Forgotten masterpiece: “Targets” by Bruce Jones from Son of Mutant World #1, published by Fantagor Press, 1993.
A journalist writing about a new show that would hopefully have viewers embrace science fiction in a new way.
Mark McConville, of Superego and Pistol Shrimps Radio fame (both amazing, funny and amazingly funny btw) told this great story on twitter today - about how Prince was all killer, no filler.
Thanks, @personaaugratin.
Tonight, we say goodbye, and toast its demise.
Incidentally, here is what I think is pretty much everything I’ve written about Phonogram over the last decade:
- 2007 interview with Kieron and Jamie
- Singles Club #1 review
- Singles Club #2 review
- Singles Club #3 review
- Singles Club #4 review
- Singles Club #5 review
- Singles Club #6 review
- Singles Club #7 review
- 30 Days of Comics #28: A Comic That’s Inspired You
- “Panic” (my strip for Phonogram vs the Fans, art by Kat Stevens)
- Phonomancy (or: Why Phonogram Matters) Part 1: Is It Something I Do To Myself
- Phonomancy (or: Why Phonogram Matters) Part 2: Trying To Find The Perfect Match Between Pretentious And Pop
- Immaterial Girl #1 review
- Phonomancy (or: Why Phonogram Matters) Part 3: Synchronicity and Coincidence and Poetry
Will they be the last words I ever write about it, now that it’s finally over and done with? Eh, probably not. I doubt Phonogram is something that will ever let me go.
The most personal of all films in Francis Ford Coppola’s repertoire was born between two big projects that helped Coppola gain the reputation he enjoys today, the first two parts of The Godfather trilogy. Two huge, big-budgeted movies, and a tiny personal story filmed between them, but an expertly made film that captured the nation’s state of mind and emotion after the Watergate scandal. The Conversation, starring the great Gene Hackman, is a subtle and restrained film about a professional eavesdropper, lonely and alienated, who uses his nifty gadgets to invade the privacy of the people around him. Coppola began meddling with the idea in 1966, but the first draft was penned three years later, with the film hitting theaters as late as 1974. The impact it made at the box office was negligible, even though it was hardly a failure. But with time, the film’s reputation grew, and today it’s considered one of Coppola’s very best. One of the perks of managing this website is definitely the challenge of finding rare treasures. This delightful discovery, a Filmmakers Newsletter interview from May, 1974, conducted by Brian De Palma, illuminates the process of this little masterpiece’s creation. And who’s more qualified to conduct such an insightful conversation with Coppola than a passionate fellow filmmaker.
Filmmakers Newsletter was a well-respected magazine with articles abounding in technical information, as well as extensive analyses of both contemporary films and those who played significant roles in the historical development of the art and business. This particular article can be classified as an impressive read thanks to the sheer quantity of interesting details regarding the development and production of The Conversation, but also to Coppola’s honest answers to De Palma’s perceptive questions. The fact that we’re talking about a piece of journalism virtually lost to the rest of the world only enhances the value of the interview, a six-page exploration of Coppola’s filmmaking technique, personal preferences, inner motivations and desires both before and after he steps onto the film set.
If you care to find out the nature of the connection between The Conversation and Henry VIIIth, why Coppola’s not in awe of Hitchcock’s artistry or why the acclaimed director admits the commencement of shooting often finds him in a “pants down” position, we urge you to read this wonderful interview as soon as possible.
Francis Ford Coppola and Brian De Palma: ‘The Conversation’ Between Two Great Filmmakers
CHEWBACCA ACTOR PETER MAYHEW IS RELEASING PHOTOS OF AN EARLY STAR WARS SCRIPT
The photos are of his own copy of The Adventures of Luke Starkiller, as written in March 1976 — the film we know as A New Hope.
