Cold World by Naomi Sheton & the Gospel Queens drops today; from their label, Daptone Records:

“With Gabriel (Bosco Mann) Roth at the helm, Naomi and company went into the studio Summer 2013, and cut onto tape what can only be described as bonafide Soul Excitement of the highest order! At the heart of it, Cold World is a Soul record but the cross section of sub-genres the album weaves through makes it difficult to label it plainly as such.”

In the six years since the release of their last full-length record, Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens have toured extensively, playing main stages at some of the most prestigious festivals in the world, including Bonnaroo, The Monterey Jazz Festival, Montreal Pop, and The Ottawa Blues Festival. Though seasoned veterans, these last years of touring played a crucial role in the creation of the songs that would become the forthcoming album Cold World, twelve inspired new songs cut live to eight-track tape.

READ MORE

Anya Ulinich returns to WORD to present her darkly comic graphic novel, Lena Finkle’s Magic Barrel, chronicling the education in love, sex, and loss of the titular protagonist when she embarks on a string of online dates, all while raising her two teenage daughters.

The book is officially coming out tomorrow, so you can get your copy! Reading is from 7 to 8. This won’t disappoint!

July 29, 2014, 7-8pm
WORD Brooklyn
126 Franklin Street, Greenpoint
facebook event page

READ MORE

After 50 years as a big-screen actor, in more than 90 feature film performances, and with 7 Oscar nominations and 2 wins, Robert De Niro is unequivocally one of Hollywood’s most well-loved and admired actors. In recognition of De Niro’s long and illustrious career, Cahiers du Cinema is releasing a study of De Niro’s most iconic roles as part of its innovative Anatomy of an Actor series. Written by film-critic Glenn Kenny, the book is divided into ten chapters, each one dedicated to a specific role, and is fully documented with film stills, set photographs, and film sequences.

On Thursday, July 31st Mr. Kenny will join us at Videology to present and discuss clips from each of these roles. Mr. Kenny’s multimedia presentation will be followed by a Q&A and book signing. The event is free and open to the public. (Seating is very limited: please RSVP in advance for preferred seating.) Register now.

READ MORE

If cinephiles speak about Moroccan-born, French filmmaker José Bénazéraf today, he’s remembered mostly for his prolific direct-to-video, increasingly hardcore output from the 1970s and 1980s. Not a terrible legacy, but few people remember that Bénazéraf started out on the fringes of the French New Wave: a cameo in Breathless is one of his first screen credits. This July, Spectacle is proud to present two under-appreciated 1960s crime films from Bénazéraf that straddle the line between French New Wave and sexploitation: NIGHT OF LUST and JOË CALIGULA.

Less salty than its title might suggest, NIGHT OF LUST is a New Wave noir set at a string of Parisian strip clubs. Hans Verner and Jean-Pierre Kalfon star as two rival gang leaders, both fighting to rule the Parisian drug trade. Laboratory assistant Nora (Yvonne Monlaur) comes between the two gangs, and pays the price by getting kidnapped and held as a hostage in the war. The stakes are high, and the consequences become higher and higher until tragedy cannot be avoided.

READ MORE

7TH ANNUAL FILMS ON THE GREEN FESTIVAL: July 25 – 8:30 pm

Films on the Green, a free outdoor French film festival, will be presenting the action-comedy Le Magnifique, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo as a mystery author, tonight in Transmitter Park in Greenpoint.

Films on the Green is a free outdoor French film festival produced annually in New York City parks by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States, FACE and NYC Parks. Since its inception in 2008, the festival has expanded the reach of French film and brought classic and contemporary movies to local communities.

READ MORE