I must confess that I didn’t get out as much in 2012 because Hollywood South is booming and I worked a lot. Even so, here are my 2012 favorites in a nutshell followed by my Favorite Things in NOLA 2011 and Favorite Things in NOLA 2010. Anything named previously in my Favorite Things in NOLA 2011 is marked with an Asterix*.
I have divided the list into categories this year including: Food & Beverage, Music & Entertainment, Culture, Shopping and Giving & More. Continue reading
After moderating the cast Q&A for Beasts of the Southern Wild last Thursday in Baton Rouge, I got to see the next offering from the gang at Court 13, Tchoupitoulas (pronounced roughly chop-a-too-less). Tchoupitoulas centers on 3 young boys who venture across the Mississippi for a night in downtown New Orleans. Court 13 is an independent filmmaking collective founded in 2004 in New York. They moved to New Orleans in late 2006 and seem to be making a mission of making movies that could only be made here in Louisiana. Continue reading
Once again, the newly launched Louisiana International Film Festival (LIFF) has created a “Red Carpet, Meet Bayou” community event celebrating our great state’s place in the global film industry. Their first big event was a screening of The Big Lebowski hosted by Jeff “The Dude” Dowd, the inspiration for the Jeff Bridges character in the film. It was a great, action-packed weekend and, as Dowd helped kickstart Sundance, it felt like an auspicious start of something wonderful. On Thursday, LIFF brought their concept home with a screening in Baton Rouge (again, attended by The Dude) of the highly acclaimed Beasts of the Southern Wild and asked me to moderate the Q&A afterward. I was honored… nervous and honored. Continue reading
L.A. to N.O.LA 