Category: Film and TV

Categories / Film and TV, Music

The Runaways movie incoming – here’s the trailer

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Heard of The Runaways? Possibly not, but you'll probably have heard of Joan Jett, recently immortalised as a Barbie doll and one of the founding members of all-girl rock band The Runaways. Who happen to have a movie about them premiering very soon.

Starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, the movie focuses on Joan Jett and Cherie Curie, following their rise from rebellious 70s-style Southern California kids to rock stars of the cult group, under the Svengali-like influence of rock impresario Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon).

The US premiere is at the SXSW event on Thursday March 18th. Whether the film makes it to the UK is anyone's guess – I would suspect it will probably do the rounds of indies and arthouse places. Anyway, to find out more, check out the website and see the trailer here.

Categories / Film and TV

London on Film DVDs

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London on film

More views of London, this time through archival footage courtesy of the London on Film DVDs. The collection of eight DVDs is the result of a collaboration between Independent Film Studios and ITN Source New Classics – ITN's historical archive.

Each DVD is about an hour long and uses the historical news footage to focus on a different aspect of the city's history, covering quite a diverse range of topics: there's two on the history of the East End starting from 1900 and going up to the 70s, two on London in the 50s, while the others look at the Krays, Lost Docks, Railways and Haunted London. There are plans to release 100 DVDs in the London on Film series over the next five years so, if nothing appeals to you there, there's bound to be something to capture your interest eventually. 

The DVDs cost £9.99 each. 

Buy them from Archive Film shop

Categories / Art and Photography, Film and TV, Kids

Saturday Mornings in the 80s paper cut

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Cut Out Paper 80s

Most paper cuts seem to focus on folk and whimsical imagery so this piece, titled Saturday Mornings in the 80s, makes a nice change. Full of weird and wonderful shapes, look at bit closer and you realise its made of the silhouettes of some of the Eighties best known TV characters ranging from He-Man and She-Ra to Postman Pat and Rainbow Brite.

The piece is limited to twenty and is made by laser cutting, based on a hand-drawing. It's the work of London based company Cut Out Paper who also sell a cut based on classic twentieth-century chairs, should your taste be slightly less nostalgic. 

It sells for £75 unframed or £130 framed. You can contact them to order through their website or go through their Etsy store.

Categories / Film and TV, Music

Tony Palmer’s 1970s The Wigan Casino documentary now available on DVD

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Wigan

Not just 'a' Wigan Casino documentary, Tony Palmer's The Wigan Casino is still the definitive documentary about northern soul's most famous venue, purely because the filmmaker was in the right place at the right time.

Admittedly, it's been around on bootlegs for a few years, but this is the first official release. For the uninitiated, Tony Palmer went into the Wigan Casino in 1977 to produce a short documentary for Granada as part of its 'This England' series of shows, mixing footage of the club with vintage photos of a deprived Wigan and reminiscenes of elderly folk of that time. It wasn't much better in the mid-70s, but the Casino footage shows how life can be better – even just for a night.

Electric Roulette managed to get an advance copy of the disc and a review of The Wigan Casino is online right now. If you like what you read or already know you want this in your collection, it's available to buy right now from Amazon for £7.49.

Find out more about the DVD at the Amazon website

Categories / Art and Photography, Film and TV, Women's Fashion

Grace Kelly: Style Icon forthcoming display at the V&A

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Grace Kelly style icon exhibition

If you are a fan of the classic style of Grace Kelly, you'd better put the dates 17 April until 26 September in your diary when the V&A Museum will be hosting the display Grace Kelly: Style Icon.

The show features fifty of Kelly's outfits ranging from her time as a Hollywood starlet in the 1950s to her role as Princess Grace of Monaco. The dresses include costumes from her famous films such as High Society and Rear Window, as well as clothes that illustrate her off-screen style, and will be supplemented with photographs and film footage. The display also includes perhaps her most lasting contribution to the world of fashion, the original Hermes Kelly bag.

Admission is £6 which sounds a pretty reasonable fee for vintage film and fashion fans. 

Find out more online

Categories / Film and TV, Homeware

Audrey and Marilyn storage boxes

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Audrey box

From Audrey screens and rugs to Marilyn room dividers to cushions, I've lost track of the number of products that utilize the glamour and popularity of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. Here their style is applied to a very practical product: storage boxes. 

Both boxes use one of each actresses' most iconic films for inspiration. In the case of Audrey, it's Breakfast at Tiffany's, while the Marilyn box uses images from The Seven Year Itch. So, even if what you put in them is dull, the outside will still look chic. 

The boxes are self-assembly and come in two sizes: 32 x 40cm (width by depth) at £11 and 40 x 50cm for £13. 

Buy them from The Holding Company