Five classic poetry readings

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

The beginning of the end is upon us with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 today. Like an overflowing cauldron of polyjuice potion, it can’t possibly all be consumed in one go, so it has been kindly chopped up into two bite-sized chunks for us meaning all those eager to see what becomes of the magical threesome must fork out twice. Well, if I were Warner Bros, standing on Platform 9 and three-quarters, tearfully waving off the highest grossing film franchise of all time, I’d probably squeeze every last drop of profit out too.

The Week in Books: Concrete, experimental poets to the King James Bible

Howl

As well as telling the story of the 1957 obscenity trial concerning City Lights Books’ publication of the seminal poem, Howl, Friedman and Epstein’s film attempts to navigate the murky juices of Allen Ginsberg’s life and work during the 1950s, with a little slick black and white reconstruction of some of 20th Century literature’s most seditious moments to boot. And it fails to do any of it convincingly.

Internet Causing More Demonic Possessions, Say People Who Believe in Demonic Possessions

When you say the word “exorcism” out loud, usually the movie The Exorcist springs to peoples’ minds. Sure it’s a bit old, but as far as movies that scare the pants off of you go, its spot is forever secured in the history books. But when you Google the word exorcism? Movies barely make it to the front page. Incredulously, the results are all about actual, real life exorcisms. I say incredulously because, well, I don’t believe in them. That is to say, I don’t believe in demonic possession. That is to say, exorcisms seriously happen?

That is to say, yes. This week in Rome, a six day conference is being held on the subject of exorcisms. The internet, these fan fiction devotees claim, is responsible for a sharp rise in Satan worshipping. That, of course, leads to more exorcisms having to take place, which in turn necessitates a week long meeting on the scary trend

East London pubs with grisly histories

Lost in Transmutation: Literature and film

University classes and glass-eyed professors have long pondered the significance and meaning of the word ‘literature’. The most forthcoming definition is that offered, as always, by the Oxford English Dictionary: “Written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit.” But what can this definition reveal to us about film, and how much the form of literature has changed, especially when looking at the inception of the auteur’s contribution? Could a film be termed literature? Perhaps but perhaps not.

Pinocchio Review

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Century:1969

At last year’s The Amaz!ng Meeting, a two-day conference of sceptics and debunkers of bunkum, Alan Moore was the final guest speaker. Imposing and grizzled, he divined the question he thought everyone was asking.

The Black Diamond

Passing security in their black suits and shades, I descended the plunging stairwell to what seemed the basement of my craziest aunt in 2011, only to wind up in the dark, cluttered Shoreditch bolthole of my richest, most eccentric French uncle in 1963.