THE TAINTED ARCHIVE

TV Cops - San Francisco's finest

2012-01-27T13:35:00.001-08:00

If you thought that Dirty Harry was the only cop that mattered in San Francisco then you clearly don't watch enough retro TV.

Detective Lt. Mike Stone is a widower with over 20 years experience on the force. He is partnered by 28 year old Insp. Steve Keller. Cue the basic premise for one of TV's best loved cop shows. Of course given the casting - veteran Karl Malden and spawn of Kirk, Michael Douglas it was pretty much assured this show was going to be a cut above.

There were 120 episodes made between 1972 and 1977 and as well as it's stellar cast the show was also know for the quality of it's guest stars - Leslie Nielsen, James Woods, Nick Nolte, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cal Bellini, Pat Conway, Patty Duke, Richard Eastham, Don Keefer, Flip Mark, John Ritter, Robert Wagner, Rick Nelson, Wayne Maunder, Dick Van Patten, Mark Hamill, Stefanie Powers, Martin Sheen, Tom Bosley, Tom Selleck, Larry Hagman, Bill Bixby, Norman Fell, Anthony Geary, Beverly Washburn, Michael Constantine, Paul Michael Glaser, David Soul, and Meredith Baxter, among many others. Even Michael Douglas' own mother, Diana Douglas, guest-starred in a season two episode, "Chapel of the Damned".

Michael Douglas left the show after the second episode of the fifth and final season and Richard Hatch was introduced as Insp. Dan Robbins but the ratings were never the same and the show was cancelled at the end of the season.

It was revived in 1992 for an NBC TV Movie, Back to the Streets of San Francisco with Karl Malden now chief of detectives. And the show is currently rumoured to be getting a remake from CBS.

TV'S First cops

2012-01-27T13:32:00.001-08:00

Originally transmitted after, "The Toddlers Truce," in the popular Saturday evening slot, Fabian of the Yard would eventually move to Wednesday evenings. The show was inspired by the success of US shows such as Dragnet but also by real life Chief Detective Inspector Bob Fabian - the real Bob Fabian would pop up, talking to camera after the show, highlighting his real cases that had inspired that week's episode.

The show was a hit for CBS in the US where it was titled Patrol Car.

Trivia - When the real Bob Fabian retired from the Yard he went onto become the guardian of the questions on The 64,000 Question.

Unlike many TV shows of the day Fabian was made on film which gave it a much more realistic look than most of the studio-bound TV shows and several episodes were edited together to make feature films that recieved a cinema release - Fabian of the Yard (1954) and Handcuffs, London (1955).

The show was a huge success in its day and ran from 1954 - 1956 - I've seen several surviving episodes on tape and although the show is dated, it does hold up.

Dixon of Dock Green which came about in 1955 and incredibly ran until 1976 was an even bigger hit with the British public. George Dixon first saw light in the 1949 Rank film, The Blue Lamp and was promptly murdered by a young Dirk Bogarde. But the policeman had struck a chord with film fans and so creator, Ted Willis brought the character back when the BBC were looking for a replacement for Fabian of the Yard.

Episodes have from time to time been aired on BBC TV and there are also some clips on sites such as You Tube - the show is incredibly dated but it was showing it age even in its day. It's is incredible to think that the last series was shown when shows like The Sweeney were running.

Dixon's London is a city where crooks, when confronted by the police would hold out their hands to be cuffed and say, 'It's a fair cop,' And at the end of each episode Dixon would deliever a monologue into camera designed to reassure viewers that crimes such as these depicted were rare.

The show really is a TV classic - the scene of Dixon walking through the London smog, whistling, 'maybe it's because I'm a Londoner.' really is an iconic image of retro TV.

DR WHO - Is Matt Smith on the way out?

2012-01-27T13:20:00.000-08:00

With so many changes due in the next season of Doctor Who including several of the main cast leaving the show, fans are wondering if Matt Smith too is about to call it a day. Matt hinted at such on a INTERNET message board last year but now that speculation has reached fever pitch the actor is stepping back from suggestions that he is to go.

"I always knew that me and Karen would have slightly different journeys in the show. People say, 'Are you not sad?' I am sad because I have enjoyed worked with Karen and Arthur [Darvill], they are wonderful guys. But the show is bigger than all of us actors in it. It's bigger than everyone in it and it will continue far longer, way after me ... I'm here for the future, I love working on the show. I have no plans to leave" Matt Smith

However Smith made comments at the National TV Awards that suggested that this season will be his last - ""I've got a year of Who and then I'll take it from there really," Smith said. "I am interested in films, I've always loved the idea and process of films and I am actually interested in directing." Matt Smith

So will this next season be the last for Matt Smith's Doctor? No-one really knows but it's sure going to be interesting finding out. But between Matt Smith possibly hinting at the end of his tenure and a storyline that strongly suggests an end-point, the possibility of a Twelfth Doctor is starting to look a bit more likely and the bookies have now started taking bets on who will be the next Doctor.

Sherlock the third

2012-01-27T06:14:00.000-08:00

Guy Ritchie is to make a third Sherlock Holmes movie but this time the story will be set in America - Guy is keen to shoot in the US – which will suit leading man Robert Downey Jr, who's based in the States.
A source said: "Guy has loved making the movies and he gets on really well with all the cast.
"But Robert's had to spend large parts of the year in the UK filming so will probably welcome the move back home.
"He loves the UK, and London in particular but having home comforts close by is such a big bonus."

Drew Pearce is to write Sherlock Holmes 3. The deal will soon be sealed with Pearce, who is currently writing Iron Man 3, which will also star Downey.

Will it be a battle of The Saints?

2012-01-26T04:01:00.000-08:00

It's seems that 2012 is the year of the battles over classic heroes. Not only do we have the BBC V CBS over the rights to a modern Sherlock Holmes bout in full swing, but now The Saint has thrown down his halo and clenched his fists

Variety are reporting that .RKO Pictures is reviving Simon Templar and "The Saint," signing Travis Wright ("Eagle Eye") to pen a script based on the debonair hero with an eye to developing a trilogy with producer Rick Porras. Projects will be based on remake rights to three of the nine "Saint" films in RKO's library, but will this cause conflict with the ongoing project by Geoffrey Moore (son of Roger) to bring the character back to the small screen?

The franchise features Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like figure who punishes corrupt politicians and businessmen as well as mashing mobsters and bashing bruisers.

The character first debuted in Leslie Charteris's novel Meet the Tiger, which spawned a long-running series of books. RKO owns the rights to several films based on The Saint, including 1938's The Saint in New York and its follow-ups. It will be interesting to see how the films develop as Ian Dickerson, president of The Saint Fan Club pointed out on his Facebook page that - "RKO have the rights to remake their films as long as they don't change the dialogue or the length of the pictures. They must be remade as films for the cinema, they do not have any TV rights. So if they remake The Saint Meets the Tiger it'll be 79 min long, Saint in New York 69 mins. Hardly feature film length nowadays.."

And what of the new TV series? Will we ever see it? In recent years we've heard that James Purefoy had been cast as The Saint, then it was Dougray Scott. Ahh well, only time will tell...just as long as they don't cast Daniel Craig.

Pets of the rich and famous

2012-01-26T03:41:00.000-08:00

World War II Timeline in movies - 4 The Propaganda War

2012-01-26T03:32:00.000-08:00

When war broke out in 1939 Britain's cinemas were closed, however the value of films in keeping up morale was soon realized and the cinemas were reopened. They had been closed for only ten days before an Parliament decided to reopen them and they became the main source of entertainment and recreation during the troubled times.

The earliest British war film, The Lion has wings which produced at a breakneck speed by Alexandra Korda was a curious mix of documentary and drama and whilst it may not have worked as a film, copies were laughed t in Berlin it did lead to more effective propaganda being worked into dramatic presentations.

The movies were effective in saying that the old class system should be put aside and that this was was the people's war, and the Ealing war films represented these new ideas. The same studio made The Foreman went to France in 1942) which showed how an ordinary man, a working stiff, retrieved a vital piece of machinery from from France. And 1943's The Bells go Down showed the work of the fire service in London and placed stress on the ideals of comradeship and bravery. The movies showed that it was ordinary people who would win this war and the studio went so far as to completely destroy the image of the old style officer and gentleman in 1943's, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp.

Comradeship, cooperation, dedication to duty and self sacrifice typified the early British World War II movies. In Which we Serve (1942) was perhaps one of the first of the truly classic war movies. The three main characters are the captain, a petty officer and an ordinary seaman but they are all equal in their devotion to the ship and their duty to country. And The Way Ahead (1944) showed how a group of conscripts from all walks of life were turned into an elite fighting unit.

And it wasn't only the men who were fighting the war and 1943's The Gentle Sex showed how a group of women were turned into defenders of the nation in the territorial army. Britain was at war and the cinema had no time to question what was going on, or stand back and consider the morality of war, there were battles to be won and on screen as in life we were going to get on with it.

It was a case of, keep a stiff upper lip old boy.

The Children of the night

2012-01-26T02:51:00.000-08:00

As I’ve said in previous posts, horror movies are as old as cinema itself – versions of Frankenstein and Dr Jekyll were made in American as far back as 1908 and vampires first appeared in American movies in 1910 and a few years later the works of Edgar Allan Poe provided the backbone to D W Griffith’s The Avenging Conscience, and if we look at Europe we can find the birth of the modern horror movie with Germany’s Der Student Von Prag in 1913 and Der Golem in 1914. In fact German cinema had a lot to do with the early horror film and in 1919 The Cabinet of Dr Caligari set the blueprint for what was to become the modern horror film. In Dr Caligari a mad doctor invokes and controls a somnambulist, sending him to murder those who have sneered at his work.
These characters – the mad doctor and the monster he has created became the key elements of Hollywood horror.
There were many horror movies made during the silent period but it wasn’t until the coming of sound that the genre really took off.
Universal became the home of horror after a string of horror hits that started with Todd Browning’s Dracula and James Whale’s Frankenstein. Bela Lugosi recreated the role he had first played on the stage for Dracula and for a period he became the studio’s biggest money maker, but when Frankenstein which was originally to be directed by Robert Florey fell into the hands of James Whale the first true horror classic was born. And like Dr Caligari both films featured maidens terrorized by monsters before our square jawed hero comes to the rescue….ahh, simpler times! Before anyone knew it mad geniuses were everywhere, even Bela Lugosi’s Dracula can been seen as a mad genius of sorts – Doctor X (1932), Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) and Island of Lost Souls (1933) are just three of many movies that expanded upon the formula that had not yet been set in stone.

‘Listen to them, children of the night. What music they make.’
It was during this period that the first horror superstars were born, actors who would forever be associated with the genre. Lon Chaney was originally to have played Dracula in 1931 but the when the actor died the role fell into the hands of Bela Lugosi and the actor also inherited Chaney’s crown as the king of horror. Boris Karloff was excellent as the monster in James Whale’s Frankenstein. John Carradine made a far less effective Dracula than Lugosi but after he played the character he too was forever a horror actor. As was Lon Chaney Jr who carried the Chaney name forward while Vincent Price put the ham back into horror. It was not until the Hammer cycle of movies that actors would be so associated with the genre when Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing became the new icons. And since that period perhaps only Robert Englund and Bruce Campbell have attained the same level of genre identification.

So the next time you sit down to watch a horror movie, just remember that it’s roots stretch back to the dawn of cinema itself.

Sherlock Holmes: The plot thickens

2012-01-26T01:58:00.000-08:00

The problems between the BBC and CBS over the American network's planned modern day version of Sherlock Holmes has escalated with the BBC now issuing CBS with a legal warning.

The facts in the case are - For the past few years, BBC, along with Hartswood Films, has been imagining Holmes in modern times in the popular series Sherlock. A third season has just been announced.

From the Hollywood Reporter:
Last week, CBS announced a pilot for its own modern retelling of the Holmes story with the detective solving obscure cases in New York.
CBS' announcement set off alarm bells for producers of Sherlock, which has been showing in the U.S. on BBC America and on various PBS stations. According to The Independent, Sue Vertue, an executive producer on the series at Hartswood, had this to say about the development:

"We understand that CBS are doing their own version of an updated Sherlock Holmes. It's interesting, as they approached us a while back about remaking our show. At the time, they made great assurances about their integrity, so we have to assume that their modernised Sherlock Holmes doesn't resemble ours in any way, as that would be extremely worrying...We are very proud of our show and like any proud parent, will protect the interest and well being of our offspring."

The British press has interpreted this statement to signal a lawsuit ahead. Might CBS get in trouble for using the famous detective character?

"Our project is a contemporary take on Sherlock Homes that will be based on Holmes, Watson and other characters in the public domain, as well as original characters," CBS tells THR in a statement. "We are, of course, respectful of all copyright laws and will not infringe on any stories or works that may still be protected."

When it comes to the public domain, not everything is elementary. One decision last July at the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals might hold some clues about the types of claims that producers of Sherlock might make against CBS.

In the case, Warner Bros. sued a company that specialized in nostaligia merchandise for using movie posters and lobby cards for Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind and several Tom & Jerry short films. The 8th Circuit took up the question of whether the defendant had appropriated “original elements” of the film or merely elements that were already in the public domain. The appeals circuit handed Warners a win.
"There is no evidence that one would be able to visualize the distinctive details of, for example, Clark Gable’s performance before watching the movie Gone with the Wind, even if one had read the book beforehand," the justices wrote. "At the very least, the scope of the film copyrights covers all visual depictions of the film characters at issue."

In other words, the Eighth Circuit ruled that the features of on-screen characters can be copyrighted even if these characters were based on prior work. It potentially means that Sherlock producers can protect their own modern version of Sherlock Holmes, even though it is based on work from the 19th Century.

The lonesome cowboy

2012-01-25T11:19:00.000-08:00

He rides alone, entering the screen while the main titles play and exiting, if alive, in the same way at The End. He is the movie and the landscapes and characters that make up the story would not exist if not for him. He is alone and will remain alone, never able to form a relationship, forever haunted by things he has seen or things he has done.

The lonesome cowboy, the drifter, has been a part of the western for as long as western movies have existed - from the early silents when Harry Carey and William S. Hart defined the character to the modern day with actors like Clint Eastwood carrying on the tradition. In the silents the drifter was usually a amiable fellow, a good bad guy if you like and it wasnt't until the 1950's when Hollywood began to tinker with the stereotype and create the derivative of the character that we know and love today, that the template was set.

He became the anti-hero.

Alan Ladd's Shane (1953) is a perfect example of the mysterious drifter. He seems a good guy, a gentle soul but there is something about him that suggests he could become meanness personified at the turn of a coin. And with the coming of this hero the western landscape changed too as the film noir style began to make its way into the western - previously the landscapes had been clear, bright, representing the spirit of the hero but with the later westerns the landscape became dark, twisted, crippled almost. There was now a surreal feel about the plains and deserts that had previously seemed so pristine. The lighting styles became more dramatic, moody and with this the drifter became a twisted mass of considerable complexity.

James Stewart played a great lonely avenger as Will Lockhart in The Man from Laramie and John Wayne gave us an even darker version of the same man as Ethan Edwards in The Searchers - both men have violent pasts, the precise details of which remain a mystery to the viewer.

Ethan Edwards though can not sit comfortably alongside the mythic drifter, for he is driven by a hatred, not of an individual or gang, but of an entire race. The characters played by James Stewart may have been driven by the lust for revenge also but that revenge is usually directed at those that have wronged the character, though Ethan Edwards hates the Indians simply because they are there. Ethan Edwards is not a nice character but The Searchers may be the finest western ever made.

Though he may have become a figure of darkness, the lonesome drifter is still a heroic character - a man who is self reliant and can survive any hardship thrown at him, and at his core he has strongly defined ideas of what is right and what is wrong.

Maybe the actor who has best personified this drifter is Clint Eastwood who played the character taken to the extreme in the dollar westerns, and played variations of that character several times since in movies like, High Plains Drifter, Pale Rider and The Unforgiven. Eastwood's character could murder without remorse though still maintain a basic goodness at his core. The character was a result of the anti-hero being filtered through the ambiguous morality of the Sixties.

The character is still out there now, waiting to ride across the screen again one day, reinvented for an all new generation.

For one things is certain - the lonesome cowboy will drift our way again.

The 3D headache

2012-01-25T10:19:00.000-08:00

FROM THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER

Hollywood's 3D revolution has changed the shape of the modern blockbuster and helped boost box office income for studios in an era of financial uncertainty, but not everyone thinks they're getting their money's worth and a minority complain of dizziness and headaches. Now, new research has for the first time supposedly offered proof that 3D offers no measurable improvement in enjoyment for the vast majority of film audiences.

According to a study of 400 filmgoers by L Mark Carrier, of California State University, 3D movies do not allow viewers to experience more intense emotional reactions, are no more immersive, and do not offer any advantage over their 2D counterparts in terms of enhancing the ability to recall a film's details. Carrier's study did, however, suggest that watching films in stereoscope increased threefold the risk of eyestrain, headache or trouble with vision.

"All other things being equal, I would say you're increasing your chances of having some discomfort," said Carrier at the America Psychological Association's annual meeting on Sunday. "There aren't going to be any benefits in terms of understanding the movie better or making the movie more meaningful, as far as we can tell," he added.

Participants in the research were asked to watch one of three films – Alice in Wonderland, Clash of the Titans and How to Train Your Dragon – in either 2D or 3D. They were then asked to detail their responses using a list of 60 words ranging from the mild, such as "enjoyment", to the more intense, such as "anger" and "rage". Carrier says there was very little difference between the response of those who watched in 2D and those who viewed in 3D, which surprised researchers.

"Many of us were like, 3-D movies are so cool, it's gotta do something," Carrier said. "It didn't seem to enhance your memory at all. That's an unfortunate implication."
The research is just the latest suggestion that the tide is turning against 3D. Many recent films shot in the format – a notable exception is Transformers: Dark of the Moon – have failed to offer a 3D box-office boost in the US, and film-makers are beginning to turn against studios that authorise cheap post-production conversions in the hope of achieving a short-term financial return.

Speaking at a presentation of his own 3D movie, The Adventures of Tintin, Steven Spielberg said at Comic-Con in San Diego last month that he hoped to see ticket prices for 3D and 2D films converge in the future.

"I am certainly hoping that 3D gets to a point where people do not notice it. Because once they stop noticing it, it just becomes another tool and helps tell a story," he said. "Then maybe they can make ticket prices comparable to a 2D movie and not charge such exorbitant prices just to gain entry into a 3D one. Hopefully someday there will be so many 3D movies, prices will come down – which I think will be fair to the consumer."

How the West was Won - special edition DVD

2012-01-25T09:30:00.000-08:00

HOW THE WEST WAS WON
Warner DVD set
Region 2

This land has a name today, and is marked on maps. But, the names and the marks and the maps all had to be won, won from nature and from primitive man.
I love this film but, as per usual, the Region 2 release comes with much less than the US region 1 issue. With region 1 you get two versions of the film - the super new widescreen version, the original cinerama cut as well as a forty page booklet.

The region 2 version contains the new widescreen cut split across two discs as well as all the supplemental material on a third disc. But no cut of the original three panel Cinerama release.

Cinerama was a short lived process in which the action was shot on three cameras set up parallel to each other, this giving a wider screen area. The trouble was it was an expensive process and only a few cinemas existed that could show it in true cinerama which projected the image onto three curved screens via three separate projectors. The third disc in this set contains an interesting documentary that looks at the shoot in great detail and contains some excellent behind the scenes shots of the film's legendary stars. In fact How the West Was Won was one of only two movies ever made using this process.

Still the new widescreen cut means that the film has never looked better.

And what a cast list.
John Wayne, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Debbie Reynolds.Gregory Peck, Karl Malden,Richard Widmark, Elli Wallach, Walter Brennan. Add to that galaxy of stars is Spencer Tracy doing the narration and a list of guest starts that would get top billing in most movies.

The film is split into sections and shows the fortunes of one family from the opening up of the west to the modern day. Indeed the final shot shows an American landscape transformed with miles upon miles of concrete roads with cars tearing across land that once carried wagons and horses. At the time the shot was intended to show how far Americans had come but these days the shot looks rather sad. In the modern age of global warming it shows how much of the landscape has been destroyed in the name of progress.

Each segment of the film has a different director - Henry Hathaway, John Ford and George Marshall with the Mountain Men and Civil War sequences particularly standing out.

The new DVD cut where computers have removed the cinerama effect and created a true widescreen image containing the full screen image is without doubt the best cut of the film available - but it would have been nice to have the original cinerama cut - though with cinerama the three dividing lines were visible (look at the Civil War image above) and from a distance actors faces became unfocused. The other pictures above are from the widescreen cut and from the vista behind James Stewart is is evident how good this cut is.

Some critics have called the film disjointed, the result of so many directors, but all the same it is a truly classic western and at 162 minutes is epic in every sense of the world. I'm glad this film is finally available on DVD and even without the original cinerama version it takes pride of place in my collection.

TRVIA :Stuntman Bob Morgan was seriously injured, and almost died, while performing a stunt in this picture. Toward the end of the film, there is a gunfight on a moving train between the sheriff and a gang of train robbers. Morgan was one of the stuntmen playing a robber and was crouched next to a pile of logs on a flatcar. The chains holding the logs together snapped, and Morgan was crushed by the falling logs. He was so badly hurt it took him five years to recover to the point where he was able to move by himself and walk unaided.

Plot holes: There is no explanation of why Sheriff Ramsey is fine in one scene and wearing a bandage on his forehead in the next, immediately following. (there was a deleted or unfilmed scene where Zeb knocked Ramsey out when the Sheriff tried to stop him from going after the train robbers).

Jack the Ripper - solved

2012-01-25T09:29:00.000-08:00

Patricia Cornwell in her mega selling book, Portrait of a Killer fixated squarely on painter, Walter Sickert and presented a wealth of evidence to suggest that he was the fiend responsible for The Whitechapel Killings, that he was indeed Jack the Ripper. Before her Stephen Knight had in his, The Final Solution provided a link to the brutal murders and the British Royal Family. In the early 1990's we were asked to believe in the sensational find of the century when Jack the Ripper's Diary turned up in Liverpool, but after some initial excitement the book has been denounced as a fake. Over the years there have been a long list of names suggested as to being the Ripper, but in all these names never has the theory given in my novel, A Policeman's Lot been put forward. Is this because the suspect has been pulled out of left field? Hell, no - the name I have put forward in my novel has been associated with the case since the murders were first investigated.

Why then has this name never come forward before?

Well, simply because it turns all the previous theories, all the speculation and indeed the killings themselves on their head. It provides a credible explanation for what happened during that autumn of terror. Was the Ripper real or an invention of early tabloid journalism?

But it's a work of fiction, right?

Indeed it is, but I firmly believe the basic concept behind the plot - that Jack the Ripper was never discovered because....well, that maybe giving too much away. The book's out there - in PRINT and eBook. It's had a number of good reviews and I've had several readers give me the grand praise that they couldn't put it down.

It's been out digitally for the best part of a year and in print only a few weeks. It's sold a few but has not reached the audience I genuinely feel it deserved. Why? Blowed if I know - I keep pushing it in posts such as this and reviews have been turning up on Amazon. Hopefully it's a slow burner and it will explode anytime soon.

Should I give away the name of the person I have identified as the Ripper, I wonder? The book is not so much a whodunnit after all and the reader knows a few chapters in who the guilty party is, but it is only when the book has played out that all the elements come together, and a credible explanation is found. I feel that if I gave away the identity of the suggested killer here that it would push sales, but I'm not going to. Although I secretly hope some reviewer will let the cat out of the bag and start a debate.

And so all I can say is that the book is the result of several years of research into the Ripper Killings and leave you with some quotes from the various reviews. But if anyone does buy a copy then I thank you and hope you will see fit to leave a review on Amazon - even if you hate the book. Though without wanting to sound arrogant I don't think that will be the case. Click on the relevant image for either the print or eBook version.

And so those reviews:

Dobbs has done his research and packs a lot into his novel. We become immersed in a time and place on the cusp of the twentieth century. Old methods of law enforcement are yielding with the introduction of new technologies. Economic changes create new problems and social pressures.

What an end. The author uses Parade and Buffalo Bill to offer his own truly unique solution to the greatest unsolved serial killer mystery in history.

The colour of the setting, the atmosphere and the characterization are all top-class. The story starts rather low-key, but once you get to the killings, everything steps up a notch and grabs you by the throat. A "historical police procedural" is the most effective way I can describe it. The storyline's multiple, concurrent strands reminded me a bit of the J. J. Marric (John Creasey) Gideon books, as did the well-observed "common people" characters. The difference here is the way they're thrown into greater relief by their contrast with the celebrated Buffalo Bill and his show people. Your choice of this background for your first Pontypridd novel was a stroke of genius. From Keith Chapman AKA western writer, Chap O'Keefe

Another review from THE MACK CAPTURES CRIME WEBSITE - Police Inspector Frank Parade prepares for duty after the last good night's rest he will enjoy for a while. For Parade, the policeman's lot is to maintain order in a six mile area with a handful of constables. But today is going to be more hectic than usual: several hundred cattle have to be moved through town on market day and Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show has just pitched camp. This is just the beginning of Parade's problems which will include deaths, robberies, fights, an escaped convict, illicit tavern activity, an overly attentive landlady, and a revelation in the Jack the Ripper case.

The hook that gets readers' attention is the connection to Jack the Ripper and a satisfying and well set hook it is. But A Policeman's Lot is, at its core, a police procedural. Pontypridd in 1904 was cosmopolitan in many respects but still retained a frontier flavor: ...the streets were often lawless -- river traders, gypsies, pickpockets, drifters, even escaped convicts had to be contended with. The story follows Inspector Frank Parade as he puts in long hours monitoring the activities in town, investigating crimes, and schooling a likable but inexperienced young constable. At the time and place the book is set, the police were still developing as a professional organization and didn't have a widespread trust among the public, telephones were not widely available making communication over distances a problem, and forensic analysis was limited. In this environment, the police had to rely on techniques still used today: collect evidence, interview everyone, observe, find patterns.

Frank Parade makes for a quite interesting character. I see him as the kind of man that made the British empire -- brave, honorable, and dedicated to service. As a soldier, he saw action in the Second Boer War then traded Army khaki for the blue of a policeman. He is unwavering in his defense of the law, sets high standards for himself and his men but is not a martinet. Watching the sober Frank deal with the freewheeling Wild West Show made for a fun study in contrasts.

About the Ripper connection I'll only say that it fits nicely into the story and has enough fact to make it a credible plot line. It also lets us see Parade performing good, solid police investigation. I checked some of the Ripper forums after I finished the book and was astonished at the passion with which the case is studied.

A Policeman's Lot is an entertaining story that brings together one of the last icons of the American West, a look at British police work while the force was still in its infancy, and one of the most widely known murder cases in history. I highly recommend it to readers who enjoy historical crime fiction and police procedurals.

Dracula: Vamping it up

2012-01-25T09:21:00.000-08:00

Back in the day, before Twlight that is, the vampire was a figure of pure terror. There was nothing nice and cuddly about the vampire and they weren’t portrayed on screen by gangly teenagers either. Right from the silent age when Max Schreck camped it up in (the German Bram Stoker rip- off )Nosferatu. the bloodsucking fiends have been a favorite of horror cinema and if there is one vampire that stands out amongst them all, it is Dracula – created in the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker the character has become world famous and there have been film versions, both official and unofficial, from virtually every country with a film industry – we’ve had Mexican Draculas, Swedish Draculas and Draculas of all other nationalities, the character’s popped up on television, on stage, in comics, books, video games and cartoons. The character has been used to sell everything from motor cars to ice lollies, as well as everything else or so it would seem.
Dracula is truly ubiquitous - to Western audiences the most famous movie versions of the character are Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee, but many other actors have made their stamp on the role over the years. Gary Oldman, John Carradine, George Hamilton and Jack Palance are just a few of the names from a list that would fill several blog posts such as this.
Here at Scary Motherfucker we have seen a lot of Dracula movies over the years and we have our own favorites – Christopher Lee is, to my mind, the best ever screen Dracula but there are many people who think that Lugosi was the definitive version – it matters not which actor you prefer in the role and there are people who prefer one or other of the actors who have taken the role – even Louis Jourdan has his fans. For Dracula is one of those books that everyone knows, even those who have never read the book and I must confess to not being able to get through the whole book myself, finding it snail paced and filled with too much needless detail – I read a lot of classic novels from the same period but I don’t find Dracula that engagingly written. I’ve read it to an extent but tend to skip large sections, though I’ve always got the basic meat of the story and nothing can take away the fact that Bram Stoker created not only an iconic character but one that has defined the entire vampire genre.
Here are some of the actors who have played Dracula
Max Schreck, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Christopher Lee, Denholm Elliott, Jack Palance, Udo Kier, Jonathan Massey, Frank Langella, Louis Jourdan, Klaus Kinski, Duncan Regehr, Stefan Lindahl, Gary Oldman, Leslie Nielsen, Gerard Butler, Patrick Bergin, Dominic Purcell, Richard Roxburgh, Marc Warren and Keith-Lee Castle.
22 actors have played dracula. They are Max Schreck, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Christopher Lee, Denholm Elliott, Jack Palance, Udo Kier, Jonathan Massey, Frank Langella, Louis Jourdan, Klaus Kinski, Duncan Regehr, Stefan Lindahl, Gary Oldman, Leslie Nielsen, Gerard Butler, Patrick Bergin, Dominic Purcell, Richard Roxburgh, Marc Warren ,Keith-Lee Castle,Rutger Hauer ,David Niven and John Forbes Robertson

The cape, the blazing eyes, the slicked back hair is more often than not the blueprint for any visual representation of the character, as are the impeccable manners and suave appearance. Stoker’s Dracula was a gentleman of his time, one that could operate with ease on any level of society and during the period that the novel was written the class system was very clearly defined.
Yep if any horror character deserves iconic status then it is Dracula
Recommended Dracula movies
Dracula – the original 1931 classic directed by Todd Browning with Lugosi is the title role.
The Horror of Dracula – Hammer’s 1958 classic saw Christopher Lee take his first and best stab at the role.
Dracula: Prince of Darkness – Christopher Lee returned to the role in the 1960′s for this Hammer sequel and although not as effective as his first Dracula movie it is still fangtastic.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula – this lavish production is far better than its reputation suggests.

Life after Bond - Raymond Benson

2012-01-25T03:03:00.000-08:00

Former James Bond scribe and Archive friend, Raymond Benson will see a new novel published later this year based on the Hitman video game franchise - Benson, who writes under the pseudonym David Michaels, is no stranger to the video game world. His novels Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell and its sequel Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell—Operation Barracuda were both New York Times best-selling books. He also worked with John Milius on the Homefront: The Voice of Freedom game tie-in novel.

Benson’s new book will be called Hitman: Damnation. It will be published by Del Rey, a division of Random House. The story is set between the events in Hitman: Blood Money and the upcoming Hitman: Absolution.
Del Rey has yet to release details on global distribution, but states that the Hitman: Damnation will be in several more countries around the world.

Raymond's six original James Bond novels are now available in two collected editions - choice of weapons and the Union Trilogy

The Archive interview Raymond way back in 2009 - find it HERE

The Year of the Superhero

2012-01-24T18:50:00.000-08:00

It seems these days that there is always one superhero movie or another playing at the local multiplex, and this year will see several titles hit the screen.

I’ve been catching up on the X-Men movies – I saw and very much enjoyed Bryan Singer’s The X Men when it was released way back in 2000, but for some reason had never gotten around to watching the others. Until now that is – I recently picked up at a bargain price a dvd set entitled, The X Men Quadrilogy – isn’t that an ugly word …quadrilogy! It doesn’t sit right on the tongue, there’s an awkwardness about it, but I digress and four movies for a tenner can’t be bad. Now I’ve always enjoyed superhero comics but the movies have more often than not left me cold but, as I said, I enjoyed the original X Men movie so I decided to give these a try – watching them over a four day period – one film a night.
I enjoyed all of them, with Wolverine origins being the weakest in my opinion. Yeah I know The Last Stand gets mixed reviews but I enjoyed that one and found it a fitting end to the trilogy proper. Wolverine wasn’t exactly a bad film, and Jackman was great but the movie just wasn’t as interesting to me as the X Men movies, though it was cool to see Wolvie beat up on a helicopter. Maybe the X Men work better when presented as a team and the plots of the first three movies were certainly far more layered than the Wolvie standalone. The second and third movies seemed to be loosely based on the Dark Pheonix story arc which I actually own as a collected graphic novel.

Historically Superhero team up movies don’t really work and the pudding seems over egged, becoming far too much to digest – The Fantastic Four movies weren’t exactly hot and think how the Batman franchise went stale when too many villains, not to mention heroes were introduced – Batman Forever was naff and the less said about Batman and Robin the better, but the X Men, in the hands of director Bryan Singer worked well. Of course the emphasis was on Wolverine and Jackman was brilliant in all three of the original trilogy, but then so too were other cast members, especially Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler. But as a stand alone character Wolvie just felt lost, the movie too felt small despite some brilliant setpieces, but the Wolverine of this movie seemed more Rambo than rampaging renegade.

Bryan Singer was originally back on board to direct the third movie, but he left the series for Superman Returns (bet he regrets that, now) and Matthew Vaughn came on board as director in February 2005, but left due to the rushed production schedule. Brett Ratner took over in June, and filming began on August 2, 2005. Maybe it would have been better regarded by fans had Singer remained, but the eventual movie did tick all the right boxes and some of the effects are incredible – moving the Golden Gate for one after Magneto does some cool tricks with the traffic and the final bam,bash,wow fight is a joy. I picked up the prequel movie, X Men: First Class this week and am looking forward to getting a chance to settle down and watch it.

So as we enter 2012 the film industry is hoping for a good year with several superhero films hoping to generate some much needed revenue. Marvel films are to release The Avengers this May and there are high hopes that this team up will be another X Men, for Singer’s movie did revitalize the superhero movie and without it there would have been no Spiderman, Hulk or Iron Man. Superhero movies are coming thick and fast at the moment with both Captain America and Thor doing big business last year. And of course the third in the Dark Knight trilogy is also on the way and to say that film is eagerly anticipated would be a massive understatement and that’s not to mention the Superman reboot, The Man of Steel (though that’s not due till 2013) , as well as the new Spiderman pic. And besides the biggies we’ve got another Ghost Rider on the horizon, a new G I Joe and a reboot of Judge Dredd simply titled, Dredd.
2012 is certainly the year of the superhero

The Trekkie Files

2012-01-24T14:57:00.000-08:00

Home sweet home

Divorce can be a messy business as Star Trek fan Tony Alleyne has found out - Tony spent ten years and a small fortune transforming his one-bedroom flat to look like the famous flight deck — with a computer console, flashing lights and even "transporters".

He built it himself — and says it would cost at least £100,000 to do it again from scratch.

Tony, 58, is getting a divorce from wife Georgina who owns the flat in Hinckley, Leics, and wants to sell.

Tony said: "To say I'm gutted is an understatement. It is my life's work — and it looks like it's going into a skip. I admit there were tears."

Georgina, 52 — who has paid the mortgage since they split in 1994 — said: "I want to sell it as conventional property." She denied that she was actually part of the Borg collective and claimed that she was acting reasonably.

The Radio Years

2012-01-24T13:48:00.000-08:00

CLICK IMAGE

Paul over at the CBS Radio Theatre website was so impressed by the Archive that he asked me to add a link. I was only too glad to do this - I love old time radio and often have a show on in the background while browsing the web. I've placed a link in the sidebar of the Archive or you can click on the image here.

Enjoy.

In 1974 long-time radio producer Himan Brown convinced CBS to green-light a new anthology of Radio Dramas, CBS Radio Mystery Theater (CBSRMT). Radio Drama had been declared "dead" twelve years before.
CBS Radio Mystery Theater was meant to appeal to an audience that remembered when radio drama was a popular form of family entertainment. Riding on the wave of nostalgia fever, the radio show attracted many younger listeners who would stay up late, hidden under their covers to hear the program on their bedroom radio (and many of them were not able to go to sleep after listening to the frightening program!)
CBSRMT was able to attract a wide array of talent. Many of the voices that were popular during the Golden Age of Radio made appearances on CBS Radio Mystery Theater, and younger talent, often from CBS Daytime Television and NY area stage was used as well.
All 1,399 episodes of CBS Radio Mystery Theater are presented at CBSRMT.com with listings by actor and writer. Please feel free to browse all the old time radio shows and listen to and download your favorite radio show episodes in MP3 format.

Bond Skyfall creates controversy

2012-01-24T04:07:00.000-08:00

The first advertising shots for the forthcoming James Bond movie, Skyfall features Daniel Craig looking more like Bond than ever - they've darkened his hair for a start, and given him more of a classic Bond look. And Q and Moneypenny will appear so maybe Skyfall is something to look forward to after all.

Related - Sam Mendes, the director of next James Bond flick ‘Skyfall’, is being condemned for including scenes of military funeral repatriations apparently inspired by a town in England, Royal Wootton Bassett.

The scenes, which feature the bodies of eight servicemen killed overseas being repatriated and driven in a funeral cortege past hundreds of mourners lining the streets, worry the Royal British Legion, a leading daily has reported.

“The last thing we want is a glitzy film,” said Royal Wootton Bassett spokesman.

“Attending the repatriations started as a pure and simple tribute. How are the mothers and fathers of the fallen soldiers going to feel when they see this on the big screen? It is cashing in on people’s grief and is just cynical.”

Archive's Writing News

2012-01-24T04:03:00.000-08:00

Amazon are to launch yet another imprint - 47 North will focus on fantasy, sf and horror for both print and Kindle. At the time of writing several name authors have been announced as publishing with the imprint and these include Greg Bear, Neal Stephenson and Dave Duncan. The imprint is activelly seeking submissions and details can be obtained from AmazonPublishing-PR@amazon.com

The Phoenix is a new weekly comic book aimed for children which is seeking script ideas - The Phoenix really is very different to any other comic. Think of us as a TV studio – ‘transmitting’ all kinds of wonderful stories over the course of a year. Some funny, some thrilling, some magical, some moving – and all entertaining and memorable, and much more involving! Details HERE

Eminent Malayalam writer Sukumar Azhikode, who dominated Kerala's cultural scene as a literary critic, orator, academic and journalist for over five decades, died at a private hospital yersterday.

NBC News will launch NBC Publishing, the company announced Monday, using its own television assets as a starting point for e-books. NBC Publishing will begin as a digital-only publisher; although the title of its first e-book is not yet announced, the company says it will be released in February. NBC Publishing plans to release about 30 titles each year. They will be released as text e-books and enhanced e-books that include multimedia that can be seen on tablets like the iPad and Kindle Fire.

It's as good as FREE...dead free, that is

2012-01-23T06:06:00.000-08:00

For the next week my novella, The Dead Walked: Outbreak, the first in The Dead Walked trilogy is available at the special offer price of $0.99 US and £0.77 UK. The book has been receiving great reviews and there has never been a better time to snap it up - in seven days it reverts back to its usual price.

GO GET IT.

CLICK IMAGE

Some said it was viral.
Others claimed it was an act of God.
Either way the result was the same and the dead walked.

September was her favourite time of the year, and late September, when the autumn was just preparing to hand over to winter, when there was still a residue of the late summer warmth in the air, as well as the crisp promise of the iciness to come, had always been, as far as Missy was concerned, the finest chunk of that particular month.
Not for her was the spectacle of high summer, nor the morose beauty of mid winter. Of course they both had their fineries but these paled next to the season when the leaves glittered with reflected sunlight. It was the autumn, with September being the highlight of that season, which she loved – a time when nature put on its finest display as the lush summer growth was magically transformed.
The sky itself seemed to glow at this time of year.
September was a time of promise.
A time of rebirth.
Not this September, though.
This September, Missy would remember as, the time the dead walked.

AND PLEASE LEAVE AN AMAZON REVIEW AFTER READING THE BOOK.

FROM THE REVIEWS:

Hey, if you love zombies (and who doesn't) this is a fab read. The author is proving a master at several genres, all his novels are well worth reading.
***

Vincent Stark, otherwise known as Gary Dobbs, presents a new look at the zombie story. A group of people trying to survive in a world gone nuts. Sound familiar. Of course.

But Stark has injected his own elements into the story. A pregnant woman and a plot thread I've not seen in a zombie story before. The ending threw a twist in and sets up the next part of the story, coming soon.

Zombie stories are not a type I read a lot of, but I've come to expect good stuff from Stark/Dobbs/Martin, whatever genre he writes in.
***
read a lot of zombie books,the dead walked is the best book i have read in a while cant wait the next instalment.

Sherlock Holmes and the case of the BBC V CBS

2012-01-23T05:22:00.000-08:00

The currently filming modern day set version of Sherlock Holmes by CBS has gotten the BBC in a spin, with lawyers being consulted for a possible breach of copyright case.
One of the producers of the BBC's Sherlock, a modern day adaptation of the classic detective series had described CBS's newly commissioned series Elementary as "extremely worrying".

Sue Vertue, not only a producer on the hit show but also the wife of co-creator Steven Moffat, fears that CBS's new show could be the cause of copyright breaches due to the alarming similarities of the concepts behind both shows.

Elementary will bring the famous detective into modern day New York City, whereas Sherlock features Benedict Cumberbatch as the modernised title character solving cases in London.
Interestingly, the commissioning of the show comes not long after the American network approached Vertue and company about a remake of the BBC hit.

For CBS to come out with such a similar sounding show so soon is a cause for concern, Vertue told Britain's The Independent Newspaper.

"We understand that CBS are doing their own version of an updated Sherlock Holmes. It's interesting, as they approached us a while back about remaking our show," Vertue said.
"At the time, they made great assurances about their integrity, so we have to assume that their modernised Sherlock Holmes doesn't resemble ours in any way, as that would be extremely worrying.
"We are very proud of our show and like any proud parent, will protect the interest and wellbeing of our offspring."

As Elementary is still in its earliest stages of production, it won't be known for some time yet whether or not it could be found to have copied the British show.

Margaret Tofalides, a copyright specialist at law firm Manches, said: "The concept of a new Sherlock Holmes is unprotectable. But if the unusual elements of the BBC series – the modern settings, characters, clothes, plots and distinctive visual style – were closely reproduced in the CBS version, that could form the basis of a potential copyright claim."

An American Sherlock could threaten the revenues returned to BBC Worldwide from the Cumberbatch show. The episodes have found an international audience through DVD sales and iTunes downloads.

Hammering the eBook market

2012-01-23T02:09:00.001-08:00

The revived Hammer Film Studios are on a roll at the moment and now the successful Hammer Books are set to make a big splash in the eBook market with a series of original novels which follow the run of novelizations of classic Hammer movies – To be released on February 2nd, the first book is The Greatcoat, described as “a terrifyingly atmospheric ghost story” from Helen Dunmore. Set in 1954, newlyweds Isabel and Philip Carey move to Yorkshire town of East Riding.There Philip establishes himself as a GP while Isabel tries hard to adjust to the realities of married life. Feeling out-of-place and constantly judged by the people around her, including her landlady, she spends much of her time alone.
One cold winter night when her husband is out on call, Isabel finds an old RAF greatcoat in the back of a cupboard that she uses to help keep warm.Wrapped in the coat she sleeps and is beset by dreams. She wakes to hear a knock at her window.Outside is Alex, a young RAF pilot, waiting to come in. His powerful presence both disturbs and excites her. Her initial alarm soon fades, and they begin an intense affair. But nothing has prepared her for the truth about Alec’s life, nor the impact it will have on hers …
Other titles will follow later in the year as well as more of the novelizations of Hammer classics

Tainted Stats

2012-01-23T01:40:00.000-08:00

Well almost

The Tainted Archive is now fast approaching a massive half a million hits - thank you all for this. And although we may go quiet next month, as I'm due to go away for six weeks to work on a film project, you can rest assured that we'll be back with our usual mix of news, reviews and features.

Thank you all for supporting the Tainted Archive and here's to the next half a million.

Weekly Stats Report: 16 Jan - 22 Jan 2012
Project: THE TAINTED ARCHIVE
URL: http://tainted-archive.blogspot.com/

Summary

	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total	Avg
Pageloads	918	870	909	868	684	890	875	6,014	859
Unique Visits	656	637	674	602	517	647	635	4,368	624
First Time Visits	622	597	642	574	497	618	616	4,166	595
Returning Visits	34	40	32	28	20	29	19	202	29

Star Trek II - is Khan to return?

2012-01-22T14:40:00.000-08:00

The hot rumours are that Sherlock actor, Benedict Cumberbatch will be playing Khan in the forthcoming Star Trek 2, although this has not been confirmed. Though we do know for certain that Cumberbatch will be the main villain in the movie.

The budget for the new Trek is more than the 2009 reboot. This was pretty much a given, as the motto for most sequels is “bigger and better.” The pricetag for the first flick was a reported $150 million, so Abrams and Co. must have something pretty impressive up their sleeve for the sequel in order to top that already high number.

The first Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan is generally considered the best of the Trek movies so it would be a neat touch to have the character as the driving force behind the new Star Trek II, but the question is would this film be a remake of the original first season episode, The Space Seed? Or would it invent an all new origin for the Khan character?

Paramount are insisting that the villain for the movie will be an original character but the Khan rumors are refusing to go away. - Ahh well, only time will tell.

Hammer go Blu-ray

2012-01-21T06:03:00.000-08:00

Horror film studio Hammer will collaborate with such distributors as StudioCanal, Germany’s Anolis Entertainment, Pinewood and illuminate Hollywood HTV to perform a major restoration of the studio’s iconic movie studio. The partnership will reformat 30 films into HD for Blu-ray and new media exploitation.‘Dracula Prince of Darkness’ is the first movie that is scheduled to be released as part of the global restoration project. It will be released in the UK in March 2012, in conjunction with StudioCanal
Other titles to get the HD treatment include ‘The Reptile,’ ‘The Plague of The Zombies,’ ‘The Devil Rides Out,’ ‘Rasputin the Mad Monk’ ‘The Mummy’s Shroud.’ ‘The Curse of Frankenstein,’ ‘Dracula’ and ‘The Mummy.’

The movies will not only feature fully-restored HD picture and sound, they will also feature newly-filmed extras, including interviews with cast members. The extras are being produced by Marcus Hearn, an expert and historian for Hammer, and the author of ‘The Hammer Vault.’

“Our decision to restore some of Hammer’s most famous titles not only allows existing fans to experience the films again in high definition, but also encourages a new global audience to discover Hammer for the first time-especially as we get read to release our next exciting new Hammer project, ‘The Woman in Black.’” Simon Oakes, the President and CEO of Hammer

A death in Doctor Who and Robocop on the Enterprise

2012-01-21T05:46:00.000-08:00

The original Kirk now works for Ann Summers

It’s is now official that Dr Who companions Amy and Rory will leave the series during the next season and hints given by the actors are that the departure will be final – Showrunner Stephen Moffat hinted that their ext will be heartbreaking suggesting that both characters are to be killed off. Actress Karan Gillan has hinted, during an interview with the Daily Mirror newspaper, that her character is to be killed off in a gory fashion.

Pual Weller, best known as the original Robocop is confirmed for a part in Star Trek II which is currently shooting. The latest news is that Benicio Del Toro will not be appearing as Khan after dropping out of the film over what are reported as financial issues. The official date for the movie is now 17th May 2013. Set phasers on stun for this one. Also Star Trek related is the news that original Kirk, the Shat is now working for Ann Summers (see pic)

Walking Dead has been confirmed for a third season. The third series is expected to follow the third volume of the comic book and be set in a prison

Filming is currently underway in Iceland for the second season of Game of Thrones and a third season has also been confirmed.

Judge Dredd artist in critical condition after police confrontation

2012-01-21T05:20:00.000-08:00

Art by Ewins

A SEMINAL comic book artist was badly injured after a confrontation with police in Hanwell at the weekend.

Brett Ewins, who worked on titles including Judge Dredd and Bad Company, received serious head injuries after stabbing a police officer on Saturday morning at his home in Cowper Road. An investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is underway.

Police were called to Cowper Road after receiving calls about a man who had been shouting through the night. Officers arrived to find Mr Ewins holding a knife before they were attacked.
During the ensuing struggle, one of the officers received minor stab wounds and the 56-year-old sustained a head injury. Both were taken to hospital.

The officer was released from hospital but Mr Ewins remains in a serious condition at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington. The Met informed the IPCC of the incident immediately.
Ewins was one of a number of artists and writers who worked on landmark British science fiction comic anthology 2000 AD.

Steve Pound, MP for Ealing North, said he has known Mr Ewins for the last 25 years. He said: “My first reaction was immense sympathy for the police officers involved. No-one wants to have to deal with a man wielding a knife, especially on a Saturday morning.”

Mr Pound said Mr Ewins, who had lived in the area for some time, was an ‘artistic genius’ but had experienced mental health problems in the past and had become more withdrawn.

He added: “We are immensely proud of the work that Brett had done as a resident of Hanwell, but we could have done more to hold him close and help him with his problems.”

Deborah Glass, IPCC Comissioner said: “A man is in a serious condition in hospital after a struggle with police officers, during which an officer was also injured.

“While the police are investigating the injury to their officer, it is right that we examine whether the man’s present condition is as a result of his contact with police.”

Take a byte of Apple eBook publishing

2012-01-21T04:16:00.000-08:00

Along with iBooks 2, Apple unveiled iBooks Publisher on Thursday during its special education-related media event in New York City. iBooks Author is a tool for building interactive textbooks, although it can be used to create other ebooks as well.
iBooks Author includes templates for ebook layout, offers a WYSIWYG-style editor, supports adding multimedia content and interactive features, and imports from Word and Pages.

iBooks Author for OS X Lion

The app includes one-click support for adding words to the book glossary, the ability to add keynote presentations to layouts, support for photo galleries, and accessibility description support for sight-impaired readers. Books can be previewed in iBooks on the iPad, exported directly to Apple’s iBookstore, saved in iBooks format for sharing, or exported to PDF.
Sharing ebooks with other people isn’t, however, a way to sell iBooks Author-created titles through other ebook stores because Apple is restricting sales of books created with its app to the iBookstore.
iBook Author requires OS X Lion 10.7.2 or higher. It’s available as a free download at Apple’s Mac App Store.

Howard Hopkins/Lance Howard - Memories

2012-01-21T04:07:00.000-08:00

It's been a bad week for western fans with the passing of author, Howard Hopkins AKA western legend, Lance Howard and we are further saddened to hear of the hardship now faced by the late author's family - we do hope western fans will be able to help. The following comes from Meteor House

The tragic passing of pulp writer and editor Howard Hopkins at the age of 50: http://moonstonebooks.blogspot.com/2012/01/howard-hopkins-services-and.html, has been made even worse by the further misfortune of an insurance screw up.

Please forward the following as you see fit; it is copied from a post on the Yahoo “Flearun” and “Golden Perils” groups:

At the request of Howard’s wife, Dominique, Chuck Juzek contacted me and asked me to pass the following info along to the pulp fan community. Due to a mistake by their insurance agent 6 months ago that Dominique only became aware of after Howard’s death, Howard’s life insurance had lapsed at the time of his death. As a result, in addition to everything else that his passing means to her, she’s now scrambling in order to find the funds to pay for his funeral expenses. If you have the ability, she’s accepting donations to help pay for those expenses; at her request, I’m giving her address for anyone that wishes to contribute.

Dominique Hopkins
2 McKee Drive
Old Orchard Beach, ME 04064

Howard appeared here on the Archive many times and in tribute - below we repost several of Howard's contributions to this blog.

Black Horse Westerns. Many folks here in the USA, even long-time Western readers, do not know what they are, but that’s changing, and I think 2010 will be the year they burst onto the trail. 2009 saw a great expansion in the awareness of these rugged little hardcovers with their shiny, action-packed covers. Much of that came from the efforts of dedicated folks on the Black Horse Western group with their Author Days initiative, their Black Horse Express online magazine (www.blackhorsewesterns.org) and writer Ian Parham’s Black Horse Blog, as well as a new Express Westerns line of anthologies. A plethora of blogs, including the one you are reading, my own Dark Bits with its Western Wednesdays (http://howardhopkins.blogspot.com) and others have gone viral. Black Horse writer Chap O’Keefe’s Black Horse Extra (www.blackhorsewesterns.com) and new imprint of Misfit Lil books, Robert Hale’s own snazzy new webpage (www.halebooks.com) and newsletter have also forged the trail.

Word is getting out and perhaps riding point in that effort is the man who conceived this Black Horse Weekend, Gary Dobbs. Consummate actor and author, he began his Black Horse writing with a novel that became perhaps the catalyst of growth within the line, igniting more sales than any other BHW before and initiating reprints on select titles. I want to say a personal thank you to Gary, not only for giving me the opportunity to participate in this weekend, but for his enthusiasm and grab-the-bull-by-the-balls attitude.

Which is why I think 2010 will be the year of the Black Horse Western. It’s starting off with a bang and can only get bigger. Express Westerns, on this very weekend, is releasing its second western short story anthology, A Fistful of Legends, which includes some of the cream of the Black Horse crop as well as a couple of talented newcomers, a book slated to compete in the prestigious Western Writers of America Spur awards. Readers will be able to sample 21 writers for the line and see for themselves just how wide a range of talent Black Horse has to offer. Amazon US is now carrying new Black Horse Westerns (but get ‘em fast!), making them easier access for US fans (as well as less expensive).

Lance Howard is a pen name used by Howard Hopkins - under the Lance Howard byline Mr Hopkins is responsible for more than thirty Black Horse Western novels.

You can find him HERE

And so the Archive hands over to the big man himself who informs us that the western is very much alive and kicking.

The Western is dead.

Or so you'd think if you paid any attention to the big publishing houses out there. But is that a self-fulfilling prophesy? Or is it Westerns just aren't cool in their eyes so they make that excuse because they don't want to publish them?

Amazon reports on Kindle the Western is the lowest selling genre. But is that because folks don't want to read it or because there just isn't the glut of material available as in a genre like mystery or romance? Chicken, egg? (However, John Locke sold 30,000 downloads of his first Western within a short period recently--that sounds pretty decent to me.)

The Western has been reported moribund for too many years to bother counting, it seems. And in a way some of us as Western writers and fans haven't really helped that very much. We, as well as the general public, suffer too often from a perception of what the Western should be. Why it's a hoss, a cowboy and gunfight.

Is it? If that's all it is, it's easy to see why it would be on its way to boot hill.

But I can say with all faith--and against the grain of some western writers, publishers and agents--that it is not. The Western was never about those trappings, though certainly they have been and can be a part of it. The Western is and has always been about the pioneering spirit, about preserving against tremendous odds, about heroism. That has always been in vogue. It always will be.

And so can the Western.

But it is time to loosen the cinch some?

Expand what the Western is and make sure readers know how much it can be.

This is the principle reason I sprinkle my own Westerns with staples from the horror, mystery and romance genres. Much to the chagrin of "Westboys", to coin a phrase. My two recent Westerns released on Kindle and Nook, The Dark Riders (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DC6B9Y) and Pistolero (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DCCM1U), are anything but your pappy's Westerns. They reach out of the genre, Dark Riders with its band of bloodthirsty vampire outlaws and Pistolero with its suspense/ripper motif. I've been criticized for infecting the pure, told by agents reading The Dark Riders to "take out either the vampires or the western part." I refused. The Dark Riders has become my best-selling book, and most reader acclaimed. Because beyond vampires it involves themes--themes of loss and courage, or heroism and overcoming adversity--that are as valid today as they were in the old West, themes upon which the Western has always been built.

Anyone who thinks blending genres doesn't spice things up should take a look at this weekend's release of Cowboys and Aliens.

Boxing in the roots of a tree kills it. Letting those roots expand freely...lets it thrive. The Western is like that. Blending it, expanding it, gives it new life and consequently creates an entire forest. Traditional Westerns will grow, as the genre grows.

Everybody wins.

It's time to make sure everybody knows the Western is still cool. With Kindle we, as Western writers, have that chance. I hope we don't fall into the same box that got the Western labeled boots up in the first place.

INTERVIEW:

Howard Hopkins/Lance Howard is a prolific writer. He has published over thirty westerns with Robert Hale LTD's Black Horse Western imprint as well as supernatural thrillers for both adults and children. When the Archive last interviewed Mr. Hopkins he was slaving away at several projects and now we find him having sold another new western, Dead Man Riding.

With so many oaters to his name this makes him a grand old man of the west - even if in reality he is still a vibrant, youthful fella. I wondered if Howard worries about running out of ideas?

" I ran out 20 books ago...
Seriously, sometimes it is difficult not to repeat something and for a couple of reasons. 1) Because after I write a book I tend to forget it nearly completely, something I learned to do so I could edits drafts more objectively. And 2) because when plotting sometimes it is tempting to take the well-trodden trail on a troublesome passage. It's at that point I really have buckle down and look for a fresh direction. Certainly there are themes and such I revisit, as do all authors, but hopefully those come with a fresh look, a deeper insight or a better take on the subject. As far as running out of stories about the Old West, I don't think that's possible. The West has a life of its own, never dying, never ending and the stories it has to tell are unlimited. "

Howard's forthcoming western is less violent than usual with much of the violence taking place off stage while the writer creates quieter character moments. Is this the start of a new direction?

"With my Black Horse Westerns, yes, I believe so. I want to focus more on suspense and character reaction and interaction. In a number of my previous books I probably pushed the envelope a bit, though they were not that graphically violent, but rather dealt with violent subject matter. I still want to deal with tough subject, however. My upcoming Lance Howard, Dead Man Riding, does as well but violence takes place more off stage or ends at the point of impact. I want to keep it interesting for western fans with plenty of action and all the things they expect from the genre, however, so this book proved a bit difficult, and at times I doubted myself. But in the end it worked out. I think editorial will appreciate the new direction too!"

As well as westerns, Howard works in the horror genre. I asked him to outline his horror work for Archive readers.

"I write in two areas of the horror genre, horror for adults and horror for children (ages 8 and up). My children's horror series is called The Nightmare Club and involves a band of misfit kids who get together with the common goal of solving ghostly mysteries. So far I have three titles in the line: The Headless Paperboy, The Deadly Dragon and The Willow Witch. This series, while being spooky fun, also deals with issues faced by modern children in an age appropriate manner, such as racism, abuse and grief. The series harkens back to Scooby Doo, The Hardy Boys and Alvin Fernald with a bit of Doc Savage thrown in for good measure. (For more info check out my children’s horror page at www.howardhopkins.com/nightmareclub.htm) My adult horror novels range across the board, from the vampire/western of The Dark Riders to the more Stephen Kingish/Dark Shadows style of Night Demons. At present, I am writing a supernatural mystery series called The Chloe Files, which involves the lead character from my horror tale Grimm in her own adventures. I love writing Chloe. She’s tougher than any of the guys in my stories and though she gets herself into a heck of a lot of ghostly and demonly trouble she also gets herself out of it using her own wits and strength. The first two books in the series are out: Ashes to Ashes and Sliver of Darkness, and along with author Betty Sullivan LaPierre I’ve recently finished a new Chloe book trailer video, which can be seen on my homepage at http://www.howardhopkins.com We are pretty proud of this video. I am even hoping somehow to get a bit of western ghostliness into a Chloe adventure soon, and get her up on a horse!"

Howard has been very encouraging to new writers, such as myself. He is never too busy to offer good wishes or a useful snippet of advice. I wondered what would he tell new writers?

"Don’t pay any attention to the naysayers and those who would subvert your confidence. Ignore the negative types who like nothing better than to piss all over your dreams. There are far too many of these types, who through either petty jealousy or insecurity don’t want to see you succeed. If you NEED to write, have a passion for it, then do it. The realities of the business will set in, but don’t let them cripple your creativity. Be aware of them but only in the capacity of finding ways to overcome them. Writing is tough; you’ll need to be tougher. Don’t be afraid to go for it. Try to surround yourself with positive people and join positive groups."

Howard has stuck with Robert Hale and their Black Horse Western range for many years now, honing his craft with each new book. I wonder if he's ever been tempted to stray over to the big American publishers?

"I’ve tried a few times, but the climate over here (in the States, as Hale is based in England) is much different for Westerns. Publishers are conglomerates and the market for westerns isn’t very big at present, though I think there is hope and certainly plenty of potential for expansion. I have had a couple published over here under my own name, Howard Hopkins, but they are more cross genre westerns, which is actually what I prefer to write (such as Pistolero, a riper/western with a bit of conspiracy thrown in. You can check these out along with my BHWs on my western page at: http://www.howardhopkins.com/western-books.htm). I do enjoy the certain type of westerns Hale publishes, however, and the company are a pleasure to work for, so as long as it remains that way I will keep telling the stories I like to tell and hopefully readers like to read."

Whatever Howard does one thing is certain and that his that his fingers will never stray too far from the keyboard. So what future projects can we look forward to?

"Most of my recent stuff has focused on the latest books in The Nightmare Club and The Chloe Files series, and also numerous comic book and short story anthology projects for Moonstone Books. I have a graphic novel based on the 1930s pulp hero The Spider due out any day called Judgment Knight and a Spider wide-screen comic book titled The Strange Case of The Spider and Mr. Hyde. Both have absolutely stunning artwork! And aside from recently co-editing and writing for The Avenger Chronicles (another pulp hero) and The Spider Chronicles, I am excited about doing a Captain Midnight tale (which I feel is one of my best) for an anthology due this year and working on The Green Hornet. I've started into a new western as well. Aside from that I spend a lot of time writing for my Dark Bits blog: http://howardhopkins.blogspot.com/ "

Finally for fun I put to Howard that Clint Eastwood goes up against John Wayne. Who would win?

"Oh, man, an answer either way gets me a High Noon showdown from one camp or the other. I think Clint’s got a little meaner look, so maybe would give him the edge, but they are both icons and I’d like to think they’d team up and tame the Wild West!"

Now that Howard would be something....

REST IN PEACE HOWARD HOPKINS/LANCE HOWARD - YOU LIVE ON THROUGH YOUR BOOKS

Rebel never without a book: Agatha Christie

2012-01-21T03:30:00.000-08:00

The accepted theory of the times was the children shouldn't be taught to read until they were eight years old because, the fashionable opinion was that both eyes and brains would develop better if they were used less during the early years. However the child that was to become crime queen, Agatha Christie amazed her parents by teaching herself to read by the time she reached the age of five.

It was Agatha's nursery nurse who informed Agatha's parents, telling them - 'I'm afraid Ma'am that Agatha can read.'

Apparently whenever a story was read to the young girl, Agatha would then study the books, trying to make sense of the words until she in fact could read. Agatha's mother, Clara whilst pleased with her daughter's display of intelligence restricted reading to the afternoon so as not to tax the young brain. And years later Agatha wrote in her autobiography - 'The book ban had a long lasting effect. Even to this day if I sit down and read a novel after breakfast I have a feeling of guilt.'

Christie is said to be the world's bestselling writer, her books coming third to The Bible and the collected works of Shakespeare and there is a great series currentlty available from Hachette Partworks that enables interested readers to collect the complete works in perfect facsimile editions. The books are identical to the original hardcovers - indeed they are published by Collins who has for many years been the UK publisher of Agatha Christie. Each fortnightly magazine features articles on the specific book as well as features on Christie's life.

I picked up the first issue in the local supermarket and immediately subscribed as the thought of owning the complete set in these facsimile editions appeals to me - not only will they make up a library of some of the best detective fiction ever published but each individual title is a book lovers dream - they are identical in every way to the original hardcover editions - mind you they wouldn't be much good as facsimiles if they weren't.

Each book's dust jacket is a faithful replica of the original first edition cover artwork and also features contemporary advertisements for other Collins Crime Club titles.

Check out the website HERE

Amazon Plagiarism Charges

2012-01-19T13:16:00.000-08:00

From the digital journal

Amazon is dealing with a bit of a plagiarism problem with their erotica section of ebooks, with several self-published authors being caught with copyright infringement.

Sharazade, a prolific author who has had 20 of her stories published with mainstream publishing houses, has discovered something quite sinister about the erotica section of Amazon's ebooks: a large majority of the self-published authors are plagiarizing content and selling it off as their own.Sharazade--a pen name to protect her work--started to publish her stories as ebooks on Amazon's Kindle publishing program, as well as her clients work as she works as a book agent and freelance editor. Though her and her clients pieces were doing well in the ebook ranks, she started to notice a problem in some of the other published works by different authors: they were downright awful.As Fast Company describes, "Amazon is rife with fake authors selling erotica ripped word-for-word from stories posted on Literotica, a popular and free erotic fiction site that according to Quantcast attracts more than 4.5 million users a month, as well as from other free online story troves."One author in particular, Maria Cruz, copied entire excerpts from authors on Literotica to sell ebooks on Amazon--roughly over 50 ebooks in total. Writers on Literotica are not compensated for their stories and are uploading them to the website for free, and with thousands of writers on the website, plagiarizers looking for quick money through Amazon's self-publishing program have lots to choose from. Other instances of copied and plagiarized content have been found in other genres, as well.

Sharazade also mentioned the poor quality of the ebooks in general. Titles and even author names are often misspelled and book covers have extreme pixelation, and are usually pictures ripped straight from Google Images. This also brings up another concerning issue: Amazon is not checking for plagiarized content, regardless if it is from an indie publishing house or self-published.If enough people complain about a certain title, however, Amazon will take down the offending content. Unfortunately responses from Amazon can take weeks to months before any content is taken down. Also, the offenders can simply re-upload new, copied content--which is what Maria Cruz exactly did after enough people complained about her plagiarized work. Authors who are seeking compensation for their stolen content are fighting an up-hill battle, and most writers on Literotica consider this more so a hobby and don't have the time, or money, for a lawsuit.Fast Company offers a solution, though: "...Why not require an author to submit a valid credit card before she can self-publish her works on the Kindle? If an author, who could still publish under a pen name, were found to have violated someone else's copyright Amazon could charge that card $2,000 and ban her from selling again. Amazon could also run content through one of the many plagiarism detectors that are available--such as Turnitin or iThenticate--before an ebook is put on sale."There are indeed many different programs online to authenticate books and articles online, even teachers use a program to detect plagiarism in students' papers nowadays. Why not do the same when professional writers are involved, trying to earn a profit from their work?

Ghouls and Goblins

2012-01-19T02:51:00.001-08:00

Introducing Vincent Stark

Vincent Stark is a reclusive writer, who shuns all contact with the outside world. He has not been seen in public since 1979. Although, from time to time, there have been rumours of sightings of the author lurking in the shadows of the cemetery behind his dilapidated mansion house deep in the Rhondda Valley countryside.
It is said that he is suffering from a skin condition which is aggravated by sunlight and is thus forced into his twilight existence. There is much debate over his well known skill with, the Stylophone and his penchant for playing jazz phrases on his own podcast, Scary Motherfucker. Indeed Stark seems to have picked up this skill overnight and there is one urban legend of him visiting the crossroads one evening and selling his soul to the devil in exchange for his ability on the stylophone.

The devil has all the best tunes

December 2011 saw the publication of a new novel, The Dead Walked and the author, showing the first signs of clawing his way back into the public consciousness now has a Facebook page – please support the author by clicking like on his page, HERE
However for now Vincent Stark remains hidden away, his groceries delivered by a string of crucifix wearing delivery men and his bills paid by automatic withdrawal from the blood bank.

My novella, The Dead Walked, the first in an all new trilogy, is available now at an incredibly low price.

Some said it was viral.
Others claimed it was an act of God.
Either way the result was the same and the dead walked.
September was her favourite time of the year, and late September, when the autumn was just preparing to hand over to winter, when there was still a residue of the late summer warmth in the air, as well as the crisp promise of the iciness to come, had always been, as far as Missy was concerned, the finest chunk of that particular month.
Not for her was the spectacle of high summer, nor the morose beauty of mid winter. Of course they both had their fineries but these paled next to the season when the leaves glittered with reflected sunlight. It was the autumn, with September being the highlight of that season, which she loved – a time when nature put on its finest display as the lush summer growth was magically transformed.
The sky itself seemed to glow at this time of year.
September was a time of promise.
A time of rebirth.
Not this September, though.
This September, Missy would remember as, the time the dead walked.
Download a free sample before you decide – HERE

Second World War Timeline in movies - 3 Land, sea and air

2012-01-19T02:17:00.000-08:00

There have been more movies made about World War II than any other conflict in history - the war was fought on many fronts, in a diverse range of theaters and over the years film-makers have tackled them all.

The Battle of Britain (1969) is regarded a classic, though when viewed today it seems rather plodding - it runs for 132 minutes and in striving for historical accuracy it does sag at times, but it depicts a series of events that saved the UK from being overrun by the Jerry and in doing so it does it well. The aerial battles are intense and expertly filmed. The current special edition DVD is superb value with wealth of special features including a documentary which puts everything in historical context.

If I had to pick one film to represent the attack on Pearl Harbour which occurred in 1941 and brought America into the war it would be, Tora, Tora, Tora (1970). Forget Michael Bay's Pearl Harbour (2001) which may have had better effects but came nowhere near the quality of Tora, Tora Tora. This single event may have finally dragged America into the war, but in truth they were already involved in supporting the UK and supplying both arms and aid. The entry of the US into the global conflict but the majority of the American public were against the US fighting another war in Europe, until that day in December 1941 when death reigned down on the Hawaiian military base. Like Battle of Britain before it, Tora Tora Tora is made in a semi documentary style, and because of this both films are plodding on times though the aerial effects make up for any shortcomings in dramatizing the events.

And from the air to the sea we come to Sink the Bismark (1960) - this British production looks at the cat and mouse game between the Brits and the Jerrys which culminated in the sinking of the Bismark. It stars Kenneth Moore, a regular in Brit war films, and realistically depicts the events after the British became obsessed with destroying this particular warship. The film was praised for its accuracy on its original release, though some critics thought the acting was wooden on times and far too formal. Though this was reflective of the actual times and the film is thrilling an exciting in a boy's own style. The film is currently available as a DVD double pack, twinned with another sea based world war II classic in The Enemy Below (1957) which stars sleepy eyed Robert Mitchum and is itself an impressive movie.

And we're back on dry land for a look at the battle between The Desert Rats and the the respected German commander Rommel. There's a great DVD double pack containing The Desert Rats (1953) and The Desert Fox (1951) - and for anyone wanting a celluloid recreation of these events this DVD set it pretty much indispensable. James Mason plays Rommel in both movies which adds some continuity between pictures.

The Desert Fox, released six years after the end of the War, is a solemnly respectful tribute to Erwin Rommel, Germany's most celebrated military genius. James Mason's portrayal of this gallant warrior became a highlight of his career iconography. The film itself is oddly disjointed, though: a pre-credit commando raid to liquidate Rommel is followed by a flashback to the field-marshal's lightning successes commanding the Afrika Korps--a compressed account via documentary footage and copious narration (spoken by Michael Rennie, who also dubs Desmond Young, the Rommel biographer and one-time British POW appearing briefly as himself). The dramatic core is Rommel's growing disenchantment with Hitler (Luther Adler), his involvement in the plot to assassinate the Fuhrer, and his subsequent martyrdom.

The Desert Rats stars Richard Burton in only his second Hollywood role (between Oscar-nominated turns in My Cousin Rachel and The Robe), as a Scottish commando put in charge of a battalion of the 9th Australian Division defending Tobruk. The Aussies don't like him, and with a year of grim North African duty already under his belt, he's not too crazy about his new responsibilities either. The outfit is charged with staving off the battering assaults of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel for two months, to give the British Army time to regroup in Cairo and prepare for a counterattack. In the end, the "desert rats" play hell with the Desert Fox for 242 days, during which time they and their commander develop some mutual respect.

Next up in our World War movie timeline - Russia

Sherlock Who???

2012-01-18T03:07:00.001-08:00

Over the years many hundreds of actors have played the part of Sherlock Holmes worldwide, some of them have been brilliant and some of them dire. Below is a list of some well known actors you may have missed in the role.

Alec Baldwin - played Holmes on stage of Stephen Lawson's adaption of, A Study in Scarlet 1987

Michael Caine - played Holmes as a druken actor in the excellent Without a Clue

John Cleese - The Python giant was Holmes twice,once in 1973 and then again in 1977

Peter Cook - was Holmes in the dreadful comedy spoof, The Hound

Francis Ford - brother of director John Ford played the part in a 1914 version of A Study in Scarlet for Gold Seal( Universal) Films.

Stewert Granger - in Universal's 1972 TV movie of The HOund of the Baskervilles

Larry Hagman - JR himself in a 1976 Universal TVpilot, The World's Greatest Detecive. A proposed series never came about.

Charlton Heston - on stage in the Crucifer of Blood in 1980. Jeremy Brett, perhaps the screens's greatest Holmes was Watson to old Chuck's Holmes.

Roger Moore - In the dire Sherlock Holmes in New York, 20th Century Fox1976

Leonard Nimoy -on stage in a 1974 US tour. Also in the educational TV programme, The Interior Motive which had Holmes explaining the formation of the Earth.

Sherlock goes stateside

2012-01-18T03:01:00.001-08:00

CBS has greenlighted a pilot, a revamp of Sherlock Holmes, that will place the legendary sleuth in modern-day New York.

The pilot, currently titled "Elementary," comes via CBS Television Studios and Timberman-Beverly Productions, the company behind the network's current series "A Gifted Man" and "Unforgettable." Robert Doherty, whose credits include "Medium" and "Ringer" will write the pilot and executive-produce. Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly will also executive-produce.

Dixons reap eBook Cream

2012-01-18T02:55:00.000-08:00

The electricals company Dixons has reported better than expected Christmas trading and said it was now confident it could repay a make-or-break £160m bond later this year.

John Browett, chief executive of Dixons Retail, said the company's finances had been bolstered by bumper demand for tablet computers and ebook readers. "This was an important trading period for us to get through, and we are satisfied by the results that we have got the cash and banking facilities to repay these bonds."

Like-for-like sales at UK stores were still down 7% in the 12 weeks to 7 January, but the retailer said profit margins had improved as growing numbers of customers turned to its IT support service, Knowhow, for help.

Group underlying sales finished down 5%, as a strong performance by its Nordic operation was cancelled out by problems in the eurozone, with sales down sharply at its UniEuro chain, in Italy, and in Kotsovolos, in Greece. The shares closed up more than 10% at 10.94p.

Philip Dorgan, analyst at Panmure Gordon, said the performance pointed to light at the end of the tunnel for Dixons. "The most important trading period of the year is over and with other retailers dropping like flies, these numbers have to be mildly encouraging. We think that it can repay its bonds this year, helped by planned lower capital expenditure and cost savings."

But internet retailers such as Amazon, and the supermarkets, remained a real threat to Dixons, Dorgan said. If trading deteriorated and the retailer was unable to generate sufficient cash to repay the bond, falling due in November, it could be forced to sell the company's crown jewels, the successful Scandinavian chain Elkjøp. The electronics market has been one of the hardest hit by the downturn in consumer spending, with demand for TVs and games consoles falling by as much as 20%. That, coupled with cut-throat competition from the internet and supermarkets, is why the US group Best Buy recently shut its fledgling UK chain, while the French group Kesa in effect paid a bidder to take loss-making British chain Comet off its hands.

This will hit the entire internet

2012-01-18T01:49:00.000-08:00

Sherlock season two - overview

2012-01-17T02:44:00.000-08:00

Apparently intelligent is the new sexy

BBC's Sherlock ended this weekend with a dazzling episode that saw Sherlock fall to his death after Moriarty took his own life - of course the clues were all in the episode of how Sherlock was going to fake his own death and the teaser at the end, in which Holmes stands watching Watson visit his grave has left fans all confused. Did Sherlock die? We saw him jump - right? Well yes and no. Earlier in the episode Sherlock visited the morgue and told Molly only she could help him - did he somehow get a body up there on the roof, dress it as himself and send it hurtling off the building so that the world will see his death?

In the Holmes story, The Final Problem, upon which this episode was based, Sherlock fell into a raging waterfall and was believed dead, but in the TV show he fell and landed on rock hard concrete, so the makers will have to come up with a inspired and ingenious reason for his survival. And he did survive, for there is to be a third season. It was commissioned along with the second season.My guess is that Holmes placed the body up there prior to arranging a meeting with Moriarty, and that Molly the smitten morgue assistant helped Holmes obtain the body. Holmes' brother Mycroft is high up in some shadowy government organization and seems able to do anything so it's a sure bet that he is involved in the deception also. All will of course become clear when the third season arrives but given the two main actors heavy workload that probably won't happen until late 2013.

Dead Sherlock???

Now I'm not a Sherlock Holmes expert but I am a bit more than a layman - I've read the entire canon and indeed I've read some of the stories several times, I've seen no end of film and TV versions (the good and the bad) and I have an extensive collection of Holmes related material. And thus I can say with confidence that the BBC' Sherlock has really captured the character Doyle created and is far more like the real Sherlock Holmes than Guy Ritchie's current Holmes blockbuster. The BBC version may be set in the modern day but writers and co-creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gattis have cleverly updated the original stories and brought them to life with perhaps the greatest screen Holmes and Watson for a many years. Initially I thought this was going to be crap and I couldn't get my head around the fact that Sherlock Holmes was now a non smoker and that his beat was the modern world, but I was immediately sucked into the story from the very first episode and this new pairing of Holmes and Watson will become definitive for a new generation of fans.

The second season has been superb - the other two Holmes stories tackled this season were A Scandal in Bohemia, The Hound of the Baskervilles which became A Scandel in Belgrade and The Hounds of Baskerville. I though Baskerville was especially effective and it was a nice touch to make the back-story one of a government conspiracy and animal testing. And Belgrade too which introduced us to Irene Adler and caused a wave of complaints to the BBC over nudity was absolutely excellent. In fact all three episodes were excellent with my favorite being the Hounds merely because it's the Holmes tale I like the most. I also think the second season was an improvement on the first because the show felt much more confident. Though that's not to knock the first season as it was also pretty flawless, but this time out the show tackled some of the more iconic stories.

I'm the good looking one

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman's double act as Sherlock and John Watson is pitch perfect, with a tremendous chemistry between the actors. I actually worked on the first season - appearing in one episode, The Blind Banker as a spectator at the circus - I'm watching the thrilling acrobatic display in the pic above and left. And when I was working on the episode I had the feeling, as a Holmes fan of course, that this would all be a bag of tosh but how wrong I was and the series is without doubt a classic version of the evergreen detective series.

The second series UK DVD release is scheduled on 23 January 2012

The Return of the Sea Monkeys

2012-01-16T10:38:00.000-08:00

YOUNG ME

I've talked about some of the more outrageous classified AD's in old magazines before but this Christmas I bought my young daughter a Sea Monkeys set - seeing the creatures (thingies) on sale reminded me of how they once seemed almost magical to me, and I thought they would be a fun gift.

You see I was brought up in a small town called Gilfach Goch, which was three miles and the next left, after the back end of beyond. Now as a kid growing up in the Seventies I had the usual boyish interests of the time. I wore t-shirts , flared trousers with patch pockets, bumber training shoes, and rode a Chopper bicycle while sucking on a spangle. But as well as all that, and thinking that Wings was the group the Beatles could have been, I had a mania for comic books. In those days the British comics - Battle, Action, 2000AD were my favourites but I would also buy the American titles when I had enough pocket money left over.

Now one thing that was always advertised in American comics at the time were a mysterious thing called sea monkeys. They looked so cool - little creatures that lived in a fish bowl and set up elaborate societies - least that's what the adverts suggested. You could even torture them with twisty racing sets designed to torment them - see video AD embedded below. These guys looked so cool but it was frustrating as hell because there was nowhere for a British kid to get hold of them - it seemed that America had all the best tricks.

Man, having some sea monkeys of my own was a dream but alas, one that was tragically out of reach.

They looked so cute on the packaging and I know that, even as a kid, I should have known better but that was exactly how I imagined them to look. The AD's only cemented this delusion.

"Sea-Monkeys® are a true miracle of nature. They exist in suspended animation inside their tiny eggs for many years. The instant-life crystals, in which the eggs are enclosed, preserve their viability and help to extend still further their un-hatched life span! Sea-Monkeys are real Time-Travelers asleep in biological time capsules for their strange journey into the future!"
Anyway the years went by - hairstyles changed, flared trousers vanished, my Chopper was replaced by a drop handle and Wings split up - by this time I had acne and a new found interest in girls but still in the back of my mind I had this unfulfilled desire for some sea monkeys.

I eventually came across some in a joke shop in Blackpool when I was about sixteen - far too old for that sort of thing. But I bought them and couldn't wait to get them home and place them in a tank for the creatures to hatch. I started thinking up names for them and all of a sudden I was that young kid again.

Anyway they eventually hatched, were too small to see unless you held them up to the light and squinted and I quickly got fed up of them. Turns out they are actually a species of brine shrimp and they do not look like the illustrations on the packets. They're kind of boring and merely looked like tiny specks floating in water. I think I got drunk one day on booze stolen from a friend's parents and actually drunk my small bowl of water, sea monkeys and all.

And I tell you another thing those X-ray specs that in the AD allowed you to see through women's clothing didn't work either.

Sea monkeys are still available - in fact a bowl full of the critters are currently residing on my kitchen windowsill.

Check out the web site

Second World War Timeline in movies 2 - 1939 to Dunkirk

2012-01-16T10:07:00.000-08:00

The series which provides a time-line of the second world war in movies can not be complete and list every aspect of what was a truly global war. However by selecting key movies we can provide the viewer with a list of films that when watched in order will give a good grounding of the sequence of events during this terrible period of history. It will also point you towards some great movies.

The Lion has Wings - This docu-drama was made and rush released in 1939 and convinced the British government of the use of film as a propaganda tool. The film stars Michael Powell and Ralph Richardson and is worth watching for its historical importance.

The Lion Has Wings, intended to reassure the public of the might of the British Air Force, was already well on the way to completion by the time war broke out. In the end, shooting took just twelve days. The Ministry of Information assigned an Air Force advisor to the production and several sites were identified for filming. This is the reason why the film has three directors - film was shot simultaneously in various locations, including Mildenhall in Suffolk for the preparations for the first bomber raid and Hornchurch in Essex for Fighter Operations. The film was completed in five weeks and was released in early November. The all-star cast were all paid a flat fee of £5, although all were compensated by Korda once the film started to do well.

1939 saw a period of relative peace - a time that has become to be known as the phony war - The Winter War (1989) tells of late November of that year when Russia attacked Finland. The film is available on DVD as a part of a double pack with Ambush. Both movies are absolute classics. The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939—three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland—and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty.

Defiance (2008) is set during Germany's occupation of Poland and gives Daniel Craig one of his finest roles - he is excellent as TuviaBielski, the eldest of four Jewish brothers and the eventual leader ofthe Bielski partisans. The film is both action packed and thoughtful and when watched as pure entertainment it is faultless. It also offers a graphic reminder of the horror of the times in which it is set, and of how the Jewish people faced the horror that befell them with dignity and courage. A great film with great performances and telling a story that needs to be told.

Dunkirk (1958) tells of events that are still celebrated today by the British, of how the country turned a defeat into a triumph and bravery and strength. That Dunkirk spirit is still evoked today in times of trouble.

The movie stars John Mills and Richard Attenborough and is told in a captivating fashion. It still works when viewed today, even if some of its patriotism seems simplistic by today's standards. The film relates the story of Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of surrounded British and French troops from the beaches of Dunkirk. It does so principally from the viewpoints of two people: a newspaper reporter and a soldier. n May 1940, during the Battle of France, the British Expeditionary Force in France aiding the French, was cut off from the rest of the French Army by the German advance. Encircled by the Germans they retreated to the area around the port of Dunkirk. The German land forces could have easily destroyed the British Expeditionary Force, especially when many of the British troops, in their haste to withdraw, had left behind their heavy equipment.

Winston Churchill ordered any ship or boat available, large or small, to pick up the stranded soldiers, and 338,226 men (including 123,000 French soldiers) were evacuated – the miracle of Dunkirk, as Churchill called it. It took over 900 vessels to evacuate the Allied forces.

.

We've lost one of our own - Howard Hopkins Rest in Peace

2012-01-16T08:38:00.000-08:00

I am devastated by the news that writer Howard Hopkins died suddenly last Thursday at the age of 50. I never met Howard in person but he was always supportive of both this blog and my own writing - indeed Howard has been interviewed several times by the Tainted Archive. We shared a publisher with Robert Hale Ltd as well as a genre with the Black Horse Westerns - we have lost one of our own.

Howard was born in Biddeford on December 12, 1961, son of Frank and Lynne Dion Hopkins. He was a graduate of Scarborough High School.

The superheroes of Howard’s youth, Doc Savage, The Avenger and The Shadow, influenced his decision to become a professional writer. For the past 24 years, Howard has written numerous books including Westerns for Hale Publications, graphic novels such as a Sherlock Holmes series and a widely known children’s series called the Nightmare Club. Most recently, he focused his energy on writing the Chloe Files, a character derived from his novel Grimm.

Howard was an avid reader of superhero comic books, including Wonder Woman, Superman and The Hulk, to name a few.

He will be remembered as a devoted, loving and very supportive husband. He will be greatly missed not only by his loving and caring wife of 22 years, Dominique Morency Hopkins, but by many, especially his nephew Steap and niece Sam, who he loved, mentored and guided as his own.

Howard was a prolific author of Black Horse titles with more than thirty under his belt and he was also one of the administrators of the Black Horse Western forum. He had active Facebook and Twitter accounts and was well known online. His blog Dark Bits was regularly updated and last Wednesday he blogged about his series, The Chloe Files. He started the post with the following words with now take on a sad resonance - "Days have grown chilled here on the Ghost Coast of New Salem, Maine. But it's a chill of evil and a portent of impending tragedy."

Tributes have been appearing online from his contemporaries as well as his readers. All of us in the online world has our lives enriched by Howard and his writing and our sympathies go out to his family. Over the years his books have entertained thousands upon thousands of readers from all walks of life - truly the sign of a great man.

To send private condolences to the family go to www.cotefuneralhome.com

Tainted Stats

2012-01-16T08:01:00.001-08:00

Weekly Stats Report: 9 Jan - 15 Jan 2012
Project: THE TAINTED ARCHIVE
URL: http://tainted-archive.blogspot.com/

Summary

	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total	Avg
Pageloads	693	733	730	845	723	715	781	5,220	746
Unique Visits	533	556	543	620	540	500	540	3,832	547
First Time Visits	515	541	527	596	522	481	510	3,692	527
Returning Visits	18	15	16	24	18	19	30	140	20

Second World War Timeline in movies - 1 - towards global warfare

2012-01-15T14:12:00.000-08:00

All this week the Archive will be presenting a timeline of the second world war as told in the movies - that's the entire story of the conflict which lasted from 1939 to 1945 and resulted in between 50 - 70 million fatalites. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million military personnel mobilised. In a state of "total war", the major participants placed their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. The global conflict remains the most global war the world has ever seem, resulting in both the holocaust and the only use of nuclear weapons in a warfare.

Of course this series of articles is not intended to be a history of the conflict, but rather to highlight some of the better war movies which strive for both historical accuracy and viewer excitement.

To start the series the Archive points the interested reader towards Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003) which depicts the rise of Hitler, from impoverished child to leader of the National Socialist Party and instigator of the war in Europe which would eventually go global. The movie was originally made as a TV mini-series and shown on television, before being released as a theatrical movie. Reviews at the time were mostly negative but the production was nominted for several Emmys and did in fact win two.

Robert Carlyle in the role of Hitler is nothing short of remarkable with virtually every possible character trait of the Nazi dictator being captured and portrayed in an incredibly convincing manner. It does resort to stereotype on times and can not be said to be totally historically accurate but it does contain most of the important elements of the storyl. And although it only takes us upto Hitler becoming Chancellor of Germany, it provides a useful introduction to the start of our World War II timline.

Next - 1939 - Dunkirk.

Sherlock ends

2012-01-15T04:55:00.000-08:00

The BBC's second season of Sherlock ends tonight in an episode entitled, The Reichenbach Fall - will Sherlock meet his doom? If anything this second season has been even better than the first - expect a full season review later this week on the Archive.

Archive's Sunday Comics: Creepy Time

2012-01-15T03:55:00.000-08:00

Back in the 1970s, American comics fell into two distinct categories. The traditional colour comics were aimed at the juvenile market, but a new style of black-and-white comic was aimed at the adult or "mature" reader.

The colour comics included the products of Charlton Publications, Inc. which put out a raft of horror titles that were euphemistically marketed as "ghost" or sometimes "mystery" titles.

The leading b&w titles, Creepy and Eerie, were published by James Warren, whose main rival was magazine entrepreneur Myron Fass, once described as the "demon god of pulp".

Probably a prime concern of the editors of juvenile colour comics was to see that the grisly excesses of the nothing-barred, b&w camp didn't find their way into the pages for which they were responsible, thus corrupting the minds of young innocents and infringing the code of the American Comics Authority whose seal of approval appeared on their comics' covers.

Charlton's editor, George Wildman, had a background as a cartoonist and is famously known today for his classic work as a top Popeye artist. But when Charlton's output was at its peak he was the head man for more than forty titles across all genres. Despite the huge workload this must have entailed, he was very successful at observing the fine line that separated "juvenile" from "mature" while at the same time not devitalizing his comics.

One proof of this was that the Charlton ghost comics were eagerly picked up by Australian publishers unable to secure foreign syndication rights in the US horror comics for grown-ups. And Pitt Street, Sydney, companies like Gredown Pty Limited happily emblazoned "Rated A for Adult" warnings on the covers. No doubt it was a better sales ploy than the comics-code label on the original US printings that suggested the opposite! The Charlton artwork, of which only the black and white linework was used by the Aussies, was surprisingly effective without colour. Perhaps the very lack added a darker dimension to the stories.

Today's bonus-length Sunday comic was the lead item in the October 1976 Ghostly Tales in the US and was picked up the same year for b&w reprinting in The Witches' Cauldron in Australia.

Keith Chapman, the story's author, tells us he had one disappointment with The Wrath of the Masalai: botched continuity. The characters as drawn on the first page bear no resemblance to the way they appear subsequently. Dr Barrington Smythe, dark and moustached, is later shown as clean-shaven, white-haired and wearing glasses. Lew Powell is red-haired and bearded on the first page but yellow-haired and beardless elsewhere.

"Ah well, I hope the confusion doesn't spoil the story for anyone," Keith says. "When I think of an editor struggling to mastermind 40 titles while drawing Popeye cartoons, I can forgive just about anything. During my own comics career in the UK, I was for a time the place where the buck stopped for ten, 64-page pocket comics a month while simultaneously launching and doing all the editorial work on a 128-page monthly mystery magazine. Oh, and I wrote the odd comic script, too! In circumstances like these, mistakes seemed almost guaranteed. Actually, they were no more common than in the output of the bigger, properly staffed corporations."

The Dead Walked

2012-01-14T18:29:00.001-08:00

My novella, The Dead Walked, the first in an all new trilogy, is available now at an incredibly low price.

Some said it was viral.
Others claimed it was an act of God.
Either way the result was the same and the dead walked.
September was her favourite time of the year, and late September, when the autumn was just preparing to hand over to winter, when there was still a residue of the late summer warmth in the air, as well as the crisp promise of the iciness to come, had always been, as far as Missy was concerned, the finest chunk of that particular month.
Not for her was the spectacle of high summer, nor the morose beauty of mid winter. Of course they both had their fineries but these paled next to the season when the leaves glittered with reflected sunlight. It was the autumn, with September being the highlight of that season, which she loved – a time when nature put on its finest display as the lush summer growth was magically transformed.
The sky itself seemed to glow at this time of year.
September was a time of promise.
A time of rebirth.
Not this September, though.
This September, Missy would remember as, the time the dead walked.

Download a free sample before you decide – HERE

UK's first eBook awards are announced

2012-01-14T03:15:00.000-08:00

The awards will be held in Kidwelly - or should that be Kidwell-E?

A new £10,000 pound prize to find Britain's best ebook has been announced.

The Kidwell-e Ebook Awards is the UK's first literary prize aimed exclusively at digital books and comes at a time of massive growth in the number of people choosing to read books on electronic devices.

The prize – set up to celebrate "innovation, quality and entertainment" in the burgeoning medium of electronic publishing – is open to all British writers with separate categories for first-time and established authors.
There are also awards for the best international ebook author and best eShort story submitted by a young writer.

The winners will be decided by a panel of celebrity judges and revealed at the inaugural Kidwell-e Festival, taking place in the Welsh village of Kidwelly this summer.

Festival founder and best-selling author Julian Ruck says that the new award will "finally bring literary recognition" to the popular ebook format.

Speaking from his home in Wales, he said: "Electronic books have been around for over a decade but though there are prizes around the world specifically for ebooks, they seem to have been either overlooked or ignored by British literary awards.

"This seems unfair as digital publishing has proven incredibly popular with authors and readers alike. It has levelled the playing field, enabling talented new writers to reach their audience directly and readers to discover more fantastic books than ever before.

"It is only fitting then that there should be some form of award for the best of British ebooks and the aim of the Kidwell-e Ebook Awards is to finally bring literary recognition to the digital medium."
The Kidwell-e Ebook Awards joins a handful of literary prizes around the globe dedicated to electronic books, including America's EPIC eBook Awards, run by the Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition, and the Global Ebook Award.

And with a £10k ($16,000) cash prize for the best unpublished or self-published eBook by a British author, as well as two additional prizes of £3,000 ($4,000) and £2,000 ($3,000) to the best ebook by an established British author and international author, it offers the largest prize fund of its kind in the world.
Mr Ruck, who will be on the Awards judging panel alongside a number of "well-known" authors and VIPS yet to be announced, added: "Our motto is 'inclusive, not exclusive' and we are looking to reward the popular as opposed to the highbrow or self-consciously elite.

The Tainted Archive will be attending the eFestival and bringing you all the news.

The Rogue Gentleman

2012-01-13T02:41:00.000-08:00

We hand over the controls of the Archive to writer, Brian Drake who tells us a little about his new thriller series, the Rogue Gentleman. I'm pleased to once again welcome Brian to the Archive - like myself he's a lifelong fan of Ian Fleming and the James Bond series so it comes as no surprise to discover that Fleming's works played some part in Brian's new project.

"Thank you, Gary, for allowing me to promote mynew ebook on your site. Much appreciated."

Steve Dane, The Rogue Gentleman, aninternational adventurer who rights wrongs wherever he finds them, fails toprevent a young woman’s abduction. Butthat doesn’t stop him from finding her.

Officially hired by the girl’s father,Dane battles gunman and evades police as he discovers the decades-old vendettabehind the kidnapping; he soon learns that the grudge is just the beginning andpeels back the layers of a more fiendish plan that goes beyond a desire forvengeance.

Assisted by his lover, the luscious NinaTalikova, Steve Dane dives in head first, the only way he know how, into aconspiracy of terror the likes of which the world has never seen, orchestratedby a powerful and mysterious woman known only as “The Duchess”.

When Dane finds The Duchess, he willsacrifice anything, including his life, to destroy her.

Once again Ian Fleming is partially responsiblefor the creation of Steve Dane. Author Ben Macintyre published a book,appropriately titled For Your Eyes Only,that was part of the Fleming Centennial celebration which listed some of theingredients Fleming mixed into the Bond character—the exploits of real-life Britishagents such as Eddie Chapman and Biffy Dunderdale, who lived lavish lifestyleswhile fighting for queen and country. Chapman is unique since he was afull-time crook rescued from prison in return for serving his country. He wasordered to be an international playboy while tripping up the Germans and hewent all out. I wanted to do a character like that, but, of course, make him anAmerican; since I didn't want to do a World War Two story (maybe someday!) Ineeded a reason to have him operating in contemporary times. Having alreadydone a spy story, I didn’t want this to be about a secret agent, per se, butsomebody who could get involved with international intrigue and mix it up withthe usual spy novel suspects.

Instead of a government agent, Steve Dane is aformer spy and mercenary now living lavishly and chasing trouble and intrigueon his own terms. How he supports himself is part of the on-going subplot. Didhe acquire his wealth honestly or by nefarious means? The good guys think he'sa bad guy; the bad guys think he's one of them; he's able to play both sidesagainst each other and, like Boston Blackie and The Saint before him, come tothe aid of those who have nowhere else to turn as long as he can stay one stepahead of the cops and the crooks.

There's a bit of Nick & Nora Charles mixedin with Steve Dane and his lady friend, Nina Talikova; the stories mixadventure with light humor and so far readers think the combination works.They’re perfect if you’re one of those who ride a commuter train every day andwant something quick to read.

The first installment, PRIVATE VENDETTA,is out; MOVING TARGET and THE ZETA CONNECTION will follow in February and Marchand, of course, three more after that. After the first six, I’ll write atotally different book but that’s something we’ll talk about later. I hope youhave as much fun reading the stories as I have had writing them.

James Herbert hits the small screen (at last)

2012-01-12T15:01:00.000-08:00

Horror author, James Herbert has never had much luck with TV adaptations of his work – his 1988 novel, Haunted started off as a TV special for the BBC but the project was later aborted. However Herbert may find things go a little more smoothly when Ultraviolet director, Jo Ahearne adapts his novel, The Secret of Crickley Hall for the BBC.

BBC Controller Of Drama Ben Stephenson made the announcement yesterday amid a bunch of new drama announcements at the Broadcasting Press Guild lunch yesterday. .
The adaptation will be turned into three 60-minute episodes, set for broadcast around Halloween 2012. The story is about a family who relocate to a rain-swept house in a Devonshire town called Devil’s Cleave – which sounds like a bad move already. It turns out that during World War II, the village was decimated by a flood. Crickley Hall was home to a group of poor orphans evacuated from London to live in spooksville under the care of the sadistic Augustus Cribben, who terrorised, starved and beat them. The orphans were seemingly washed away by the flood and now their lost spirits haunt the hall, pursued by the monstrous figure of Cribben.

One to look forward to then- and if the mini-series is a success then maybe we'll finally see the Haunted series as the teleplay still exists.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo film review

2012-01-12T02:01:00.000-08:00

Daniel Craig may be a terrible James Bond but he's excellent in this Hollywood version of the bestselling novel by Steig Larson - even though he's the only member of the cast who doesn't attempt a Swedish accent and plays Blomkvist with his own voice. Not that it matters and he looks perfect in the role - suitable disheveled and world weary. Of course the most difficult task fell to actress Rooney Mara who had to bring Lisbeth Salander to life. Not an easy job considering that Noomi Rapace's performance in the original was considered definitive, but Rooney makes a very different Salander and if anything brings the damaged character to life far more effectively.

The title sequence is very James Bondish, which worried me as I feared they would push out Craig as his thuggish 007, but as soon as Craig steps onto the screen his Bond persona is a million miles away. I think the original Swedish film slightly topped this one but that's not to take anything away from this dark thriller. It's runs around two and a half hours but doesn't feel like it and almost immediately the viewer is sucked into the story.

The Quatermass Xperiment

2012-01-11T02:20:00.000-08:00

It’s been some years since I’ve seen this movie and I was pleased to find it on DVD doubled with Quatermass 2 – the DVD transfer is bright and crisp and the black and white image looks sharp with no artifacts whatsoever. It’s another great DVD package from Hammer, though these films really are begging for more extensive extra features Scene selection and original trailers do not make up for a commentary or documentary.

The DVD bills the movie as the Quatermass Experiment on both the inlay and the disc itself but the correct title, and the one that pops up on screen in The Quatermass Xperiment – Hammer Films chose the spelling to put an emphasis on the X certificate which the movie originally recieved from the board of film classification. And although far removed from Hammer’s later horror series the film is regarded as the first of the Hammer Horrors.

The plot, taken from the BBC TV serial of the same name, well, the Quatermass Experiment in any case, concerns a spaceship that crashes back to Earth with only the one member of the crew aboard. That crew member, Carroon , has mutated into something and is able to absorb the life force of any living thing he comes into contact with. He first absorbs a cactus which causes his right arm to begin mutating. Carroon’s wife, Judith, hires a private investigator to break her husband out of the hospital. The escape is successful but Carroon kills and absorbs the private investigator in the process.

The original TV series was an enormous success with critics and audiences alike, later described by film historian Robert Simpson as “event television, emptying the streets and pubs, and Hammer wisely stuck to the same elements but did make the central character of Quatermass something less of the square jawed hero. Here he doesn’t come across as particularly likable and considers his scientific work to be above all else, including human life. Jack Warner is at hand to provide a sidekick with his policeman who is not a million miles away from Dixon of Dock Green. Hammer also changed the ending – in the TV series Quatermass persuaded Caroon to commit suicide for the good of mankind, but in the movie version its all cool electrocuting the monster that was once a man.

Overall this is a classic SF/Horror film with excellent performances from the entire cast, with special honours going to Richard Wordsworth as the doomed astronaut – he manages with facial expressions alone to create great sympathy as he stumbles across the countryside like Karloff’s Frankenstein’s monster. It may be pulpy and old fashioned but then it’s a damn sight better than many modern SF thrillers.

Star Trek 2 - the voyages are ongoing

2012-01-11T02:15:00.000-08:00

Is it Star Trek 2 or Star Trek 12? Whatever the number, the movie starts shooting this week for a May 2014 release and new casting details have emerged - Joseph Gatt has been added to the list of actors appearing in the film.

The film is described as bigger in scope than the original and word has it that Abrams himself has travelled to Hawaii to scout a location to double as part of a “jungle planet.” Location shooting is also said to occur at a Los Angeles museum for what is supposed to be a “famous Star Trek location.” Most of the filming, however take place on the Paramount lot.

It has also been confirmed that none of the cast of the original series will appear, which is certain to piss off the Shatner. Leonard Nimoy appeared in the last movie but this time the producers want the movie to stand on its own and create its own personality away from the original series. But, that doesn't mean no one is coming back. He's not exactly a face from the past, but it looks like Bruce Greenwood will reprise his role of Christopher Pike in "Star Trek 2.

Bestselling Black Horse Titles on Amazon

2012-01-09T01:58:00.000-08:00

Charts courtesy of Black Horse Express

1. Jake Rains by Tony Masero (Hardcover - 30 Nov 2011)
From £9.12

2. The Black Horse Westerns: Collection No. 1 by Abe Dancer, Dean Edwards, Tyler Hatch and Scott Connor (Kindle Edition - 1 Jan 2011)
Buy: £6.86

3. Captain Talbot's Reckoning by A. Doran Leishman (Hardcover - 31 Oct 2011)
From £9.12

4. Trail to Fort Laramie by Jack Edwardes (Kindle Edition - 30 Dec 2011)
Buy: £2.86

5. The Ballad of Delta Rose by Jack Martin (Hardcover - 29 Jul 2011)
From £8.51

6. Arizona Pay-Off (Black Horse Western) by Duke Patterson (Kindle Edition - 31 Oct 2011)
Buy: £2.86

7. The Kansas Fast Gun (Black Horse Western) by Arthur Kent (Kindle Edition - 31 Oct 2011)
Buy: £2.86

8. Gunhawk (Black Horse Western) by John Long (Kindle Edition - 31 Oct 2011)
Buy: £2.86

9. Viva the Brazos Kid! by Frank Longfellow (Kindle Edition - 30 Dec 2011)
Buy: £3.19

10. Trail of the Burned Man (Black Horse Western) by Thomas McNulty (Hardcover - 30 Nov 2009)
From £0.50

Tainted Stats

2012-01-09T01:51:00.000-08:00

Weekly Stats Report: 2 Jan - 8 Jan 2012
Project: THE TAINTED ARCHIVE
URL: http://tainted-archive.blogspot.com/

Summary

	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total	Avg
Pageloads	705	772	791	730	777	854	741	5,370	767
Unique Visits	534	555	535	514	578	616	546	3,878	554
First Time Visits	524	533	518	504	564	594	528	3,765	538
Returning Visits	10	22	17	10	14	22	18	113	16

There and back again - trailer

2012-01-08T01:00:00.001-08:00

The eNews - Kindle once again tops the Christmas eReader sales

2012-01-07T04:21:00.000-08:00

Four million Brits unwrapped an Amazon Kindle on Christmas morning this year.

In April Amazon announced that customers were choosing Kindle books over hardcover books at a rate of more than two to one, even as hard cover sales continued to grow. Since then 242 Kindle books have been sold for every 100 hardcover books.

The Kobo too experienced record sales over the festive period but are still unable to get anywhere close to Amazon's big hitter, the tremendously user friendly KIndle. The Kobo eReader is a fine device but it is discovering, as did Sony before it, that an eRaeder not only has to compete with Amazon in terms of hardware but also with the Amazon Kindle store which makes dowloading eBooks simplicity on the Kindle. In the UK the Kobo is closely linked to W H Smith's eBook market and it's been chopping and changing so much that it could hardly be called user friendly.

Harper Collins saw one hundred thousand eBook downloads on Christmas Day. Over 100,000 eBooks published by HarperCollins UK were downloaded on that single day. This was both a record high as well as over times as high as the average daily downloads during December 2011.

And in other eBook news the most pirated eBooks over the festive period were:

1,001 Facts that Will Scare the S#*t Out of You
7 Weeks to 50 Pull-Ups: Strengthen and Sculpt Your Arms, Shoulders
7 Weeks to 100 Push-Ups: Strengthen and Sculpt Your Arms, Abs, Chest
Kindle Library (4,687 Ebooks – Mobi)
Do Not Open: An Encyclopedia of the World’s Best-Kept Secrets

First actor to play James Bond dies.

2012-01-07T03:53:00.000-08:00

Best known as the host of TV quiz show, Blockbusters actor Bob Holness was actually the first actor to play superspy James Bond, when he took the part for a South African Radio play of Moonraker.

He died yesterday at the age of 83 after a battle with several strokes.

The actor/broadcaster died peacefully in his sleep.

Hollywood 2012 - Mo(o)re of the same.

2012-01-03T05:01:00.000-08:00

"If you can give the audience something that's visually spectacular, a reason to come out and watch movies in the theatre, then audiences will come out to see it on the big screen," Paramount's vice chairman of marketing, Rob Moore recently told the New York Daily News - he was speaking after cinemas experienced a boom in attendances this Christmas with Sherlock Holmes 2 and the new Mission Impossible doing particularly well. Though it must be noted that 2011 saw a decline in ticket sales and attendance fell to a 16-year low.

The key words to Mr. Moore's statement, and the ones that really worry me, are VISUALLY SPECTACULAR - this suggests that the powers that be in movie land still consider eye dropping visuals to be more important than story, that the dumbing down of cinema will continue. And what's more Hollywood may be correct and films with plots, good acting and only limited visual effects will only reach a limited audience - a case in point is David Fincher's "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," which has been left for dead after a disappointing debut last weekend given all of the hype surrounding the adaptation. However Fincher's movie has now raked in $60 million and is showing signs of finding an audience.

"Our franchise films has gotten younger, and family movies have been soft," said Chris Aronson, senior vice president of distribution at Fox, in an interview with the L A Times. "I'm not going to be Pollyanna-ish about the box office this year. We know that attendance figures are slipping, and we need to reverse that by doing everything we can to put the best possible product out as an industry."


Rusch

The industry are talking about the long haul for their movies and the revenue generated by DVD sales and yet, the fact is, that DVD sales are also on the decline. And the much hailed Blu-Ray has not exactly set the home entertainment world on fire - most Blu-Ray discs these days come with a standard DVD disc included in an attempt to boost sales, but that does not speak well for a format that was supposed to replace standard DVD. It is akin to Microsoft including a copy of Vista with every Windows 7. The decline of the DVD is being masked by the still strong sales of DVDs to children and it's hiding the real slide in sales of smaller movies.That's limiting the guaranteed income for a lot of productions. It will be harder to guarantee money to make a movie as the way people watch movies changes. The entire nature of a film's availability is changing as people watch things on tablets and smart phones and people aren't buying digital copies the way studios want.

I've always been a regular cinema goer though I must admit that I've not been since True Grit and prior to that my last cinema visit was when I walked out of the travesty that was Quantum of Solace - nothing has really appealed to me, at least not enough to visit the multiplex. The few films that I have wanted to watch I've waited for the DVD's to become available. And it's the same with DVD - where I once bought at least four titles a month, I now perhaps buy half a dozen a year. Granted this is down to the fact that I've now amassed a DVD collection of over a thousand titles and I've already got all the classic movies that seem to come out on digital disc.

I guess that like TV and popular music, the cinema is becoming a place for kids only.

At least that's the way I feel, and I suspect, so do many others.

Tainted Stats

2012-01-02T17:40:00.000-08:00

Weekly Stats Report: 26 Dec - 1 Jan 2012
Project: THE TAINTED ARCHIVE
URL: http://tainted-archive.blogspot.com/

Summary

	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total	Avg
Pageloads	698	678	812	774	748	598	668	4,976	711
Unique Visits	507	485	568	562	531	442	465	3,560	509
First Time Visits	484	466	550	537	514	431	451	3,433	490
Returning Visits	23	19	18	25	17	11	14	127	18

Archive's Sunday Comics - 2012: Battle stations

2011-12-31T15:59:00.000-08:00

The comic book industry is a fraction of the size it was when I was a kid, at least it is in the UK - I was always a voracious reader of comic books and at the prime comic book reading age - say, 10-15- I had a dazzling variety of titles to choose from.

Each week I had Battle, 2000AD and Tiger on standing order from my newsagents and when I could afford it there were many other titles waiting to claim my money - the Beano and Dandy, Bullet, Hotspur, the new Eagle, Action..the list goes on. Of course those were British titles.

My local newsagent didn't stock the American imports, but every now and then I would take a bus ride to nearby Porth and pick up a few of the American titles. Though in all honesty I preferred the more realistic UK anthology comics as most of the US titles I came across were superhero related, and whilst I enjoyed Batman, Superman and Spider-man I wasn't a massive fan of US titles. They were glossier than the UK titles, and often in full colour but UK titles reflected a working class society I understood. That society has now vanished and most of the comics have gone with it.

A visit to a newsagents in 2012 is a depressing experience for a comic book reader - 2000AD is still there but none of the other action titles are being published today and most comic books seem to be aimed at the younger market with the cover mounted gifts being more important than the story inside. The Beano and Dandy still go on but these titles are unlike the versions I read as a kid - Dennis has been de-menaced and Desperate Dan is now politically correct.

Things have certainly changed. The US titles still seem to be going strong, though from what I understand with not a fraction of the sales they once boasted. Titan and Panini between them are publishing high quality UK titles made up of American reprints and these are very popular, but the Brit stuff with the exception of titles like 2000AD and Clint have vanished. Of course the Commando Comics are still there but these are unique in that they are self contained stories and far removed from the anthology weekly comics that were once so prevalent. Early in 2011 a promising new title was announced called, Strip but it didn't seem to materialise - least I've never seen a copy. Apparently it's now on issue three but distribution can't be very good as I've yet to see a copy anywhere.

Kids these days don't know what they're missing and I'm glad I grew up during a time when comics were still a big part of every childhood...

And so all this leads us to our strip this week - an episode from the gritty war drama Hellman which was written by Gerry Finley-Day and appeared appeared in Action Comic and later survived when the title merged into Battle. And as a bonus we also have a couple of random pages from another UK comic, Warlord.

And remember click on any of the images for a larger readable version.

Enjoy

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T15:29:00.001-08:00

Here’s wishing all my readers a happy and prosperous new year.
Have a great 2012

: BOOK ONE AVAILABLE NOW – CLICK IMAGE

real life hauntings - Ghostly chavs run riot in Peterborough

2011-12-30T13:44:00.000-08:00

I kid you not but apparently ghostly yobs are running riot in Peterborough
This FROM THE EVENING TELEGRAPH

Police in Peterborough have been called on to act as ghost busters by victims who feel they may have been targeted by thieves and yobs from beyond the grave.
Findings released by Cambridgeshire Police following a Freedom of Information request by The Evening Telegraph, show Peterborough police have been alerted on six occasions in the last three years to deal with ghostly apparitions.

And in an eerie twist, three of these sightings occurred on the same date – 9th September – in consecutive years.
Two sightings also happened on the same day – 21st February this year – in central Peterborough.
Police said that all reports featuring the word ‘ghost’ in the last three years had occurred within the county’s Northern Division which covers the whole of Peterborough.
The full list of ghostly sightings reported to police includes:
- On 9 September 2009: police were called to a report of a burglary in the PE1 post code area.
The caller told officers it was believed there was a ghost in their house but no trace was ever found.
- On 21 November 2009: a disturbance in a field adjoining a house in Thorney was reported.
Officers were told by locals that this may have been caused by the ghost of a child.
- On 9 September 2010: police were called to a home in Stanground one week after an attempted burglary.
Officers reported that a child had woken at night and believed that a ghost was trying to enter through a window.
- On 21 February 2011: officers stopped a “confused woman” in Peterborough city centre.
They noted that she appeared to be “talking to ghosts”.
- On the same date in the PE1 area, police received a call from a person who claimed to be hearing “ghost noises” as well as seeing hands coming over the top of a door.
The caller also reported a group of three males outside the property, one of whom was a white male.
- On 9 September 2011: a driver on the A47 in central Peterborough reported a person walking down a slip road onto the carriageway against the flow of traffic.
The driver was described to be in such a state of shock that it felt like they “had seen a ghost”.
In all cases police say that no further action was taken by officers.
A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police said: “Reports like these are extremely rare but where people have genuine concerns they or their property is at risk we will investigate if appropriate.”
However, the sightings have come as little surprise to Stuart Orme, who works at the supposedly-haunted Peterborough Museum and organises popular ghost walks through the city centre.
Mr Orme said: “Peterborough is an ancient city with a lot of history and tales get built up over time.
“We have an historic cathedral and other old buildings with links to hundreds of people from the past.
“There have been lots of ghost stories in the city over the years and we go through these on our walks.
“I would say that around 80 per cent of ghost stories can be explained with a rational answer.
“But it’s the remaining 20 per cent that no matter how hard you try to think of one, no logical answer exists.”
Among the places which are said to be haunted are the Queensgate Shopping Centre and the city’s museum.
The museum is said to be stalked by the ghost of a First World War Australian Soldier Sergeant Thomas Hunter, who was taken there in 1916 after being wounded.
Back then the museum was a hospital and Sergeant Hunter died there.
Since then staff have regularly reported furniture being mysteriously moved about.
Peterborough Cathedral is also said to be haunted by three ghosts.
The apparition of a little girl who was apparently murdered there in the 1860s is said to have appeared in a window in one of the building’s precincts.
The ghosts of a monk and a stone mason who also supposedly died there have been spotted as well.
The city’s Cowgate area is believed to be haunted following an incident of body snatching back in the 1820s.
Mr Orme added: “Although the museum is currently closed to the public we still have staff working here and some of those have heard mysterious footsteps when nobody else was around.
“There have been several ghost sightings at the Queensgate Shopping Centre over the past 30 years.
“The centre is built on an old residential area which used to contain shops and homes so people say the ghosts could be former residents there.”
So why are people so fascinated by ghost sightings and what should they do if they experience one?
Mr Orme said: “Ghost sightings capture people’s imaginations because they are linked to our fascination about what happens after death.
“I have met people who claim to have seen ghosts and some of them are the most down-to-earth rational men and women you could ever meet.
“But when they start telling you about the ghost they saw their belief is completely rigid and no amount of reasoning can change their minds.
“At the end of the day people are suckers for a good ghost story – even those who don’t believe in ghosts – and that’s never going to change.”
Have you experienced a ghost sighting in Peterborough recently? Contact our newsdesk on 01733 588728.
The grim activities of the body snatchers
At the end of Cowgate, there used to stand a graveyard, which was removed when the Queensgate Shopping Centre was built.
Eerily, it was one of the last places in the UK to be raided by grisly body snatchers who dug up freshly buried corpses and sold them to doctors for medical practice.
One evening in 1828 a cart was seen outside the cemetery with two men loading suspicious sacks onto it.
The alarm was raised and the men fled, with a cart chase ending near Norman Cross on the edge of the city. Here the men abandoned their getaway cart and fled over the fields.
But do their victims still wander Cowgate, eternally trapped and angry at their sad fate?

W H Smith's eBooks fiasco

2011-12-29T06:21:00.000-08:00

From eBook Magazine

In the past few days, WHSmith ebook customers have seen further changes to the retailer’s ebook operation.
In October WHSmith announced plans to move its ebook service to the Canadian-based Kobo platform.
Shortly afterwards, sales via the firm’s website were redirected to Kobo’s site.

At the time customers were promised details of how their existing books would be transferred to the new service.

Last week affected shoppers were sent an email asking that they click a link to confirm they wanted their WHSmith purchases transferring to Kobo.

However that email also warned that: “We have been unable to make all your eBooks purchased from WHSmith.co.uk available in a Kobo account. This is may be because the titles are no longer available or Kobo have not yet established a relationship with the publisher.”

This means some customers may find some books are lost as part of the transfer. In addition, any eAudiobooks purchased will also be unavailable via Kobo and users are urged to download them before the end of December 28th.

Separately, customers who purchased books via the Samsung E60/E65 eReader and WHS iPad apps have been contacted by Mobcast which is taking over responsibility for those platforms.
Co-founded by author Andy McNab, Mobcast powered the WHSmith ebook app store.
In an email sent last week, McNab revealed that the service would be rebranded Uncuva and promised “a whole range of improved features and services, including an Uncuva desktop site to make browsing, buying and managing your books a lot easier.”

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan

2011-12-29T05:32:00.000-08:00

They say this is the best of all the Stark Trek movies, and although it's never been my favourite it was the first one I slipped into the DVD player from the handsome box set I received for Christmas - thank you very much. I've always liked Star Trek and of course I've seen all the movies, even the boring ones, and my favourite's always been The Search for Spock, with The Voyage Home coming a close second because it's fun and it's the Star Trek movie most easily enjoyed by non Star Trek fans.

Inspired by the "Space Seed" episode of the original TV series, Wrath of Khan reunites newly promoted Admiral Kirk with his nemesis from the earlier episode--the genetically superior Khan (a sweaty and buff Ricardo Montalban)--who is now seeking revenge upon Kirk for having been imprisoned on a desolated planet. Their battle ensues over control of the Genesis device, a top-secret Starfleet project enabling entire planets to be transformed into life-supporting worlds, pioneered by the mother (Bibi Besch) of Kirk's estranged and now-adult son. While Mr. Spock mentors the young Vulcan Lt. Saavik (then-newcomer Kirstie Alley), Kirk must battle Khan to the bitter end, through a climactic starship chase and an unexpected crisis that will cost the life of Kirk's closest friend.

Wrath of Khan, to me, it's always felt small, more suited to a TV episode than the big screen, but of course in terms of story it holds up well and the acting is of a high quality. Maybe it's a fan fave because it uses the character of Khan first seen in the season one episode, The Space Seed - there is a goof here which was apparently explained in a Star Trek Novel - Khan says to Chekov, "Ahh, yes... Chekov, I remember". Although Chekov was not a bridge officer in the TV show that first featured Khan, it should be remembered that when Khan first took over Enterprise, he started with the engineering deck. Chekov was engineering ensign at the time, according to the movie's novelization.

Still away with all the geekery - This is a good, fast paced movie, full of action and surprisingly dark for a Stark Trek movie and of course the death of Spock at the climax is done with just the right amount of emotion. But a problem I have with Khan is that Kirk and Khan never actually meet face to face for the big show down at the climax, which really does feel like a let down, but this sentiment is not shared as Wrath of Khan is universally celebrated as the best of all the Trek movies.

"Of all the souls I've encountered in my travels, his was the most ... human" Kirk on the death of Spock.

Wrath of Khan is that it started off a story arc that would follow over the next two movies, and I enjoy the entire trilogy, though to my tastes Khan is still the weakest of the three - the next movie would feature some exciting scenes with the Klingons and the follow up would find the crew in modern day America trying to steal some Humpbacked Whales.

Wrath of Khan is a great movie with the original (and real) Star Trek crew, but I still don't think it's the best of all the Star Trek movies.

The rotten apple - eBook price fixing

2011-12-26T04:25:00.000-08:00

For book publishers, Christmas will come twice this year. After the festive trade in hardback tomes, the celebrations will begin again on Boxing Day, as the millions who got Kindles from Santa go online to stock them with reading material.

Amazon already sell more eBooks than paperbacks, but regulators, both in Europe and the United States, are worried that shoppers may be overpaying. This month, both the European commission and the US department of justice have announced investigations into ebook sales. They are to lift the lid on a power struggle between the publishing industry and Amazon that could determine the shape of the book trade for years to come.
The European commission will probe the "agency" deals signed between Apple and five of the biggest publishers: Hachette Livre, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Penguin and Macmillan.

The trouble began in early 2010. Worried about declining physical book sales, publishers feared Amazon's eye-catching discounts would devalue their electronic product. So they agreed to a business model proposed by Apple just before the release of the first iPad. It was a move intended to force the world's largest bookseller to relinquish control over pricing.

The agency deals apply only to digital books. Publishers set the retail prices and bookshops take a 30% cut on each copy sold. The model was designed by Apple, but subsequently forced on Amazon, and has been adopted mainly in the UK and US, by Waterstones, Canadian group Kobo and Barnes & Noble.
"The whole point of the agency model is to prevent the emergence of monopolists like Amazon," says Benedict Evans, a digital media expert at Enders Analysis. "What the publishers have done is stopped Amazon from crushing the independent eBook retail sector."

Amazon has lobbied furiously against the agency model. European regulators fear consumers may be paying too high a price to keep the American retail superpower at bay. "The commission has concerns the publishers may have colluded to raise the price of ebooks and that Apple may have facilitated this," says the commission's competition spokeswoman, Amelia Torres.

Agency deals will also come under scrutiny in US courts. Law firm Hagens Berman is bringing a class action suit in California against Apple and the big five publishers on behalf of book buyers. Founding partner Steve Berman says: "In the US, we believe that the publishers and Apple got together and agreed to fix the prices, and you are not allowed to do that. As a result, prices of e-books have exploded, jumping as much as 50%."

Publishers are reluctant to speak publicly but deny any collusion, saying they met Apple individually, rather than as a group. The agency model, often used for reselling insurance or software, is a well-established system enshrined in European law. But prices have risen since it was applied to ebooks.

Amazon no longer charges its old flat rate of $9.99 for new titles in the US; bestsellers now average $15. Berman says shoppers are paying between 30% and 50% more.

Toby Stephens is James Bond

2011-12-26T03:50:00.000-08:00

James Bond is back - and it's Toby Stephens in the title role, and whilst he may have played one of the silliest Bond villains on the big screen, he certainly makes a good 007. Goldfinger was broadcast this Christmas Eve as the Saturday Play on BBC Radio 4 and it's still available to be listened to online HERE

Ian Fleming's 1959 novel faithfully dramatised by Archie Scottney and directed by Martin Jarvis. Toby Stephens returns as 007, and a glittering cast is led by Ian McKellen in the title role. With cameo roles by top actors - all delighted to contribute to this remarkable Fleming adventure. Rosamund Pike plays wacky gang-boss Pussy Galore and Lisa Dillon is the vengeful Tilly Masterton. John Standing returns as 'M'. Tom Hollander, Tim Pigott-Smith and American star Hector Elizondo as New York City mobsters. Bond and Goldfinger are joined in the famous golf game by Alistair McGowan as the caddie, Hawker. Henry Goodman, Ian Ogilvy and Lloyd Owen contribute to the excitement. And Jon David Yu throws his bowler-hat with deadly effect as 'Oddjob'.

Auric Goldfinger is not only a cheat at canasta and golf, he's also an international criminal on a massive scale. His obsession: gold. James Bond is charged by the Bank of England and MI5 to discover what Goldfinger is actually doing with his vast hoards of gold. Is he somehow connected with SMERSH - the feared soviet spy-killing organisation? When 007 becomes an undercover member of Goldfinger's team he soon learns that the madman's plans are more grandiose than even 'M' could possibly have imagined. Amazingly, robbing Fort Knox is on the agenda - and mass murder...

What a difference a eYear makes

2011-12-25T21:36:00.000-08:00

I originally posted this article during January 2011 and now, almost a year on, the eBook industry is bigger then ever - updates in bold.

"I have witnessed and participated in the transition of the newspaper industry from letterpress (hot type), to offset (cold type), to computer pagination (no type)." Says John Hayden in an interesting post looking at the future of publishing in a digital landscape. HERE Can there now be any doubt that eBooks are the future?

There is a handy complete beginners guide to eBook HERE

Books are gradually beginning to lose their magical hold over people. Although at first this might seem like an extremely sweeping and highly improbable statement, with every new Kindle purchased or every batch of ebooks either downloaded or uploaded, it gains an additional bit of weight. A article looking at the phyiscal V digital debate HERE More and more people have now grown used to reading on a screen and are realizing that when engrossed in a good book it is the fictional world you see and not the device.

Last year was the year that firmly placed ebooks in the public mind and yet surprisingly it was the Romance segment that was the fastest growing of all genres within this market – at least according to research done by Bowker (as reported by the NYtimes). As an example of this, Barnes & Noble, the popular American retailer, was previously considered a non-entity in the romance market, yet they have recently taken 25% of the segment for ebooks. Quite impressive. The Romance genre was the biggest growing sector of eBook publishing last year. Full story The current hot genre is YA Fiction.

If you’ve visited any of the popular eBook forums/blogs over the last year or two you’ve likely seen plenty of debates discussing how eBook Readers will only hit the mainstream once they get down below $100, although in more recent months a $50 number has been bantered around (£50 on our side of the pond). This article questions the possibilities of eReaders ever dropping below the £50 mark. HERE

Most people in the industry seem to think that moving over from print to digital is cheap -
The publishing world is going digital, well, its trying. When we think of the costs involved in this the reaction from many people is, “cool, we’ll save loads of money”, but is this really true? Dominique Raccah from Sourcebooks says not.
Dominique has talk before about how Sourcebooks is finding it very costly to go digital and at this years Frankfurt Book Fair, she is making these comments again. I’m not a publisher myself, and I certainly don’t have experience with print publishing. FULL STORY

ePub is the universal format for eBook and yet Amazon do not allow the format on their Kindle. Over the last 12 months there has been a huge shift in the eBook world with the introduction of a brand new eBook format called EPUB. It is based on open standards, XHTML, XML, CSS and the ZIP archive container. As a result almost every publisher has adopted this format which now means that when the consumer buys an eBook, they can read it on many different devices now and many many more in the future – good news for the consumer. FULL STORY A firmware update now allows the Kindle to display ePub

The complete celluloid 007 - An all time high

2011-12-25T21:20:00.000-08:00

It used to be a tradition to get a Bond film on TV on Christmas night, but the Bond movies, now that they've gone all ultra modern and thuggish, are hardly festive entertainment. However I wasn't much in the mood for the poor offerings on the idiot box and feeling bloated from too much food and booze, I felt like crashing on the sofa and watching a movie - I'd spent the evening watching the vintage sitcoms that BBC2 were offering up and this left me in the mood for some good harmless entertainment- I fancied a Bond movie but I didn't want anything too intense and my first thought was The Spy Who Loved me but I'd recently re-watched that one, and so I opted for Octopussy which is probably, along with A View to a Kill, the Moore/Bond I've watched the least times over the years.

However I have, over the years , seen this movie maybe a dozen times and it's still watchable - it's good harmless fun, and refreshing that the violence level is as it should be for a Bond movie. Roger Moore may have been a little too old for the part when he made this entry in the series, but he still comes across head and shoulders above the current holder of the 007 status. There are so many classic moments - the pre-credits light aircraft disguised as an horse's arse is a cracking opening to a movie that knows it offers absurdest entertainment and does it well. So well in fact that nobody does it better.

Roger Moore proved with this entry in the series that there was still life in the old dog and indeed his Bond movies were amongst the most successful ever made - time after time I have argued with people who have called Moore a terrible Bond and I would maintain that Moore was closer than anyone else to Fleming's original creation. And for me Moore will always be the definitive James Bond.

I thought Timothy Dalton was excellent too, as was Pierce Brosnan and George Lazenby was OK if a little amateurish at times. Daniel Craig, I think, is a great and very talented actor but I just don't think he's right for James Bond and I feel that both his Bond movies were lacking the essential ingredients that make Bond stand out from all the other action movies out there. It would be interesting to find out how many of the people who think Craig's Bond is the Bond of the books have actually real Fleming's original novels.

Not many, I think.

TAINTED CHRISTMAS STATS

2011-12-25T19:33:00.001-08:00

Weekly Stats Report: 19 Dec - 25 Dec 2011
Project: THE TAINTED ARCHIVE
URL: http://tainted-archive.blogspot.com/

Summary

	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total	Avg
Pageloads	1,095	924	827	759	696	582	620	5,503	786
Unique Visits	793	621	547	540	516	427	424	3,868	553
First Time Visits	771	603	524	516	499	411	411	3,735	534
Returning Visits	22	18	23	24	17	16	13	133	19

Archive's Sunday Comics - Festive Adventure

2011-12-24T04:46:00.001-08:00

Christmas comes a day early on the Archive and so this week Sunday Comics is here on a Saturday - ahh well, like the rest of you I'll be too hungover tomorrow to operate a keyboard, let alone see what's on the screen. And so from myself and Keith Chapman, the man largely responsible for most of the Sunday Comics posts we wish you all a great Christmas and a cool new year.

The last balloon in our Sunday comic this week reads, "Wow! This must be the most exciting, merriest Christmas we've ever had!"

Archive readers have confirmed here before that some of the merry-ness of Christmas holidays during their twentieth-century childhoods was created by the sumptuous annuals produced largely by publishers of the juvenile weekly comics. The annuals must also have been a godsend to aunts, uncles and grandparents at a loss to know what to buy for little Johnny's or Jenny's Christmas stocking. The easy solution was check out which comics the children favoured, then call in at the local newsagents or booksellers. They were sure to be stocking the corresponding annuals from around September onwards.

The comic publishers produced annuals specifically for the Christmas trade and advertised and promoted them at no cost in their own weekly papers. They were undeniable moneyspinners.

This week's complete strip, written by Keith Chapman, is an excerpt from Girls' World Annual 1968, published in 1967. We've discussed the topic of UK girls' comics here very recently. So all that's left to note is that, just as male Archive followers have disclosed they often enjoyed their sisters' comics, many of the boys at Christmas time also sneaked secret peeks into the girls' annuals ... especially when they could find neat little spy thrillers like Christmas Casualty!

Books for Christmas

2011-12-24T04:24:00.000-08:00

This kid is a star and this video, posted by his parents has gone viral on You Tube - check it out

Festive Fear

2011-12-23T17:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas is a time of fun, frolics and ghosts.

‘My ghostly little tale.’

That was how Charles Dickens referred to A Christmas Carol which was first published in 1843 and has since become arguably Dickens most celebrated work. It has been adapted countless time into all other media – movies, TV, comic books, audio plays, stage plays and is largely responsible for the way we celebrate Christmas today. The Christmas of the book is not so much about religion but the cold winter and the even colder heart of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Over the years the book has become to be known as a Christmas tale, which it of course is, but it is first and foremost a paranormal thriller that terrified the original audience – Dickens had written of supernatural events previously when Gabriel Grub from the Pickwick Papers is visited by goblins, but with A Christmas Carol the author brought the paranormal to the fore.

“A national benefit and to every man or woman who reads it, a personal kindness.” William Makepeace Thackery.
Dickens has a social message behind his story, because he felt that the poor, many who had been displaced by the industrial revolution, should be provided for and treated humanly by society and by using ghosts to get his message across, he was picking up on an oral tradition of telling supernatural stories at Christmas.

And whilst A Christmas Carol is the ghost story most associated with Christmas, it is worth remembering that M R James started writing his ghost stories to be told to friends on Christmas Eve, the frame story in “The Turn of the Screw” has a bunch of friends sitting around the fire on Christmas Eve And the Andy Williams song “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” has the line there’ll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago. The modern Christmas owes much to the Victorian idea of the holiday and the Victorians loved ghosts stories and each year the popular annuals would feature at least one festive ghost story.
And so remember this Christmas not all spirits come in a bottle and have a scary Christmas and a chilling new year from THE TAINTED ARCHIVE.

“But Stark has injected his own elements into the story. A pregnant woman and a plot thread I’ve not seen in a zombie story before. The ending threw a twist in and sets up the next part of the story, coming soon. Zombie stories are not a type I read a lot of, but I’ve come to expect good stuff from Stark/Dobbs/Martin, whatever genre he writes in.” From the Amazon review by George R Johnson
“Hey, if you love zombies (and who doesn’t) this is a fab read. The author is proving a master at several genres, all his novels are well worth reading.” From the Amazon review by D. Menashy
Available now

Clint goes ape

2011-12-22T16:53:00.000-08:00

Every Which Way But Loose (1978) certainly came out of left field for Clint Eastwood but it was a huge success, as was its 1980 sequel Any Which Way You Can. Eastwood was actually advised against making the first movie - it was felt that the public wouldn't accept him in a light comedy role after all the grim westerns and Dirty Harry pics, however the films remain today two of Eastwood's highest grossing vehicles.

They're also great fun, in a leave your brain at the door kind of way. Hey what could be better than watching Clint fist fighting while his pet ape shits in a police car? This is a full out redneck comedy with Clint playing the kind of thick head his critics had always claimed him to be, but then what did the critics know?

The project arrived at Malpaso in a roundabout way - the script was originally called The Coming of Philo Beddoe and was based on a real person - a truck driver with a pet monkey who was a phenomenal fist fighter. Writer Jeremy Kronsberg peppered the script with his own songs - the script was turned down over 50 times before arriving with Clint Eastwood who saw in it a chance to broaden his range.`

In the original script Eastwood's character was aged 29, while the actor was closing in on fifty. Writer Kronsberg joked that he would do some rewriting and make the character 35.

When the first movie was released it's astonishing success took both the studio and Clint by surprise - in fact, allowing for inflation, the movie still stands as Clint's most lucrative movie ever. It cost $4.5 million to make and took an impressive $123.5 million on its initial US release.

The follow up - Any Which Way You Can was far less successful and only took $10 million at the box office, which meant the end for Philo Beddoe and the plans for a series of movies was scrapped. But the follow up is actually a better made movie than the original but it lacked the good nature and the comedy scenes were basically a retread of those in the original movie.

After that Clint shot the monkey.

AMERICAN HORROR STORY - THE END......

2011-12-22T08:13:00.001-08:00

SPOILERS – Well we finally had a happy ending but only after the last living member of the Harmon family was sent off swinging into the afterlife – of course that’s not to mention a new family terrified into leaving the house. And amongst all this we had the usual mayhem and creepiness that has become a hallmark of this truly bizarre and original series. I, for one, have loved the entire season and I’m not at all let down by the ending – though what happened to the ninety minute episode we were promised. This episode was normal length and it did feel rushed in the way it dealt with gathering all the loose ends together, Ben, for instance, was killed off in the first ten minutes. Then we saw him reunited with his dead family and then it was fast forward to the new family moving in, and the Harmons scaring them out of the home so that they could avoid the inevitable tragedy that would befall them if they remained. This scene ticks all the boxes of the haunted house genre and there are one or two genuinely scary moments.

There was a great scene in which the ghosts were getting the house ready for Christmas and Moira was invited into the Harmon family, even becoming godmother to the baby. The dead one that is since the living spawn of Tate is being brought up by Constance and the episode ended with that demon baby slaughtering his nanny and then grinning at Constance. Credit to AHS for producing an addictive first season, which it capped off, fittingly, with an oddly heartwarming holiday tableau of a dead family and their damned roommates around a Christmas tree, even adding a festive soundtrack.

Let the right one in - book review

2011-12-22T05:55:00.000-08:00

I’ve just finished this book, having already seen the two movie versions, the original Swedish and the Hollywood one, but until now the book had sat in my TBR pile waiting its turn. All I can say is I’m going to watch both movies again over the holidays because now that I’ve experienced the real thing I’ve got a hunger to revisit the characters and see just how faithful the movies were . I remember they were both very good movies but this book is something else, and maybe the best thing I’ve read this year. I’ve been spoilt lately with good reading material coming to this straight off the back of Stephen King’s 11.22.63 and, you know what, I think John Ajvide Lindqvist is going to be as big as King.

I’m loathe to call it a vampire novel, but I guess that’s what it is – only the vampire between these covers is a truly original creation. The story resolves around Oskar, a 12 year old loner who is bullied at school and comes from a broken family, with both his well meaning parents being unable to improve his lot. Oskar keeps himself to himself, even hiding the fact that his urinates himself by making a foam ball, which he calls a piss ball, and putting it down his pants. And it is Oskar who provides the backbone to the book – a fully rounded character who creates empathy with the reader, so much so that when his frustrations with the bullies from school prompt him to murderous thoughts, stabbing a carving knife into a tree and pretending it is the lead bully, Johnny, we are truly captured by the story. Into his world comes Eli,a strange girl of around the same age as Oskar and a friendship builds up – she’s a whizz with the Rubik’s Cube, doesn’t wear any shoes on the coldest of winter nights and just might be a 200 year old vampire, frozen in an eternal childhood. Now if that all gives ideas of a Twilight comparison then banish it – this is the story that Twilight didn’t have the courage, nor the means to be.

The novel is set in a depressed working class suburb and populated by real working class problems – no on, it seems, is truly happy but they tolerate and accept their situations and make the best of a bad lot. There is a lot of humour, sadness and love among them and these ancillary characters are just as well realised as the major characters, which is something that only the very best writers manage – “All these pathetic lonely people in a world without beauty.“

The title comes from accepted vampire lore where a vampire has to be invited into a room to be able to enter, though a literal translation of the original Swedish would be Let Me In, and many more aspects of vampire lore but there’s so much new mythology created in the story that it turns our head on what a vampire actually is. And there are so many layers to the story – we see Oskar, with Eli’s encouragement,learning to deal with the bully problem, even putting an end to it, we see an old man’s love for Eli and the path he is willing to take to be next to her/him/it. One of the most horrific character is Haken, a pedophile but it is to the authors credit that he manages to create several sequences where this character comes across as almost sympathetic – we are horrified by his actions, his thoughts and yet no cartoon character is he, no blacker than blacker than black monster in human skin, but a real person who lives on the page – he also ends up, after pouring acid over himself, looking like the monster he is. There’ s an horrific scene that actually had this reader squirming – a monster with a hard on. But all this grim squalor is punctuated with scenes of genuine humour that comes from the characters. And there are moments when you almost cry for them and the plight they face.

In short it is a vampire novel but it’s a different kind of vampire novel that you’ve ever read,and it is these touches of true originality and realism, rare in the novel like this, that makes it so compelling. It is bleak, it is grim but it is also uplifting and even if there are no fairy tale endings for characters that have become very real during the reading it does show that the human spirit is a thing of great strength.
Excellent – a truly remarkable book that is destined for classic status.

“But Stark has injected his own elements into the story. A pregnant woman and a plot thread I’ve not seen in a zombie story before. The ending threw a twist in and sets up the next part of the story, coming soon. Zombie stories are not a type I read a lot of, but I’ve come to expect good stuff from Stark/Dobbs/Martin, whatever genre he writes in.” From the Amazon review by George R Johnson
Available now

The Lost Cowboy

2011-12-21T18:01:00.000-08:00

It's great to get praise and when Archive reader Davyboy told me I had rekindled a lifelong interest in westerns for him, I was over the moon. Anyway Davieboy's written a song and posted it onto YouTube and I thought it was great so here it is for Archive readers to enjoy.

NOTE - make sure you watch the very end to see what that street sign says.

Take it away Davyboy

VIDEO NASTY

2011-12-21T05:45:00.001-08:00

Available now - HERE

HERE'S VINNIE....

2011-12-20T17:14:00.000-08:00

Introducing Vincent Stark

The devil has all the best tunes

This week saw the publication of a new novel, The Dead Walked and the author, showing the first signs of clawing his way back into the public consciousness now has a Facebook page – please support the ageing author by clicking like on his page, HERE

However for now Vincent Stark remains hidden away, his groceries delivered by a string of crucifix wearing delivery men and his bills paid by automatic withdrawal from the blood bank.

The Dead Walked by Vincent Stark
AVAILABLE NOW

Can we have your attention please....

2011-12-20T17:04:00.000-08:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Book one in The Dead Walked trilogy
Written by Vincent Stark – check out Vinnie’s Amazon page HERE
The Dead Walked – a new kind of zombie thriller

Click on image

And coming March 2012