The Beatnik Goes On

The pads of the beatniks grow hazy
from cigarette smoke, man, like crazy
Just steps below street
on bongos they beat
The cats would walk up but they're lazy

Bad As It Gets

She tried to be good but she failed
Her virtue's a ship that has sailed
On corners she stood
and that's never good
A taxi she should've just hailed

It's Paperback Week at Limerwrecks.
You won't find our books in the library.

Franks Discussion

Doc Freud preferred Viennese franks
But beef, or of pork pulled from shanks?
What's certain is dogs
made Freud dream of logs
repressed in his memory banks

Pictured: The classic Chicago hot dog. Note: No ketchup.

Peckinpah's Bad Boy

Sam Peckinpah shot from the hip
and emptied out clip after clip
Slo-mo pirouetting
with massive blood-letting
His films could've used I.V. drip



Directors Week has shot it's wad at Limerwrecks

On the Fritz

This paranoid film pioneer
directed suspense without peer
The films of Fritz Lang
are all sturm und drang
A drumbeat of frenzy and fear


Photos courtesy of the Fritz Lang MySpace page

G. Whiz

Ed Ulmer made films for a dime
He shot them in next to no time
From poverty row
without any dough
his movies run strange to sublime



B-movie auteur Edgar G. Ulmer spent most of his career
directing on a shoe-string , making many stylish and
eccentric works against all odds. His expressionist roots
reach back to Germany, where he worked with Murnau,
and with whom he came to America to work on Sunrise.


Pics, top to bottom: Tom Neal and Ann Savage in Detour (1945);
John Carradine in Bluebeard (1944); Boris Karloff in The Black Cat
(1934), one of the few films Ulmer made with a significant budget
(Ulmer's credit from Black Cat is seen at top). Below: Ulmer on set

Wagon Wheeler

Joe Lewis, dubbed "Wagon Wheel Joe"
worked wonders without any dough
From the Western to Noir
with his talent went far
staying close to film's poverty row


When Joseph H. Lewis was getting his start on no-budget
Westerns, editors dubbed him "Wagon Wheel Joe" due to
his penchant for shooting through the spokes of wagon wheels
to create interesting compositions. Lewis always did what could
with the low budgets, and went on to direct some of the most
accomplished B films ever made--My Name is Julia Ross was
only the first of many. Here's a limerick on Lewis' brilliant
noir-on-the-run, Gun Crazy.

Benefit for John Ostrander

Mike Gold is holding a benefit auction for longtime friend and comics writer, John Ostrander, to help with John's medical expenses. The auction is this Saturday night, but you can also contribute directly at any time using the address at the bottom of the article on the situation, below. I urge you to help out in any way you can. Feel free to write to me about how you can help.

Hilary Barta

Chicago Comic-Con To Host John Ostrander Benefit

Veteran Comics Creator Fighting Blindness

An auction will be held at the Chicago Comic-Con (nee Wizard World Chicago) the evening of Saturday, August 8, 2009 to raise funds for comics veteran John Ostrander, who is undergoing a series of operations and medical treatments to fight off blindness.

A 27-year veteran of the comics field, Ostrander, has long been suffering from glaucoma. Recently, John underwent a series of operations that might have saved his remaining eyesight. Progress has been made but he faces considerably more treatment in the months ahead.

To help Ostrander cover his costs, a committee has been organized called Comix4Sight. Soicitations for the benefit auction have gone out, and the response from the comics community has been overwhelming.

“The cost of these John’s procedures has been astronomical, and are only partially covered by insurance. And by ‘partially,’ I’m being polite,” committee co-chairperson Mike Gold disclosed. “John has to go up to Boston repeatedly for treatment, and on two occasions thus far he had to spend a week there for the actual surgery.

“Like so many other Americans John is without sufficient medical coverage to cover these types of expenses; sadly, his insurance will expire in about a year,” Gold noted. “With the assistance of Peter Katz and Wizard Entertainment, Adriane Nash, Mike Raub and I have organized a benefit auction to raise funds for John’s medical expenses. We will be having this auction Saturday night at the Chicago Comic-Con to be held at the Rosemont Convention Center near O’Hare Field on August 6th through 9th.”

Original art, signed scripts, comics memorabilia, autographed books and similar items are being donated to the auction. “Within the first 24 hours we’ve received pledges of contributions including original art and signed books by Howard Chaykin, David Lloyd, Dave Sim, Norm Breyfogle, Dick Giordano, Dennis O’Neil, Hilary Barta, Kevin Van Hook, Mark Badger, Michael Davis, Rick Stasi, Paul Gulacy, Joe Landsdale, and, of course, John’s GrimJack collaborator Timothy Truman. We’re getting commitments every day,” committee co-chairperson Adriane Nash stated.

“We’ve set up a website – www.comix4sight.com – that will be carrying updated information about both the benefit and the auction items,” Nash continued. “We’ll also be posting the results of the auction, and any items that came in too late for the benefit will be auctioned off at the site. We will donate any excess revenue to other comics professionals suffering from major vision issues or to The Hero Initiative.”

Monetary contributions would also be gratefully accepted by check through PaPal at www.comix4sight.com. Individuals and corporations interested in making contributions should send them to:

Mike Gold and Adriane Nash
arrogantMGMS
304 Main Avenue, #194
Norwalk, CT 06851

Max's Maxim

Of circles Max Ophüls was fond
His stories are set in la ronde
His cam'ra, unbound
moved 'round and around
the loves of the fickle beau monde


Top: Ophüls directs James Mason and Barbara Bel Geddes in Caught
Above: Max Ophüls with Danielle Darrieux on the set of Madame de...

Directors Weak

Directors, in doubt, seek 'protection'Of angles they shoot a collection
Their cutting room floors
stream film out the doors
with editors giving direction

George Stevens, John Ford, and Billy Wilder (IMDb photo).

We sit in the Directors chair all this week at Limerwrecks.
Needless to say, the master filmmakers we feature here would
never use this indecisive method. John Ford was famous for
putting his hand in front of the lens to ensure that a shot would
be cut where he wanted it cut. That, or he famously said that's
what he did. Welcome to Directors Week at Limerwrecks.

Pandora's Fox

What woman in hot Costa Brava
turned red blood of men into lava?
The say it's Pandora
the men all adora
but Ava is their cup of java


Ava Gardner is ravishing in Technicolor in Albert Lewin's
1951 surrealist fantasy, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman.

Comiconned

Confined in convention hall maze
the show lasts five very long days
Plus nights blurred from drinking
I'm dazed and I'm blinking
When home I'll just lounge in a chaise



Back from the madness that is San Diego Comicon International.
It's far too crazy, crowded, and exhausting, but still a great place
to meet new friends in the comics biz and bump into old ones.
Favorite fanboy moments: meeting and talking with the gracious
and talented Ramona Fradon (below), the best Plastic Man
artist after Plastic Man's creator, Jack Cole. And meeting Berni
Wrightson and his lovely wife at the Creepy signing. One of my
favorite artists and a primary stylistic influence turns out to be a
swell guy. Be still, my beating heart.


Top 2 photos courtesy of Parka Blogs

I Wake Up Scheming

For murder he's taking the blame
A model--the fall guy's old flame
A tough cop's aggression
and growing obsession
has fit the poor sap for the frame



H. Bruce Humberstone's I Wake Up Screaming (aka The Hot Spot, 41) is one of the earliest examples of film noir. It's based on a great novel by Steve Fisher, and stars Victor Mature, with a brilliant turn by Laird Cregar.

Time to wake up. The long noir nightmare at Limerwrecks is over...at least for now.