Attention Los Angeles Readers! My Pal Drew Friedman's "More Old Jewish Comedians."

I'm in the production bubble of my latest project so I will regrettably be unable to attend.(The second part of that sentence sounded very Oxford didn't it?) But everyone else should head on down to Skylight Books today between 5 and 7 PM. This book is if possible even more amazing than his last one, every page is literally soaked with Drew's unique brand of stunningly brilliant and table-poundingly funny personality disection.

Congrats Drew! I'll catch you at the next one.

Later,

Paul Parducci

Charles Bukowski's "this"

self-congratulatory nonsense as the famous gather to applaud their seeming
greatness


you
wonder where
the real ones are


what
giant cave
hides them


as
the deathly talentless
how to
accolades


as
the fools are
fooled
again


you
wonder where
the real ones are
if there are
real ones.


this
self-congratulatory nonsense
has lasted
decades
and
with some exceptions

centuries

this
is so dreary
is so absolutely pitiless

it
churns the gut to
powder
shackles hope

it
makes little things
like
pulling up a shade
or
putting on your shoes
or
walking out on the street

more difficult
near
damnable

as
the famous gather to applaud their
seeming
greatness

as
the fools are
fooled
again

humanity
you sick
motherfucker.


This poem can be found in the excellent collection of Bukowski's works; "run with the hunted" a charles bukowski reader edited by John Martin.
Later,
Paul Parducci

Henry Hathaway's "Kiss of Death"

A classic of the Docu-Noir style crime film, Kiss of Death still holds up very well even in this day of non-stop CSI and police procedurals.) Directed by the perrenially under-rated and from all accounts hot-tempered Henry Hathaway on location in New York it is one of the few Noirs to feature a female narrator. Richard Widmark's portrayal of the psychpathic Tommy Udo earned him an Academy award nomination. This one is mandatory for the Noir fan.

Later,

Paul Parducci

A Little Bit About Current Projects

I realized I hadn't mentioned much about my creative work lately, So for those interested; as of this moment I am in pre-production on a comedy project that I am directing that shoots at the end of this month. The scripts are strong and I am very pleased with the casting so it should be a lot of fun.

I have also been working on a darker feature project that I anticipate completing sometime in the Fall. (On this one I am wearing three hats: Writer/Director/Producer.)

Nightmare Boss continues to be very popular world-wide in fact it is now running on Vodaphone in the UK so I recently directed a few Promos for that series as well.

Add to this various meetings,pitches and scribbling and a nice formula for staying out of trouble emerges.

Later,

Paul Parducci

Photo by Cmiper

Doodles Weaver

I used to love watching these shorts when I was a kid. And I was very pleased to find some available on the web.

"A Day With Doodles"Film

"The Helpful Houseguest"

Doodles was a very talented and troubled man. Here is a good place to start to learn about him and the world his best work sprang from.

Later,

Paul Parducci

Chris Marker's La Jetee

This amazing film composed almost entirely of still photos inspired Terry Gilliam's equally brilliant "12 Monkeys."
Chris Marker is a fascinating Artist of great scope, he avoids publicity and doesn't give interviews, but this is a solid overview of his life and work.


Later,
Paul Parducci

Roy Scheider 's First Film:Del Tenney's "Curse of the Living Corpse"

Years ago while living in New York City I passed a running Roy Scheider as I was running (in the opposite direction) on 5th Ave. He was of course and will continue to be a great of American Cinema. A fast Google will give you many facts about his full and successful life, but in this post I want to highlight his first film which he made with the uniquely American Auteur Del Tenney.





Later,
Paul Parducci

News of the Strange: This Week

What's this?

Thanks,

Paul Parducci

Florida Fireball

Here is another view.

Tom Epperson's "The Kind One"

Regular readers of this blog know that I enjoy Film Noir. Some years ago I had the opportunity to work on an excellent Film Noir"A Gun, A Car, A Blonde" written by an amazing writer with a strong facility for dialogue and tone. His name is Tom Epperson and he is also just a great down-to-earth guy. (i.e: No Hollywood here.) He's recently moved into the Novelist chair and his page-turning new work is called "The Kind One."

If you live in LA he's holding a signing on the 13th.(All the info is on the above flyer.)

Congratulations Tom!
Later,

Paul Parducci

Shaking Hands: A Sign of Respect

I recently encountered a Studio Executive who after yammering on about collaboration and respect for Filmmakers declined to shake my hand and the hand of another director also present. (Awkwardly begging off while mumbling something about illness-the exec looked healthy to us by the way.) I felt insulted as did my friend.

This got me thinking about the hand shake and it's implications. (Here is an overview of the history of Hand-Shaking.) I was taught to always shake hands as a sign of respect and I plan to continue to do so.

For the hand-shaking challenged here is an excellent review.

Later,

Paul Parducci

Stan Brakhage's I...Dreaming

A film made in 1988 by Visionary Filmmaker Stan Brakhage


Later,
Paul Parducci

On This Day in 1776: Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"

Way back in 1776 Thomas Paine introduced one of the most influential gatherings of paper and ink the world has ever know.

Here is a solid overview.

Later,

Paul Parducci

Happy New Year!

2007 is over. Good,bad it's done and gone.

I wish you all a Great 08.

Later,

Paul Parducci

Merry Christmas

Peace Everybody.

We are all in this together.

Let's have a Great 08!

Later,

Paul Parducci

Hans Richter's Dreams That Money Can Buy

Links:
Hans Richter

International DADA Archive

Artnet

Later,
Paul Parducci

Proof That Santa Exists

There has been a disturbing trend recently to dismiss as "Imaginary" the individual known to us in North America as "Santa Claus." Some children have of course been disturbed by this incorrect and scientifically invalid position.

For those of you who have children that simply want the hard facts, here they are:

1) Santa has been granted a special privilege of eternal life.

2) He lives at the North Pole in a secret complex shielded from any type of radar or satelite imaging. The various Nations of the world know this but have determined after thirty -seven different Top Secret closed-door UN meetings that he poses no threat. (Check the records on this)

3) He possesses technology that enables him to slow/stop time.(This is why it has been virtually impossible to photograph him or capture him on video.

4) He does in fact keep detailed behavior records(ie: The List) but word has it that he is notoriously lax in this regard and has never left coal. (The 1930's Kentucky incident has been proven to be false.)

5) He is in fact helped in his work by a virtual army of what we call "Elves."(Who are actually smaller statured denzens from a planet (They pronounce it "Xylpho") in the next solar-system-considered by over Two hundred and six advanced civilizations to be the most brilliant Toy and Amusement designers and builders in the universe. (Unfortunately this information will not become public knowledge until the year 2346.)

Here are some other links that prove his existence:

Live Science

Five Ways to Prove Santa

Does Santa Exist?

Yes Virginia...

I hope this settles this question once and for all.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Paul Parducci

Thank You For Your Support of "Monday, Wednesday, Friday"

All of a sudden my film "Monday Wednesday, Friday" became a Featured Film on YouTube-
Thank you all for watching and all your kind and supportive comments for this decidedly less than kind character.
Later,
Paul Parducci

Why Do I Have To Create What I Have to Create?

Or maybe the question is: Why am I an Artist? Or more particularly why am I a Filmmaker?

After two decades of professional creative endeavor I am still both energized and vexed by the constant drive to do certain things: to make films, to write screenplays and to learn more about presenting my ideas and stories visually.

I was walking through a bookstore last night and I wondered, why don't I want to write books but I want to make films? Why this type of Storytelling and not others? Why do it at all? It would be better and certainly "easier" not to make them. I could focus on acting alone, an area I have done pretty well in.)

This drive to create Cinema has been called the "Silver Addiction,"(because of the silver salts on film stock) and I can understand why. Sometimes it feels like one. But it's no different I suspect from other Artists driven to create what they have to create.

In many respects Creativity itself is still a mystery, here is an excellent overview of the subject.

Later,

Paul Parducci

PS: The pictures from Tod Browning's silent classic The Unholy Three.

Henry Levin's "Journey To The Center Of The Earth"

I absolutely loved this movie as a kid-the dinosaur, the crystal cave!
It seemed to play on local television at least twice a year in the Tri-state area and I watched it almost every time.
Fox Movie Channel just ran it and it brought back great memories.
Later,
Paul Parducci

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