Austin360 blogs > Austin Movie Blog > Archives > 2006 > September > 07
Thursday, September 7, 2006
Austin film lands festival spot
The Austin-made comedy “Severance” will screen during the American Artist Film Festival in Kansas City, Kan., later this month.
“Severance” is directed by Troy Anthony Miller and debuted at the 2005 Austin Film Festival.
A news release from the filmmakers describes the movie this way: ” ‘Severance’ tells the story of Steve Saddleman, a burned-out Internet developer who dreams of living a life of romance and intrigue, like the heroes of class film noir cinema. After enduring a series of misfortunes on his 30th birthday, Steve gets a chance to make that dream come true.”
The festival runs Sept. 25-30 and offfers a $25,000 grand prize.
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Willie is a busy man
Willie Nelson is in a movie opening this weekend — the Toby Keith vehicle “Broken Bridges — and he’s also shooting another one around Austin. In “Fighting With Anger,” Willie plays an aging hit man. You can see pictures of him on the set and hear his music for the film here.
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Film festival a-go-go!
Three approaching Austin film fests are cementing their schedules as we type. Some highlights and links:
Cinematexas International Short Film Festival, Sept. 20-24, concentrates on experimental and short film and live multimedia and musical performances. Artists attending include Luther Price, Laura Parnes, William Jones, Mike Plante, Bruce McClure, Eddo Stern, Ana Nogueira, Flaming Arrows and Robert King Wilkerson.
The fest schedule isn’t online yet, but keep checking at www.cinematexas.org. 
The Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival happens Sept. 29-Oct. 8 with scads of features, docs and shorts. It’s the festival’s 19th birthday.
Maria Maggenti’s bisexual romantic comedy “Puccini for Beginners” kicks things off, followed by the Texas premiere of Jean-Marc Vallee’s “C.R.A.Z.Y.,” Jan Dunn’s “Gypo,” the all-Dolly Parton doc “For the Love of Dolly,” the Texas premiere of John Cameron Mitchell’s talked-about “Shortbus,” the moving doc “Saint of 9/11” (which opened in New York this week) and lots more.
Go to www.agliff.org for more.
And then there’s horror-fantasy upstart Fantastic Fest from Sept. 21-28, which boasts the local premiere of Darren Aronofsky’s “The Fountain.” Word is that Aronofsky and the film’s co-star (and Aronofsky’s wife) Rachel Weisz will present the wild sci-fi romance.
The premiere of “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning” launches the fest with stars R. Lee Ermey and Jordana Brewer in person.
There’s far too many cool films and celeb appearances to list here, so get geeky at www.fantasticfest.com.
The science of genius
Easily making my top 10 list for the year is Michel Gondry’s delightfully ineffable fantastical romance “The Science of Sleep,” which had a thinly attended press/public preview Wednesday night in Austin. My review of the film comes out the day it opens, Sept. 22, so I’ll save the details for then.
I will say this bold and vibrant poof of magical realism makes your head spin, charms the heart, makes love to your eyeballs and, after a most dreamy, intoxicating journey, drops you off in a cloud of glitter and giggles. Sounds loopy? It is. And it makes you loopy, too. Brilliant.
Check out the trailer here.
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Diving in to Toronto
And it begins!
After a brutal day of travel and orientation yesterday (thanks to pre-fest insomnia, my day started at 1:30 a.m. — then festival-related business kept me out until midnight Eastern time), I’m officially caught up in a festival I’ve wanted to cover for years: Toronto. The one that affords neither glimpses of the Riviera nor opportunities for snowboarding, but routinely launches some of the year’s best films.
Ever the eager beaver where movies are concerned, I was first in the auditorium at the first screening time-slot available. How many folks, I wonder, would turn up at 9 a.m. to listen to “Pope of Trash” John Waters talk about unbelievable depravity both real and imagined? Yours truly — and the belly-laughs were just as good as a few shots of espresso.
This blog is meant as a you-are-there account, so I won’t be doing much actual reviewing of what I see. For that, you’re welcome to visit hollywoodreporter.com. I’ll be filing reviews for THR as schedule and sleep-deprivation allow; by the time you read this, I may have gotten the documentary above (“This Filthy World,” it’s called) out into the ether.
Now, off to see either Chinese-Finnish martial arts or a South Korean horror film. Talk to you soon.
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No ‘Volver’ till ‘07
Pedro Almodóvar’s “Volver” is one of the year’s most talked-about movies, and Penelope Cruz is winning raves for her role. Austin movie fans will have to be patient, though: The latest word from Sony Pictures Classics is that the film won’t make it here until Jan. 12.
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