“Greetings, grapple fans…”

With the large-scale pomp of the WWF, it’s easy to forget that wrestling (like football) used to be a resolutely down-at-heel kids-to-grannies spectacle that was one toe-hold away from the carnival. Whether it was Kent Walton intoning “Greetings, grapple fans…” on ITV’s World of Sport, ushering in such unforgettable characters as Kendo Nagasaki, or Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler (who taught Andy Kaufman to wrestle!) broadcasting live from a church hall in West Memphis, thrills aplenty were to be had.

Cigarette Girl — European premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival

Stop (Word) Press!

Mike McCarthy’s excellent slice of totally independently-made, dystopian big screen noir, Cigarette Girl, as previously blogged about on We Love Creative, is set to receive its European premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on Tuesday 22 June.

Cigarette Girl — truly great independent film-making

Cigarette Girl is the latest big screen slice of rock’n’roll-infused, dystopian noir from prolific, Memphis-based filmmaker, cartoonist and musician Mike McCarthy. He’s worked with rising director Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan) on such projects as MTV’s Emmy Award-winning Five Dollar Cover series; brought the world a host of lowbrow epics (including Elvis Meets The Beatles, “An unpopular movie about the most popular icons of our time”); and helmed promos for The Hives, Japan’s Guitar Wolf and other underground rock’n’roll icons.