The Follow Shot

Coolest thing I've seen so far today (make sure to check out the video, and the references at the very end are fun).  You also find this shot in the recent films Sugar, Ballast, and Munyurangabo :

http://www.thelmagazine.com/newyork/following/Content?oid=1185679

Tulpan

Finally I've got a little time to catch up on probably my very favorite pastime, watching movies.  I've got a list of 20-30 movies I've been wanting to see for the last year or so.  And now I can.

I just got done watching Tulpan.  It's certainly not for everyone.  It's so much slower and more "foreign" than 99.9% of American movies, it's almost like watching a different medium.  It's also one of those movies that really raises the bar.  Some of the takes must be close to ten minutes long.  And I'm not talking static frame, Hou Hsiao-hsien takes.  The camera is moving all around in some of the most complex handheld work I've ever seen.  The more I do this, the more I realize directing or making movies is about bringing the fictional alive, making it seem as real and believable as possible.  Sergei Dvortsevoy makes this story seem so real that I can only watch and realize how much further I can take things in my own work.

I loved it.   And I'm not sure I've seen two more harrowing scenes this year than the two here with the pregnant sheep.

Human, ambitious, formal, and deep.  I'm humbled.

And The Winners Are...

Last night, we did our live drawing at ustream for The Last Lullaby Prizes, and it was a lot of fun!  The nine lucky winners are:

1. Tom Sizemore's main outfit from the movie -- LEE O'BRIEN
2. Sasha Alexander's hooded coat -- ANDREW TAGOE
3. Jerry Hardin's camel hair top coat -- RONNIE MERCER
4. Bill Smitrovich's navy blue velour sweatsuit -- RON NIERMAN
5. Lifetime subscription to MovieMaker magazine -- DANA HART
6. Sprague Grayden's red shoes -- RON NIERMAN
7. Tom Sizemore's chess board -- KATY MERRIMAN
8. Two of Sasha Alexander's blouses -- AMY HARDY
9. A guaranteed extra role in my next movie -- RYLAND THOMAS

I have just added some new holiday packages at the Lullaby store (www.thelastlullaby.com).  Just click the DVD icon at the top of the home page, and it will take you there.

Make sure to pick up Lullaby gifts for the holidays while the going's good.  Thanks so much, you guys.

Fave Albums and Musings on a Lost Pastime

How I miss spending countless hours at the record store. Perusing the aisles, looking at record, then tape, then cd covers. Not sure I've ever found a real suitable replacement for this. They took away my arcade hours in the early nineties and now it seems we've moved past (unless you're in a major city), the requisite record store visit, too.

Well I still love my music, probably as much as my movies. To pay tribute, here are probably my top ten favorite albums at the moment:

Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home
Tricky - Maxinquaye
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
The Smiths - The Smiths
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
The Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
Miles Davis - In A Silent Way

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
Joy Division - Closer

Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

What are yours?

6 Days!

We're only days away now from the drawing for The Last Lullaby Prizes. I have a little more information to share:

Anyone, anywhere can follow the drawing live at 7PM CST on November 18th. All you have to do is go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-feed-drawing-for-the-last-lullaby-prizes.

Anyone purchasing a DVD during its first month in release will be automatically entered into the drawing (entries close at 7PM CST on the 18th). People are entered according to the number of DVDs they buy. In other words, someone who purchases ten copies will be entered into the drawing ten times.

The prizes again are:

1. Tom Sizemore's main outfit from the movie (pictured here)

2. Sasha Alexander's hooded coat from the movie (pictured here)

3. Jerry Hardin' camel hair topcoat from the movie

4. Bill Smitrovich's navy velour sweatsuit from the movie

5. A lifetime subscription to MovieMaker magazine

6. Sprague Grayden's red shoes from the movie

7. Tom Sizemore's chess board from the movie

8. Two of Sasha's blouses from the movie

9. A guaranteed extra role in my next movie

Remember all of you can now purchase a DVD from the film's website

(www.thelastlullaby.com), you will see a link at the very top of our home page. Just click on the DVD icon, and it will take you to our store.

I hope to see many of you there. This is the first time we've done anything like this. Plus, I must say, the prizes are pretty awesome.

Cinephiles

Admittedly, I'm way late on this, but there's some tremendous work being done on some blogs across the country. We're talking, major cinephiles, having serious, very thoughtful discussions about film and cinema. Here are a few of my faves I've unfortunately only recently discovered:

http://kolson-kevinsblog.blogspot.com/

http://mooninthegutter.blogspot.com/

http://sergioleoneifr.blogspot.com/

http://wondersinthedark.wordpress.com/

http://tsutpen.blogspot.com/

http://www.yggnoise.com/

http://antagonie.blogspot.com/

http://cinemastyles.blogspot.com/

You a lonely cinephile? Can't find anyone with whom to dialogue? Check out these guys. I was once living in Los Angeles and handing out flyers to strangers leaving the arthouses, just hoping I could find some fellow cinephiles. I'm so appreciative to find these guys and a few others.

Many of them have been very supportive of LULLABY and me, too. In the last two days, Kevin Olson over at "Hugo Stiglitz Makes Movies" ran these two pieces on us:

http://kolson-kevinsblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/interview-with-jeffery-goldman-director.html

http://kolson-kevinsblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/dvd-review-last-lullaby.html