New release: The classic animated series, Lupin III, celebrates its 50th anniversary in a new hardcover book! From the press release: "On October 24th, 1971, an exciting new anime premiered based on the hit manga “LUPIN III” by legendary creator Monkey Punch. For 50 years, the exploits of master thief Lupin III and his gang of outlaw pals have thrilled and entertained audiences worldwide, spawning over 300 serialized episodes, more than 10 feature films, dozens of standalone specials and OVAs, with even more adventures currently in the works. As one of the most popular and prolific animated fr ..read more

Deal alert! UK distributor, Network, has announced a flash sale this weekend offering 40% off their amazing soundtrack collections from various ITC spy/crime shows. I'm sure that Spy Vibers and even new fans from my Cocktail Nation radio episodes will remember the great age of British TV with shows like The Prisoner, Man in a Suitcase, The Champions, etc. Edwin Astely did many of the main themes (remember his theme for The Saint?), but the full soundtrack offer even more thrills, mystery, and romance. More details here. Blu-ray collectors should check out recent posts for 1960s Tintin films an ..read more

New release: Kino Lorber will release a double feature of French Tintin films from the 1960s in May! From the press release: "Welcome to the charming and colorful world of Tintin! Hergé’s classic comic book characters leap to the silver screen in two spirited adventures starring the intrepid boy-reporter and his faithful dog Snowy. In Tintin’s first-ever live-action adaptation, Tintin and the Mystery of the Golden Fleece, Captain Haddock sets sail to Istanbul, accompanied by our cow-licked hero and his cohorts. There they collect a strange bounty from the late Captain Paparanic: a rusty old sh ..read more

Greetings, Spy Vibers! The world of secret agents wasn't the only arena for storytellers to channel the zeitgeist of the Cold War era. The Red Scare and anxieties about radiation also fueled countless science-fiction and horror tales. Kino Lorber will be releasing a Blu-ray edition of the 1956 film, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, later this year. The movie centered around a small town, where citizens were slowly replaced by soulless, hive-minded doppelgängers and the last remaining man and woman were being hunting down by their neighbors. A chilling favorite of mine as a kid, and an interesti ..read more

Happy Friday, Spy Vibers! I've resumed my series of segments on the Cocktail Nation radio show from Australia. Each month I give a brief introduction to a classic film or TV series and play some cuts from the soundtrack. This month I thought it would be fun to visit some music composed by Michel Magne for the 1960s OSS 117 movies made in France. What I enjoy about Magne's cues is that they tapped into both the Eurospy vibe as well as the ongoing Exotica record scene. If any Spy Vibers out there are fans of Martin Denny or Arthur Lyman, I think you'll notice some familiar sounds of marimba, whi ..read more

Greetings, Spy Vibers! Well, it's been another long stretch of busy teaching. My students are all working on large projects. Photographers have all gone into their own chosen areas to create portfolios and the filmmakers are making various shorts. I still have some sections to write for the Spy Vibe book, but I shared most of the manuscript recently with the publisher to get feedback as we shape the project. It's much larger than I anticipated (hopefully not as large as my recent Mort Walker book, which clocked in at over 700 pages!). The balance is trying to keep it moving and fun as a celebr ..read more

New release: Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, and Oliver Reed coming to Blu-ray in their 1969 classic The Assassination Bureau! From Arrow Video: "London, 1908. When feisty journalist and women's rights campaigner Sonia Winter (Diana Rigg) uncovers the headquarters of the Assassination Bureau Limited, a clandestine enterprise that has existed for decades by bumping off the rich and powerful - but only if there's a good moral reason for it - she sets on a path of putting an end to its activities. Bankrolled by her press baron boss, Lord Bostwick (Telly Savalas), she commissions the organisation to un ..read more

Event/Book alert: From the artist who put the Swing in Swinging London and the reggae beat in "Live and Let Die," Paul McCartney has compiled a collection of his own photographs and reflections captured at the height of Beatlemania for a new book and exhibit with National Portrait Gallery. From the press release: "In 2020, an extraordinary trove of nearly a thousand photographs taken by Paul McCartney on a 35mm camera was re-discovered in his archive. They intimately record the months towards the end of 1963 and beginning of 1964 when Beatlemania erupted in the UK and, after the ..read more

New release: VCI Entertainment plans to release a Blu-ray edition of the classic Green Hornet cliffhanger serial in April! The promotional description is pretty lackluster, but here's the gist: "VCI Entertainment is preparing a two-disc set of Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor's The Green Hornet (1940), starring Gordon Jones, Wade Boteler, Keye Luke, Anne Nagel, and Cy Kendall. The Green Hornet is a fictional masked crime fighter, originally created by George W. Trendle for an American radio program in the 1930s. The character appeared in two Universal serials. In the first 13-episode serial ..read more

New book alert: our friends at Quoit Media have released a new book called The Prisoner Compared that looks to be an interesting read! From the press release: "The Prisoner TV series is rightly regarded as being one of the greatest, and most influential, TV series ever created, and much has been written about the production of those 17 classic episodes. Until now, however, little has been written about the common features that The Prisoner shares with other classic television series. With comparisons to episodes of iconic shows such as Doctor Who, Blakes 7, The Twilight Zone, UFO, Mi ..read more