R.I.P. Q Lazzarus, aka Diane Luckey, creator of one of film’s most memorable songs; big festival congratulations; streaming surpasses cable for the first time; Prey explained in 49 seconds. All in today’s Movie News Rundown.
But First: Also: We’re incredibly excited to be media partners for the Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival, a sunny presence on our annual list of 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee. (Have you seen the giddily fun Nicholas Cage film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, subject of our Spring cover story? That beautiful locale where it takes place is Mallorca.)
Congratulations: To the 20 just-announced Louisiana-shot films up for the $50,000 Louisiana Film Prize, which is also on our list of 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee. We’ll be on the judging panel this year and can’t wait to see the films.
Further Congratulations: To the winners of L.A.’s Valley Film Festival, including top narrative film Road to Perth, by Chad Peter, and documentary feature winner Elemental:Reimagining Our Relationship with Wildfire, directed by Trip Jennings.
R.I.P. Q Lazzarus: Singer Q Lazzarus, who was born Diane Luckey and whose masterful “Goodbye Horses” accompanied one of the most unforgettable moments in Silence of the Lambs, has died at 61. Stereogum shares the story of how Luckey was working as a New York cabdriver when she picked up Jonathan Demme as a fare, and happened to play him her demo. He subsequently used the haunting and exquisite not just in Silence of the Lambs, but in his previous film, Married to the Mob. And the singer briefly appeared in Philadelphia, Demme’s film after Silence of the Lambs. Lazzarus disappeared from the public eye for years, but re-emerged a few years ago to tell a journalist for Dazed that she was alive and well, and had been a Staten Island bus driver for years. An obituary says she “was finishing work on a feature documentary about her life and music with filmmaker and friend, Eva Aridjis. The film will be released in 2023, along with an album of songs spanning her entire musical career.” Here is the video for “Goodbye Horses.” I’ve also been listening to the many covers and remixes of the song all morning.
Streaming Killed the Cable Star: That’s a very dated and hyperbolic way of saying people watched more stuff via streaming than cable last month. This has never happened before. TechSpot has details. For our younger readers: Video Killed the Radio Star was the first song ever played on MTV. For our even younger viewers: MTV was once a popular station on “cable” that played “music” “videos,” like the one for “Goodbye Horses,” though to be honest they rarely played anything as cool as “Goodbye Horses.”
Other Urgent Film News: Did you know Hans Zimmer, the film composer responsible for the Inception and Dark Knight soundtracks, among other music, was in the video for “Video Killed the Radio Star”?
Prey: In the latest episode of the Low Key Podcast, we discuss Prey, the widely acclaimed Predator prequel starring Amber Midthunder as a young Comanche woman battling a deadly galactic hunter. We get into lots of subtlety and nuance, as we always do, and you can listen on on Apple or right here:
Or… Here’s Prey Explained in 49 Seconds: Spoilers.
Main image: The cover of the single “Goodbye Horses,” by Q. Lazzarus, born Diane Luckey.
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