Monday, May 30, 2011

Favorite (four), part eleven

Just like in my other ten posts thus far in this series, I want to take a second to single out the highlights of my recent film viewing.  I'm trying right now to take in almost a film a day.  Most have been first-time viewings, and most I have been glad to finally see.  But only very few have stayed with me.  This series is my filter for those (and hopefully one or two of these will be good to someone else, too).


Irving Lerner's Murder by Contract

Another Scorsese favorite, this noir is utterly unique in terms of its tone. Much of its difference comes from its Flamenco-like score that gives the film a very offbeat, bouncy and buoyant feel, in the midst of a good amount of darkness.  Vince Edwards gives a tremendous performance, and although spare and lean, the production always feels formally clean and clear.   A very strong, lesser-known work.  

Charles Ferguson's Inside Job
It's a powerful and utterly disturbing portrait of the events that led to 2008's global recession.  Ferguson explains some of the chief causes in a very lucid manner, and he presents a very passionate attack on America's financial services industry.  Whether or not you agree with all that he has to say, I would say this is a must-see, simply for the opportunity to get a further look at many of the chief players.  

Roberto Rossellini's The Rise of Louis XIV
The first of Rossellini's historical dramas that I've seen, and it takes awhile to get used to this later style and period of the great director.  But it snakes its way around, accumulating historical import, and by the end, it finds its emotional highpoint.  Another transcendent and powerful work by one of cinema's most unusual and rigorous stylists.   

Adam Yauch's Fight for Your Right Revisited
I would think any major Beastie Boys fan (I would have to put myself in that group) would find this a welcome reminder of what makes the group so important.  There is something so anti-authoritarian and fly in the face of any form of political correctness no matter how old the boys become and how many years they put out music.  Their presence in music, and culture, always seem timely and progressive, yet while remaining true to the brand they have built from day one.     



Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The great Moon in the Gutter comes out in support of LULLABY, again

One of my absolutely favorite blogs, Moon in the Gutter, just wrote an extremely nice entry on LULLABY and the news of our latest distribution deal.  Thanks so much, Jeremy!

http://mooninthegutter.blogspot.com/2011/05/jeffrey-goodmans-last-lullaby-coming-to.html













One of my other absolutely favorite blogs, Wonders in the Dark, also paid us an incredible honor by featuring us in the headline of this week's Monday Morning Diary.  Thanks, Sam!

http://wondersinthedark.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/jeffrey-goodman-incendies-a-serbian-film-hey-boo-harper-lee-and-tokill-a-mockingbird-camerman-jack-cardiff-and-rape-of-nanking-film-on-monday-morning-diary-may-16/

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Lullaby Gets Wider Distribution!

Here's our latest e-mail update about it.  Want to receive these (and don't already), simply send an e-mail to register@thelastlullaby.com


THE LAST LULLABY (AND) PERIL UPDATE
May 15, 2011



Thank you all for taking time to register for our updates. Today I will cover five topics:
- Lullaby Distribution
- Press
- Update
- Facebook Fan Pages!
- Other Fun Stuff
Lullaby Distribution
I am very excited to announce that we have signed with Level 33 Entertainment to distribute The Last Lullaby in the United States.  We are currently aiming for a Fall release of a newly-packaged DVD.  At this point, I am not sure what extras it will include, but we are looking into some different things.  We also expect this release to place Lullaby in many other places and make it much more readily available.  This is a very positive development, and I am very excited to share the good news with you.
Press
There have been several great pieces on The Last Lullaby (and) Peril in the last couple of months. Here are just a couple of them:
1. http://wondersinthedark.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/jambalaya-filmmaker-and-blogging-star-jeffrey-goodman/
An interview I recently did with one of the most popular film blogs.
2. http://www.sashafansonline.net/the-last-lullaby-t53.html
A review of Lullaby by one of the best Sasha Alexander websites.
Update
Louisiana's film industry boasted its best year ever in 2010, attracting projects with budgets totaling more than $1.4B. It is a great time for the state, and the industry just keeps better and stronger here.  Personally, I continue to move forward with my next film, Peril.  I'm still putting all the money together, but I am very optimistic looking ahead.
Facebook Fan Pages!
I continue to grow the audience around both Peril and The Last Lullaby.  If you haven't already, please take a second to join our Facebook Fan Pages for Peril and Lullaby:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Peril/266972237358?ref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Last-Lullaby/19456164241?ref=ts
Just click on the links above and then click "Like!"
Other Fun Stuff
Over at the LULLABY/PERIL blog (http://cahierspositif.blogspot.com/), I am writing more than ever about the films I'm watching as I prepare for Peril and the films ahead.  I'm really enjoying this blog and think that some of you might enjoy some of the posts, as well.  Come visit me and drop me a comment if you want to discuss anything. 
Also, as mentioned in previous updates, I have created several other places for people to begin following Peril. Here are all the different places we have so far.  I hope that many of you will join us:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Peril/266972237358?ref=ts
http://twitter.com/chaillotfilms
http://cahierspositif.blogspot.com/
e-mail updates (simply send an e-mail to register@perilthemovie.com)
I want to thank you all for your incredible support.  I really couldn't be more excited about the road ahead.
As always, if you have any questions, hit reply and your e-mail will come to me.  Please keep spreading the word! You guys are the best.
Jeffrey Goodman
Director
THE LAST LULLABY (AND) PERIL
www.thelastlullaby.com
Chaillot Films

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

List of Current Distributors

Here's a great list I came across this morning.  Nice to find all this information in one place:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/sydneylevine/archives/us_distributors_a-z/

Saturday, May 7, 2011

some tunes floating 'round the turntable

as far as i'm concerned, it's always good news when the beastie boys release a new album. here's a cut (if you can't hear it here, check it on youtube) and a couple of other tracks that have been floating around of late.

The Beastie Boys - Make Some Noise
The Fall - Aspen Reprise
Lil' Kim - Queen Bitch

Listen to all three tunes on Youtube.

Great little interview on LULLABY

Here's a great little interview that popped up today:

http://www.sfinm.org/developments/336-jeffrey-goodman-on-the-last-lullaby.html

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Favorite (four), part ten

Just like in my other nine posts thus far in this series, I want to take a second to single out the highlights of my recent film viewing.  I'm trying right now to take in almost a film a day.  Most have been first-time viewings, and most I have been glad to finally see.  But only very few have stayed with me.  This series is my filter for those (and hopefully one or two of these will be good to someone else, too).


Corneliu Porumboiu's Police, Adjective

The new Romanian cinema has gotten much recent acclaim, and after seeing 4 Months... and this film it's easy to see why.  What I find so striking about this film is its naturalism that runs in quite a different direction from the cinema of the Dardenne brothers.  Porumboiu keeps the camera fixed in wide frames, as opposed to the handheld close-ups that seem to populate the work of the Dardenne brothers.  Porumboiu also favors long takes in a way that we rarely see in the work of the Belgian filmmakers.  The sense of humor of Porumboiu is quite effective and unexpected and other than perhaps the final ten minutes, I would have no hesitation declaring this one of the greatest of recent films, and a full-blown masterpiece.   

Alberto Lattuada's Mafioso
I've long known this as one of Scorsese's favorites, and it certainly doesn't disappoint.  But it doesn't meet expectations either.  There's far less violence than one would imagine.  The tone more often resembles a vivacious and sunny foreign film than a somber and serious-minded noir.  And Lattuada shows an unexpected assertiveness with his editing, movement of the camera, and ability to juggle different genres. Lattuada also knows how to make great use of music to heighten the action (the jazz leading up to the barbershop sequence) and has no problem leaving the viewer with a great, big lump in his throat.  

Paul Schrader's Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
This abstract, highly stylized oddity actually is one of the more interesting films I've seen from Schrader.   At times, it is almost too obtuse, but there is also something here that feels quite personal.  And it's the most cinematic of the Schrader-directed films that I've seen.  The actor playing the adult Mishima is quite powerful, and Philip Glass' score, though in typical Glass fashion repetitive, also binds it all together into a successfully surreal, cerebral, and intermittently visceral work.  

David Lynch's The Cowboy and the Frenchman
A short film from Lynch made in 1988 for French television at arguably the peak of his career (two years after Blue Velvet and right before the beginning of Twin Peaks).  It's vintage Lynch, in the best of ways, with its flights of fancy and often gut busting sense of humor.  Along with the Twin Peaks pilot, a Lynch work crying out for discovery.