The Mix : What are people talking about today?

A BOOK A DAY DOUBLE HEADER-PART 2

www.bearmanormedia.com

Dangerous Curves

Dangerous Curves
 

Named a Top 10 book of 2010!
“We were like dragonflies. We seemed to be suspended effortlessly in the air, but in reality, our wings were beating very, very fast.” – Mae Murray

“It is worse than folly for persons to imagine that this business is an easy road to money, to contentment, or to that strange quality called happiness.” – Bebe Daniels

 “A girl should realize that a career on the screen demands everything, promising nothing.” – Helen Ferguson

In Dangerous Curves Atop Hollywood Heels, author Michael G. Ankerich examines the lives, careers, and disappointments of 14 silent film actresses, who, despite the odds against them and warnings to stay in their hometowns, came to Hollywood to make names for themselves in the movies.

On the screen, these young hopefuls became Agnes Ayres, Olive Borden, Grace Darmond, Elinor Fair, Juanita Hansen, Wanda Hawley, Natalie Joyce, Barbara La Marr, Martha Mansfield, Mary Nolan, Marie Prevost, Lucille Ricksen, Eve Southern, and Alberta Vaughn.

Dangerous Curves follows the precarious routes these young ladies took in their quest for fame and uncovers how some of the top actresses of the silent screen were used, abused, and discarded.  Many, unable to let go of the spotlight after it had singed their very souls, came to a stop on that dead-end street, referred to by actress Anna Q. Nilsson as, Hollywood’s Heartbreak Lane.

Pieced together using contemporary interviews the actresses gave, conversations with friends, relatives, and co-workers, and exhaustive research through scrapbooks, archives, and public records, Dangerous Curves offers an honest, yet compassionate, look at some of the brightest luminaries of the silent screen. The book is illustrated with over 150 photographs.

A BOOK A DAY DOUBLE HEADER-PART 1

 http://www.bearmanormedia.com/

Al Bowlly

Al Bowlly
 

Al Bowlly was Britain’s first pop singer, some say the world’s first, if you define pop singer as someone who stands in front of a band and sings the hits of the day strumming a guitar.  He rose to prominence in the decade before the Second World War, before the phrase “pop singer” had been invented, and has now become the voice of the 1930s as evidenced by the use of his recordings in films and TV drama set in that decade.  In fact, when it comes to British musical nostalgia of the 1930s, the biggest name worldwide is Al Bowlly.  During most of the 1930s, Al was Britain’s leading popular singer and was sometimes billed as the “Ambassador of Song.” 

However, during his career, Al never won the fame he deserved.  It is even said that he is more famous today than he was then, although he is now definitely recognized as Britain’s leading light in that era of popular song.  Even though the competition was good, Al was a head and shoulders above his nearest rivals when it came to his artistry and originality, but his popularity rating did not always reflect this.  He was renowned within the inner circles of musicians in the London music scene as “the man,” but to the contemporary public listeners in the early 1930s Al Bowlly’s name seemed almost a well-kept secret.

Blood of the Innocent, Dracula vs. Jack The Ripper. Art by Marc Hempel.

It’s Dracula Vs. Jack The Ripper as ‘Blood of the Innocent’ Gets Film Funding

Blood of the Innocent, Dracula vs. Jack The Ripper. Art by Marc Hempel.Variety reports that Blood of the Innocent, based on the graphic novel series setting Dracula against Jack the Ripper written by Rickey Shanklin & EZ Street and Lone Justice co-creator Mark Wheatley, drawn by Munden’s Bar artist Marc Hempel & Mark Wheatley, and published by Warp in 1985, is being funded as a full length feature.

Inferno has acquired underlying rights to the series and is funding development and production of the feature, which is being co-produced with Circle of Confusion. Jim Siebel, Marc Butan and Bill Johnson are producing for Inferno; Circle of Confusion partner David Engel and VP Stephen Emery are also producing along with Ksana Golod.

“Blood” has been in development at the production/management banner since last year. Breck Eisner (“The Crazies”) is attached to direct and Bill Marsilii (“Deja Vu”) is writing.

Congrats to Rickey, Mark, and Marc. Save us aisle seats at the premiere.

Zack Snyder Throws A Punch


This weekend, Zack Snyder‘s eye-blasting SUCKER PUNCH hits the screen., We sat down with the cast, starting today with Emily (“Babydoll”) Browning, for a look at just what you can expect. Plus Roger Corman talks about that one film that gave him a headache (and guess wh0 was in it!)

Seeing SUCKER PUNCH this weekend? Drop us a comment below!

Don’t forget – Pop Culture never sleeps (and neither do we). Catch the latest 24/7 on The Point Radio.

Mix March Madness, Round 4: Girls With Slingshots vs. Questionable Content!

mix-march-madness-game-60-6238941It’s the Quarter-Finals of Mix March Madness, and we’re down to the Elite 8… Oh, the drama! Oh, the comedy!

Getting in on in the center ring… Girls With Slingshots vs. Questionable Content!

Vote now!

[poll id=”76″]

Polling closes at 11:59 Eastern Standard Time on Saturday, March 26!

Click here to see all the webcomics and their standing in the tournament!

Mix March Madness, Round 4: Erfworld vs. Wondermark!

mix-march-madness-game-59-1235731

It’s the Quarter-Finals of Mix March Madness, and we’re down to the Elite 8! Banzai!

The slugfest of the hour... Erfworld vs. Wondermark!

Vote now!

[poll id=”75″]

Polling closes at 11:59 Eastern Standard Time on Saturday, March 26!

Click here to see all the webcomics and their standing in the tournament!

Starbucks, Marvel Sign Deal For Free Comics

Want a Mutant Venti? Soon, you’ll be able to get your caffeine and your comics fix in one handy location, thanks to a deal signed by Starbucks and Marvel Digital Comics. Marvel currently offers more than 9,000 comics online, all of which will be available for free on the Starbucks Digital Network, a portal available at 6,800 U.S. Starbucks locations. Comics at Starbucks will be available to view, not download.

Starbucks announced the agreement on Wednesday at its annual shareholders meeting. Starbucks will also be adding finance news from The Economist, sports news from ESPN Inside Rumor Central, and help finding media jobs from Mediabistro.

“Today we’re broadening the offering and will continue to develop the network’s channels with a spectrum of new content,” said Stephen Gillett, Starbucks chief information officer and executive vice president of Digital Ventures, in a statement.

Mix March Madness, Round 4: A Distant Soil vs. Gronk!

mix-march-madness-game-58-1563277

It’s the Quarter-Finals of Mix March Madness, and we’re down to the Elite 8! Yeeeeeehah!

The battle royale…A Distant Soil vs. Gronk!

Vote now!

[poll id=”74″]

Polling closes at 11:59 Eastern Standard Time on Saturday, March 26!

Click here to see all the webcomics and their standing in the tournament!

Unshaven Comics Matt Wright, Marc Alan Fishman, Kyle Gnepper

C2E2 Floor Report: Unshaven Comics

unshavenc2e21-800x600-6789940Hello all! I know it’s been a good long while since we chatted. Allow me back into your hearts, and I shall tell you a tale. Unshaven Comics, for those not-in-the-know, is the small independent publishing company I am co-owner of. Unshaven Comics is myself, and my two best friends, Matt Wright and Kyle Gnepper. We formed back in 2007 when we were commissioned to create our first published work… “The March: Crossing Bridges in America”. We released the book in 2008 at the Wizard World Chicago, and sold our butts off. One of our customers? Mike Gold. Yup, that Mike Gold. And soon thereafter… well, you see my name on this site from time to time, so you get the picture.

Let’s jump ahead a couple years, shall we? While we liked doing our debut book… we craved the world of fiction. Thus, we launched “Disposable Razors”… a 3 part anthology series that allowed we Unshaven Lads the opportunity to explore the genres we love. At C2E2 (That’s the Chicago Comics Entertainment Expo) last year, we debuted issue 1. Matt and I got married. No to each other. And then we got houses. Not next to each other, but close. And Kyle moved into his own pad not far away either. Life got in the way, but not enough to stop us from creating. This year, we were proud to start our 2011 convention circuit with issue 2. And here’s where our real story begins.

(more…)

Mix March Madness, Round 4: Penny Arcade vs. Kawaii Not!

mix-march-madness-game-57-4584221

It’s the Quarter-Finals of Mix March Madness, and we’re down to the Elite 8! Yeeeeeehah!

The cage match… Penny Arcade vs. Kawaii Not!

Vote now!

[poll id=”73″]

Polling closes at 11:59 Eastern Standard Time on Saturday, March 26!

Click here to see all the webcomics and their standing in the tournament!