BOCAGE COUNTRY CLUB HIGHLAND JEFFERSON TERRACE KENILWORTH PERKINS SOUTHDOWNS UNIVERSITY CLUB
ADVOCATE THE SOUTHSIDE
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
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W e d n e s d ay, M a r c h 25, 2026
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Danny Heitman AT RANDOM
Spring’s arrival nudged me to cut my screen time As we sipped coffee on our patio the other morning, my wife noticed an opossum ambling across our backyard. He’s made a home, I think, beneath the floorboards of our tool shed, and he was heading to bed after a night of his usual mischief. I envied our visitor a bit. His work had finished for a while, and mine was just beginning. Casting my eyes around the yard, I could see no end of things to do. Another Louisiana spring had tapped me on the shoulder, pointing me toward the dozens of chores that crowd my days at this time of year as the world blooms and I try to keep up. My wife had made a trip to the neighborhood nursery, bringing home a goldflame honeysuckle as high as my waist and a flat of dianthus, the hearts of its blossoms as bright as lipstick. The plants sit on our porch and await their new destinations, like passengers poised on a platform for the next train. I’m not quite sure where they’ll go, but luckily, that’s not up to me. My job each spring is to clear away the winter ruin, leaving a blank canvas that my wife can slowly fill with form, color and the promise of surprise. Over two days of cool temps and cloudless skies, I worked our flower beds on hands and knees, inching across the yard as slowly as a shadow tracing a sundial. I cleared away the husks of dead gingers, ripped out a clematis killed by the freeze and cut back a mound of lemongrass that had withered in the cold. Carting wheelbarrows of dead stuff to a corner of the yard, I made a small brush pile by our compost station. These leavings of winter can shelter birds, frogs, salamanders and maybe even a few friendly snakes. From deep within a nearby stand of bamboo, I could hear rustlings of resurrection, perhaps from a squirrel or a jay doing its secret work. The presence was one of many I felt during my two days outdoors. A downy woodpecker took up its perch in an oak, its descending call reminding me of a garden sprinkler tock-tocking across the lawn. A cardinal pierced the morning with its insistent song, maybe serenading for a mate. As I trimmed back the brown fronds of a
PROVIDED BY WARNER BROTHERS
Ryan Coogler directs Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan in ‘Sinners.’
LABORS OF LOVE
Louisianans endured heat, bugs during ‘Sinners’ filming for potential Oscar glory BY KASEY BUBNASH
years, Louisiana’s local film industry still has what it takes to make award-winning movies. “I hope that it encourages filmmakers to not only come here, but know that there are so many incredibly talented artists here who bring skill, we bring care, we bring a cultural understanding of the work, and just knowing that that level of craftsman ship is here,” LaCour said. “We’re here as talent and we make Oscar-nominated films.”
Staff writer
It might sound glamorous to powder the noses of A-list celebrities like Michael B. Jordan and Hailee Steinfeld or to work closely on set with renowned Hollywood composer Ludwig Göransson. But for the crew members who worked long hours behind the camera in south Louisiana’s sweltering swamps and sugar cane fields, the making of “Sinners” was a labor of love. “The hours, the locations, getting bit up by chiggers, overnights in Braithwaite in July, in June — it’s just not for the faint of heart,” makeup artist Allison LaCour said. “It’s just very unglamorous, and there’s so much that goes on behind the scenes to make something look so beautiful on screen.” But the hard work paid off. Earlier this year, “Sinners” was nominated for 16 Academy Awards, making it the most nominated film in history and beating out the previous record held by “Titanic,” “La La Land” and “All About Eve.” The nominations span departments, a nod to both the film’s star-studded cast and crew, many
Craftsmanship on display PROVIDED BY ALLISON LACOUR
New Orleans artist Allison LaCour does actress Wunmi Mosaku’s makeup on the set of ‘Sinners.’
of whom are Louisiana locals who helped bring the movie’s juke joint sets, ’30s-era costumes and Mississippi Delta blues music to life. To LaCour, a New Orleans native who has been doing makeup for the past two decades, the record-breaking roster of nominations is proof that, despite facing headwinds in recent
LaCour knew “Sinners” was going to be something special when she got the first call from makeup designer Sián Richards, a British artist known for her advocacy work in the beauty and film industries. Richards told LaCour she might have a project for her in Louisiana, and LaCour, who had heard rumors of an untitled Ryan Coogler film coming to shoot in the area, pretty quickly put two and two together. This was in 2024, and LaCour said “Sinners” was one of the few
ä See ‘SINNERS’, page 2G
ä See AT RANDOM, page 2G
Why is Gram Parsons buried in N.O.? BY RACHEL MIPRO
Contributing writer
American music sensation Gram Parsons shook up several genres of music before he died in 1973. Given his lack of strong ties to the New Orleans area, one reader wondered, “Why is Gram Parsons buried in Metairie? What is his connection to Louisiana?” The answer isn’t out of love for the state, but in inheritance laws. Parsons is credited with pioneering the creation of country rock and alt-country, and was
listed on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Playing first for The Byrds before starting The Flying Burrito Brothers with bandmate Chris Hillman, he was known for a unique rockcountry blend before he died of an overdose at the age of 26. Parsons’ mother, Avis Snively, came from a wealthy Florida family. She married World War II fighter pilot Ingram Cecil Connor II, producing Gram and a sister known as “Little Avis.” Following Connor II’s suicide in
ä See CURIOUS, page 2G
TOM UHLENBROCK/ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH/MCT
A makeshift memorial to Gram Parsons is in the courtyard of the Joshua Tree Inn, where he died.
The newspaper is reintroducing its Cookie Contest at the Main Library’s Baker Fair 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. April 12 at 7711 Goodwood Blvd., Baton Rouge. The first-place winner will receive a $100 gift card; second place, $75 gift card; and third place, $50 gift card. The winners and their cookies will be featured in The Advocate’s features section. For more details and to enter the contest, go to ebrpl.co/ advocatecookiecontest. The Advocate Cookie Contest Rules are as follows:
ä See CONTEST, page 2G