t think of a better way to end 2020 than to announce SECONDS is now available for pre-order (with a proposed release date of 21st April 2021).

It’s been such an amazing experience co-authoring with Jez Conolly and following his creative lead with this project. Hopefully, we can introduce SECONDS to a new audience and give the film at least some of the acclaim it deserves.

Viva Rock Hudson!

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Tonight, on a Very Special Episode: When TV Sitcoms Sometimes Got Serious

Lee Gambin has outdone himself with this spectacular book on the phenomenon that was the ‘Very Special Episode’, where American television sitcoms would explore more serious subject matter. It’s a niche topic but maybe not as niche as you would expect, given Lee’s book tops 525 pages… and there’s another volume to come!

In this first volume, a huge array of Very Special Writers (as Lee calls them), analyse Very Special Episodes from the years between 1956 and 1985. The arsenal of writers Lee has assembled is formidable, many of whom I’m proud to call my friends, and who all come together to create a Very Special Book unlike anything published to date.

I’m also proud to be of one of the many contributors, with three essays on what I think is a particularly special television sitcom, Good Times. It might feel uncomfortable for some to see a white Australian girl writing about a very culturally black American series but, that’s the thing about art and artists, they build bridges between culturally disperse groups and enable us to walk in the shoes of others. That’s what Good Times did for me, and I am grateful for the tolerance and understanding it taught me as a little girl.

Tonight on a Very Special Episode: When TV Sitcoms Sometimes Got Serious is available at all the usual outlets and I really do urge you to buy it.

You can also listen to Lee talk about the book on the Radio Labyrinth podcast or watch it on YouTube instead, if that’s your flavour.

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I’ve co-written a new book: SECONDS

FINALLY, I can share the news that Jez Conolly and I are in the final stages of a book for Auteur Publishing’s Constellations science fiction imprint on John Frankenheimer’s much-underrated masterpiece, SECONDS, from 1966.

We’ve been at it across the past 12 months, working away quietly under wraps. But, the manuscript has now been sent to our publisher, John Atkinson. This thing is real!

I can’t thank Jez enough for (a) asking me to be his co-author and (b) providing such beautiful writing to encourage me (hopefully) to be better. I would dare to even call the experience ‘transformative’.

I’m so looking forward to giving SECONDS the attention this magnificent film deserves. It is really something very, very special, which our book is attempting to fully capture for the first time in long-form print.

Thank you, too, to Salome Jens, who is resplendent in the role of Nora Marcus, and who kindly agreed to be interviewed as part of our research.

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Secret project… watch this space…

As the festive season descends, I feel it necessary to warn people that I’m locking myself in the ‘laboratory’ for a period of time while I work on a ‘secret’ writing project that needs to be hatched before the end of January.

This means my social life will be significantly curbed, except for the occasional seasonal gathering and media screening. After all, I don’t want to be a complete Xmas Grinch!

To my friends, please understand that my refusal of any social shenanigans is simply because, if I don’t be careful, I will go INSANE. And, I also risk being lynched by Jez Conolly, who is a very scary man indeed.

Looking forward to birthing this baby and announcing it to the world. Much love in classic cinema and writing…

SECRET PROJECT IS REVEALED HERE

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