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Sonja and Claytox look back on the greatest series ever created (ok, there might be a small debate there), but you can hear from them in the podcast.

Here is what Sarah Michelle Geller had to say on the anniversary:

20 years ago today, I had the greatest privilege to bring Buffy to your tv screens for the first time. It was a long and challenging road to get there. First the movie, then a passed over pilot presentation, and eventually a 20 years ago today, I had the greatest privilege to bring Buffy to your tv screens for the first time. It was a long and challenging road to get there. First the movie, then a passed over pilot presentation, and eventually a mid season time slot on a little known network. That first season, we liked to think of ourselves as the little show that could. While we knew the potential, I don’t think any of us saw the lasting impact our show would have. As an actor, you wish for that one role where you can leave your mark and forever be remembered, with Buffy I got so much more. She’s a feminist challenge to gender hierarchy. Buffy may have been the Chosen One, but I was the lucky one. Thank you to Gail Berman for always believing there was a show in that movie. Thank you to Joss Whedon, for trusting me to give life to one of the greatest female characters ever created. Thank you to David, for always being my Angel. Thank you to James for understanding that while Buffy and Spike may have been love/hate, I have nothing but love for you. Alyson, as any woman knows, you are nothing without the love and support of great female friends, so thank you for being that. Michelle, you will always hold a key to my heart. Thank you to all the incredible actors for seven seasons of amazing performances. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the incredible crew that worked tirelessly (and also really tired) to bring this show to life. And lastly, but most importantly thank you to all of you, the fans. We made this show for you, and your unwavering support has kept this show going long past our seven years. You are everything. And always remember…”if the apocalypse comes, beep me” #buffyslays20

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The great Drew Barrymore returns with the Santa Clarita. Sonja and Clayton chat this amazing show. Her career and they total love and admiration of her. Drew is a great addition to our Women In Horror month. 

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Don’t forget to check out the blood drive PSAs, mini horror films designed to get people out giving blood.

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‘Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open’ – Albus Dumbledore,Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire  by J.K Rowling

Sonja Hammer is in the studio for this special podcast with Haydn Klemm one of the organisers of the Melbourne Queer Comic Club :’An inclusive and friendly group for LGBT people and allies who love comics. Come along to our monthly meetings to talk comics and meet new friends!’ 

Haydn helps us catch up on the last meet up where ‘Love is Love’ the : ” response to the tragic summer shooting, ( June 2016),at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, FL, IDW PUBLISHING collaborated with writers, artists and creators from across the world to build LOVE IS LOVE, an anthology of stories celebrating love in all its forms. With support from DC ENTERTAINMENT and some of the greatest talents in entertainment, the anthology presents tales of no more than 1 to 2 pages each, spread across a 144-page oversized love-letter to the LGBTQ community honoring the victims, survivors and families of the tragedy. All materials have been donated, with all proceeds from sales of the comic going to EQUALITY FLORIDA, a 501(c)4 organization dedicated to securing justice and equality for Florida’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.”

The project is curated by writer Marc Andreyko (BATWOMAN, WONDER WOMAN ’77) with collaborators from all walks of life.

‘Andreyko described the book further, saying “It’s called “Love is Love” — the tagline I’m using, that I stole from someone else on the Internet, is, “It doesn’t matter who you love, just love somebody.” Some of the stories are very powerful and very specific to Orlando, a couple people who lost friends and family have done pieces for the book; people that live in Orlando have done pieces for the book. Some people have done pieces that aren’t Orlando-specific, but they’re about love; there are one and two-page stories, there are pin-ups, there are illustrated poems. DC is letting us use their characters in the book.” from an article found here 

List of creative contributors here  

This Months meet up is on Monday Feb 27th at Hares & Hyenas in Melbourne:

Our book this month is Vision vol 1: Little Worse Than a Man (2015, w: Tom King a: Gabriel Hernandez Walta, #1–6).

Vision, a synthetic man and member of the Avengers, decides to build himself a synthetic nuclear family. Like all nuclear families, it’s intense, creepy and not a great idea. King’s writing makes the title part Blue Velvet, with a splash of Watchmen.

This title was a brave direction at a time when the character hit the mainstream thanks to the Marvel Avengers 2 film.
We will follow this book with volume 2 in March.
Entry by donation.

Below: Hayn Klemm from the Melbourne Queer Comic Club 

We dedicate this podcast to the families and loved ones who lost someone due to the Orlando tragedy.

Link here to make donations

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3 x RINGS prize packs, each containing:

A double in-season pass; poster; iPad case and notebook.

Listen in to the audio to find out how to win. 

A new chapter in the beloved RING horror franchise.

A young woman becomes worried about her boyfriend when he explores a dark subculture surrounding a mysterious videotape said to kill the watcher seven days after he has viewed it. She sacrifices herself to save her boyfriend and in doing so makes a horrifying discovery: there is a “movie within the movie” that no one has ever seen before…

Facebook: facebook.com/ParamountPicturesAU

Website: www.RingsMovie.com.au

Twitter: @ParamountAU

Instagram: @ParamountAU

#Rings3 #SamaraReturns

IN CINEMAS FEBRUARY 23

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and Sonja chooses Horror Comedy franchise Scary Movie’s Brenda Meeks played by Regina Hall, a strong African American woman and a hilarious talent who made the Scary Movies worthy of a watch -slaying it everytime!

‘Fans of Stranger Things have had fun picking through all of the Netflix hit’s retro references, from the copious E.T. homages to that John Carpenter-esque synth score. But the best nod to the past isn’t the hairstyles, the marathon Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, or even the soundtrack full of New Order and Echo & The Bunnymen songs. No, the real stroke of nostalgic genius is the casting of Winona Ryder as distraught single mom Joyce Byers. From the moment the actress appears, the pulse of every 1980s kid starts to quicken.’ rest of the Rolling Stone article here

MORE Winona here : ‘Doe-eyed and dark-haired, Ryder appeared, for young people who identified outside the mainstream, to be a kindred spirit. She entered pop consciousness in late ’80s as a cult-movie ingénue of sorts, first as the goth pixie Lydia Deetz in Tim Burton‘s absurdist Beetlejuice (1988), and then as Veronica, a too-smart recruit to the mean-girls clique, in the dark revenge comedy Heathers (1989). Soon after, she established her indie cred in Jim Jarmusch‘s Night on Earth (1991) and embodied the Gen X zeitgeist in Ben Stiller’s Reality Bites (1994), in effect, becoming an icon of quirky angst, and in the process, revealing herself to be one of the most precociously talented actresses of her generation.’

LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 29: Cast of ‘Stranger Things’ accepts Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series onstage during The 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 29, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. 

LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 29: Winona Ryder and David Harbour of ‘Stranger Things’ accept the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series onstage during The 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 29, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. 26592_014 (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images )

And you could WIN a serious prize if you just listen to this podcast !

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Linking from Hurt, the duo goes on to talk about the future of Doctor Who and provide their opinions on who should take up the role now that Capaldi is departing.

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Sonja speaks on the phone to Pop Culture expert, author, and broadcaster Maria Lewis about the importance of Fisher and Reynolds on women in Hollywood and Fisher’s advocacy for Mental Health.

Contained withing this podcast are a number of interviews over the years with Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds from numerous television outlets, plus also two interviews that were done on air from JOY 949 in 2010 ( you can find those here and here).

R.I.P you true Brightest of Stars.

Actress Debbie Reynolds with her daughter Carrie Fisher

Return of the Jedi continuity polaroids

The shock of the news that the woman who played Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise passed away on Tuesday the 27th of December and suddenly the passing of her mother, iconic Hollywood screen legend Debbie Reynolds 24 hours later was a double whammy for geek and fans of the pair everywhere.

Above Pic Left to Right Carrie Fisher,Debbie Reynolds and Billie Lourd.

Carrie Frances Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016)

Mary Frances “Debbie” Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016)

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The crew at Sci-Fi and Squeam wish Carrie Fisher all the best in her recovery.

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Interview here with Dr Jennifer Hazel from CheckPoint here 

Check out the podcasts of Girls Makes Games when Sonja spoke to founder Laila Shabir  when they were in Australia in Jan 2015 here:

Laila Shabir interview here 

Girls Make Games 2015 :This is the LIVE AUDIO as it happened of the event that was held where the girls presented the fabulous games they made themselves at the camp! Listen Here  

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LINKS HERE of topics and News discussed in this Podcast:

America Chavez, Women in Comics Festival at AllStar Comics in December 2016 and events at ACMI, Chelsea Cain, Queer Women of Colour in comics , Jessica Jones Season 2, Ariell Johnson and Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse,Princess Princess by Katie O’Neill.

Below: America Chavez

Below: the awesome cover from Marvel of Amalgam Comics and Coffeehouse’s Ariell Johnson.

Below: Melbourne Queer Comic Club’s Haydn Klemm and #LGBTFansDeserveBetter T Shirt:

‘Help spread the message about positive LGBT representation in the media! So far, 2016 has not been the greatest year for LGBT representation in the media. In 6 months, we’ve had to watch countless LGBT role models die at the hands of tone-deaf show runners and writers. LGBT fans deserve better. Storytellers must do better.

Both Haydn and Sonja strongly disapprove of the sexist harassment online of Chelsea Cain, and of any women online.More details here:

‘This isn’t the first time that a woman has been attacked for being a minority in her industry: The Gamer Gate movement on Twitter harassed female videogame developers like Anita Sarkeesian and Brianna Wu, and attacked actress and activist Ashley Judd for tweeting about sports. The Washington Post dubbed the controversy “a battle over who belongs to the mainstream—and as such, it’s a battle for our cultural soul.” Cain’s experience on Twitter reflects similar pitfalls in the comic-book industry, where female authors and characters lag far behind their male counterparts.’

Below the Mockingbird comic cover that caused many male tears and ended with the woman creator to be driven off twitter due to harassment.

Sonja also mentions briefly the new book called Queer A Graphic History by Meg-John Barker and cartoons and illustrations by Julia Scheele.

What’s it about:

‘Queer: A Graphic History is a groundbreaking non-fiction comic book that tells the histories of queer thought and activism. At its heart are questions and ideas relevant to everybody, such as whether we have fixed identities, understanding gender as a performance, and challenging binaries such as gay/straight or nature/nurture.

Bringing together pop-culture, activism and academic theory, Queer: A Graphic History explores the various ways in which people have wrestled with issues of sexual identity and behaviour, from studies like Alfred Kinsey’s view of sexuality as a spectrum, to Johnson and Masters’ research into sexual response. It also explores queer moments or directions in everything from Sherlock Holmes to Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz.’

Published by ICON BOOKS,U.K. 

Below,Left: Haydn Klemm and artwork by Astro Twitch , and Right: Women in Comics Festival coming soon in December.

Thanks to Haydn Klemm and Andy Hawken.

Footnote, Sonja apologises that she incorrectly named the Blood Orange song on the podcast,it is in fact called I KNOW.

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The podcast is a little lengthy, but there was just so much to discuss. So bare with us and stick around.

To whet your appetite, here is a bit of an image gallery.

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Writer Simon Barrett and Director Adam Wingard seen at Lionsgate’s “Blair Witch” screening at 2016 Comic-Con

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Sonja and Claytox hit the studio for another podcast, by starting with a tribute to Gene Wilder. This great talent has an amazing body of work and will be missed by all.

With their first review, the duo chats the new series by the Duffer brothers, Stranger Things, with perhaps a slightly different take on this popular series. 

Sonja goes it alone to chat the Australian film, Girl Asleep created by Adelaidian Rosemary Myers.

Next up, Claytox heads into the library to chat about the book, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children. Soon to be a feature by Tim Burton, he looks at the comparison between the novel and what we have seen thus far through the trailer.

Sonja battles Nazi bratwursts in her review of Kevin Smith’s Yoga Hosers.

The team show their her excitement for the upcoming series Westworld, featuring Evan Rachel Wood and the amazing Anthony Hopkins. Based on the 70s film of the same name, this promises much. Finally they chat a bit of American Gods and Blair Witch. 

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Xavier talks about Otto Bloom and Time Travel and his experiences as a vampire in the Twilight world of Eclipse,working with Aussie director Sean Byrne in the cult classic local horror The Loved Ones and his new role as a Jane Austen character in the period drama comedy Love and Friendship directed by Whit Stillman.

We ask him what is his favourite Horror film and what it was like working with Kristen Stewart and what comic book villain would he like to play?

What is The Death and Life of Otto Bloom:

Otto Bloom is experiencing his life in reverse, passing through time backwards while remembering the future. Is he a psychic, a time traveller, a madman or living proof of Einstein’s theory of relativity?

When neuropsychologist Dr Ada Fitzgerald was called in to examine Otto Bloom, a young man with amnesia and an uncanny ability to predict upcoming events, little did she know the experience would change her life – and upend humanity’s understanding of time itself. Bloom claimed he experienced time in reverse, with our future his past. He also seemed to know more about Ada than she knew herself.

We all know the truth now, of course, and in this MIFF Premiere Fund-supported feature debut, Melbourne director Cris Jones (short films The Funk, MIFF 2008; Excursion, MIFF 2003) assembles a who’s who of Bloom’s nearest and dearest to try to unravel the incredible mystery of the man: artistic genius, messianic visionary, madman … he may have been all these things, but more than anything, he was just a man searching for love and meaning in a bewildering world.

Featuring Rachel Ward (The Thorn Birds) as the present-day Ada Fitzgerald and her daughter Matilda Brown as her younger self, with Xavier Samuel (the Twilight series) wonderfully enigmatic as Otto Bloom, this ingenious chronicle follows in the footsteps of The Infinite Man and Predestination (both screened at MIFF in 2014) while taking Australian drama to creatively mind-bending new heights. Produced by Melanie Coombs (the Oscar-winning Harvie Krumpet, MIFF 2003) with Alicia Brown and Mish Armstong, The Death and Life of Otto Bloom is a magnificently brain-twisting, deeply moving and wildly inventive tale of love in the time of retrochronology.

LINK here to the following screenings of Otto Bloom.

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It plays for one more session on Friday August the 12th 2016.

“FIND WHAT YOU LOVE, AND LET IT KILL YOU……..”

Above : Artwork by Stephen Kasner, who is a practicing Satanist.

Description of The Devil’s Candy :

‘A struggling painter is possessed by satanic forces after he and his young family move into their dream home in rural Texas, in this creepy haunted-house tale from Australian writer-director Sean Byrne (The Loved Ones).’

Below: Director Sean Byrne.

‘Australian writer-director Sean Byrne burst onto the horror scene with the delightfully demented torture-garden thriller The Loved Ones, which won the Midnight Madness People’s Choice Award in 2009. Now, in his first American film, he offers an equally distinctive take on the haunted-house tale, avoiding the clichés of the genre and creating an atmosphere as creepily oppressive as Jesse’s haunting and disturbing canvases. As the supernatural threat draws ever closer to its victims, Byrne demonstrates once again that he knows how to inflict excruciating torment — both physical and psychological — on his unfortunate characters, and supremely nasty thrills on his audiences.’ – Colin Geddes TIFF 2016.

Below: artist Stephen Kasner, whose paintings featuring in The Devil’s Candy.

About Sean Byrne: born in Hobart, Tasmania, and is currently based in Los Angeles. He graduated with an M.A. from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. His shorts include Sport (99), Work? (00),Sunday (00), Ben (01), and Advantage (07). His feature debut, The Loved Ones (09), played the Festival and won the Midnight Madness People’s Choice Award. The Devil’s Candy (15) is his latest film.

Below: Sean Byrne’s debut feature The Loved Ones

This is a horror film made in the true spirit of metal: just like the music it’s inspired by, it’s loud and sometimes gruesome but also winningly earnest. Memo to projectionists: play it loud.

Below: Stephen Kasner, Artwork.

Music on this podcast by SunnO))) and Metallica.

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Sonja the Squeamer and Claytox embark on a second Melbourne International Film Festival adventure, with another four films.

The duo kicks things off with the rather bloody Baskin (translatin ‘Raid’). Directed by Can Evrenol, this film is only the 8th Turkish film to be released in the United States. A group of police officers head to provide backup but ended up in a hellish nightmare reality.

The Squeamer informs us about her experiences with the much anticipated The Neon Demon, the new film by Nicolas Winding Refn, director of Drive and Only God Forgives. Dissecting the world of fashion, “An intoxicating eyegasm to behold, the film draws inspiration from sources as varied as the legends of Narcissus and the Countess Báthory, Italian giallo and Alejandro Jodorowsky, Black Swan and Suspiria, and it absolutely revels in its psychedelic, psychotic excess.” (MIFF website)

Next up, the two head to the seas with The Lure. Two mermaids decide to join the land of the two legged and do what all good sirens do, join a band at an adult night club. As the two start snacking on those who get in their way, they make choices that complicate their lives. This musical (yep, you read that correctly) is directed by Agnieszka Smoczynska.

Finally, Sonja again goes it alone to look at Ben Wheatley’s High Rise. Based on the novel by JG Ballard, we get a look into the lives of the residents of a tower block of everyone’s dream.

Look out for more Sci Fi and Squeam Undead coming soon.

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FIND OUT MORE HERE CLICK

‘Born in Tasmania, the arts/law degree graduate moved to Sydney to work at the Classification Board at the Office of Film and Literature Classification. He soon started writing and directing shorts and did an MA in directing at AFTRS.

The filmmaker is acutely aware of how challenging it can be for Australian films to connect with local audiences. His seemingly simple solution: “Convince people to see your film in cinemas; make it a theatrical experience.” Excerpt from article here 

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David talks of the Maori world of spirituality and how that impacted this documentary made about the ‘exorcism’ of Janet Moses.

‘Belief examines the 2007 death of young Wainuiomata mother Janet Moses during an attempted exorcism. The film uses a blend of interviews and reenactments to explore a tragedy which director David Stubbs believes was caused by “fear and love mixing and turning into hysteria”. The case was reported around the world. In 2009 five members of Janet’s close family were charged in relation to her death. Shortly before Belief debuted in the 2015 NZ International Film Festival, The Herald’s Peter Calder described it as “compelling and heartbreaking”.’

‘Belief’ will be screening at this years Melbourne International Film Festival, it’s first international festival on August 1st 2016, for details click here .

‘What we do is create wonderful lies. We engineer, fabricate, twist and turn stories — drama, comedy and documentary — and with a bit of luck the lies will reveal a magical truth. Hopefully accompanied by tears, laughter or goose-bumps’.David Stubbs

Karakia for this Podcast:

Unuhia, unuhia
Unuhia ki te uru tapu nui
Kia wātea, kia māmā, te ngākau, te tinana, te wairua i te ara takatā
Koia rā e Rongo, whakairia ake ki runga
Kia tina! TINA! Hui e! TĀIKI E!

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‘As a mother and daughter struggle to cope with the terrors of the post-revolution, war torn Tehran of the 80s, a mysterious evil begins to haunt their home.’

“Under the Shadow” smartly observes the emotions stirred up by a world defined by restrictions, and the terrifying possibility that they might be inescapable.’ excerpt from Indie Wire .com 

Under The Shadow played very recently at The Melbourne International Film Festival 2016.

More about the director Babak Anvari (from his webpage):

BABAK IS A BAFTA NOMINATED, AWARD WINNING FILMMAKER BASED IN LONDON. HIS FEATURE FILM DEBUT ‘UNDER THE SHADOW’ WILL BE PREMIERED AT SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL IN 2016. HE ALSO WORKED FOR MTV UK AND IRELAND AS ONE OF THE DIRECTORS OF MTV LIVE SESSIONS AND DIRECTED LIVE PERFORMANCES FOR RENOWNED ARTISTS SUCH AS LADY GAGA, FLORENCE & THE MACHINE, PIXIE LOTT, TINIE TEMPAH, ETC.

Below director of Under the Shadow: Babak Anvari on set.

And on the producer Oliver Roskill ( from WigwamFilms page) : Oliver began his production career with Centrifugal Films in New York, where he worked on a number of independent feature films, including CONFESS and DIGGERS. In 2005, Oliver returned to London, working with leading production companies such as RSA, Blink and Pulse films. Oliver joined Filmworks Dubai in 2008, producing commercials for clients such as Pepsi, General Motors and Emirates.

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