The True Story of 'Bernie'
A film about the most popular man in Carthage, Texas.
'The Campaign' Opens This Weekend
Filmed in New Orleans and set in North Carolina, "The Campaign" (formerly named "Dog Fight") starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis opens in theaters today.
Beasts of the Southern Wild in Theaters
Opening in theaters around the country this month, independent award-winner "Beasts of the Southern Wild" is a magical Southern film narrated through the eyes of 6-year-old Hushpuppy.
North Carolina's Hunger Games
"The Hunger Games" movie opened over the weekend, earning $153 million at the box office and setting an opening record for Lions Gate. Movie goers, and especially those who read Suzanne Collins' 2008 novel, thought they were watching the fictional world of Panem, but what they were really seeing was scenery from the western part of North Carolina.
Mad Man of New Orleans
A native of New Orleans, Bryan Batt landed the role of Art Director Salvatore Romano on AMC’s "Mad Men" in 2007. He moved from New Orleans to New York right out of college to be an actor and starred on Broadway and off, more recently guest starring on "Law and Order" and "Ugly Betty." Batt made it through three seasons of "Mad Men" before his character was fired for rejecting the sexual advances of Lee Garner Jr., son of a Lucky Strike exec, a huge client for the agency. Now, Batt spends his days traveling between New York, New Orleans and Los Angeles. While in New Orleans, he can usually be found at his Magazine Street home décor shop, Hazelnut. Batt recently talked to us about "Mad Men," his favorite cocktail and why he loves living in the South.
Watch 'The Fantastic Flying Books'
While "The Help" didn't take home best picture at the Academy Awards last night, and Viola Davis's best actress award went instead to Meryl Streep, it was still a great night for the South. Octavia Spencer was recognized as best supporting actress for "The Help," thanking her family and home state of Alabama, Mississippi got plenty of nods, and a little film made in Louisiana won best animated short.
The South on Screen
With the national popularity of films like The Help and television shows Treme and True Blood, it’s not surprising that Hollywood is going Southern in 2012. Boasting stories of war and competition, alternate history and adaptation of some of the greatest works of Southern literature, 2012 looks to be a banner year for the South on screen. Starting with Dolly Parton, who's starring in Joyful Noise opening today, intern Kati-Jane Hammet has compiled a list of the Southern-themed films and television shows coming out or in the works this year. So, set up your film-going calendar for January through December, which concludes with a huge Southern literary blockbuster on Christmas Day. by Kati-Jane Hammet
Pimento Cheese, Please!
Last fall, Kickstarter featured a project with the goal of raising money for a movie about pimento cheese. Seventy-four backers, including Deep South, and $2,625 later, "Pimento Cheese, Please: A Film About the South's Beloved Spread" met its goal and was deemed "funding successful." Since then, Richmond, Virginia, filmmakers Nicole Lang and Christophile Konstas have been traveling the South in search of great pimento cheese spread and getting their film ready for an October release. Former intern Sarah Matalone interviewed Nicole about her idea for the film and obvious love of the South's favorite cheese dish.
Southern Movie Primer
10 films that dive into the beauty and terror of Southern life. By Jake Cole "Gone With the Wind" may be the film that dominates the conversation when it comes to the South, but it's hardly the only great movie about the region. The South may not grace the screen regularly enough, or at least not as something more than a cultural punching bag, but there are movies that capture both its reality and cultural spirit. From a silent masterpiece to modern works of poetry and progressiveness, these 10 films should be on every Southerners' to-watch list. The General (Buster Keaton, 1926) The Civil War was at the heart of American cinematic innovation in the medium's first few decades, from D.W. Griffith's medium-changing "The Birth of a Nation" to a little film about a woman named Scarlett. The conflict even made for seminal comedy, as seen in this movie Orson Welles called "the greatest comedy ever made, the greatest Civil War film ever made, and perhaps the greatest film ever made." Keaton's rebel engineer moves through a world as realistic as the still photographs to come from the conflict — and as absurd as anything the great clown could come up with. Epic in
Anthony Bourdain in Cajun Country
by Erin Z. Bass A few weeks ago, I heard Travel Channel star and chef Anthony Bourdain was going to be in Lafayette filming for his show, "No Reservations." I didn't know exactly when he'd be here, but figured the local rumor mill would start to churn once he arrived. On Friday afternoon, a few people tweeted they'd seen him at Tsunami Sushi downtown. It didn't take long for y'all to wonder why Anthony Bourdain was eating sushi instead of a poboy or bowl of gumbo, and he actually replied to a few tweets saying he'd only had a beer. To further clarify, he and his crew were staying in the lofts above the restaurant, and Tsunami does serve a crawfish roll. There was no need to worry though. On Bourdain's agenda for Saturday was an all-day boucherie at Lakeview Park in Eunice that included the 6 a.m. butchering of a pig. For those of you not from South Louisiana, a boucherie is an old tradition of making use of all parts of a pig before there were freezers and refrigerators. In communities like Eunice and Mamou, west of Lafayette, neighbors got together and spent the day killing and cleaning the hog,