Patton Oswalt in the New York Times

January 2, 2015
Patton Oswalt is featured a couple of times on the New York Times website this week. First of all he talks about books. Not just his all time favourite books, although he does that, but also books he hates, “I hate to say it, but “Jaws” is just awful.”

One of his favourite books is also one of my favourite books. “James Ellroy’s 'The Black Dahlia,' only because it was my first plunge into unapologetic historical fiction, and a disgusting portrait of Los Angeles that, weirdly, made me want to move there even more. “

He provides a great selection of current and classic books, writers and people to follow on Twitter.

He also hosts a podcast where he calls 6 comedians or directors of comedy films to talk about six comedians who died in the past year.

From his conversation with Maria Bamford on Robin Williams.

"The last time I saw him, I was doing a show at Meldtdown Comics on Sunset, and we talked about comics for, like, ten minutes. And I guess, this is gonna sound so petty, but the fact that that guy looked forward to new comics every Wednesday there’s a stupid part of me that’s like, “Why didn't you just stick around for the comics alone? D’you know what I’m talking about?”

Posted by Tom Brogan.

 

Best Films of 2014 I Saw That Weren't Released in 2014

January 1, 2015
This is a list of films that I saw for the first time in 2014 which weren't released that year.

1. Witchfinder General (1968)
Directed by Michael Reeves
Written by Tom Baker, Michael Reeves, Louis M. Heyward (additional scenes)
Starring: Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, Hilary Dwyer



2. Magic Mike (2012)
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Written by Reid Carolin
Starring: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Cody Horn, Matt Bomer, Olivia Munn, Joe Manganiello and Matthew McConaughey



3. Bernie (2011)
Dir...
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Posted by Tom Brogan.

 

My Films of 2014

January 1, 2015
1. Blue Ruin (UK release date 21 February; GFF)
Written and directed by: Jeremy Saulnier
Starring: Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Eve Plumb



2. 12 Years a Slave (UK release date 10 January)
Directed by Steve McQueen
Written by John Ridley
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano and Lupita Nyong'o



3. The Rover (UK release date 15 August)
Written and directed by: David Michôd
Story by: David Michôd and Joel Edgerton
Starring: Guy Pearce, Robert Pattins...
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Posted by Tom Brogan.

 

They're Gonna Take My Thumbs

September 7, 2014

During the recent Simpsons marathon on FXX several writers and producers of the show were live tweeting with their behind the scenes stories of how the episodes came into being. Parks and Recreation's Ben Schwartz and Simpsons writer/producer Matt Selman hosted an eight and a half hour viewing which they streamed on YouTube full of insight and trivia.

But my favourite little inside story was from the years old DVD commentary of the season 6 episode 'Lisa on Ice'. David Mirkin reveals that Moe'...
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Posted by Tom Brogan.

 

Adrian Tomine's First New Yorker Cover

February 4, 2014
Thinking about my (needlessly complicated) process in writing my play 'Good Times Never Seemed So Good' for this year's Glasgow Comedy Festival, I thought this article by artist Adrian Tomine explaining how he came to draw his first cover for the New Yorker was of interest. Below is one quote.

"But I do think that getting those bad ideas down on paper, in a sense, clears the way for better ones."

I relate to this, as looking back through my early notes I can see a lot of plot points or characte...

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Posted by Tom Brogan.

 

Sam Shepard

November 17, 2013


I went to see True West at the Citizen's Theatre on Saturday night, for the second time during its run. I had also seen it on the third night and I really enjoyed it. The set looked amazing and the two leads, Alex Ferns and Eugene O'Hare, seemed like they were having a lot of fun, especially in the later scenes. I had made a note to myself to go back to see it a second time, but I was only propelled to get another ticket when the Citz announced that the last performance would be followed by a...

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Posted by Tom Brogan. Posted In : Theatre 

 

Nightwatch

November 17, 2013

Nightwatch was a film I saw when it first came out on video in about 1995. A Danish thriller it centres around a student taking a night watchman job in a morgue. I remember really enjoying it at that time. I also watched the 1997 remake starring Ewan McGregor. I always felt due to the casting that the identity of the killer was heavily signposted in that one. I decided to get a copy of the original on DVD and watch it again when I realised that I'm now much more familiar with the three leads....


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Posted by Tom Brogan. Posted In : Films 

 

Shades

November 15, 2013



I had the opportunity to go along to the launch of Shades by Colin Leslie last night. The book is a biography of Hibs legend Erich Schaedler. A few years ago I wrote an article on Erich for a football blog called State of the Game. You can read it on the Writing page. I wanted to write about a player who made an impact on the game, but was not someone who was widely known. What I discovered when the article went online was that Schaedler was loved by all who came in contact with him or even j...

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Posted by Tom Brogan. Posted In : Books 

 

Eastbound and Down

November 12, 2013
The latest season of HBO's Eastbound and Down has been a real revelation for me. It's a comedy that sprinkles in drama so well. Kenny Powers is a far more complex character than he appears from the off. One week I find myself really rooting for him and the following week I'm thoroughly appalled by his behaviour.

It's Stevie though who has made me laugh the most. The changes in his looks and attitudes have had me near crying the last few weeks. Ken Marino also has me in awe of his acting abilit...
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Posted by Tom Brogan. Posted In : Television 

 

The Disaster Artist

November 10, 2013
Another film covered by How Did This Get Made? is The Room. Commonly accepted as the worst bad film of all time (although I think Birdemic has now inherited that title) The Room is the vision of writer/actor/producer Tommy Wiseau. The new book The Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell is the inside story of how the film came to be. 

Sestero was one of the leads of the film, and by his own admission 'The Tommy Whisperer', the one man who was at Tommy Wiseau's side throughout the durat...
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Posted by Tom Brogan. Posted In : Books 

 
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