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observat ions and opinions about new or leans autumn 2009

29

Photograph © 2009 Tom Varisco

Photograph © 2009 Tom Varisco

In the last year-and-a-half, there

were over 32 major film projects

with an estimated economic impact

of over $250 million.Source: Jennifer Day, Director of New Orleans Office of Film and Video

shot in New Orleans

making a

EXT. UNDERNEATH INTERSTATE NIGHT

Rebecca and Virgil are walking beneath the I-10 overpass. Rebecca stops at the base of one of the support structures that has a half-completed painting of a Carnival float rolling through a cemetery.

REBECCA » I really don’t need an escort. I’m probably safer without you around.VIRGIL » Ten years is a long time to hold a grudge.

Rebecca begins to paint. Virgil awkwardly tries to help by handing her brushes.

REBECCA » I don’t hold grudges. I keep my distance from people who mean me no good.VIRGIL » It was my job to investigate what happened to you. I’m a reporter.REBECCA » Really? Well, I’ve done a little investigating myself. Why did you leave Vietnam so suddenly?

Virgil is caught off guard by that.

REBECCA (con’t) » Not really fun being reported on, is it?VIRGIL » You don’t know anything.REBECCA » I know an award-winning young war correspondent suddenly pulled himself off the biggest story of his career

Virgil waves his hand dismissively. Rebecca reaches into her bag and pulls out a photocopy of a magazine article.

REBECCA (reading) » “ There’s something wrong at Firebase 567. Wrong even for Vietnam. It funks the air like a cloud of sulfur and is reflected in eyes that somehow never look straight into yours.”

Virgil takes a brush and begins to coat a spot of the sidewalk.

VIRGIL » More like the dumbest story of my career. I didn’t have my facts straight on that one.REBECCA (reading) » “ Some men up here never talk. Others can’t help but. Among these are the ones who will tell you about

an unhealthy brand of capitalism that is guiding a steady stream of munitions out of this hilltop en-campment and into the hands of the Viet Cong....” You’re saying American soldiers were running guns to the enemy?

VIRGIL » I’m saying I got that story all wrong.

Rebecca looks down to Virgil as he widens the spot on the sidewalk.

REBECCA » I read the retraction and apology to the Marine Corps that appeared two weeks later.VIRGIL » Yeah, well I was given bad information.REBECCA » You were already back in New York when the retraction was printed. That seems a little rash.VIRGIL » It was just time to come home.

Just then, from out of the dark a police car noisily pulls up, blinding Virgil and Rebecca in its headlights. A metallic voice comes from the car’s loudspeaker.

» POLICE » Freeze, and put your hands above your head.VIRGIL » Ooooh, boy.REBECCA » What do we do?

In a sudden motion, Virgil grabs Rebecca’s bags and takes hold of her hand.

VIRGIL » Run!!

Virgil and Rebecca take off into the night, running underneath the interstate. The police car grinds into gear and follows them.

» POLICE » You are ordered to halt immediately and put your hands in the air.

Rebecca pulls Virgil’s arm and guides him across the street and through a hole in a fence that leads into a housing development.

VIRGIL » Uh… you’re going into Desire.REBECCA » Keep running. They’re not going to follow us.

Rebecca’s leads them through the housing development. It’s poorly lit but we can see that many units are abandoned and boarded up. The two stop running and breathe heavily against a wall. Virgil eventually realizes that the wall has a large mural painted on it.

VIRGIL » Hey, this is yours.REBECCA » It’s Desire’s. The children did it.VIRGIL » Children?REBECCA » I teach art classes here.

Virgil looks surprised.

REBECCA (con’t.) » Is that so shocking?VIRGIL » I didn’t know you had a job.REBECCA » It’s only part time. What, would you have been more impressed after all these years to find out that I had joined

the Peace Corps? Turned up somewhere in the Serengeti? Learned to speak Maya?VIRGIL » No, I think you’re terrific.

A s

ce

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fr

Om

Nic

k m

Ar

iNe

ll

O’s

sc

rip

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rO

ke

N, s

et

iN N

ew

Or

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AN

s » R

EBEC

CA

GU

ILLAR

D is from

an old, blue-blooded New

Orleans

family, but has chosen to disappear from

not only the elite social world to w

hich she was born but from

society in general. She’s has dropped out, gone underground, living as a

guerrilla artist painting murals on public property. » VIR

GIL W

ATTS is a new

spaper reporter who years ago w

ound up in New

Orleans after dropping out of the press corps covering

the war in Vietnam

. He com

promised his professional ethics w

hile covering the biggest story of his life and has been paying penance ever since...

Illus

trat

ion

©20

09 M

ark

Andr

esen

by John Desplas

With the death knell for Ye Olde Canal

Place Cinema tolling as I put keystroke to Word, I can hear the

muffled sobs of legions (well, let’s say a “goodly number”) of devoted filmgoers at the loss of yet

another of their cherished haunts. Yes, we are told it will rise again (yeah, like the Phoenix) and it will

have been transformed into a still more splendiferous Temple for the Muse. Or something like that.

Thankfully, th

e temple on Prytania Street not only endures but as more and more faithful

filmgoers return to this glorious vestige of the neighborhood theatre, it thrives. In lieu of callow youth

perfunctorily tearing tickets, Rene Brunet, octogenarian paterfamilias of the Brunet clan, all smiles

in semi-formal attire and wearing, much like an escutcheon, a cravat full of Looney Tunes favorites

scampering about, is frequently on hand to meet and greet patrons with a wide toothy grin that would

do Bugs Bunny proud.

That the popcorn is actually a-poppin’ is gratifying in this age of styro-corn, and, with the

unmistakable aroma that settles over the lobby, the olfactory sense confirms ineluctably, damn it all, I’m

at the movies. Add a box of Raisinettes—the madeleine of many a cinematic maven—and you’re ready to

cross over the threshold into the cinema’s Sanctum Sanctorum. Or something like that.

Once inside the auditorium and the state-of-the-art Sony 4K digital projection system

and the Surround Sound kick in, it’s hard not to be pleased that the nostalgia remains largely confined to

the edibles and potables in the lobby quarters. Oh, yeah, there’s that “let’s-all-go-to-the-lobby-and-have-

ourselves-a-treat” curio that runs before the previews, and that’s a hoot, but the lure of a CGI Pixar avian

loping around in Real D 3-D is not to be denied.

Let’s All Go

to The Prytania—

and have ourselves

a treat!

Photographs © 2009 Tom Varisco

NIGHT OF THE DEMONS

the group is terrorized by the demons, one by one, until five of them are demonized.

Imag

es s

uppl

ied

by M

icha

el A

rata

, NOT

D Pr

oduc

tions

, LLC

produced and shot in New OrleansNIGHT OF THE DEMONS

the group is terrorized by the demons, one by one, until five of them are demonized.

Imag

es s

uppl

ied

by M

icha

el A

rata

, NOT

D Pr

oduc

tions

, LLC

The film was produced by Michael Arata and Greg McKay and was a co-production of Voodoo Pictures, LLC,

Seven Arts Pictures Louisiana, LLC and Oley Sassone of Louisiana Producer’s Source, LLC.

Night of the Demons

is a remake of the

1988 classic horror

film of the same title.

The script involves

a group of friends

who go to a “wicked”

Halloween party at a

local, condemned (and

notoriously haunted)

New Orleans mansion

(the filmmakers used

New Orleans’ Luling

Mansion which is near

the Fair Grounds as

the film's “Broussard

Mansion”). The party

is broken up by the

police. However, the

friends evade the cops

and stay to continue

the party, only to find

out that the Brous-

sard legend is real

and that the house is

haunted by demons.

The demon’s goal is

to occupy all six of the

friends’ souls so that

they can escape the

tortures of hell and

take over the world.

The group is terrorized

by the demons, one by

one, until five of them

are demonized. The

sixth, Maddie, must

fight the Demons off

until dawn to save

herself and the world.

The script was writ-

ten by Adam Gierasch

and Jace Anderson

(Autopsy), and was

also directed by Mr.

Gierasch. The new

film stars include

Shannon Elizabeth,

Eddie Furlong, Monica

Keena, Diora Baird,

Bobbie Sue Hall and

John Beach. Addi-

tionally, the film will

feature the special

effects of four-time

Academy Award win-

ner DRAC Studios

(most recently on

Benjamin Button).

NOTD Productions, LLC

NIGHT OF THE DEMONS

—Michael Arata, Co-Producer

the curiOus cAse Of BeNJAmiN ButtONBrad Pitt & Cate Blanchett

“New Orleans has its own magic, and its own rhythms. It’s this haunted place where things can happen beyond the norm. New Orleans brought the movie to life. And it’s a testament to the things you don’t want to lose there” —Brad PittClover Grill (900 Bourbon), 547 Esplanade, Jackson Square, the Nolan House (2707 Coliseum St.), City Park pANic iN the streetRichard Widmark & Jack Palance

“We used the city’s people as our extras and their homes, shops and streets as our scenery” —Elia Kazan841 Bourbon A wAlk ON the wilD siDeBarbara Stanwick, Capucine & Laurence Harvey931 Chartres, Jackson Square, 626 Pirates Alley, Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop (941 Bourbon)

kiNg creOle Elvis PresleyMcDonogh # 15 School, 1018 Royal

eAsy riDerPeter Fonda, Dennis Hopper & Jack NicholsonSt. Louis #1 Cemetery, Morganza, Garden City and Centerville (Old Spanish Trail) mANDiNgOPerry King & Susan GeorgeDino De Laurentus’ visually beautiful but disturbing saga of the old South.Rear of Old Mint, Beauregard Keyes House (1113 Chartres), Ashland, Hermitage (the River Road Plantations), Houmas House, Oakley, slaves quarters at Evergreen iNterview with A vAmpireTom Cruise, Brad Pitt & Kirsten DunstMadame John Legacy (632 Dumaine), Jackson Square & Cabildo, 731 Royal, 1519 Esplanade, Pitot House (1440 Moss St); Oak Alley, Destrehan & Homeplace (River Road Plantations) ruNAwAy JuryDustin Hoffman & Gene HackmanCafe Du Monde (800 Decatur), La. Supreme Court Building, Napoleon House (500 Chartres) pelicAN BriefJulia Roberts & Denzel WashingtonSt . Anthony”s Garden, Antoine’s (713 S t .Louis ) , Bar at Check Point Charlie’s (501 Esplanade)

JfkKevin Costner & Tommy Lee JonesAntoine’s (713 St.Louis), La. Supreme Court Building

the Big eAsyDennis Quaid713 St. Louis: 713 St.Louis: Antoine’s, 8th District Police Station (334 Royal) DOuBle JeOpArDyAshley Judd & Tommy Lee JonesHermann Grima House (820 St. Louis), Lafayette # 1 Cemetery ciNciNNAti kiDSteve McQueen, Edward G. Robinson & Ann MargretJackson Square, Preservation Hall & Sweet Emma (726 St. Peter), Canal St. ferry, St. Louis # 2 Cemetery, the old Lafayette Hotel

DeJA vuDenzel Washington835 Chartres, Canal St. ferry

DrOwNiNg pOOlPaul Newman, Joanne Woodward & Tony FranciosaKeil’s Antiques (325 Royal St), Oaklawn Manor on Bayou Teche

BlAzePaul Newman as Earl LongEarl Long to Bourbon St.stripper Blaze Starr, “Would you still love me if I wasn’t the fine governor of the great state of Louisiana?”St. Ann to Royal St. transformed into Bourbon Street streetcAr NAmeD DesireVivien Lee, Karl Malden & Kim Hunter all won OscarsThe opening scene at the train station at Canal St. is now gone, everything else shot on Hollywood sets

the JAmes BOND: live AND let DieRoger Moorejazz funeral 800 block of Chartres St. 12 rOuNDs John Cena

“New Orleans is one of the few cities in America that really has an identity that visually, on film, can really be spectacular—like San Francisco or New York or Miami or a few places like that. New Orleans is really unique and has this Caribbean feel to it that I love, and I felt that for this movie—this big movie that takes place in one day and is really intense—this city really lends a background that really, really works.” —Renny Harlin, DirectorMonteleone Hotel, Harrah’s and Canal St. streetcar, Cresent City Connection

—List courtesy of Lloyd Sensat

as interpreted by artist caroline hill, a native of New Orleans

who now lives in Brooklyn.

» burp «

introducing New Olreans’ very own movie super-hero

?

Desire is the registered trade name of Desire, L.L.C.© 2009 Desire, L.L.C. 608 Baronne StreetNew Orleans, LA 70113 e-mail: tom@tomvariscodesigns.com

Publisher: Tom VariscoArt Direction, Design: Tom Varisco DesignsDesign, Production: Gregory GoodPrinting: Garrity PrintingPaper Stock: Accent OpaqueType Face: Trade Gothic

Photograph © 2009 Tom Varisco