Revisiting Cinefex (33): James Bond, Dick Smith, Predator

We've been swindled! The front cover of Cinefex #33 doesn't have any visual effects on it. It's just a picture of some old geezer. Wait a second. Strike that. It's not an old geezer. It's what might be the best old-age makeup ever created for a motion picture, namely Dick Smith's incredible transformation of a 45 … Continue reading Revisiting Cinefex (33): James Bond, Dick Smith, Predator

“Avengers Assemble” – with Eddie and Gus

Overheard in a Soho pub ... EDDIE: So, what about the Avengers movie? GUS: I must confess that superheroes aren't my favourite genre. However, I did think that director Joss Whedon managed to weave a compelling drama, robustly supported by imaginative set-piece action sequences ... EDDIE: Why do you talk like that? Nobody talks like … Continue reading “Avengers Assemble” – with Eddie and Gus

“Skyfall” – with Eddie and Gus

Overheard in a Soho pub ... EDDIE: Seen the new Bond film? GUS: "Skyfall?" Yes. EDDIE: And? GUS: I thought it was a most enjoyable cinematic experience. It retains the reboot grittiness characteristic of the Daniel Craig era, while, at the same time, restoring many of the humorous and romantic sensibilities that have been missing from the franchise in … Continue reading “Skyfall” – with Eddie and Gus

The “Dragoncharm” Travel Guide – Serengeti

My novels might be fantasy, but many of the locations in them are real. Welcome to part 5 of this handy travel guide to a mythical world that bears an uncanny resemblance to our own. At the very beginning of Dragonflame - the final book in the Dragoncharm trilogy - the wingless dragon Wyrm watches as a herd … Continue reading The “Dragoncharm” Travel Guide – Serengeti

Revisiting Cinefex (32): RoboCop, Innerspace

With its modest $13 million budget and domestic takings of over $50 million*, Paul Verhoeven's RoboCop was one of the big summer hits of 1987. Its main character became a classic '80s icon - thanks largely to Peter Weller's compelling performance and Rob Bottin's remarkable costume and makeup effects - and is clearly represented here on … Continue reading Revisiting Cinefex (32): RoboCop, Innerspace

Ray Harryhausen – Knowing When the Monster’s Coming

When I reviewed issue #5 of the visual effects journal Cinefex, I had this to say about stop-motion animation legend Ray Harryhausen: "I’ve always found it astonishing that the man who invented the Dynamation process (whereby models are animated frame-by-frame in front of a screen projecting a previously-shot live-action plate) seemed reluctant to embrace newer … Continue reading Ray Harryhausen – Knowing When the Monster’s Coming

The “Dragoncharm” Travel Guide – Meteor Crater

My novels might be fantasy, but many of the locations in them are real. Welcome to part 4 of this handy travel guide to a mythical world that bears an uncanny resemblance to our own. Towards the end of Dragonflame, the final book in the Dragoncharm trilogy, opposing dragon armies clash in the skies above an enormous … Continue reading The “Dragoncharm” Travel Guide – Meteor Crater

Wide Angle Writing

I hated history at school. Except for the drawing. I liked some of that, especially the diagrams of motte-and-bailey castles. I was utterly bored by the endless lists of English monarchs, the sleep-inducing accounts of meaningless wars, tedious revolutions and labour marches within which no one thing related to anything else, much less to my … Continue reading Wide Angle Writing

Revisiting Cinefex (31): Spaceballs, The Witches of Eastwick, Masters of the Universe

Want to see a Winnebago zooming through space? Just park yourself in front of Mel Brooks's 1987 sci-fi parody Spaceballs. Alternatively you could take a look at the front cover of Cinefex #31. The celestial camper in question goes by the name of Eagle 5 and is in fact a detailed miniature photographed on Apogee's … Continue reading Revisiting Cinefex (31): Spaceballs, The Witches of Eastwick, Masters of the Universe

The “Dragoncharm” Travel Guide – Cheddar Caves

My novels might be fantasy, but many of the locations in them are real. Welcome to part 3 of this handy travel guide to a mythical world that bears an uncanny resemblance to our own. In chapter ten of of Dragoncharm, a dragon called Cumber is tasked with finding a waterfall hidden within a labyrinthine … Continue reading The “Dragoncharm” Travel Guide – Cheddar Caves