Blog Posts

Announcements and Errata

The New Skiffy and Fanty: Changes to Come on the Show

/

A little while ago, we ran a listener survey to learn more about how you access our show, what you listen to, what you like and dislike, and so on.  That survey garnered a lot of wonderful responses — thanks!  As such, The Skiffy and Fanty Show will be changing a bit. These changes aren’t permanent.  They’re an experiment.  We’ll reassess in a few months to see how it’s working out, and we’ll ask you all for feedback again (because you’re awesome). Here’s what you can expect around these parts for the foreseeable future:

Blog Posts

Around the World: The Driller Killer (1979; dir. Abel Ferrara)

/

As Abel Ferrara’s first non-porn feature film, The Driller Killer  serves as a signpost of the director’s vision of New York City and its social ills.  Ferrara would hone this vision into a more coherent film three years later (in Ms. 45), but in The Driller Killer, he was, I think, in his rawest form:  vulgar, uncompromising, and noisy.  It’s not surprising, then, that the film was banned in the UK in 1983 given that its UK distribution included a still shot of one of the more gruesome scenes in the entire movie:  a man having a drill bit shoved into his skull.  What is surprising is that, as Mike Bor of the British Board of Film Classification notes, Ferrara’s film was “almost single-handedly responsible for the Video Recordings Act of 1984,” a reactionary piece of legislation that required creative works to be classified to be legally sold; unclassified works, as such, would be banned.

Announcements and Errata

Next Month’s Film (and Where to Watch It): The Swimmer (1968)

/

As we announced at the end of Episode 4 (on The Shop Around the Corner (1940)), our next film for discussion will be Frank Perry and Sydney Pollack’s The Swimmer (1968).  Episode 5 will drop on the first, which means you’ve got a little under a month to watch the film! Here’s how to watch it: Google Play:  $2.99 (Rent) / $9.99 (Buy) VUDU:  $3.99 or $2.99 (Rent HDX, HD, or SD) / $13.99 or 9.99 (Buy HDX, HD, or SD) Amazon:  $3.99 or $2.99 (Rent HD or SD) / $12.99 or $9.99 (Buy HD or SD) Netflix:  DVD Rental Only We hope to hear your thoughts or questions leading up to the episode. Happy viewing!

Blog Posts

Short and Sublime: April 2015 Round-Up

/

April stories include historical fantasies, fairy tales, near futures, and one space fantasy tale. “Wild Things Got To Go Free” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #170) by Heather Clitheroe works because of, and is refreshing due to, its spare worldbuilding. Soldiers are rounding up and hunting down certain civilians, who are turning into, or have the potential to turn into, other creatures — which includes the young protagonist and her mother. The two young women in “The Ways of Walls and Words” (Tor.com) by Sabrina Vourvoulias are similarly threatened by the yoke of the real world Spanish empire; though they, and their ways of life, couldn’t be more different. It’s a story about friendship, Nahuatl magic, and the power behind language.

Blog Posts

Book Review: Aurora: Darwin by Amanda Bridgeman

/

In the Solar system of 2075, the UNF, an extra-national and international force deriving from all of the nations of Earth, handles much of the policing and issues among the variety of space stations and habitats. The UNF handles international disputes on Earth as well, and many who have Earth Duty in the UNF dream of Space Duty. Corporal Carrie Welles is the daughter of one of the first UNF soldiers to ever get Space Duty, an Original. Living up to her father and her family’s name is important to her. Thus, when Captain Harris of the Aurora is assigned Corporal Welles, and two other female recruits in the bargain to a formerly male-only ship, and given mysterious orders to visit a silent space station on the edge of inhabited space, Mars orbit, this is Welles’ big chance. She’s already made a name for herself as a sharpshooter on Earth, but those skills are going to be far more useful than she expects when the mystery of the Darwin is uncovered.

Scroll to Top