latest LULLABY (and) PERIL update

About once a month, I send out e-mail updates on my two feature-length films, The Last Lullaby (and) Peril.  If you would like to receive these, just send an e-mail to either register@thelastlullaby.com or register@perilthemovie.com

Here's the most recent update:

THE LAST LULLABY (AND) PERIL UPDATE
November 20, 2010

Thank you all for taking time to register for 
our updates.  Today I will cover four topics:

- News

- Five-Year Area Film Industry Report

- Facebook Fan Pages!

- Other Fun Stuff

News

A few nice things have happened in the last
couple of months.  Sasha Alexander's new TV 
show, Rizzoli & Isles, continues to create 
a new buzz and audience around The Last Lullaby.  
Almost every day someone in the blogosphere or 
Twitter is talking about our film.  Recently, 
one of these great sites approached me and asked 
me to do an interview.  Here it is.  I thought 
they did a really fantastic job with it:

http://rizzlesgirls.blogspot.com/2010/11/jeffrey-goodman-sits-down-on-couch.html

I also recently did an audio interview with the 
great Clinton Stark on Stark Insider.  As 
always, Clinton hits the right notes and keeps 
the interview smart and moving along:

http://www.starkinsider.com/2010/10/stark-insider-film-director-jeffrey-goodman.html

Finally, I'm happy to announce that my 
MovieMaker blog, "I Found It At The Movies", 
has re-started after a six-month hiatus.  
You can follow it here:

http://www.moviemaker.com/blog/category/i_found_it_at_the_movies/

Five-Year Area Film Industry Report

I have been back in Louisiana since early 2005, 
and the film industry has been in the northern 
part of the state, in a significant way, since 
early September 2005.  This area's film industry 
is about five years old now, and I thought it 
was time to put a report together.  I am 
delivering this talk in several venues throughout 
north Louisiana.  If you are part of an 
organization that would be interested in hearing 
this report, please let me know.  I think it's 
the most important talk I've put together to date.

Facebook Fan Pages!

I am currently putting the money together for my 
next film, Peril.  Things are progressing very 
well with it.  And even though I don't know 
exactly when we will start pre-production, 
significant progress is being made every month.  

In the meantime, I am continuing 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, 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

The Kinks

I've never owned an album by The Kinks, and am now determined to take the plunge.  But I need your help.  Where would you start?  What would be the first album you'd buy if you were looking to get into The Kinks and learn more about all the fuss?

MovieMaker's back, and a great, new LULLABY interview

After an almost six-month hiatus, I'm excited to announce that my blog for MovieMaker is back.  It will probably be published a couple of times a week:

http://www.moviemaker.com/blog/category/i_found_it_at_the_movies/

Also, of note, is a wonderful new interview about Sasha Alexander and The Last Lullaby by some great fans of Sasha's new TV show, Rizzoli & Isles:

http://rizzlesgirls.blogspot.com/2010/11/jeffrey-goodman-sits-down-on-couch.html

Favorite (four), part six

Just like in my other five 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).

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Red Shoes
Powell believed in beauty.  And Powell believed in art.  And this is about as beautiful a film about art, creation, and the artist's life as any I've ever seen.  Walbrook and Shearer's performances are otherworldly.  


Joseph L. Mankiewicz's House of Strangers
Richard Conte's great and so is Edward G. Robinson (in fact, they both deliver two of their more memorable performances).  Another key to The Godfather and Mean Streets, and at times, downright classic.

Nicholas Ray's They Live by Night
Finally, I understand all the fuss.  It's an incredible debut and now up there among my favorite noirs.  Bowie and Keechie's chemistry is amazing, and there's something tremendously compelling about both Granger and O'Donnell.  Ray keeps things moving and shows off his inventive eye in a number of different scenes.  And he demonstrates that he has a real poetic connection and understanding of the outdoors.  A wonderful fatalistic build-up near the end rounds up a very, very good film.  

Samuel Fuller's The Steel Helmet
Fuller's expressionistic style and inventiveness under constrained circumstances (apparently a ten day shooting schedule) elevate this film to great interest.  Raw and full of engaged subtext, an incredibly original work for its time.  And with at least one classic line, "If you die, I'll kill you."

Some Artists I'd Love to Document (or see a great document on...)

I don't know if you guys do this, but there are several moments in film and music that I'm obsessed with, of which I've yet to find a perfect film document.  Some that come to mind are:

The Beastie Boys circa Paul's Boutique
The French New Wave circa 1955-1962
Talk Talk circa Laughing Stock
John Coltrane circa A Love Supreme
Massive Attack circa Blue Lines
Wim Wenders circa Kings of the Road
Abbas Kiarostami in the late eighties/early nineties
Leos Carax in the mid eighties
Bjorn Borg circa the late seventies
The Smiths in the eighties
Bob Dylan circa the early sixties (pre Don't Look Back)

If I ever foray into documentary filmmaking, these would probably be the first places I'd look into doing something.

The riches of Post-Punk

How many great songs and bands emerged in the so-called post-punk era.  I'm still getting around to catching up (30 years later!) with most of them.  But no other period of music is doing it for me as much as this one right now.  Bands like Public Image Limited, Wire, Joy Division, Pere Ubu, Mission of Burma, The Fall, Gang of Four, New Order, and Echo & the Bunnymen.

Here's a great song I just recently discovered.  I listen to it like I eat Triscuits.  Can't do it just once.

Echo & the Bunnymen:  Monkeys (listen on Youtube)

Favorite (four), part five

Just like in my other four 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).

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death
The most ambitious of the lot and the one that consistently made me in absolute awe of its sheer technical accomplishment.  Reminded me of some of Kubrick's more mind-blowing art direction and kept me repeatedly saying to myself, "I can't believe they just did that."  Probably not the most emotionally satisfying of the Powell/Pressburger films, but the formal accomplishment needs to be seen.  


David Lean's Great Expectations
I've never read the novel so the twists and turns of the story were particularly affecting.  Lean demonstrates his acute visual sense and his wonderful ability with actors.  I felt this one, I admired this one, and I thought it not only underrated, but completely satisfying.  


Abraham Polonsky's Force of Evil
A real masterpiece in my book.  I've long known it to be one of Scorsese's favorite films, but I just got around to seeing it for the first time.  Its visual naturalism is stunning and its raw power quite special. Seems to be a key link to The Godfather.  (In fact, McCluskey's death and the way that Coppola handles it seem to come almost verbatim from this earlier film.)  Also seems to have influenced Mean Streets and the noir texture of some of the early Nouvelle Vague films.  It's tragic that Polonsky didn't have the opportunity to direct more for with this one he left us a real gem.  


Lewis Milestone's The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Milestone might not do anything particularly flashy.  But he captures the noir spirit and keeps this one plowing ahead, always in sync with the dark, complex, and rough noir tradition.  One of the great noir endings and certainly one of its better cast.  A noir that deserves to be a part of the dialogue and history.  

Favorite (four), part four

Just like in my other three 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).

Mark Robson's The Seventh Victim
Another one of Val Lewton's lo-fi horror films.  This one though is actually as much noir in spirit as it is horror.  And it's a tremendously compact, atmospheric, suggestive film that packs a real punch.  Of all the Lewton films I've seen so far, this one is my favorite.


Luchino Visconti's Ossessione
Based on the same James M Cain novel, The Postman Always Rings Twice, that led to two American films, this early film from one of Italian cinema's masters is a neorealist marvel.  Detailed, beautifully observed, this seems like a key influence on Godard's Breathless, and many of the other early French New Wave works.  


Carl Theodor Dreyer's Day of Wrath
Dreyer makes films that feel like six or seven-course meals.  This one is heavy, hard-hitting, and gets under your skin in a robust kinda way.  I can't say I liked it as much as a few of his other films.  But those few other films are among my favorite of all time.


William Wellman's The Ox-Bow Incident
Interesting to think how much of an influence it might have had on both the tone and look of Jarmusch's Dead Man.  The dialogue and feel of the film is stunningly modern at times.  And it once again confirmed how much the war factored in as subtext to the majority of films made during WWII.

Nice Article/Interview on Lullaby (and) Peril

Great piece from yesterday's conversation with Clinton Stark from StarkSilverCreek - All Things West Coast on Stark Insider. Awesome article and audio interview.  Thanks, Clint!

http://www.starkinsider.com/2010/10/stark-insider-film-director-jeffrey-goodman.html

15 Actresses

Just like my previous posts on albums, movies, directors, and actors, here are the first 15 actresses that come to mind.  Would love to hear your various lists.

1.  Anna Karina
2.  Marlene Dietrich
3.  Rita Hayworth
4.  Joan Fontaine
5.  Ava Gardner
6.  Jean Seberg
7.  Angie Dickinson
8.  Brigitte Bardot
9.  Nicole Kidman
10.  Anouk Aimee
11.  Audrey Hepburn
12.  Grace Kelly
13.  Julie Christie
14.  Marie Riviere
15.  Melanie Griffith

15 Actors

Like my previous posts on albums, movies, and directors, I wanted to single out the first 15 actors that come to mind.  These are only the men. I'll focus on the women in a future post.

1.  Jean Gabin
2.  Jean-Paul Belmondo
3.  Al Pacino
4.  Cary Grant
5.  Marlon Brando
6.  Robert De Niro
7.  Jimmy Stewart
8.  James Cagney
9.  Humphrey Bogart
10.  Burt Lancaster
11.  Michel Simon
12.  Gene Hackman
13.  Charlie Chaplin
14.  Jack Nicholson
15.  Montgomery Clift

Mix Tapes and some more Morning Music

I've always been drawn to making mix tapes for friends and loved ones. I've even been known to do one for myself now and again.  It's been awhile since I've done any, but last week I started dabbling again and made a couple.  Here's one of my favorite songs from one of 'em.


Grizzly Bear: On a Neck, On a Spit (Listen to it on Youtube)

15 Directors

Like my previous Albums and Movies post, I jumped on the 15 directors note that was floating around Facebook. Here was my crack at it:

1. Jean-Luc Godard
2. Howard Hawks
3. Raoul Walsh
4. David Gordon Green
5. Robert Bresson
6. Jean Renoir
7. Abbas Kiarostami
8. William Friedkin
9. Michael Mann
10. George Cukor
11. Brian De Palma
12. Andrew Bujalski
13. Roberto Rossellini
14. Hal Ashby
15. Wim Wenders

A little music never hurt anyone

My song of the day. I like how cinematic it is.

Unkle: Trouble in Paradise (see on Youtube)

15 Movies

Like my recent albums post, here's another note that's been circulating of late on Facebook.  So figured I'd throw my hat into the ring and post mine:

1.  Holiday (1938)
2.  Pierrot Le Fou (1965)
3.  In a Lonely Place (1950)
4.  The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
5.  Rio Bravo (1959)
6.  Chinatown (1974)
7.  Blow Out (1981)
8.  Kings of the Road (1976)
9.  Shoot the Piano Player (1960)
10.  Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
11.  La chienne (1931)
12.  Heat (1995)
13.  Splendor in the Grass (1961)
14.  The French Connection (1971)
15.  McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)