Danny Graydon

On Tuesday 9th November, as part of the ongoing collaboration between Hertfordshire Library Service and UH’s “UniComics” festival, I will be hosting an event at Borehamwood Library in Hertfordshire where I will be interviewing Comics writer MIKE CAREY about his hit VERTIGO series “THE UNWRITTEN”. Carey follows an illustrious tradition of British comics talents starting [...]

Battle for Britain is a beautiful and penetrating example of how a short film can achieve so much in so little time. The 13-minute short, elegantly crafted by husband-and-wife filmmakers Jorg Tittel and Alex Helfrecht (writer and director respectively), is a poignant paean to a sorely-undervalued and often-unrecognised element of British history: the contribution of [...]

There was a measure of wearisome predictability about the recent announcement of Zack Snyder as the director of the next Superman movie (provisionally-titled “The Man of Steel”). The man behind comic book adapations  ”300″ and “Watchmen” beat out an array of idiosyncratic contenders including old hand Tony Scott (Spy Game), new hand Duncan Jones (Moon), Matt [...]

Let me tell you something – and you can carve this in stone so it’s never forgotten: I absolutely adore Phil Collins and I don’t care who knows it! But seriously…(hey!) this is not a joke.  I really do. Phil Collins – in both his solo and Genesis work – is far and away my [...]

For the committed bibliophile, a personal library possesses profound importance. It’s not just a collection of books, it’s a shifting monument that evolves through their sheer passion, one which reflects their most intimate selves albeit in a way that cannot be immediately discerned by others, but for them, it shines from the bookcases. Moreover, each [...]

Today, I started work as a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, where I  am teaching on various Film-related modules for the School of Creative Arts. I am starting off by supporting the Media Histories & Culture module, which is anchored on Special Effects and Digital Animation for first year undergraduates. Following the module’s [...]

Acting legend Sir Alec Guinness was a lifelong aficionado of the concept of “The Commonplace Book” – using a notebook to keep record of observations, recalled memories, dreams, sketches, favourite quotations et al. With typical elegance, he recalled the  pleasure of a brand new notebook: “For as far back as I can remember, I have been attracted [...]

Great Scott! Has it really been twenty-five years…? Last week, Robert Zemeckis’ 80′s classic Back To The Future  went on a limited cinema re-release here in the UK and which – happy, happy day – will be released on Blu-Ray on October 25th, along with its two sequels. Watching a press screening of the film last month [...]