Ep 5: Noir meets graphic design, comics, and boxing, with Michael Kronenberg
The art director for the Film Noir Foundation's NOIR CITY e-magazine joins us to talk graphic design, comic books, and boxing. We begin with how Michael first started working with the FNF (3:00), plus designing the website and other projects for Eddie Muller's Black Pool Productions (5:50). We also discuss the process of designing each issue of NOIR CITY (8:30), including the use of multi-media video and audio clips (15:00). Then we talk about the NOIR CITY comics issue, starting with Michael's article "Batman in the '70s: First Rebirth of the Bat" on the character's development over the years (19:40), and how Batman's dark turn in the 1970s is still influencing comics and movies today (30:35). We also delve into Michael's choices for the all-time Top 10 noir comics (35:30). Next we discuss how Marvel's movie production chief is combining the approach of classic Hollywood studio moguls and Marvel legend Stan Lee (42:00), plus some indications that DC is starting to move in that direction with their movies (49:50). Your host then seizes the opportunity to coach everyone on saying the chronically mispronounced name of Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot (53:10). We conclude with the sweet science, including Michael's love of boxing inherited from his ex-prizefighter dad (55:00), his all-time Top 5 boxing movies (56:40), and his new boxing e-magazine Ringside Seat (1:06:00). Michael's designs for Black Pool Productions, including Eddie Muller's book "Gun Crazy: The Origin Of American Outlaw Cinema" available at: http://blackpoolproductions.com/ NOIR CITY comics issue: http://www.noircitymag.com/noir_city_14.html The Batcave Companion: https://www.amazon.com/Batcave-Companion-Michael-Eury/dp/1893905780 Ringside Seat magazine: http://ringsideseatmag.com/ Light And Noir Film Festival in Sacramento on July 22: http://www.crestsacramento.com/event/1508401-light-noir-film-festival-pass-sacramento/ Please send us any feedback you have on our show to podcast@filmnoirfoundation.org. Music: Themes from Sunset Blvd (by Franz Waxman) and Gun Crazy (Victor Young), Guglielmo Ratcliff: Intermezzo (Pietro Mascagni) from Raging Bull. Dialogue from The Dark Knight (with Heath Ledger and Christian Bale) and Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm (Mark Hamill).