SPACE SUIT/THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS

And this week at the movies... 

NOW IN THEATERS 

* Pacific Rim is here to save your summer.

* For the Oregonian: Augustine, a historical drama; Survival Prayer, a meditative documentary; and V/H/S/2, a total piece of crap.

WATCH IT AT HOME 

* In Another Country, a romantic triptych teaming French actress Isabelle Huppert with South Korean director Hong Sang-soo.

* Wuthering Heights, Andrea Arnold's stripped down take on Emily Brontë

 

Current Soundtrack: The Shirelles, Tonight's the Night/Baby It's You

#1 SUMMER JAM

Nico has drawn up a cute Spell Checkers  summertime promo to give people something new and pretty as we gear up to the release of volume 3. 

The book is pretty much ready to go except for some fine tuning. Here is the Diamond Previews order sheet with a few extra peeks at artwork.

Current Soundtrack: The Weeknd, "Kiss Land"

MEMORY OF THE FUTURE

Are you on Goodreads? Do you follow me as an author? Here is my page.

Are you also a Goodreads user that uses Netgalley to download advance reader copies of books for review? 

If so, you can now get a copy of A Boy and a Girl for your e-reader. It's not quite the final edit and is missing its design elements, but all the story is there. We're already getting good reviews on the site, and every rating helps.

In fact, everything helps.  If, like me, you use the public library to get books, you should see if your local system allows for reader requests and suggestions for books to buy. I know they have a set-up on their website here in Portland for just such a thing. 

Do you blog or podcast? Natalie and I can do interviews. Get in touch.

Thanks! 

Current Soundtrack: Pet Shop Boys, Elysium and Electric

STOP AS YOU MEANT TO GO ON

It's a bittersweet sense of accomplishment to put It Girl and the Atomics  #12 to bed, but we did that this morning. There's still the second trade to put together, but the principle work is done.

The issue will be out late this month, but for now, here are some samples, one page from each contributing artist, all colored by Allen Passalaqua: 

 

Mike Norton

Natalie Nourigat

Chynna Clugston Flores

Current Soundtrack: Franz Ferdinand, "Right Action/Love Illumination"

THEY CALL US LONELY WHEN WE'RE REALLY JUST ALONE

I didn't review any major release films this week, but I did just complete going through two major groups of old classics.

The first set of films is "The Solitude Trilogy," a trio of thematically linked movies by director Roberto Rossellini that star Ingrid Bergman. This is of particular note to Portlanders, because you can see all three of them this weekend at the NW Film Center. The movies in question are:

 * Stromboli

* Europe '51 

* Journey to Italy 

 Links to the full schedule are at the bottom of each review.

I also did round-up of the whole series in my Oregonian column, which additionally includes reviews of the recent Chinese drama Beijing Flickers and the documentary A Girl and a Gun.  Read the whole column now. 

  

I've also been working through the Eclipse boxed set Masaki Kobayashi Against the System. You can see my aggregate review of the whole box at DVD Talk, or check them out individually via these links:

* The Thick-Walled Room 

* I Will Buy You 

* Black River 

*  The Inheritance 

 

Remember, if any of these movies sound interesting to you and you buy them through an Amazon link on this blog or over at Criterion Confessions--or buy anything once you've clicked through on my link--I literally get pennies back for your purchase! Pennies! (But hey, it all adds up...and I appreciate it.)

Current Soundtrack: Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Stefan Schneider, Tiden

SPARKS WILL FLY

I did my first of what I am sure will be many interviews for all the books I have coming up. It's always nice chatting with Roger Ash over at Westfield Comics. He does it the old-school way and actually talks to you on the phone! I think it makes for less polished answers, which isn't bad.

You can read it all here, and check out the previews of A Boy and a Girl and the third Spell Checkers.

 A Boy and a Girl , art by Natalie Nourigat, lettering by Ed Brisson

 Spell Checkers , art by Nicolas Hitori de, lettering by Warren Wucinich

Current Soundtrack: J. Cole, Cole World: The Sideline Story

ONE THOUSAND PICTURES

The Natalie Nourigat art store has been updated with pages from her Husbands comic, written Jane Espenson and Brad Bell, creators of the popular webseries of the same name. The comic version was published by Dark Horse. 

Also, her work for Meet Your Mind , the comic Jim Ottaviani wrote for Wisconsin Public Radio. 

Have a look, and buy some pages. 

 Meet Your Mind page 3

 Husbands , page 12

Current Soundtrack: Daft Punk, "Get Lucky (Daft Punk Remix)"

HOW TO GET AHEAD IN SUPERHEROING

 Mike Russell, the creator of the hilarious Sabertooth Vampire  comic, has drawn this clever pin-up for our second It Girl and the Atomics trade paperback. 

The coloring was done by his regular cohort, Bill Mudron. 

Check out both of their work, it's great stuff. 

The book is up for pre-order several places online, including TFAW  and Cheap Graphic Novels. It's also in the current Diamond catalogue in the Image Comics section if you want to have your local comic book retailer order it for you.

Current Soundtrack: Feathers @ Good Danny's, 5/24/13 (Daytrotter Session)

A TON OF LOVE

Once again, my weekly round-up of movie reviews... 

NOW IN THEATERS  

* Byzantium, Neil Jordan's all-too-serious return to the vampire genre.

* Some Girl(s), starring Adam Brody as a writer lacking in self-awareness taking a tour of his old flames. From a script by Neil LaBute.

* For the Oregonian: the dark Australian comedy 100 Bloody Acres; Doin' it in the Park's wild history of NYC pick-up basketball; and a revival of the classic Grant/Hepburn crime/romance hybrid Charade . 

WATCH IT AT HOME 

* Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Films, a worthy introduction to the more abstract side of cinema.

* The Key, a dark wartime drama from Carol Reed. With William Holden and Sophia Loren.

Current Soundtrack: Editors, The Weight of Your Love

LIPSTICK TRACES

The mega cool Monica Gallagher has contributed a pin-up to It Girl and the Atomics, Round Two, the trade paperback collection due in September.

Monica is the creator of the webcomics Gods and Undergrads and Bonnie N. Collide, as well as having drawn the Oni Press graphic novel Glitter Kiss. See more of her work at her website: eatyourlipstick.com

 

And just in case you forgot, the scoop on It Girl and the Atomics, Round Two: The World is Flat.  

Current Soundtrack: Darkside's remix of Daft Punk's Random Access Memory  on Soundcloud

MY AUTUMN'S DONE COME

The new issue of Diamond's Previews catalogue is out this Wednesday, and it includes three books of mine, set to be released over three months: the second It Girl and the Atomics collection from Image Comics in September, followed by Spell Checkers, Volume 3 in October and A Boy and a Girl in November, both from Oni Press.

It Girl and the Atomics, Round Two: The World is Flat details were already posted here.

The other two books have advance solicits listed at Comics Continuum. Check out Oni's full catalogue for the month.

 

Illustration by Joëlle Jones, colors by Warren Wucinich, design by Keith Wood

SPELL CHECKERS VOLUME 3: CARELESS WHISPER GN

Written by Jamie S. Rich, art by Nicolas Hitori De, Joelle Jones, cover by Joelle Jones, Warren Wucinich.

It's time for prom, and Cynthia really wants to be prom queen. The only hitch is, she wants to win the crown legitimately, meaning all the students she terrorized with wickedness and magic over the school year hold her fate in their hands. Meanwhile, an ancient evil with an even bigger grudge against all three Spell Checkers finally sees its opportunity for revenge. Expect all kinds of insults and injuries in an epic dance floor showdown!

152 pages, black and white, $11.99

Illustrations by Natalie Nourigat, design by Keith Wood

A BOY AND A GIRL GN

Written by Jamie S. Rich, art by Natalie Nourigat

Travis and Charley have just met. It's Charley's last night in town, and Travis can't let her leave without getting her to go on a date. In a future where real people are rapidly being supplanted by lifelike androids, sometimes one shot is all you get. Intelligence may be artificial, but the emotion is real in a futuristic romance from the writer of 12 Reasons Why I Love Her and the cartoonist behind Between Gears.

168 pages, $19.99

* 

Note: We will be selling A Boy and a Girl   art here in the store. Have you checked out Natalie's art that's already on sale? More is coming!

Current Soundtrack: The Blow Monkeys, Feels Like a New Morning

SUPER RICH KIDS

And here are my movie reviews for the week... 

NOW IN THEATERS 

 * The Bling Ring, the latest from Sofia Coppola, telling a tale of disaffected Bonnies and their tagalong Clyde.

* Dirty Wars, a documentary about the covert strikes happening outside the approved combat zones in the War on Teror.

* Monsters University, a Pixar prequel that's funny, if not as fresh as the original.

* Much Ado About Nothing, Joss Whedon's backyard retelling of the Bard.

* And for the Oregonian this week: another visit with Andre Gregory in Before and After Dinner , the nuclear power doc Pandora's Promise , and a sleazy Italian slasher flick from 1973, Torso . 

 

WATCH IT AT HOME 

* Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy, documenting the history of the great Jewish songwriters of the American stage.

* The Great Gatsby: Midnight in Manhattan, a short BBC documentary about F. Scott Fitzgerald and his best-known novel. Bonus: a 1975 teleplay with David Hemmings as the author.

* Second-Hand Hearts, a romantic flop that kicked off the '80s for Hal Ashby. 

* Whoopee!  A good-time musical with Eddie Cantor. Two-strip Technicolar from 1930!

 

Current Soundtrack: J. Cole, Born Sinner

YOUNG & BEAUTIFUL

 It Girl and  the Atomics #11 is coming out on Wednesday, 6/19. I am tempted to call it the "penultimate" issue because this is the first time I have actually knowingly had a penultimate issue, but this way, I can be a total vocab geek and pretend like I'm not.

#11 is the conclusion of the two- part "Tweenage FBI" storyline, drawn by Natalie Nourigat, with colors by Allen Passalqua, letters by Crank!, and a cover from Michael & Laura Allred. A preview has hit the web, and I am posting the cover and  pages below.

I'm really happy with this issue. The villain reveal here was not entirely planned. It was a solution that came up in the outline stage and which surprised me, so this opening sequence is one of my favorites. (Orson Welles fans may recognize a connection to F For Fake .)

The comic will be available in comic book stores, on Comixology, and also in the store here on the site.

We should be getting Natalie's artwork in the store on the site starting this weekend, but in the meantime, if there are any It Girl pages you want to buy (or Between Gears , for that matter), drop me a line and I can give you dibs. E-mail is golightly [a] gmail [dot] com

Current Soundtrack: My Bloody Valentine, mbv

 

SAD BEAUTIFUL TRAGIC

Time for my weekly round-up of movies I've reviewed over the previous seven days. Beginning with...

NOW IN THEATERS 

*  Before Midnight , the latest in the ongoing relationship series is its deepest and most emotionally fraught, and quite easily the best. Once again starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, directed by Richard Linklater.

* Man of Steel , is neither worth loving or hating. It's boring and fun and long and loud and dazzling and doltish all at the same time.  

* And for the Oregonian this week: French animation gets arty in The Painting;   Disney's Pete's Dragon flies back to the big screen; and a life re-examined in Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal. 

WATCH IT AT HOME 

*  First Family , a tepid 1980 White House satire from writer/director Buck Henry and star Bob Newhart that lacks any political bite.

* Happy People: A Year in the Taiga , Werner Herzog's refashioning of a longer documentary looking at the life of fur trappers in Siberia.

* A Night to Remember , a screwball mystery with Loretta Young, released in 1942.

 Current Soundtrack: Yasiin Bey - Preservation, The REcstatic

SECOND BITE OF THE APPLE

Announced today for a September release, the second It Girl and the Atomics trade paperback. This one collects the last six issues, including #11, which is due out next Wednesday, June 19.

In addition to all the covers and story pages, I have lined up an introduction by writer Eric M. Esquivel, and also pin-ups by the likes of Megan Levens, Brian Churilla, Monica Gallagher, Christopher Mitten, Brennan Wagner, Mike Russell, Ming Doyle, and Matt Wagner! It's going to be a swell little book. 

I'll keep you updated with further order info as it comes. Look for the listing in the next Diamond Previews !

IT Girl Round Up tpb.jpg

IT GIRL & THE ATOMICS, ROUND TWO: THE WORLD IS FLAT TP

story JAMIE S. RICH
art MIKE NORTON, NATALIE NOURIGAT & CHYNNA CLUGSTON FLORES
cover MICHAEL & LAURA ALLRED
SEPTEMBER 25
168 PAGES / FC / E
$14.99

It Girl goes on a series of globe-spanning adventures: fighting robots in the Swiss Alps, stupid rat creatures underwater, and a legendary immortal on her home turf of Snap City. Collecting all the comics and covers with new pin-ups! Get your good-time superhero action today, have yourself a better tomorrow.

Collects IT GIRL & THE ATOMICS #7-12

Current Soundtrack: sampling the Capital Cities album In a Tidal Wave of Mystery

 

A START HAS AN ENDING

Welcome to my new website. 

It's been years since I had a basic, functioning site to call my own. This should be my regular home from now on, and this here will be my new blog. The old one is archived over at Blogger, but as you will see, it is old and rickety and a change was in order.

I doubt my frequency of updates will increase, but you never know. Not that you don't have access to my more regular ramblings. You can follow me on Twitter as @jamieESrich or keep up with my viewing/listening/reading habits via http://confessions123midi.tumblr.com/

Note that one of the major new features is my ability to sell books direct through my store. I will also start helping Natalie Nourigat sell her original artwork, so keep an eye on her tab up above.

That's it for now...let's see how this first post looks.

Current Soundtrack: Phoenix, "Trying to Be Cool"