New Orleans Film Festival

This past Saturday at the Orpheum Theater was the red-carpet gala opening of the New Orleans Film Festival, which was followed by a screening of C’mon C’mon. The film, which was one of the festival’s most highly anticipated, stars Joaqin Phoenix as a traveler who interviews children around the country about the future. While C’mon C’mon is a fictional film, many of the children interviewed were not actors, making it a fiction-documentary hybrid. The third act of the film takes place largely in New Orleans, which was inspired by the director’s love for the city.

Three films that were shot in Uptown New Orleans will premiere at the New Orleans Film Festival, two of which will be the subject of a documentary shorts program called There’s No Place Like New Orleans. The three films, Absolution, Death is our Business, and We Stay in the House, will screen at the AMC Elmwood Palace on November 13th at noon.

Another film to check out at the festival is the documentary Mary Queen of Vietnam. The hour-long documentary follows the Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church in New Orleans as it gets ready for the annual Tet Festival. The community surrounding the church is made up of three generations of Vietnamese immigrants, who originally escaped their war-torn country and settled in Louisiana. Their lunar year Tet festival featuring exotic food, acrobat dancers, fireworks, and more is the major subject of the film. It will be screening at AMC Elmwood Palace November 11 at 6pm.

You can see the schedule for the remainder of the Film Festival at neworleansfilmsociety.com.

New Orleans Opera Association

The New Orleans Opera Association is opening its 2021-22 season with a collaboration with the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra. The production, which also includes a film component from director Samantha Aldana, will be a performance of Act I of Richard Wagner’s The Valkyrie featuring singers Felicia Moore, Kevin Ray, and Wei Wu. The production will be entirely done in German, but English will be projected above the stage. The performance will be happening at the Mahalia Jackson Theater on November 12 at 7:30pm, and again on the 14th at 2:30pm. You can learn more at neworleansopera.org.

Michele’s Top 5

We’re going to take a trip back to August 12th, 2014 and talk about the top movies in theaters. The date is significant because it’s the day The Ranch Studios was founded.

1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles starring Megan Fox and Will Arnett. This movie is about a kingpin who threatens New York City and a group of mutated turtle warriors must emerge from the shadows to protect their home. Kowabunga dude!
2. Guardians of the Galaxy starring Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana. Follows a group of intergalactic criminals that must pull together to stop a fanatical warrior with plans to purge the universe.
3. Into the Storm starring Richard Armitage and Sarah Wayne Callies. This movie brings us storm trackers, thrill seekers, and every-day townspeople documenting an unprecedented onslaught of tornadoes touching down in the town of Silverton.
4. The Hundred Foot Journey starring the wonderful Helen Mirren and Om Puri. The Kadam family leaves India for France where they open a restaurant directly across the road from Madame Mallory’s Michelin Star eatery.
5. Lucy starring Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman. A woman, accidentally caught in a dark deal, turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior, evolved beyond human logic. It’s great to see that seven years later, Scarlett Johansson is still kicking butt in the Marvel Studios’ movie Black Widow.