225BatonRouge.com - Blogs

In theaters Friday: Feast of Love, The Game Plan, The Kingdom and Lust, Caution New on DVD: The Bronx is Burning and Knocked Up

The other day Slate contributor Josh Levin called out Hollywood on its inability or unwillingness to portray New Orleans accurately. You can read his piece here. Levin makes a solid case, though after seeing the pilot episode I don't hold as much hope for K-Ville as he does. I'd like to see one K-Ville episode that doesn't feature gumbo, a horn section or a ham-fisted reference to "neutral ground." Why not focus on a pair of detectives who have to balance their takedown of corrupt city officials and FEMA scams with their nightly responses to young men getting gunned down in the Ninth Ward? That would be a great show.

And sadly, the same could be said for Baton Rouge. Our city has been misrepresented and botched everywhere on screen from All The Kings Men to The Waterboy, the latter being particularly egregious in its portrayal of Baton Rouge as a Spanish moss-covered country lane with picket fences guarding run-down shotgun houses and populated with bumpkins who speak like some combination of Erath and the worst thing you've ever heard. Sure, Waterboy was an inconsequential Adam Sandler movie, but all-too-often South Louisiana gets trivialized through exaggeration, caricature and wanton nostalgia. Does every Louisiana character have to be sweating, eating crawfish or jambalaya and wear white linen suits?

I know everyone is dying to know who will play Wonder Woman in the upcoming (Do I have to say it? Ill-conceived) Justice League of America flick. OK, not really, but here is one theory, and here is another. Jessica Biel would certainly be the bigger draw, but how many star actors can they bring to this project without the budget ballooning out of control? Justice League has about eight essential superheroes, and we're not even to the villains yet. The only thing that would get be to see this would be if they bring back Michael Keaton as an older, more surely Batman -- which again, would cost a fortune -- because Christian Bale has stated emphatically that he will not be in this train wreck of a project.

Check out this audio interview with I'm Not There director Todd Haynes. I like what Haynes has to say. He's definitely a thinking-man's director without being too precious or elitist with his work. I can't wait to see what he does with six actors portraying Dylan. If spoilers are your bag, a new bootleg clip from the upcoming Bob Dylan film can be found via YouTube here, and the now well-known Cate Blanchett clip is right here.