#StayHome Movie Recommendations – Movies with Great Soundtracks

Like most of the country, we in New Orleans are staying home to help prevent the spread of the corona virus. My industry is shut down. No cameras are rolling. L.A. has no traffic or smog. Hollywood South is also fairly silent. I already miss hearing live music all over the city. Until the festivals and buskers return and the bars reopen, here are some wonderful movies with great soundtracks.

The first time I ever remember noticing a movie’s soundtrack was when I saw George Lucas’ American Graffitti. Still one of my favorites, the movie follows a bunch of friends on their last night before going off to college or war or becoming an adult. The ensemble cast launched the careers of Richard Dreyfuss, Kathleen Quinlan, Mackenzie Phillips, Harrison Ford,

Living in New Orleans – the first 10 years

My family is from Louisiana for generations on both sides but I didn’t move to New Orleans until late 2009. I’d lived in Maryland, Japan, Washington D.C., Alabama, New York, and almost 18 years in Los Angeles before finally following my heart home. Looking through photos for this blog post, I saw the story of a New Dat becoming a Saints season-ticket-holding Who Dat, a parade-goer becoming a Pussyfooters parade dancer, strangers becoming friends, and a blogger becoming an author. I saw the evolution of my love story with this city, and with the man I met my first year here.

I’d just produced Hell Ride with Quentin Tarantino when I decided to leave Los Angeles.

Contamination Con

Twice, I’ve visited the Wizard World Comic Con in New Orleans. Last weekend, I attended Contamination Defcon 4, another “signing convention” (where you buy signed photos from “celebrities” from various movies and TV shows), but this time I was the one doing the signing. Though the whole thing felt sort of foreign to me, I ended up having a wonderful time in St. Louis and got to meet a lot of Midwestern horror and biker movie lovers. I also got to meet a lot of actors including NOLA local Theodus Crane of AMC’s Walking Dead with whom we shared flights. It felt good having another local around.

Working Girl

Last June, I blogged about some of the differences between my career in Los Angeles and my career here. With smaller parts and even smaller trailers, I said that it’s been humbling, but not humiliating, to work here. Actors don’t like to jinx good times by talking about them but I don’t want to waste an opportunity to share something I keep finding to be true.