Ep 8: Punch That Baby Back To Hell! (Hell Baby)
Catch Basin Cinema
Come with us now into the archives as we rescue the "lost" Episode 8 of Catch Basin Cinema. It's a long story but basically, we recorded this and then.. a bunch of stuff happened. It was Mardi Gras, then some of us got sick, others of us traveled the world in a spiritual journey of self discovery. By the time, that ended, we were already on to Episode 9. But this is episode 8. Finally! The movie, HELL BABY (2013), is a haunted house movie staring some of our favorite comedic actors unfortunately not being particularly funny. This could have been a gentrification satire,...
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Ep 9: Who Killa Da Chief!
Catch Basin Cinema
That's right, it's Episode 9! We are well aware Episode 9 is out before Episode 8. We will not be taking any questions at this time. It has been a long summer but here we are back just in time. The same week that Mayor Cantrell names her choice to become the city's new police chief amid pressures from various political and business factions, we have watched a film about the conseqences that political and business factions can bring upon a police chief and the disastrous violence that comes in the wake of that. That's right we're looking at VENDETTA (1999), a made for HBO historical...
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Ep 7: Excuses for the lack of art (Zandalee)
Catch Basin Cinema
We're back after a bit of a holiday hiatus! Our movie is the star studded, but largely forgotten ZANDALEE (1991) starring one of New Orleans's most famous adopted enfants terrible Nicholas Cage along with Judge Reinhold, Marisa Tomei, Steve Buscemi, and several other actors who apparently worked for free at one point during the production. That is, at least accoring to . It's Pillsbury's voice we hear at the beginning of the episode, by the way. That isn't explained in the audio. We also talk about screenwriter Mari Kornhauser's appearance at (which we had a bit part in the production of...
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Ep 6: Yes your master is the devil (Interview With The Vampire)
Catch Basin Cinema
Well it is the season of spooks and so we are contractually obligated to take on INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (1994) directed by Neil Jordan. And with that comes Interview With The Vampire (1976) by Anne Rice which we also spend some time discussing. Unsurprisingly numerous other topics come up. Music, lifestyle choices, media of all types, this goes on for a while. Happy Halloween!
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Ep 5: Plenty Competition For Abandoned Places Around Here (Closed For Storm)
Catch Basin Cinema
The first documentary to come down the Catch Basin is CLOSED FOR STORM (2021) a film by Canadian YouTuber Jake Williams about the abandoned Six Flags/Jazzland amusement park. Our young director is missing a fair amount of local context, though, so it's up to Jeff and Lance to fill in some of the blanks... at least as well as they can remember them. Also real estate developers Troy Henry and Tonya Pope are here. Are they selling something we might be interested in? Or is it really more of a Shelbyville idea? Let's descend into the catch basin and find out.
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Ep 4: Pathetic Choices (When We First Met)
Catch Basin Cinema
This week's movie is the little noticed Netflix rom-com WHEN WE FIRST MET (2018) staring TV comic Adam DeVine, a Trump beauty pageant winner, some internet famous guy, and what we have to figure is a great big pile of Louisiana film production tax credits to burn on this mixed up pastiche of a time travel plot borrowed from several better films. Hey, do you remember GROUNDHOG DAY? Did you like BACK TO THE FUTURE? Have you seen BIG? What if you could go back in time and see them all over again? Well, Jeff and Lance chose to watch this movie instead. Pathetic choice? Or does everything...
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Ep 3: We Can't Live in the Present Forever (Down By Law)
Catch Basin Cinema
We watched the Jim Jarmusch classic DOWN BY LAW (1986) starring John Lurie, Tom Waits and Roberto Benigni. This film is much beloved by Orleanophiles far and wide. But does it have #Standing? Or is it a nostalgia dream of a sad and beautiful world that can't exist anymore? Let's find out! Meanwhile the mayor and city council continue to call for police and surveillance policies aimed at filling the parish prison even faster than the characters in this film can walk right out of it. See Also: The Lens: French Quarter could be blanketed in city surveillance cameras under new...
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Ep 2: Who Wants To Play Some Basketball? (Hurricane Season)
Catch Basin Cinema
We remember the anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Ida and mark the height of hurricane season by watching the straight to DVD Forest Whitaker vehicle, HURRICANE SEASON (2009). Based on the real life story of the 2006 John Ehret High School basketball team, the film also features Bow Wow and J.B. Smoove in minor roles as well as Lil' Wayne in an even smaller role that somehow merits second billing. Anyway this is probably the deepest dive anyone has taken into this film, its many characters and sprawling plotlines. The moment also finds us reminiscing about Katrina and the film's...
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Ep 1: Poor People Get Bored Too
Catch Basin Cinema
In Catch Basin Cinema's maiden journey down the culvert, Jeff and Lance take a long hard look at the action flick HARD TARGET (1993) staring the "Muscles from Brussels" himself Jean-Claude Van Damme along with Lance Henrickson and Wilfrid Brimley in legendary director John Woo's American debut. In the film, JCVD and his oily mullet are embroiled in a Most Dangerous Game hunt through the rough streets of a hyper-real 1990s New Orleans. Meanwhile, in the normal-real New Orleans, councilman Oliver Thomas hunts panhandlers and Mayor LaToya Cantrell tries to unshackle her police force from a...
info_outlineWe're back after a bit of a holiday hiatus! Our movie is the star studded, but largely forgotten ZANDALEE (1991) starring one of New Orleans's most famous adopted enfants terrible Nicholas Cage along with Judge Reinhold, Marisa Tomei, Steve Buscemi, and several other actors who apparently worked for free at one point during the production. That is, at least accoring to this interview with the director Sam Pillsbury. It's Pillsbury's voice we hear at the beginning of the episode, by the way. That isn't explained in the audio.
We also talk about screenwriter Mari Kornhauser's appearance at Rising Tide 7 (which we had a bit part in the production of ourselves) where she participated in a panel discussion on the uneasy relationship between New Orleans's tourism industry and the people, culture, and art, it extracts profits from. All of which is worth considering in the context of this film which seeks to ask if "money is just an excuse for the lack of art" even if its contemplation may leave one with a slight paralysis of the soul.