Thursday, November 29, 2007

Jacques Tourneur's I Walked With A Zombie


Made for Val Lewton's B- Unit at RKO from what I can gather "I Walked With a Zombie" was Jacques Tourneur's personal favorite.

If you are a fan of Psychological Horror this should be on your list.

Later,

Paul Parducci

Monday, November 26, 2007

Once Again A Holiday At The Table

Risk was invented by Albert Lamorisse who also directed that award-winning short film you saw in grammer school "The Red Balloon."
Later,
Paul Parducci

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!


I wish all the best for you and yours.

And please excuse these suggestions: do your best to refrain from discussing politics or religion at the table.(You know that no matter what the people at your table believe or follow they would be there for you if you needed them.) And take a secret moment to look around at all your family and friends. I don't have to tell you why.

God Bless,

Paul Parducci

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Charles Bukowski's "Death Wants More Death"

death wants more death, and its webs are full:
I remember my father's garage,
how child-like I would brush the corpses of flies from the windows they thought were escape-
their sticky, ugly, vibrant bodies shouting like dumb crazy dogs
against the glass
only to spin and flit in that second larger than hell or heaven
onto the edge of the ledge,
and then the spider from his dank hole nervous and exposed the puff of body swelling
hanging there not really quite knowing, and then knowing-something
sending it down its string,
the wet web, toward the weak shield of buzzing,
the pulsing; a last desperate moving hair-leg there against the glass
there alive in the sun, spun in white; and almost like love: the closing over,
the first hushed spider-sucking: filling its sack upon this thing that lived;
crouching there upon its back drawing its certain blood as the world goes by outside
and my temples scream and I hurl the broom against them:
the spider dull with spider-anger still thinking of its prey
and waving an amazed broken leg;
the fly very still, a dirty speck stranded to straw;
I shake the killer loose and he walks lame and peeved towards some dark corner but I intercept his dawdling his crawling like some broken hero,
and the straws smash his legs now waving above his head and looking
looking for the enemy and somewhat valiant, dying without apparent pain
simply crawling backward piece by piece
leaving nothing there until at last the red gut sack splashes its secrets,
and I run child-like with God's anger a step behind,
back to simple sunlight,
wondering as the world goes by with curled smile
if anyone else saw or sensed my crime
----------------------------------
Later,
Paul Parducci

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Today We Honor our Veterans


Thank you.
Paul Parducci
PS: This is a photo of Revolutionary War veteran Manual Downing taken in 1864. He was born in 1751.

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Edgar G. Ulmer's Detour




I am a Film Noir fan. From "Kiss Me Deadly" to "The Spiral Staircase" on to "Gun Crazy" and beyond. But I recently caught a corner of Black-hearted brilliance called Detour Filmed by the Poverty Row Auteur Edgar G. Ulmer (Before he was sent away from mainstream Hollywood, he made The Black Cat) it is definitely something to put on your queue. Here is Robert Weston's excellent piece on both the man and his movie.
Later,
Paul Parducci