INTERVIEW – In Conversation With Guy “Yug” Blomberg, Co-creator / Founder of Mana Bar

By Stewie SutherlandThe Mana Bar

There’s nothing better than going to your favourite club, is there? The atmosphere is golden, the patrons are familiar and when it’s your friend’s shout you can just tell them “the usual” and know what you’ll be getting. Now imagine if you could have the same thing, only with Xbox 360’s and Nintendo Wii’s replacing the usual spirits and ales. Sounds good, doesn’t it? It was this slick, outside-the-box idea that created Mana Bar, soon to be Australia’s first video game bar set in the city of Brisbane, the Sunshine State.  Despite being hard at work getting everything ready for it’s opening, Mana Bar’s Guy “Yug” Blomberg kindly granted AMO an interview to talk about this awesome new concept…

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FILM REVIEW – Ponyo (Studio Ghibli)

By Marty Mulrooney

ponyo_poster

As a huge Studio Ghibli fan, it has been driving me somewhat mad knowing that Hayao Miyazaki’s latest animated feature film originally came out in July 2008 in Japan and was then released with an English dub in August 2009, but only in the US. It has only just arrived in the UK in February 2010! Frustrating to say the least. So was it worth the wait?

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INTERVIEW – In Conversation With Dan Wells (Author of I Am Not A Serial Killer & Mr Monster)

By Marty Mulrooney

SK shirt

I recently reviewed a fantastic book by Dan Wells called I Am Not A Serial Killer. His debut novel, I found the whole thing a wonderfully dark and thrilling look at serial killers, from the surprisingly effective viewpoint of a 15 year old sociopathic boy!

The novel gives the relatively stale monster/horror genres a much-needed injection of originality as well, which of course makes me very excited to read the sequel, which is due out early next month (entitled Mr Monster). Therefore, I am proud to present a recent chat between myself and Dan Wells, self-admitted armchair killerologist…

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INTERVIEW – In Conversation With Colin Odell and Michelle Le Blanc (Authors of Studio Ghibli: The Films of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata)

By Marty Mulrooney

C&M

I recently reviewed the wonderfully comprehensive Studio Ghilbi: The Films Of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata (Kamera Books) by Colin Odell & Michelle Le Blanc, awarding it 9 OUT OF 10 and declaring it to be ‘the authoritative English language text on Studio Ghibli.’ It was therefore a great pleasure to be able to catch up with the authors and discuss this seminal work for a special interview exclusive to Alternative Magazine Online.

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Filed under Alternative Musings, Books, Film