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SXSW 2009
March 30, 2009
Bad boy 'Bruno' slapped with NC-17
At least for now. We report this because 20 minutes of raucous clips of the new Sacha Baron Cohen comedy screened during SXSW and our own Charles Ealy watched and blogged about it HERE.
Sharon Waxman at The Wrap reports:
Universal’s ”Bruno,” the widely anticipated Sacha Baron Cohen docu-comedy opening in July, has been slapped with an NC-17 rating on its first submission to the Motion Picture Association of America because of numerous sexual scenes that the ratings board considers over the line, according to the studio releasing the film.
Among the objectionable scenes is one in which Bruno — a gay Austrian fashionista played by Baron Cohen — appears to have anal sex with a man on camera. In another, the actor goes on a hunting trip and sneaks naked into the tent of one of the fellow hunters, an unsuspecting non-actor.
A Universal spokesman confirmed the rating on Sunday, saying: “On its first submission the film did not receive an R but it is far too early to say that there is any struggle to get there as the process is only at its inception.”
Baron Cohen is accustomed to pushing boundaries. In his last hit film, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” the writer and actor orchestrated outrageous real-life situations that challenged anti-Semitic and other stereotypes.
With “Bruno,” Baron Cohen apparently goes even further, drawing a cutting comic edge that challenges homophobia and racism by embracing both. His method is a kind of cinema verite, drawing unsuspecting bystanders into outrageous situations, or provoking them to say outrageous things, and orchestrating NC-17 rated situations.
Individuals close to the film say that Baron Cohen, Bruno’s writer and star, is “experimenting” and still “finding the film,” and tested two different versions with audiences in the past week. Both screenings, they said, were very successful.
But Cohen needs to deliver an R-rated film to Universal, which will not consider releasing an NC-17 “Bruno,” according to an executive there.
Text and graphic: Sharon Waxman’s The Wrap.
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March 20, 2009
'Goodbye Solo' beautifully dramatizes the human dimensions
I saw another exquisite film during SXSW, Ramin Bahrani’s human-scale pearl “Goodbye Solo” on Thursday at the Alamo South.
I’m a vocal fan of Bahrani’s work — last year’s “Chop Shop” made my Top 10 list — and the new film confirms Bahrani’s ascendancy as a poet of the marginal, a bard of the striving, an empathetic, wise and objective observer of the little moments and so-called “little” people that make up the mad mosaic of life.
It’s too intimate, too finely wrought to reveal its character-shaped story, but it features an astonishing debut by Souleymane Sy Savane and a funny-tragic turn by crotchety character actor Red West, whose character is bent on accomplishing one final act in his long, troubled life.
More about “Goodbye Solo” and its trailer HERE. It opens in New York on March 27, so expect an Austin run a little later.
Today’s full film schedule HERE.
Saturday’s full SXSW schedule — including Jonathan Demme presenting his new rock doc “Neil Young Trunk Show” — HERE.
Jonathan Demme will present “Neil Young Trunk Show” at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Paramount.
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March 18, 2009
Iron Maiden rocks the Paramount. Really.
A guy stood up in the front row, peeled off his shirt and swung it above his head tonight at the Paramount. A movie was playing. On the giant screen was a thrashing metal concert. Iron Maiden was performing “Number of the Beast” in the loud and engrossing documentary “Iron Maiden: Flight 666.” The guy suddenly believed he was in Tokyo or Mumbai or Mexico City or wherever the film was at that point and simply had to rock.
The show drew a surprisingly big crowd of black-T-shirt-sporting (not a surprise) enthusiasts, including about 30 members of the official Iron Maiden fan club, who were, of course, the show’s special guests.
The gist, via SXSW’s description: In a “customized Boeing 757 with 12 tons of equipment and 70 crew, Maiden traveled over 40,000 miles in just 45 days playing sold-out concerts from India to Los Angeles to the tip of South America.”
The upshot is a classic backstage concert doc, with scads of live footage judiciously edited for maximum punch and minimal boredom. Bandmates, now in their 50s, prove funny and smart and human.
We witness the rigors of touring: the jet-lag, the excruciating logistics, the play, the fans and how they differ in manners and passion from nation to nation (Latin Americans are the most fiery and demanding and adoring).
We hear all the best older songs, watch fire-bombs billow and mushroom during “Number of the Beast” and follow perpetual motion machine Bruce Dickinson’s calisthenic theatrics during “The Trooper” and “Aces High.”
Also: We see Adrian Smith play tennis and Nico McBrain play golf. That kind of stuff.
And this: The pilot of the 757 is singer Dickinson himself.
Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn directed the rock doc. You know you’re in able hands, because they also made the essential doc “Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey”, which world-premiered at SXSW in 2006.
“Flight 666” screens again at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Austin Convention Center.
Steve Harris: bassist, mensch, madman.
Right HERE for details about the film and its Saturday screening.
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Haynes screens banned 'Superstar'
Sometimes we think we’re in the loop. Sometimes we are laughably deluded.
We missed this big special show during the festival, and we are sad.
Karen Carpenter, played by Academy Award-winner Barbie
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Downtown scene
As I was leaving the Hilton of Fourth Street around 10:30 a.m. after interviewing director Kathryn Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker,” I ran into a group of young German hipsters, who wanted to know whether I knew my way around town.
I said yeah. They were wearing SXSW music badges and were a bit scruffy, with poorly grown facial hair.
And they looked at me very seriously and asked, ‘Man, do you know a place where we can just sit down and have our morning beer?’
I pointed them two blocks north to Sixth Street, and they were most appreciative. I predict the bars will have a steady business for the rest of the week.
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March 17, 2009
SXSW Film Festival winners
The jury and audience award-winners of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival were announced Tuesday night at the fest’s closing awards ceremony.
Check them out here.
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Find out what's 'Pulling John'
How does one confront his hero?
How about with hand chalk and a curled bicep, because that’s what the world’s most promising arm wrestlers need in their battle to dethrone John Brzenk.
Brzenk serves as the centerpiece of the arm wrestling documentary “Pulling John,” which debuted at SXSW. His prowess in pulling (the term commonly used by competitors when referring to the actual arm wrestling) has made Brzenk a legend, the Jordan or Gretzky of his sport. He tussled with Sly Stallone in 1987’s “Over the Top,” he’s held off all challengers for 25 years, and pullers across the globe speak of Brzenk in almost worshipful tones.
But time has crept on Brzenk, and a pair of promising pullers (Russia’s Alexey Voevoda and West Virginia’s Travis Bagent) seeks to take advantage during the 2004 world championships. Filmmakers Vassiliki Khonsari and Sevan Matossian delve into the background of Voevoda and Bagent during their hunt for glory, but they never stray too far from Brzenk. He shows humility compared to Bagent’s bluster; his grounded persona contrasts with Voevoda’s vaguely spacey Slavic spirituality.
To their credit, Khonsari and Matossian avoid favoring Brzenk and villainizing his competitors, although Matossian admitted after the film that they had grown fond of Brzenk and were rooting hard in the shadows.
Brzenk’s toughest foe is a familiar one for any athlete. Times change, and age saps away the ability. Brzenk’s strength hasn’t slipped since he took over the sport, but his cat-quick reflexes have dulled in the film. He relies on his will and wiliness as much as his muscle, and that makes for some anxious times during the tournament.
The filmmakers culled “Pulling John” from more than 600 hours, but they do not delve into the circumstances that made Brzenk particularly vulnerable in 2004. Tendonitis had plagued the champ for several years and had triggered thoughts of retirement. Brzenk admits during the film that he was “seeking a second wind.”
That second wind has apparently blown in. After struggling for a few years, Brzenk currently again sits comfortably atop the world of arm wrestling. It’s a fitting postscript but not one revealed in “Pulling John.”
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Tension aplenty in 'That Evening Sun'
The layers of tension that envelop the brilliant “That Evening Sun” could suffocate the hardiest of men.
And that’s what ultimately dooms Abner Meecham (portrayed by Hal Holbrook, an octogenarian experiencing a most impressive career Renaissance), a proud landowner of salty Southern stock who “escapes” a nursing home and returns to his acreage in East Tennessee. Problem is, that land has been sold by Meecham’s lawyer son to a redneck clan fronted by a lazy parochial type named Lonzo Choat (Raymond McKinnon) who perks up just enough to torment his family and animals with equal aplomb.
But such stereotypes exist only on the surface, and that’s why the adapted screenplay by director Scott Teems vibrates with nervous energy.
Sure, Meecham has whipped a piece of remote Tennessee land into a successful farm that produced enough bounty to send a son to law school. But his productivity doesn’t make him a saint; he takes great pleasure in demeaning Choat (“you even walk like white trash,” Meecham sneers) and admits to “meanness” to both his son and deceased wife.
Choat, too, ultimately suffers from Meecham’s darker instincts.
Choat’s no sympathetic character, certainly, but McKinnon and the sturdy script give him enough depth to draw some compassion, especially from those familiar with the traditional class divisions which tend to run deep in the South.
The chemistry between McKinnon and Holbrook helped “That Evening Sun” win the Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble Cast Tuesday, and it makes the film one of the festival’s most pleasant surprises.
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'The 2 Bobs' packs Paramount
Ashamed to say it, but I missed most of Tim McCanlies’ bodaciously Austin comedy “The 2 Bobs” on Monday at the Paramount. Theater employees and SXSW crew agreed that audience and cast-crew turnout was atypically crazy, and that’s a good thing for McCanlies (“Secondhand Lions”) and Austin film.
Broad comedy, gaming geekdom, R-worthy naughtiness and popping candy colors captured by cinematographer PJ Raval infuse the movie with charm, laughs (the house roared) and accessibility. Local bands, local scenery, local faces make this a thickly Austin affair.
McCanlies and cast during the Q&A
Read our recent interview with McCanlies about the making of “2 Bobs’ HERE.
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'Observe and Report's' rowdy Monday premiere
The Paramount was stuffed with giddy fans. The cast and crew were there, sitting among we plebians.
Many people, including the cast, laughed their blanks off for what was finally a hit-and-miss hard-R comedy about an overzealous mall cop (Seth Rogen) and his sundry, raunchy misadventures. Sex, drugs, a full-frontal flasher, crunchy violence — a cocktail both fizzy and flat.
Writer-director Jody Hill introduced the movie by thanking Warner Bros. “for letting us make a weird-ass film.” He described it as “a comedy, I guess,” to which Rogen, sitting in front of us, hoisted a can of Shiner in the air.
The red carpet scene was Hollywood-fat:
Rogen
Co-star Anna Faris
Co-star Michael Pena
Recognize these guys? They’re brothers John and Matt Yuen, who have sizable roles in the movie. They used to work at the Arbor Cinema in Austin.
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Seth Rogen meets his twin
I’ve been spotting a writer from The Hollywood Reporter out and about at red carpet gatherings for the past few days during SXSW film. He resembles Seth Rogen enough that I kept falsely exciting other carpet-baggers by pointing and gasping, “There’s Seth Rogen!” They would turn, cameras ready, then deflate. A lame gag, but you get bored standing around like herded barn animals.
At Monday night’s teeming red carpet for Rogen’s comedy “Observe and Report,” Rogen and the reporter finally came face-to-face. The first words out of Rogen’s mouth: “Hi, me!”
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Interview: Seth Rogen, star of 'Observe and Report'
I caught up with “Observe and Report” star Seth Rogen today, the morning after the world premiere of the new comedy written and directed by Jody Hill (“The Foot Fist Way”). The Canadian-born star who has risen to fame as part of Judd Apatow’s comedy clan discussed his new movie, improvising on the set and the upcoming movies “Funny People” and “The Green Hornet.”
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SXSW: We Live in Public
‘We Live in Public.’ Few people soared as high as Internet pioneer Josh Harris during the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s, and few fell so hard after the bust.
Early on, Harris understood the potential of the Web to replace television as a broadband entertainment medium, founding Pseudo.com, the first Internet ‘network.’
He boasted to ‘60 Minutes’ that he would soon be bigger than CBS. And he set up one of the most bizarre live broadcasts in history: the 24-hour recording of 100 people who were living in a New York City bunker.
When they showered, their images were broadcast. Same thing when they went to a bathroom, made love. Everything was fair game, and the private lives became public. After a police raid in early 2000, the project shut down. But Harris continued to ‘live in public’ for six months with his girlfriend on the Internet. When they fought, each one would run to his or her laptop to see what the public thought: Did he win the argument, or did she?
And throughout it all, Harris began to see some holes in his theory that people would be willing to trade their privacy for public recognition.
Director Ondi Timoner, who spent more than a decade tracking Harris, shows not only his prescience but also his startling cluelessness.
‘We Live in Public’ won the top documentary prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
4:30 p.m. today, Austin Convention Center; 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Paramount Theatre, 713 Congress Ave.
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March 16, 2009
Infamous 'Troll 2' spawns 'Best Worst Movie'
Talk about the redemptive power of filmmaking.
In 1990, Michael Stephenson endured a performance in “Troll 2” (which IMDB honored with its worst-movie-ever-made badge), in which he played a boy contacted by his dead grandfather — and chased by vegetarian goblins, no less.
Two decades later, Stephenson returns with his stunning documentary “Best Worst Movie” to reveal what happened to the cast and crew of “Troll 2.”
Thousands of cult film followers know what happened in Utah during the filming of “Troll 2.” An unusual concoction of amateurs and struggling actors, under the direction of Italian exploitation maestro Claudio Fragasso, produced a bizarre story of a goblin village, communing with the dead, photosynthesis and bologna sandwiches. And “Troll 2” is weirder than it sounds, trust me. Over the years, as Stephenson documents, “Troll 2” has garnered a devoted collection of followers that host showings and parties.
Truth trumps fiction when it comes to the peculiar, however. The cast of “Troll 2,” reunited in a way, includes artists who struggle with their part in the film (one actor says it’s never been on her resume) and others who embrace its history. The dynamics between the former crewmates gets strange, revealing long-dormant tension and more than a touch of sadness.
Showing impressive filmmaking instincts, Stephenson focuses on charismatic George Hardy, a dentist in his native Alabama whose lone acting gig came in “Troll 2.” Hardy is a gregarious and good-natured sort whose ego receives plenty of stroking from the “Troll 2” fanatics who holler his quotes. Hardy wants to share the attention — and, as he sees it, the fun. His response to the “Troll 2” phenomenon morphs into a fascinating portrayal of the appeal of fame, no matter how small.
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'Made in China's no pet rock
Did you know that the pet rock phenomenon in the 1970s lasted just six months?
But in those 180 days, inventor Gary Dahl made millions and encapsulated the potent earning power of a fad.
Dahl and his ilk (Richard James’ slinky and Milton Levine’s ant farm, for example) also inspire earnest young entrepreneur Johnson (Jackson Kuehn) on his quest to join that quirky tribe in “Made in China,” the debut film by Austin’s Judi Krant that premiered Sunday at the Alamo Ritz.
Johnson leaves behind a worried mom and an apathetic sister to visit Shanghai, a production epicenter of all things cheap and plastic. He endures a swindler, roundabouts through Shanghai’s back alleys and a most unfortunate faux-Chinese business suit before finding redemption with his own invention.
At its best, “Made in China” delivers a charming narrative against the backdrop of fads and their history. Kuehn (acting every bit a native of Woodville, Texas) offers a convincing portrayal of a budding salesman with lots of naivety and just enough backbone.
Sure, the debut film can drag at times. Jokes fall flat, the plot meanders. But “Made in China” never strays too far off its course. Krant cleverly creates a dichotomy of worlds. She filmed Johnson’s hometown in Woodville, using (in true independent filmmaking spirit) Kuehn’s mom not only as an actor but also the location manager. The shots in Shanghai resulted from “being a little crafty,” Krant said, in some older neighborhoods not trumpeted by Chinese tourist officials. They give the film an unusual air of authenticity.
Expect both Krant and Kuehn to have a shelf life more like the slinky than, say, that pet rock.
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More on 'Bruno'
When members of the press were walking out the Alamo South Sunday night after a sneak peek at footage from the upcoming “Bruno,” Michael Hogan of Vanity Fair asked me whether I thought the footage was made up, or whether Sacha Baron Cohen was still able to fool people as he did in “Borat.”
Despite Cohen’s fame, the answer, apparently, is that he’s still able to fool people.
Longtime friend and reporter Michael Granberry of The Dallas Morning News wrote last year that Cohen and his associates paid $50 for people to show up for the taping of what was described as a new TV talk show.
Footage from that taping in the Dallas suburb of Carrollton was included Sunday night in “Bruno.” The scene was described earlier on this blog and involved Cohen, dressed as a gay fashionista, describing how he adopted a baby from Africa as a fashion accessory, much to the audience’s outrage.
The taping occurred at TWL Studios-Productions, Granberry reported.
And now, from The Associated Press, comes word that Cohen “tricked the Alabama National Guard into allowing him onto a post, giving him a military uniform and briefly letting him train — all, supposedly, for a German TV documentary.”
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Screening alert: 'Sunshine' -- see this one
Karen Skloss’ profoundly affecting documentary on single motherhood screens at 9:15 tonight at the Austin Convention Center and again at 2 p.m. Friday at the Alamo Ritz, where it enjoyed its premiere last Saturday.
Skloss weaves something singular and powerful from several threads dealing with adoption, unexpected pregnancy, relationships and the impervious ties between parent and offspring. It’s Skloss’ own story, yet it’s completely universal. Even resistant guys will find themselves melting in this radiant “Sunshine.”
Skloss’ lyrical storytelling gets a nice assist from the expressive, sometimes dreamy camerawork by longtime RIchard Linklater collaborator Lee Daniel.
More on the film and screenings HERE.
Read Charles Ealy’s interview with Skloss HERE.
Karen Skloss during the Q&A for “Sunshine” on Saturday at the Alamo Ritz
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As a surprise, Linklater unveils his latest
Well, sort of a surprise. … Richard Linklater filled the “Special Screening” slot this morning at SXSW with his small gem “Me and Orson Welles,” which received a warm hometown welcome at the Paramount. The two-thirds-filled house laughed, clapped, loved it.
Linklater, sporting a killer Western shirt embroidered with characters from Howard Hawks’ “Rio Bravo,” admitted he wasn’t supposed to be showing the movie this early (even though it played Toronto last year), since it won’t be released until October. What the hell, he said. He couldn’t not play it at longtime friend Janet Pierson’s first SXSW as the fest’s producer and leader.
The movie — based on Robert Kaplow’s novel and adapted by Austin writers Holly Gent Palmo and Vincent Palmo, Jr. — is about “art, youthful ambition and the blessing and curse of those compelled to put on a show,” Linklater told the crowd.
It’s a lovely movie, a richly appointed ’30s period piece set inside Orson Welles’ famed Mercury Theater in New York. It follows Zac Efron’s ambitious teenage actor as he finagles his way into Welles’ stellar troupe, using wiles, charm and confidence. It’s about learning the showbiz ropes the hard way by the hardest teacher, the blustery and bumptious Welles.
In a searing star turn, Christian McKay plays Welles as a seductive but insufferable supernova of gaseous ego and barking entitlement. Though not the late rotund Welles, he nevertheless takes up all the space around him and steals its oxygen, leaving those nearby gasping.
McKay’s lusty and rollicking Welles is the wild-eyed ringleader of a constellation of stars, from producer John Houseman (Eddie Marsan) to Joseph Cotton (James Tupper). They are mounting an ambitious, career-making production of “Julius Caesar” and we are history’s bedazzled witnesses.
Elegant and smooth, “Me and Orson Welles” evinces Linklater’s knack for character-driven chamber pieces, fluttering with sharp dialogue while exploring the brambles of love and the dour realization that egos and great art are sometimes horribly, wonderfully indivisible.
More about the movie HERE.
Linklater’s towering SXSW success
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We see funny people
Outside the sold-out premiere of the big-star comedy “Adventureland” Sunday night at the Alamo South, its writer-director Greg Mottola (he also did “Superbad”) and one of its stars, Bill Hader, stopped for an artistic portrait. (Thanks!)
Their movie, “Adventureland,” opens April 3
Also there were actor Danny McBride (“Pineapple Express,” etc.) …
… and (below) his good pal Jody Hill, who directed McBride and himself in “Foot Fist Way” and is screening his new Seth Rogen comedy “Observe and Report” at 9:30 tonight at the Paramount. (Be there. Rogen will be.)
Later Sunday night, following the screening of the excellent if harrowing border drama “Sin Nombre” at the Paramount, a red carpet roll-out was held for the cast of the comedy “Women in Trouble, co-starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marley Shelton, both below. (We heard — cough — the movie wasn’t so hot.)
Gordon-Levitt
Shelton
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Interview: 'Over the Hills and Far Away' director Michel Scott
Austin American-Statesman: So how do you shoot video from the back of a horse?
Michel Scott: I actually grew up riding horses. My father owns a ranch in Colorado, where I would spend summers. I started riding when I was three or four but I hadn’t ridden for five or six years. I started training and brought the camera with me to see how it worked out. Eventually I got more comfortable with it, but nothing could have prepared me for what was going to happen in Mongolia. There were a lot more hours in the saddle than I expected, and I pretty much wound up holding the camera the entire time.
AA-S: Once you got involved, how did the story change?
Scott: There were definitely some twists and turns in the story that I didn’t expect. When Rupert told me they were going to take their child and ride through Mongolia and visit shamen, it doesn’t get much wackier than that. From my perspective as a filmmaker I said, ‘This is going to be amazing. This is a fantastic story.’ I thought this was going to be a story about acceptance. And ultimately it is. But it ends up being something else.
AA-S: Isaacson is producer and also the lead character, and yet he and the family aren’t always shown at their best.
Scott: The great thing about Rupert is he’s very interested in being seen from all sides. He wants the story to be as real as possible. I wanted to be sure we weren’t showing something unreal, especially since the storyline is unreal. And luckily Rupert was OK with that. It can be quite a challenge to film subjects who are also involved in the production of the film. In fact, that’s one of the greatest no-nos of documentary film. That can get very complicated very quickly. But Rupert was very gracious and wanted to show all sides of him and the family.
AA-S: The backstory of their domestic life in Elgin is intercut into this incredible quest narrative. Why that approach?
Scott: “I have to give a lot of credit to our editor, Rita Sanders. She was very helpful putting the structure of the film together. I think the initial reason was that we have all of this backstory, but the audience is going to know Mongolia is coming. We didn’t want to spend 30 or 45 minutes before leaving for Mongolia. We know that’s what people were going to be anticipating, so we wanted to get to Mongolia as soon as possible. But the backstory was so important for the actual trip to Mongolia to make sense.
AA-S: Did you try the boiled lung?
Scott: Yes. Actually, I tried all of the organs that Rupert tried. I have to admit I didn’t think they were that bad, except for the heart — the heart was pretty gross. I was ready for the worst.”
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'Drag Me To Hell': Raimi's horrific vision returns
It’s good to see that success hasn’t spoiled Sam Raimi’s bloodiest, goriest, most outrageous and downright fun instincts.
In an ode to his glorious horror past, Raimi presented his new film “Drag Me To Hell” at a raucous midnight screening Sunday at the Paramount Theatre.
The film, due for a May release, still has a few post-production issues to sort out. But tightened sound effects and a few tweaks will only add to one of the year’s most anticipated films.
Sure, Raimi can wield the studio’s tools enough to produce the “Spiderman” trilogy that makes him one of Hollywood’s most desired directors. Give the man a few buckets of blood-red corn syrup and a budget without restraint, however, to really watch the fun begin.
And Raimi delivers the fun in a story that could be straight from the scribbled notes on his script from 1981’s “Evil Dead,” which redefined the horror genre with its blend of slapstick and gore.
An innocent loan officer with good intentions named Christine (Alison Lohman) tries to prove her hard heart to a supervisor and turns down a glass-eyed Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver), who responds to the denial with a flurry of spittle and, yep, a Gypsy curse. Christine enlists the help of everyone from her earnest boyfriend to concerned fortune-tellers as she battles Mrs. Ganush and her demonic sidekicks.
The ensuing tussles will look familiar to longtime Raimi fans. Eyes pop, bodies ooze and shadows creep across the screen. “Drag Me To Hell” may not technically be the new “Evil Dead” film, but it’s close enough for the fans that have eagerly awaited the return of Raimi’s horrific vision.
Really, the only thing that seemed missing at the Paramount was an appearance by Bruce Campbell.
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March 15, 2009
Bruno special screening
Sacha Baron Cohen addressed an Austin audience at the Alamo Sunday night via videotape to introduce the first-ever selected clips from his new movie. Security was tight, the footage was rough and the crowd was howling. The movie opens July 10.
Here’s what we saw:
Bruno is a gay Austrian cable TV reporter on fashion, and he’s a bit out there. And when he gets fired from his job, he decides to head to Hollywood to become the “biggest Austrian celebrity since Hitler.”
As a fashion accessory, he adopts a baby from Africa, in hopes of getting that Madonna cachet. He also wants to use the baby to stage a crucifixion scene, but he has only one baby to put on the cross, so he begins to interview “stage parents” to see if their babies might be suitable to portray the two thieves on either side of his baby.
The interviews with eager parents are beyond belief. He asks them whether their babies are comfortable with dead or dying animals, and they all say yes. He also wants to know whether their babies are accepting of such things as Komodo dragons, and they all say their babies are fine with such things. One of the babies weighs 30 pounds and Bruno thinks she may be a bit chunky, so he suggests liposuction, and the parent seems to think that’s doable.
Before long, Bruno has dressed up his baby in a “gayby T-shirt” and taken him to a TV talk show in Texas, which is filled with African Americans. Let’s just say they don’t look kindly upon the adoption, and things turn ugly.
When the baby thing doesn’t turn out as Bruno had hoped, he morphs into another person, Straight Dave, the host of a TV wrestling show called Man-Slamming Maxout.
But it seems as though Straight Dave still has a few latent urges lingering below. Let’s just say that the Straight Dave fans are in for a disappointment.
It’s not clear whether Cohen has really continued to find clueless audiences who will fall for his antics. But it appears that he has. The movie is bound to stir up just as much controversy as Borat. And that’s the point.
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Panel wrap: Jan Harlan discusses Stanley Kubrick
He died 10 years ago this month, but legendary director Stanley Kubrick still draws a ton of interest from film geeks, as evidenced by the relatively-full conference room at the Convention Center Sunday afternoon.
Multi-platforming film critic Elvis Mitchell discussed Kubrick with Jan Harlan, Kubrick’s brother-in-law who also served as executive producer on some of the director’s biggest films (“Barry Lyndon,” “The Shining,” “Full Metal Jacket”). Harlan spoke of his enigmatic brother-in-law’s perfectionism and artistic vision and his role in helping some of the best of Kubrick’s best films come to life.
Some snippets from the talk:
- Although “Eyes Wide Shut” was initially panned by many critics, and audiences in small towns in America killed the film, the Japanese audiences loved it. A studio rep. actually told Harlan that Japanese couples actually left the theater holding hands, a show of affection that is generally unheard of.
- Not surprisingly, Kubrick did not enjoy the role of the critic in cinema. He was confounded by the fact that he could spend three years working on a film, only to have some critic see the movie in the morning and then write a review that afternoon. He seemingly had no use for critics, as is the case with many filmmakers and moviegoers.
- In discussing the casting process for “Full Metal Jacket” and Kubrick’s desire, borne from perfectionism, to cast 18 year-olds to play the roles of the young soldiers, Harlan said that they reviewed 2,500 casting tapes to try and find the right seven actors for the main parts before relenting and hiring actors in their twenties. “Like everything, he took it (the casting) incredibly seriously,” said Harlan.
- Kubrick, as has been well documented, hated to travel. So, when the production team needed American tanks to shoot scenes in London for “Full Metal Jacket,” they “rented” three old American tanks from the Belgian army. Apparently the Americans were reluctant to help out the team, holding a slight grudge from “Dr. Strangelove.”
- Kubrick had a brilliant memory and would concurrently play matches of chess against three different people. However, he was a much less skilled table tennis player.
- The director loved sports, and one time, after watching a semi-final between John McEnroe and Boris Becker, Kubrick turned to Harlan, exhilarated and exhausted, and proclaimed to Harlan, “No film could ever be so exciting.”
- Harlan’s biggest regret about “Eyes Wide Shut,” and the film’s biggest problem, was that the film needed two viewings to be fully understood.
- Kubrick turned over the “A.I.” project to Steven Spielberg because he believed the dark fantasy would be done better by Spielberg and be entirely too dark under his own direction.
- With regard to “A.I.,” while Harlan says Kubrick was an “optimist in his daily life,” the director believed that we were “digging our own grave” and that the human race had “no chance of survival.”
- Harlan briefly touched on a fact that I was alerted to by one of my film professors in college and a former colleague of Peter Sellers, ‘Dr. Strangelove” was initially to be made as a straight-ahead drama. The dark comedic elements were added later. My professor in Rome told me that the idea to shift the tone was one he had offered Kubrick at a dinner party … I did not get the chance at the panel to verify the veracity of that claim.
Co-star Jason Segel, who introduced his freaky real world of Dracula Muppet-style puppets and dreams of a Dracula musical in last year’s SXSW hit “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” assured the crowd that a movie version is happening: “The script is done. I love it … I think you guys will like it. It’s like a late-’70s or early-’80s Muppet movie. … I’ve written stuff for all my (acting) friends. Everybody’s in it.” (He pointed at Rudd.)
After Segel told us we we’re a “great audience,” a very happy writer-director John Hamburg said, “I’m excited. I’m pumped up. I feel like Cate Blanchett!”
Asked if he’d be working with his “Swingers” pal Vince Vaughan again, co-star Jon Favreau said yes, that they’re doing a comedy he wrote called “Couples Retreat” with Jason Bateman. It should be out in October. (More on that movie HERE).
Rudd projectile vomits on Favreau in “I Love You, Man,” and says he insisted to Hamburg that he really vomit, with no FX. So he did. He used five cans of Italian wedding soup.
Tuesday: William Dieterle’s “The Lives, Loves, and Adventures of Omar Khayyam” (1957), starring Cornel Wilde.
March 24: Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami’s “The Wind Will Carry Us” (1999).
April 28: Kayvan Mashayekh’s “The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyam” (2005), starring Vanessa Redgrave and Adam Echahly.
Artois the Goat — Director: Kyle Bogart. Writer: Cliff and Kyle Bogart. Lab technician Virgil Gurdies embarks on an epic quest to craft the greatest goat cheese the world has ever known and reclaim the heart of his beloved Angie. Cast: Mark Scheibmeir, Sydney Andrews, Stephen Taylor Fry, Dan Braverman (World Premiere)
Bomber — Director/Writer: Paul Cotter. A bittersweet comedy about love, family and dropping bombs on Germany. Cast: Shane Taylor, Benjamin Whitrow, Eileen Nicholas (World Premiere)
Breaking Upwards — Director: Daryl Wein. Writer: Peter Duchan, Daryl Wein, Zoe Lister-Jones. A young New York couple who, desperate to escape their ennui, but fearful of life apart, decide to intricately strategize their own break up. Cast: Daryl Wein, Zoe Lister-Jones, Julie White, Peter Friedman, Andrea Martin, Pablo Schreiber, La Chanze, Olivia Thirlby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach (World Premiere)
It Was Great, But I Was Ready to Come Home — Director: Kris Swanberg. Writers: Kris Swanberg, Jade Healy, David Lowery, Ben Kasulke. A woman tries to get over her recent breakup by backpacking in Costa Rica with her best friend, and through traveling together, the two women realize they may be on separate trips. Cast: Kris Swanberg, Jade Healy (World Premiere)
Made in China — Director: Judi Krant. Writer: Judi Krant and Dan Sumpter. Lost in Shanghai, an inventor discovers that it takes more than a bright idea to succeed. Cast: Jackson Keuhn, Dan Sumpter (World Premiere)
The Overbrook Brothers — Director: John Bryant. Writer: John Bryant and Jason Foxworth. Jason brings his girlfriend home for Christmas… and bad things happen. Cast: Nathan Harlan, Mark Reeb, Laurel Whitsett, Steve Zissis, John Jones (World Premiere)
That Evening Sun — Director/Writer: Scott Teems. A ruthless grudge match between two old foes. Lines are drawn, threats are made, and the simmering tension under the Tennessee sun erupts, inevitably, into savagery. Cast: Hal Holbrook, Mia Wasikowska, Ray McKinnon, Walton Goggins, Carrie Preston (World Premiere)
True Adolescents — Director/Writer: Craig Johnson. Aging indie rocker Sam Bryant takes two teen boys on an ill-fated hiking trip that forces everyone to grow up, and fast. Cast: Mark Duplass, Melissa Leo, Bret Loehr, Carr Thompson (World Premiere)
45356 — Director: Bill Ross. An inquiring look at everyday life in middle America, the film explores the congruities of daily life in an American town Sidney, Ohio. (World Premiere)
Garbage Dreams — Director: Mai Iskander. Filmed over four years, the film follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade and growing up in the world’s largest garbage village. Each boy chooses a different path when their community is suddenly faced with the globalization of their trade. (World Premiere)
MINE: Taken By Katrina — Director: Geralyn Pezanoski. After Hurricane Katrina, thousands of pets were rescued and adopted by families around the country, leading to many custody battles. Through these stories, the film examines issues of race, class and animal welfare in the U.S. (World Premiere)
Say My Name — Director: Nirit Peled. A story is built around the lives of entrepreneurs, mothers and artists fighting to be themselves in a society that offers few opportunities for women. (World Premiere)
Severe Clear — Director: Kristian Fraga. Armed with the world’s most lethal ordnance and his home video camera, First Lieutenant Michael T. Scotti captures the chaos and complexity of war. (World Premiere)
Sons of a Gun — Director: Rivkah Beth Medow. A family of 3 schizophrenic men and their alcoholic caregiver/Dad get evicted, move into one motel room, argue, joke around, and find a new home. (World Premiere)
The Way We Get By — Director: Aron Gaudet. On call 24/7 for the past 6 years, a group of senior citizens transform their lives by greeting nearly one million U.S. troops at a tiny airport in Maine. (World Premiere)
Trimpin: The Sound of Invention — Director: Peter Esmonde. A wild ride through the sonic world of an eccentric creative genius of Artist inventor/engineer/composer Trimpin. (World Premiere)
Adventureland — Director/Writer: Greg Mottola. In 1987, a recent college graduate takes a nowhere job at his local amusement park and discovers the job is perfect preparation for the real world. Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Martin Starr
Alexander the Last — Director/Writer: Joe Swanberg. A sensual and intimate portrait of a young marriage. Focusing on an artistic young couple, the film illuminates the challenges of monogamy amidst myriad sexual and creative temptations. Cast: Jess Weixler, Justin Rice, Barlow Jacobs, Josh Hamilton, Jane Adams (World Premiere)
Beeswax — Director/Writer: Andrew Bujalski. Something like a legal thriller for anyone who considers “legal thriller” an oxymoron, the film revolves around a pair of twin sisters, Jeannie and Lauren — “same face, different bodies” — and Jeannie’s brewing conflict with business partner Amanda. Cast: Maggie Hatcher, Tilly Hatcher, Alex Karpovsky (US Premiere)
Best Worst Movie — Director: Michael Paul Stephenson. When an Italian filmmaker, an Alabama dentist and fledgling Utah actors filmed the low-budget horror movie, “Troll 2,” they’d no idea that 20 years later they would be celebrated for making the worst movie ever made. (World Premiere)
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism — Director: Gerald Peary. The first documentary to dramatize the rich, fascinating history of American film criticism. (World Premiere)
Goodbye Solo — Director: Ramin Bahrani. Writer: Ramin Bahrani and Bahareh Azimi. On the lonely roads of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, two men from very different worlds forge an improbable friendship that will change both of their lives forever. Cast: Souleymane Sy Savane, Red West, Diana Franco Galindo, Carmen Leyva
Humpday — Director/Writer: Lynn Shelton. A farcical comedy about straight male bonding gone a little too far. Cast: Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, Alycia Delmore, Lynn Shelton, Trina Willard.
Hurt Locker — Director: Kathryn Bigelow. Writer: Mark Boal Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb. Cast: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce (US Premiere)
I Love You, Man — Director/Writer: John Hamburg. The film centers on a man who, upon getting engaged, realizes he has no close male friends and must find someone to be the Best Man at his wedding. Cast: Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, J.K. Simmons, Jane Curtin, Jon Favreau and Jaime Pressly (World Premiere, Opening Night Film)
The Last Beekeeper — Director: Jeremy Simmons. This documentary follows the lives of three commercial beekeepers over the course of one year as they struggle with Colony Collapse Disorder. As they all take their bees to California’s enormous annual almond pollination, they are forced to ask the question “If all the bees die, what do you have to live for?” (World Premiere)
Monsters from the ID — Director: David Gargani. The untold story of 1950’s American Sci-Fi Cinema and the role of the Modern Scientist. (World Premiere)
Moon — Director: Duncan Jones. Writer: Nathan Parker Before returning to Earth after three years on the moon, things go horribly wrong for astronaut Sam Bell. Cast: Sam Rockwell
New World Order — Director Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer. Impassioned conspiracy theorists travel the globe trying to expose the group that they claim rules the world. (World Premiere)
Objectified — Director: Gary Hustwi. A glimpse into our relationship to manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. (World Premiere)
Observe and Report — Director/Writer: Jody Hill. This dark comedy follows the story of Ronnie Barnhardt, a deluded, self-important head of mall security who squares off in a turf war against the local cops. Cast: Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Michael Pena and Ray Liotta (World Premiere, Centerpiece Slot)
Passing Strange — Director: Spike Lee. Lyrics: Stew. Music & Lyrics: Stew and Heidi Rodewald. A musical documentary about the international exploits of a young man from Los Angeles who leaves home to find himself and ‘the real’. A theatrical stage production of the original Tony-Award winning book by Stew. Cast: De’Adre Aziza, Daniel Breaker, Eisa Davis, Colman Domingo, Stew.
Sin Nombre — Director/Writer: Cary Fukunaga Writer/director Cary Fukunaga’s firsthand experiences with Central American immigrants seeking the promise of the U.S. form the basis of this epic dramatic thriller. Cast: Edgar Flores, Paulina Gaitan, Kristyan Ferrer, Tenoch Huerta.
The Square — Director: Nash Edgerton. Writer: Joel Edgerton and Matthew Dabner. Nash Edgerton’s debut feature is a film-noir in a bleak Australian town where a simple crime goes horribly wrong and escalates into a nightmare of unforeseen events. Cast: David Roberts, Claire Van Der Boom, Joel Edgerton, Anthony Hayes, Peter Phelps and Bill Hunter (North American Premiere)
Three Blind Mice — Director/Writer: Matthew Newton. Three young Navy officers hit Sydney for one last night on land before being shipped over to the Gulf to fight. Throughout the night the boys lose each other, find themselves, and along the way discover courage, friendship and redemption. Cast: Ewen Leslie, Toby Schmitz, Matthew Newton, Tina Bursill
The Two Bobs — Director/Writer: Tim McCanlies. Just as they finish their groundbreaking violent video-game masterpiece, the two gaming legends known as “The Two Bobs” discover that their precious game-software has been stolen… and with it, their livelihoods, genius reputations, everything they own. Cast: Tyler Francavilla, Devin Ratray, Mika Boorem, Cody Kasch, Leonardo Nam (World Premiere)
Winnebago Man — Director: Ben Steinbauer. Jack Rebney’s outrageously funny outtakes from a Winnebago sales video became an underground phenomenon and made him an internet superstar. Filmmaker Ben Steinbauer sets out to find him. (World Premiere)
Women in Trouble — Director/Writer: Sebastian Gutierrez. One day in the lives of ten desperate women with one thing in common: trouble. Cast: Carla Gugino, Josh Brolin, Connie Britton, Adrianne Palicki, Simon Baker (World Premiere)
- Even more Sundance/Austin-ties news:
- Sally Hawkins for best actress in “Happy-Go-Lucky”: A weepy, warbling shambles, but adorable and charming. And she totally deserved it.
Colin Farrell for supporting actor in “In Bruges”: Poetic, generous, deeply felt, authentic, moving. Who knew?
Mickey Rourke for actor in “The Wrestler”: Humble and sweet, though he about broke our heart with the line about his dogs.
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A winning 'Winnebago Man'
If someone didn’t like Austin filmmaker Ben Steinbauer’s hilarious and surprisingly poignant doc “Winnebago Man” we have yet to hear from him or her. A capacity house Saturday night at the Alamo South riotously greeted the movie and its improbable, endearingly cantankerous star and former Winnebago pitchman Jack Rebney, who is alternately known as the Winnebago Man and the Angriest Man in the World in the viral, YouTube and tape-trading universe. (Google that stuff. Now. Please.)
Steinbauer’s movie delves deep and sincerely into Rebney’s wounded soul, smartly veering from what so easily could have been a glib and selfish ha-ha look at this crusty coot who made an ass out of himself! piece of pandering pop poop. The filmmaker went the distance, locating Rebney, befriending him and gingerly discovering what makes him tick and tantrum.
Rebney’s appearance at the premiere proved what a good sport he is, how thoughtful and articulate and (seriously) kind he is. He quoted Andre Gide: “The man without anger is no man at all.” He seems to accept and embrace the strange cult adoration that’s enveloped him, and it makes you happy. From online ignominy to legitimate love — it’s a great story peeled back in a sensitively conceived film.
Actor Jeffrey Tambor was in the audience, as was Beastie Boy MCA (Adam Yauch), whose Oscilloscope Films, as well as IFC, are reportedly circling the movie for a deal.
We asked Tambor what he thought of the movie. He gushed, “I LOVED it. It’s more than the sum of its parts. It is all of us.”
More “Winnebago Man” screening times HERE.
Director Ben Steinbauer and his famous subject Jack Rebney meet adoring, autograph-seeking fans after the show. Yes, that’s a Winnebago behind them.
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Lack of laughs in 'Splinterheads'
Writer/director Brant Sersen had a festival hit on his hands at SXSW in 2004 with the ridiculous “Blackballed,” a movie that featured the comedic talents of Rob Corddry, Rob Riggle, Jack McBrayer and others. Unfortunately, Sersen’s cinematic offering this year did not offer the laughs as his previous effort.
In “Splinterheads” (which screened at Alamo Ritz Saturday night), Justin Frost (newcomer Thomas Middleditch) is in a mild state of arrested development. Unable to get his life on track, the young 20-something is stuck in a rut in his sleepy New York town, fiddling with delusions of karate expert gradeur while toiling aimlessly as a yardboy with his friend Wayne Chung — a name that is a decent indicator as to the humor in the film, simple and expected.
Still living at home with his widowed mother, the apron-strings of whom he is afraid to detach himself, Justin is a bit of a manchild, full of whimsy and insecurity. His safe little world is shattered by the appearance of Galaxy (Rachel Taylor), a beautiful con artist and carnival worker who eventually introduces him to a world of mild adventure (in the form of geocaching) and risk-taking.
Middleditch, a pretty solid ringer for Seth Meyers, with a tinge of Jonathan Richman, is at his best when he is playing the more high-status comedic character — lampooning Chung and his mother’s ex-boyfriend, a local police sergeant played by the ubiquitous Christopher McDonald. It is the nervous bumbling would-be romancer of Galaxy and the target of her unsavory boyfriend’s wrath, a nice turn by Dean Winters (most recently Tina Fey’s “Beeper King” boyfriend on “30 Rock”), where the character is less believable.
Maybe Middleditch is too old, maybe he is too handsome, but he is just not believable, or very likeable, as the nervous mamma’s boy. Additionally, the entire conceit of a boy meeting a carnie (actually a “splinterhead,” the difference which is unneccesarry to quibble over here) who teaches him how to let go and get on with his life just seems a little too absurd to swallow. It feels like a teen movie stuck between goofy adolescence and 20-something self-discovery, not quite here and not quite there. It’s also hard to see a comedy in a festival setting and see so many intended laugh lines fall flat. The script just seems a little rushed, like jokes that didn’t work were left in instead of reworked or heightened.
The movie does have a certain charm — Middleditch gives a nice, if at times awkward performance and Taylor is serviceable, although far too beautiful to be a believable “splinterhead” — but it struggles too often, forcing the wrong comedic note and losing the audience’s interest with its fairly ridiculous storyline. If a plot line is going to be as cute and absurd as that of “Splinterheads,” it either needs more of an adolescent feel or needs to deliver more laughs.
“Splinterheads” screens again March 17 at The Paramount at 1:30 p.m. and at noon on March 19 at the Alamo South.
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'Artois' got our goat at SXSW
Yes, it’s called “Artois the Goat,” this pleasantly weird, ineffably odd bucolic farce that’s snazzily disguised as a profound reflection on love, the indomitable creative force, wild passion, dream-juiced vision and the pursuit of cultivating meaning in our flyspeck lives.
It’s also about dairy products. Dilate those holes and sniff in the deep, sybaritic ecstasy of luscious, creamy, fragrant … goat cheese. We are so totally lactose tolerant.
The Alamo serves a special goat cheese plate in honor of “Artois the Goat.” Background, the cast and crew bask in the ovation at Sunday’s premiere.
An accomplished, beautifully shot, directed and musically scored art comedy, “Artois the Goat” got its world premiere Sunday at the Alamo Ritz. It’s an Austin affair, written and directed by UT film alums Cliff Bogart and Kyle Bogart and filled with familiar local talent. (See the recent stage production of “An Ideal Husband”? Much of its sharp cast appears here.)
The Bogarts are young newbies, but they know how to make a movie. Unlike, say, Joe Swanberg, they understand that time and care and thought (and talent!) are required to create a full-bodied film that doesn’t reek of juvenile navel-gazing. They understand cinema, that it’s a visual medium. They can write, even if some of the jokes fall flat. They can direct actors. Art direction — they have that down. Music — completely.
“Artois” follows one man’s erupting passion to create a wonderful new goat cheese. He has a girlfriend, always a distraction in the aim of art. Much more bubbles and bounces about the movie. Some things don’t work — the comedy can be awfully broad — but a lot does work — genuine ideas exist here.
During the post-show Q&A, the brothers cited the Coen brothers, Douglas Sirk’s “All That Heaven Allows” and Indiana Jones as influences. That’s a party as richly complex as a tangy camembert.
More on “Artois” and its upcoming screenings HERE
The Bogart bros
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Allman and 'Little Dizzle'
Marshall Allman, who graduated from Austin High School six years ago and headed to Hollywood just a couple of weeks later, has already made a name for himself on television, as LJ Burrows, the son of Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell).
And it looks like the 24-year-old is well on the way to becoming a movie star, too. He has the lead role in director David Russo’s “The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle,” which screens Sunday night at the South by Southwest Film Festival and will show again on Thursday and Saturday.
As Dory in “Little Dizzle,” Allman cleans bathrooms and toilets at a Seattle office building where a company is experimenting with the ingredients of cookies. He and a motley crew of outcasts discover the cookies in the trash and start eating way too many of them each night.
The result?
Chemical changes begin to occur within their bodies, causing unusual developments. During a recent conversation at an Austin hotel before the local premiere, Allman discussed his life in L.A. and how he came to star in what is one of the most unusual movies of the year.
It must have been scary to move to Hollywood right after graduating from high school. Can you talk about that?
In hindsight, it was risky and scary, But at the time, I guess it’s the way I’m made up. I get a vision and then I go for it. I remember my mom (Austin resident Idanell Allman) helping me make the transition. She had to teach me how to do laundry once I got to Hollywood. She had taught me before, but I didn’t pay attention because she was always there to do it for me. She came out and helped me get settled. I already had a job and a manager for my acting career.
Before you moved?
I’d been to a talent search and met a manager there. And when I moved to Hollywood, I was working at the Gap. I had a job at a Gap store here in Austin, and you can just transfer a Gap job to L.A. So I had a job, and my manager helped me find a place. It was awesome. I lived in West Hollywood at the time, which was a total trip. I was right off the Sunset Strip near the Viper Room and Tower Records. It was the biggest culture shock. Have you ever heard of Angelyne, the Billboard Queen?
Yes.
Well, she lived in my building. So I’d come home and see this pink Corvette pull in with Angelyne on the license plate, and this woman looks completely like … what is going on? (Angelyne is quite busty and blonde.) I told friends about it, and they said, ‘You live by Angelyne!’ And I said whatever, you know. And they said, ‘She’s famous!’ And I said, ‘Famous for what?’ And they said, ‘She’s famous for being famous!’
There’s a lot of that going on in Hollywood. How long did it take to get an acting job once you were out there?
Not very long. I think it took about a year before I got a meeting with a commercial agent. I went in and said, ‘You’ve probably heard this before, but I’m going to book three national commercials in a year. Do you want to be my agent?’ And he said, ‘Sure.’ And I booked three national commercials in nine months. So I did it. I felt like Babe Ruth. And because of that and some other help, I got my first theatrical agent and I just started going out on auditions. I said to myself, ‘This is going to work.’ The theatrical agent led to my first guest spot on television and all that jazz. My very first job was on ‘Without a Trace,’ and then I moved on, eventually getting the role in ‘Hostage,’ my first feature film, with Bruce Willis. I was a hostage taker. I was very nervous. I hadn’t had as much acting training so I relied totally on my raw talent, with no way to know how to bring my talent out. It was this big lesson. I learned just ow much talent I have without any help. After that, I studied pretty aggressively so that I wouldn’t get into that situation again. Then I got ‘Prison Break’ and in between the seasons of that show I did ‘Immaculate Conception’ and ‘Winged Creatures’ (2008).
How did you get the role in “Little Dizzle”?
It was through an audition, and it was pretty crazy meeting (director) David Russo. He’s a trip. He’s the archetype of the mad artist and he plays it well. I left that audition and went ‘Wow!’ (Co-star) Vince Vieluf and I did a chemistry reading, acting out a couple of scenes while David was right in there with us, filming. And we ended up shooting one of the scenes in the bathroom when Vince’s character flushes his dizzle. David fell in love with me because I reached my arm down the toilet to get it. I think he knew it was meant to be after that.
What do you mean?
It’s that I had no fear in sticking my arm down the toilet because I was trying to save dizzle. That’s a lot of conviction right there, sticking your hand down a toilet.
How would you describe your relationship with the dizzles?
The director was a janitor for seven years, and one time he found an aborted fetus in a toilet. And that’s what inspired the film. That’s what dizzle represents. … He’s not really fit for this world, and that strikes a chord with Dory. And therein lies the comedy. It’s more like an experience than a movie. It’s palpable.
What kind of religious significance do you see in this film?
Dory is trying to do all the right things. It’s almost by rote. But really it’s about a movement inside, about what I think is a relationship with God, rather than rules and regulations, doing checklist A to get the results for checklist B. That’s what I love about Dory. He has no fear. He’s willing to take the risk.
Why does he lose it all at the beginning of the movie?
He’s trying to get a break. There’s a girl he has a crush on, he tries to become a Christian for a girl. He tries to do all the right things to get the Christian girl, but gets the wrong results, and then she’s talking about a guy she wants to date who isn’t even a Christian. But she thinks she can convert him. She calls the new guy a ‘convertible with a convertible.’ Dory recognizes that he gave up everything to believe what she believes. It’s a breaking point for him.
Did you have any awkwardness in the making the movie?
Well, the shower scene was crazy, because it took 17 hours to shoot it. It’s a very elaborate scene. And it’s animated by Rosto (a digital compositry artist). And we were very happy to have him. I had to hang upside down in front of green screens for hours. You’ll notice that I was split into two at one point, and when we shot that, I was actually hanging upside down. The rest of it was me standing on a platform in front a green screen, and I had to be all wet. It was wild. You get to a certain point where you’re so focused on what you’re doing that all the awkwardness goes away. This film was a trip, man. We shot it in Seattle, in June, and the sun doesn’t go down until 10 p.m. at that time, and we shot the entire movie in 19 days. The shower scene took a whole day. Oh yeah, and this is important. I got my motorcycle license for the movie. I don’t want to forget that, because I was terrified of motorcycles.
How do your parents react to all this?
They love it. They’re my biggest fans.
What’s next?
I doing a project called Blue Like Jazz, (a best-selling book of essays about spirituality). Steve Taylor is directing. He helped adapt it from the book with Donald Miller, the author.
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Wavy Gravy does Maggie Maes
Wavy Gravy brought his fish on a leash and his ragtag entourage to Sixth Street Saturday night for a party following the premiere of the new documentary about his wild life, ‘Saint Misbehavin’.’
Lots of longtime Austinites turned out to salute the hippie icon, who MC’ed the Woodstock proceedings and went on the found the Hog Farm commune in Berkeley, Calif. Free red rubber noses were distributed to guests, in honor of Wavy’s clownsmanship.
Wavy was very upbeat and pleased with the audience reception at the premiere. Michelle Esrick, the director of the documentary, said the response was so positive that it was ‘jaw-dropping.’
I didn’t get to stay for the entire party, but later in the evening, Wavy and his gang were planning to present the Wavy Grave Basic Human Needs Award to Austinite Mikail Davenport, who contracted polio at age 2 but has gone on to compete in marathon wheelchair racing events. In 2004, he founded Disabled, Not Unable, an education organization to assist people with disabilities. His life story was featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary short, ‘The Fnal Inch.’
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March 14, 2009
Random SXSW sightings
Roam around enough during SXSW film and you’ll spot some interesting faces and alarming characters …
Legendary psychedelic harlequin and philanthropist Wavy Gravy at the world premiere of his documentary “Saint Misbehavin’: The Wavy Gravy Movie” on Saturday at the Alamo South. More about the movie and its other screenings HERE.
Comic actor Danny McBride (“Pineapple Express,” “Tropic Thunder”) was bumming around with Jody Hill, friend and director of their cult comedy “The Fist Foot Way,” on Saturday night. Hill’s at SXSW for his new Seth Rogen flick “Observe and Report.” The scoop on its Monday screening HERE.
“Super Size Me” star-director Morgan Spurlock hangin’ with some Dutch clogs, which dangled (and made nice noise) at the art-exhibit and party for the artist Trimpin in the State Theater lobby. The documentary about him and his sui generis artwork, “TRIMPIN: the sound of invention,” world-premiered Saturday night. More about the film HERE.
Fabled documentarian and SXSW veteran Ron Mann was spotted Saturday afternoon on Sixth Street. His new doc “Know Your Mushrooms” screened Friday and shows two more times. Learn about it HERE.
Homemade goblins appear at the showing of the terrific documentary “Best Worst Movie,” which traces the unlikely fandom of the awful movie “Troll 2.” They were scaring SXSWers on Saturday in the lobby of the Alamo South. More showings and details for “Best Worst Movie” HERE.
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A 'Love' fest with stars Rudd and Segel
Paul Rudd and Jason Segel are the kind of co-stars who easily fall into a rhythm with each other on-screen and off. And they’re the kind of actors who offer you bacon on a Saturday morning.
They need to eat, of course. It’s the day after the premiere of their new bromance comedy, “I Love You, Man,”kicked off the South by Southwest Film Festival. They’ll be on a plane out of Austin in the afternoon, but not before rounds of interviews and a panel appearance.
“Are you sure you don’t want some?” asks an apologetic Rudd, pointing to his plate, and soon, he and Segel delve into a short back-and-forth over real versus turkey bacon. Real bacon wins.
It’s a golden time for these two actors. Witness the wildly approving audience reception to their new movie the previous night. And, on its April cover, Vanity Fair has declared them, along with fellow Judd Apatow collaborators Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen, “Comedy’s New Legends.”
So how are they and their comedic conspirators enjoying this wave of acceptance, praise and love that started five years ago with Apatow’s “Anchorman” and just kept building with “40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up” and last year’s “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”?
“It’s a little scary,’ says Segel.
“Here comes the fall,” counters Rudd only slightly grimly.
Although it seems unlikely now, that pragmatic observation makes sense. Hollywood builds you up just to knock you down — isn’t the crash of such a huge wave inevitable?
Adding to this, says Segel, is that “what drove Judd and the rest of us was the sense of our always being the underdog,” he says, pointing back to “Freaks and Geeks”and “Undeclared.” (ABC dropped the ax on “Freaks,” the 1999 sitcom produced by Apatow and starring Segel and Rogen, halfway through its first season. Two years later, their next TV project, “Undeclared” met the same fate on Fox).
“It was us against the world,” says Segel, now a co-star in the CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” and writer and star of last year’s well-received “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” “It’s a scary feeling for sure to be where we are now.”
The ensemble approach that led to their success today also brings with it an intense responsibility to keep it going for the sake of everyone in their extended comedic clan.
“No one wants to be the iceberg that sinks the Titanic,” deadpans Rudd.
It’s hard to imagine a disaster in their near future, especially after the early reaction to “I Love You, Man,” a movie directed and co-written by John Hamburg (“Meet the Parents” and the underrated but brilliant “Safe Men”).
The comedy boldly examines the inner workings of those mysterious male friendships, complete with Rush-inspired jam sessions and all. The script deftly taps into stereotypes as well as surprises, all made even funnier by the cast’s improvisation, encouraged by Hamburg.
“It’s fulfilling creatively to improvise,” says Rudd. “You’re really collaborating, which makes the day so much fun.”
Being longtime friends was an obvious boon for two actors playing best buds, but it had its drawbacks. Hamburg wanted them to improvise their first “man date”— an evening of fish tacos and drinks — but Segal says an hour into their riffing, Hamburg had to reel them in.
“He had to remind us that this was the first time our characters had really talked,” Segel says.
Rudd and Segel’s affable chemistry is undeniable, but it was also there between Rudd and actress Rashida Jones, who plays his fiancee.
“We’ve been great friends for many years,” says Rudd of Jones (“The Office,” the upcoming NBC sitcom “Parks & Recreation” and daughter of SXSW Music keynote speaker Quincy Jones). “I love her. I was so excited that she was doing the movie.”
But Rudd and Segel were both somewhat nervous to work with other castmembers — namely, the gentlemen of the legendary prog-rock group Rush.
“They’re so mysterious,” says Rudd, who was worried Geddy Lee and company would get tired of playing “Limelight” 40 takes in a row.
If anyone knows what that was like, it was Rudd and Segel, who had to film their hysterical “Tom Sawyer’ cover over two 14-hour days.
“’Tom Sawyer’ still haunts me a tiny bit,” says Segel.
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They've got the funny. Now, where's the money?
Some of the biggest names in online comedy videos (Ricky Van Veem of collegehumor.com, Keith Richman of Break Media), along with “Colbert Report” writer Meredith Scardino, actor B.J. Novak of “The Office” and BOXEE’s Avner Ronen gathered in the cavernous ballroom A at the Austin Convention Center to discuss comedy, and content in general, online.
As one might expect, there was not too terribly much new ground covered here. But such is the case with a nebulous, growing and unpredictable medium.
Richman admits that one of the biggest problems for online content and its producers is the fact that it is still too hard to monetize online content. He claimed that even though some of the videos on his site may get more views than 30-50 digital cable channels, he is still not able to find a way to make the money those channels do.
While people may be watching more and more online content, Van Veem said that a recent study found that Americans average 151 hours of tv watching, so it seems tv is not going away any time soon.
The boon for viewers and the trouble for tv, however, may come from the fact that with the Internet, people can watch what they want and won’t waste time watching shows they don’t like, as they might with TV. According to Novak, this should serve as a bit of a warning for bad content on TV. The good shows will stay on the air, he says, but maybe we will be lucky enough to see the bad stuff go away.
The biggest challenge for producers of online content will continue to come from the struggle to get money and distribution. The good news seems to be that online content is judged and promoted in a democratic way. If people like a video, they will pass it along, and eventually the process of passing along clips will be the new stamp of approval as opposed to the stamp of approval that comes from a late-night talk show host or television producer. Web 2.0 — you be the star, star-maker. As for the salary of said stars and star-makers, we’re still working on that part, it seems. The future holds the answers. As always.
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The art of acting, according to Jeffrey Tambor
Part acting coach, part Buddhist, part life coach, part stand-up comedian, Jeffrey Tambor wowed the participants at his acting workshop this afternoon.
The first half of the two-hour event had the actor and writing coach workshopping a scene with two actors, putting them through paces and exercises to find an emotional honesty and vulnerability. His cajoling and direction helped the two find the purpose of their scene, to, as Tambor put it, “break the glass” to find how who they were and what the scene was about.
His biggest direction was to get the actors to get outside of themselves and not worry about being “overmuch.” As an anecdote, he described Mickey Rourke’s now-famous acceptance speech at the IFC Awards as one of the greatest speeches he had ever seen. That kind of letting go was what Tambor was trying to evince from the actors.
“There’s no honor lost in being excited and emotional and passionate,” Tambor said.
His method was supportive, tender, humorous and fully honest. That honesty, humanity and candor carried over into the question-and-answer portion, as Tambor discussed the role of the artist and finding confidence in your life and work. Tambor touched on the relationship between actors and writers, and how there must be trust and respect from both sides. Creating a play or movie is a malleable process, not anarchy, but cerainly a give-and-take, he said. He also shared his personal battle with worrying and confessed that it was having children that got him outside of himself. In that same vain of generosity, he said that when you are trapped in your own head or being obsessive and neurotic, the best thing you can do is to do something for someone else. The artist must listen to himself, believe in himself, never think to please and always surround himself with people who give him confidence.
Tambor’s humor, grace and honesty undoubtedly left many in the audienced embued with that sense of confidence, fearlessness and self-reliance of which he spoke.
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Linklater's new film to screen at SXSW
The “Super Special Screening,” we hear, slated for 11 a.m. Monday at the Paramount is Richard Linklater’s “Me and Orson Welles,” starring Zac Efron and Claire Danes. Look out for the official announcement.
The movie did well at the annual Toronto film fest last year and received upbeat reviews. It’s still looking for a distributor.
More on the film HERE.
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SXSW Film kick-off party pix
Shots from the SXSW film opening night party Friday at Buffalo Billiards.
But first, a snap of John Inwood, writer-director of the Austin-made “ExTerminators,” which premiered Friday at the Paramount after “I Love You, Man.” More on his movie and screenings HERE. He’s arriving on the red carpet.
OK. Back to the party …
Mike Judge (“Office Space”)
“I Love You, Man” promo silliness
Austin filmmaker David Zellner, who co-stars in “Beeswax” at SXSW
Austin filmmaker PJ Raval, who shot Tim McCanlies’ SXSW comedy “The 2 Bobs”
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'I Love You, Man' Q&A
Back to Friday night’s noisily successful opening night with the Paul Rudd comedy “I Love You, Man.” Just for a minute.
The post-screening Q&A was moderated by charming first-timer Janet Pierson, doing a wonderful job handling her virgin experience as SXSW Film Producer. “It’s my first Q&A. I’m kinda struggling here,” she said, though the audience rebuked her with a swell of cheers and applause. (You’re doing great, Janet!)
Tiny, quickie excerpts:
SXSW film producer Janet Pierson, commanding the crowd. Great job!
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Jeffrey Tambor will rock you today
One of the annual highlights at the SXSW Film Conference is actor/funnyman Jeffrey Tambor’s Acting Workshop, happening at 3 p.m. today in Room 16AB at the Convention Center.
He was in town Friday night for the film kick-off party at Buffalo Billiards on Sixth Street, and looked dapper. Proof:
During the panel, Tambor (“The Larry Sanders Show,” “Arrested Development”) “explores the practical and philosophical approaches that lead to a great performance. He will rehearse and refine a scene with actors to break down the performance process. It’s for those interested in bridging the gap between actor and director. Directors and filmmakers are encouraged to attend and bring questions.”
Those are SXSW’s words. Actress Jess Weixler (“Alexander the Last”) will join him.
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SXSW: Opening Night
SXSW Film kicked off Friday night at the Paramount with a cyclone of laughter and celeb-juiced buzz: What the hell, Paul Rudd and Jason Segel were there, doing the red carpet and sitting in the audience, watching with nearly 1,000 viewers their new “bromantic” comedy “I Love You, Man.”
They cracked up as much as swooning fans. We saw them. True.
Jon Favreau — actor in “Swingers,” of course, and the director of last summer’s “Iron Man” — joined the posse, along with co-star Rashida Jones (daughter of a certain Quincy) and the tart, fashionably brittle Jaime Pressly.
The full house went mad for the opener, a very funny Hollywood comedy in the mold of all the Apatow, Inc. hits preceding it, like “Knocked Up” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” which also screened at prior SXSWs (meaning Rudd and Segel are happy SXSW vets).
Some shots:
Paul Rudd, arriving at the Paramount on a damp Friday night
Jon Favreau, shooting the marquee of his movie on his cell
Rashida Jones, who plays Rudd’s fiancee in the comedy
Pressly on the carpet
And here’s SXSW producer Janet Pierson (far left) and “I Love You, Man” writer-director John Hamburg, producer Donald De Line, Rudd, Segel, Jones, Favreau again with his unforgiving, all-seeing cell phone, as they introduce the preordained blockbuster:
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March 13, 2009
The early buzz: 'We Live in Public'
‘We Live in Public’
Few people soared as high as Internet pioneer Josh Harris during the dot.com bubble of the late 1990s, and few fell so hard after the bust.
Early on, Harris understood the potential of the Web to replace television as a broadband entertainment medium, founding Pseudo.com, the first Internet ‘network.’
He boasted to ‘60 Minutes’ that he would soon be bigger than CBS. And he set up one of the most bizarre live broadcasts in history: the 24-hour recording of 100 people who were living in a New York City bunker.
When they showered, their images were broadcast. Same thing when they went to the bathroom, made love. Everything was fair game, and the private lives became public.
After a police raid in early 2000, the bunker project shut down. But Harris continued to ‘live in public’ for six months with his girlfriend on the Internet. When they fought, each one would run to his or her laptop to see what the public thought: Did he win the argument, or did she?
And throughout it all, Harris began to see some holes in his theory that people would be willing to trade their privacy for public recognition.
Director Ondi Timoner, who spent more than a decade tracking Harris, shows the not only his prescience but also his startling cluelessness.
‘We Live in Public’ won the top documentary prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Austin Convention Center; 11:30 a.m., Wednesday, Paramount
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March 12, 2009
SXSW capsule review: 'For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism'
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SXSW capsule review: 'Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo'
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SXSW capsule review: 'Alexander the Last'
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SXSW capsule review: 'Soul Power'
Maybe it’s my upbringing. Maybe it’s my taste in music. But in my humble opinion, this documentary rocks.
“Soul Power” focuses on a three-day music festival held in Zaire in 1974, when Muhammad Ali and George Foreman met for the famous “Rumble in the Jungle.” The festival included performances by James Brown, Celia Cruz, the Mighty JBs, Bill Withers, B.B. King, Miriam Makeba and the Spinners.
The footage, which includes plenty of scenes with the Champ, has long been held in limbo because of financial difficulties associated with a Liberian investment group that paid for the festival and the filming of it.
The early highlights include Cruz jamming with other musicians on the flight to Africa, as well as scenes of musical street life in Kinshasa, the Zairian capital. The movie also shows how close the whole concert came to falling apart.
Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, who edited the boxing documentary “When We Were Kings,” directs, culling from more than 12 hours of film.
The performances by Withers, King and Brown are nothing less than amazing.
Screening: 2:30 p.m., Thursday, at the Paramount.
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SXSW capsule review: 'American Violet'
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SXSW capsule review: 'The Big Squeeze'
Austin-based documentary veteran Hector Galan continues his career-long interest in Mexican American culture with “The Big Squeeze,” which centers on an accordion showdown sponsored by the nonprofit Texas Folklife center.
Part of the Accordion Kings & Queens celebration, the Big Squeeze gathers promising nonprofessional players in a search for tomorrow’s stars. The youngsters here have talent, and some, like John Ramirez (who took up the instrument at the age of four and rehearses on a stage built in the family kitchen) display real charisma in performance. But the half-hour television format required for this film doesn’t allow for much development of drama or character — especially when the filmmakers have footage of stars such as Mingo Saldivar and Step Rideau to, er, squeeze in as well.
Screening: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Austin Convention Center.
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SXSW capsule review: 'The Way We Get By'
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SXSW capsule review: 'Trust Us, This Is All Made Up'
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SXSW capsule review: 'The Time of Their Lives'
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SXSW capsule review: 'Monsters from the Id'
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SXSW capsule review: 'Motherland'
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SXSW capsule review: 'Trimpin'
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SXSW capsule review: 'Over the Hills and Far Away'
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SXSW capsule review: 'Beeswax'
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SXSW capsule review: 'Saint Misbehavin': The Wavy Gravy Movie'
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SXSW capsule review: 'Anvil! The Story of Anvil'
Back in the hair-lashing, riff-crunching heyday of ’80s heavy metal, Anvil was a rising force of anthemic noise and comically lewd antics. The group’s snaggle-toothed frontman called himself Lips and played his V-shaped guitar like a perverse love object.
From its Toronto base, Anvil had plans for world domination and almost pulled it off. But, after pioneering the thrash-metal movement and influencing upcoming rock giants Metallica and Slayer, Anvil vanished into obscurity.
“Everybody ripped them off and left them for dead,” says former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash in this oddly touching and enormously entertaining documentary about Anvil’s current comeback attempt. Directed by Sacha Gervasi, an old friend of the bandmates (and now an accomplished Hollywood screenwriter), “The Story of Anvil” catches up with Lips and original drummer Robb Reiner, who formed Anvil as teenagers in 1973.
Almost 40 years later, now well into their jowly 50s, their hunger for hard-rock glory remains unquenched. Instead of sports stadiums, though, Anvil plays sports bars. Lips and Reiner’s impossible dream to reclaim the metal-god mantle is the drama throbbing through the film.
Passion, perseverance, rejection, humiliation, frustration — these are the age-old themes of the struggling artist, and the movie explores them with unflinching honesty. It shows how exhaustingly difficult it is to get noticed in a youth-oriented music industry whose entire business model has changed. And it shares the squabbles sparked when egos clash in a creative fever, recalling the fiery band in-fighting seen in the 2004 Metallica documentary “Some Kind of Monster.”
While this invites our empathy, the movie is also extremely funny, filled with inadvertent “Spinal Tap” moments that make you laugh and love the characters even more. Lips and Reiner endear because they operate in a bubble in which time and good sense have stopped. Their optimism veers on boyish naivete, and they almost infect us with their quixotic hopes. Says Lips: “It can only get better.”
Screening: 10 p.m. Sunday, Alamo South; 9 p.m. Wednesday, Alamo Ritz.
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Daniel Johnston biopic in the works
Some pertinent breaking news just knocked. We answered. On the doorstep: adored Austin musician/artist Daniel Johnston. The special delivery he carries goes like this:
The makers of the inventive, award-winning teen dramedy “My Suicide,” enjoying its U.S. premiere Sunday at SXSW film, have snagged the rights to what they call “one of the most sought-after stories of the new century: the life story of manic-depressive genius singer-songwriter-artist Daniel Johnston.”
We take this message and ponder it. A dramatic feature about Dan “Hi, how are you?” Johnston. Our response is bifurcated: Cool. Then: Crap.
(Who will play him? Jonah Hill? Philip Seymour Hoffman? Oprah? “My Suicide’s” teen lead will play the young Johnston.)
Regenerate Films producers David Lee Miller, Larry Janss and Gabriel Sunday are developing the script.
Johnston, by the by, is playing twice at SXSW Music: 2:45 p.m. March 19 at the Brooklyn Vegan/Paste Magazine party at Radio Room and 1 a.m. March 21 at Emo’s.
For “My Suicide” show times at SXSW Film, go HERE.
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The early buzz: IFC teaming up with SXSW
IFC Festival Direct and South by Southwest are teaming up to present five movies this year that will also be available, by pay per view, on television.
In Austin, the movies can be accessed through IFC in Theaters on Time Warner Cable’s Movies on Demand Channel 1000. Prices range from $5 to $7.
The highest-profile movie in the lineup is ‘Alexander the Last,’ directed by Joe Swanberg.
Swanberg has become a regular at the Austin festival and typically premieres his films here.
The low-budget ‘Alexander the Last’ focuses on the perils faced by a young couple, both of whom are creative professionals and being tempted by the attractive people with whom they work. Like other Swanberg movies, it poses questions about monogamy, both emotionally and sexually. Barlow Jacobs, Jess Weixler and Justin Rice star, and Swanberg and most of the cast will be on hand for the premiere at 10 p.m. Saturday at the Paramount. It will also screen at 11 a.m. March 19 at the Alamo South and at 11:30 a.m. March 21 at the Austin Convention Center.
The other movies in the program are:
‘Paper Covers Rock,’ which focuses on a young woman (Jeannine Kaspar) who tries to commit suicide and then has to fight to regain her daughter. Joe Maggio (‘Virgil Bliss’) directs. 7 p.m. Friday at the Hideout.
‘Medicine for Melancholy,’ returning from last year’s festival and dealing with the one-night stands of two African Americans in San Francisco. 9 p.m. Friday at the Hideout.
‘Three Blind Mice,’ an Australian tale about three Navy officers who go out on the town in Sydney before shipping off to war. 5 p.m. Sunday at the Alamo South, 10 p.m. Tuesday (March 17) at the Alamo South and 3 p.m. March 20 at the Alamo Ritz.
‘Zift,’ a Bulgarian story about a man who’s released from an unjust imprisonment to discover that he’s living in a totalitarian state in the 1960s. Javor Gardev directs, and cinematographer Emil Christov brings an atmospheric eeriness to the film. 11:59 p.m. Friday at the Alamo Ritz and 11:59 March 19 at the Alamo Ritz.
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March 11, 2009
Bruno coming!
Guess what, folks. Got in this morning and found out that SXSW and Fantastic Fest will present a “special sneak peek” at footage from ‘Bruno,’ the new Sacha Baron Cohen movie.
Cohen’s previous effort, as everyone knows, was ‘Borat.’ The screening will be held on Sunday at 11 p.m., at the Alamo on South Lamar. And no badge will be needed. It’s free. So it will probably be a zoo.
In the movie, Cohen dresses provocatively, in tacky see-through shirts, and proceeds to make straight males uncomfortable. Could be a hoot. No mention of Cohen actually being there. We’ll see.
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March 10, 2009
The maturation of Joe Swanberg
Young filmmaker Joe Swanberg, long the bane of my film festival-going career, has finally made a pretty good and recommendable movie. Still in his 20s, I believe, he began with puerile, poorly thought-out and semi-embarrassing micro-budget indie exercises like “Kissing on the Mouth,” “LOL” and “Hannah Takes the Stairs.” They were strictly indulgent, with itty-bitty sparks of promise.
Yet with the curiously titled “Alexander the Last,” world-premiering at SXSW this week, he demonstrates a real urge and ambition toward mature filmmaking. I won’t go on, because another reviewer is writing up this indie-that-can, but it’s a marked departure, a happy upgrading of his previous work, which, if we are fair, was noble and serious.
I have to chalk it up to the fact that Swanberg either attracted or enlisted two name producers, Noah Baumbach (writer-director of “The Squid and the Whale” and much more) and Anish Savjani (“Wendy & Lucy”), who likely kept him on his toes, and a professional cast that can actually act. Regardless, almost everything is nicely in place — performances, tempo, music, cuts, cues, camera work, emotional marks — and it’s worth a peek during SXSW.
SXSW screening dates HERE.
More about the movie HERE.
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The Early buzz: 'Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo'
Austin filmmaker Brad Beesley, who’s known for his bizarre Americana documentary ‘Okie Noodling,’ turns his camera on Oklahomans again, but this time, the subjects aren’t fishermen. They’re prisoners.
In ‘Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo,’ Beesley explores the vibrant, near-extinct phenomenon of prison rodeos, specifically the one in McAlester, Okla.
Since 1940, Oklahoma convicts have participated in what some people see as a gladiatorial contest, with multiple injuries and maimings. And in 2006, Oklahoma allowed women to join the rodeo and compete against the men.
Beesley doesn’t just show the rodeo. Over a couple of years, he trains his camera on the men and women who are competing and tells their stories — how they ended up in prison, how long they’ve been there, why they’re competing.
And some of the facts he uncovers are startling. It turns out that the vast majority of the imprisoned women are there not for violent crimes, but for drug possession or distribution. And the few murderers who do compete in the rodeo seem truly repentant.
Among the women are Crystal Herrington and Rhonda Buffalo. We see them training, see them in their cells and eventually see them riding broncs against the men.
Although many people may question the wisdom of holding a rodeo, the annual event at least gives the imprisoned cowboys and cowgirls a goal. The danger of the final scenes, however, may surprise viewers.
11 a.m. Saturday at the Paramount; 1:30 p.m. March 17 at the Alamo Ritz downtown; 4:30 p.m. March 20 at the Austin Convention Center.
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March 8, 2009
Early buzz: 'Four Boxes'
Few films will fit in better with the overall focus of the upcoming South by Southwest Film and Interactive festivals than ‘Four Boxes.’
The thriller, starring Justin Kirk of Showtime’s ‘Weeds,’ deals with a team of ambulance chasers who target the homes of people who have died and left estates that need liquidating.
A mystery develops when the team sets up shop in a house and starts watching real-life events being streamed onto a Web site called fourboxes.tv. And before long, the liquidators begin to think what’s happening on the Web site might have some connection to the home where they are working.
Even more troublesome: The Web site appears to be showing what might be a terrorist cell planning an attack on the United States.
Directed by Wyatt McDill, ‘Four Boxes’ explores the permeable boundaries between real life and events being shown on the Web.
What’s real and what’s not? You’ll have to decide when watching this world premiere. McDill describes the movie as ‘a game-changing film that hints at the artistic and infrastructural collapse’ between storytelling on the big screen and on the Internet. Terryn Westbrook and Sam Rosen co-star with Kirk.
‘Four Boxes’ screens at 9:30 p.m. March 15 at the Alamo South, and at 4 p.m. March 17 at the Paramount. It will screen again at 7 p.m. March 20 at the Alamo South. The cast and crew are expected at various screenings. A party follows the world premiere March 15 at the Tap Room.
This one’s interesting, folks.
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March 5, 2009
Early buzz: Donald De Line
Producer Donald De Line will be having a big South by Southwest moment this year. His movie ‘I Love You, Man’ will be the opening-night film on March 13, and his other new movie, ‘Observe and Report,’ will be the centerpiece screening on March 16.
Most people in Austin probably don’t know anything about De Line, but they should. He’s a former chairman of Paramount and a former president of Touchstone. And he now has his own production company, De Line Pictures.
‘I Love You, Man,’ which will have its premiere in Austin, stars Paul Rudd and Jason Segel. In need of a best man for his upcoming wedding, Rudd goes on a series on ‘man dates’ in an attempt to find a friend. John Hamburg directs, and most of the cast will be on hand for the premiere. It’s scheduled for wide release March 20, a week after playing SXSW.
‘Observe and Report,’ another comedy that will premiere here, stars Seth Rogen as a bipolar security guard who is trying to track down a mall flasher. It’s directed by Jody Hill and will go into wide release April 10. Ray Liotta and Austin’s Jesse Plemons co-star.
In addition to De Line’s two new movies, he’s also working on big-screen versions of ‘Green Lantern,’ directed by Martin Campbell; ‘The Jetsons,’ with Austin’s writer/director Robert Rodriguez; and ‘Yogi Bear.’
Screenings: ‘I Love You, Man,’ 7:30 p.m. March 13 at the Paramount
‘Observe and Report,’ 9:30 p.m., March 16 at the Paramount
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Early buzz: Soul Power
Of all the movies playing at the upcoming South by Southwest Film Festival, few have been getting more favorable buzz than ‘Soul Power.’
It screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and received positive notices from numerous critics. And the premise sounds intriguing.
The documentary focuses on a three-day music festival held in Zaire in 1974, when Muhammad Ali and George Foreman met for the famous ‘Rumble in the Jungle.’ The festival included performances by James Brown, the Mighty JBs, Bill Withers, B.B. King, Miriam Makeba and the Spinners.
The footage from those performances has long been held in limbo because of financial difficulties associated with a Liberian investment group that paid for the festival and the filming of it. But the rights to the footage have finally been settled. And Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, who edited the boxing documentary ‘When We Were Kings,’ has put together a new movie based on the original footage.
‘Soul Power’ includes scenes of American musicians arriving in Africa and follows them through their performances — more than 12 hours of film that’s been edited down to about 90 minutes.
‘Soul Power’ is the directing debut of Levy-Hinte, who previously produced ‘Thirteen,’ ‘Mysterious Skin’ and ‘Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.’
Screening: 2:30 p.m., March 19, at the Paramount
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March 3, 2009
Early buzz on 'The Hurt Locker'
If you’re planning your film viewing during the South by Southwest Film Festival, you’ll want to know about the area premiere of ‘The Hurt Locker,’ from director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal.
Bigelow needs no introduction to Texas movie lovers, but if you need your memory jogged, she directed 1987’s classic ‘Near Dark,’ starring Adrian Pasdar as a young Texan who falls for a girl who happens to be a member of a vampire gang.
Since then, she has gained a reputation as one of the nation’s most visually exciting directors, as she showed in 1991’s ‘Point Break’ and in 1995’s ‘Strange Days.’
‘The Hurt Locker’ premiered last year at the Venice Film Festival to widespread acclaim and has been making the rounds on the festival circuit before its official release this summer. The war thriller was shot on location in Jordan and deals with a bomb squad working in Iraq. It’s based on recently declassified information as well as personal observations by screenwriter Boal, who was an embedded journalist during the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Jeremy Renner stars as the leader of the bomb squad, and supporting actors include Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes.
After the Venice premiere, ‘The Hurt Locker’ received a 10-minute standing ovation. Variety described it as a high-adrenaline jolt.
Bigelow and Boal will be in attendance at the Austin premiere at 6:30 p.m. March 17 at the Paramount.
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Raimi and Demme coming to SXSW
Sam Raimi is best known to those not in the know as the director of the “Spider-Man” franchise (still waiting for the apology for part 3, mister). But before that he displayed wondrous chops as a horror mastermind with the giddily inventive “Evil Dead” trilogy. (And before that, he worked with the Coen brothers, and they cooked up all sorts of cinematic tricks.)
Anyway, Raimi will screen his work-in-progress horror movie — yes, he’s back to his rotten, bloody roots! — “Drag Me to Hell,” which is not only what my last girlfriend told me but also might be the fourth best title ever. The movie stars Alison Lohman and Justin Long and is described as a “young woman’s desperate quest to break an evil curse.”
Raimi will introduce the film at midnight March 15 at the Paramount Theatre.
‘Drag Me’ right here …
On a less gory and gutty note … Jonathan Demme is showing his new Neil Young concert movie “Neil Young Trunk Show” on March 21 at the Paramount. And Demme will be there to chat it up.
Full info on these and every SXSW movie HERE.
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March 2, 2009
SXSW Watch: The early buzz
Like every other arts lover in Austin, you’re probably wondering how to plan your schedule during South by Southwest, which kicks off March 13 with the Film Conference and Festival.
The American-Statesman Life & Arts staff will be giving tips on upcoming events to help in your planning.
First up: Marshall Allman, 24, the star of the new movie, ‘The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle.’
The Austin native moved to Southern California shortly after graduating from Austin High School, and some of his first work was as a guest on various TV shows, including ‘Without a Trace,’ ‘Boston Public’ and ‘Malcolm in the Middle.’ His most high-profile TV role so far has been as LJ Burrows on ‘Prison Break.’
In director David Russo’s new film, ‘The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle,’ Allman plays Dory, a guy who loses his high-tech job and ends up working as a night janitor. Before long, he forms a bond with his fellow workers and discovers that he and they are the subjects of a bizarre experiment that is changing their minds and bodies.
Described as a hallucinatory tale that includes animated sequences, ‘Little Dizzle’ co-stars Tygh Runyan of ‘Normal,’ Tania Raymonde of ‘Lost’ and Vince Vieluf. Screenings: March 15, 9:15 p.m., Alamo Ritz; March 19, 4 p.m., Alamo Ritz; March 21, 11 a.m., Alamo South.
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February 19, 2009
Ants in her pants
Bastrop auteur Carolyn Banks is in post-prod for her indie comedy-romance-horror movie “Invicta,” and sends us this nicely written update:
Carolyn Banks is sputtering, and to many, what she’s saying may sound crazy. “The ants,” she shouts, “the ants will be done on St. Patrick’s Day.”
But she isn’t talking about real ants. She’s talking about computer-generated ants that are being drawn by Austin artist Craig Staggs. And the ants are an integral part of “Invicta,” a feature-length movie Banks wrote and directed.
The film was made entirely in Bastrop, and was shot in October and November. The local non-profit, Upstart, produced “Invicta,” along with River Road Studio, Banks’ production entity.
“People remember the publicity we got when we were running around town with cameras and lights and stuff,” Banks says, “but after that, it’s as though the movie drops out of sight.”
This period marks the tedious and lengthy post-production process, where the scenes that were acted out over and over again from various angles are scrutinized and put into a sequence that appeals to the eye.
“Audiences don’t realize all that goes into it. It isn’t like a play where you get one continuous view. The camera moves around, shows the scene from over one person’s shoulder, or from above, or with one actor in the shot and then two. The editing is tough because of all those choices, but that’s what gives movies a special kind of life.”
Banks is pleased with the completed footage she’s seen so far. “Jessica Gardner is doing 98% of it. Her creative eye and the decisions she makes are fabulous. My input is minimal, because she and I are so much in sync about the way a movie ought to move. I just sit there and go, ‘Maybe that should be shorter.’ But mostly I just say, ‘Oh, Jess, that’s great!’”
More about “Invicta” HERE.
Metalheads and Mickey Rourke should be salivating over this smash-rockin’ dose of heavy metal at SXSW this year: a pair of rock docs, “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” and the North American premiere of “Iron Maiden: Flight 666.”
I saw and loved “Anvil!” at Sundance 2008 and the Maiden flick holds promise. My euphoric response to “Anvil!” is HERE (scroll down a little).
More about “666,” screening March 18 at the Paramount Theatre, HERE.
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February 18, 2009
'Fantastic' additions to SXSW
“Ong Bak 2” — unfettered Muay Thai boxing action — tops the line-up of the “SXSW Presents Fantastic Fest at Midnight” program during, what else, SXSW.
See the whole fabtastic program HERE.
Humankind could hardly produce a better poster.
Austin rapper Smokey Smoke is stretching his talents to movie makin’ with his new feature “Makin’ Da Paper Stack,” directed by and starring himself.
Says Smokey: “The movie, on DVD, is available throughout Austin at different locations, from gas stations to local records stores like MusicMania and online at Filmbaby.com (CDBaby.com for the soundtrack). … It shows what life in the streets is like for two hustlers who will do anything to try to get rich, which includes gun sells, drugs and murder.”
More HERE.
The Ransom Center has a good film program called the Rubaiyat Film Series, running Tuesday, March 24 and April 28 in conjunction with the exhibit “The Persian Sensation: ‘The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam” in the West.”
The films, all at 7 p.m. and free:
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February 13, 2009
SXSW releases film-related schedules
SXSW Film has announced its complete schedules for screenings and panels, so get out your highlighters and start making plans.
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Bujalski in Berlin
Austin filmmaker and accidental ‘mumblecore’ spearhead (how we loathe that term — die! die!) Andrew Bujalski was at the Berlin International Film Festival this week to premiere his latest loosey-goosey micro-indie “Beeswax,” which also plays SXSW next month.
The Austin-made movie earned mixed reviews, ranging from content to fork-in-the-eye hostile, yet, according to an interview with the beardy auteur at IndieWire.com, Bujalski remains “Not Quite Euphoric, but More Than Happy.”
That’s the headline on the site’s Berlin-set interview with Bujalski, from which this snippet derives:
The concept for “Beeswax” began with Bujalski wanting to create a vehicle for friends Tilly Hatcher and Maggie Hatcher, twin sisters who play the same in the movie. However, he didn’t intend to create a vehicle starring Austin’s film community. And Bujalski didn’t set out to tell an Austin story. He wrote the film while living in Boston (conversely, “Funny Ha Ha” was written when he lived in Austin and then shot in Boston). … “The last thing I wanted to do was make an in-joke for people who knew the Austin film scene,” Bujalski says.
Bujalski bin ein Berliner, or something (photo:IndieWire)
Read the full interview HERE
And you can now find out exactly when and where “Beeswax” — and the bijillion other motion pictures, shorts, videos, etc. — will screen during SXSW. Why? Cuz the fest has just posted it’s complete schedule so you can plan your week. Go HERE.
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February 9, 2009
SXSW and Fantastic Fest hold hands, hug
Two powerhouse Austin film fests, SXSW and Fantastic Fest, have bonded for next month’s SXSW. They’ve forged the new program “SXSW Presents Fantastic Fest at Midnight,” called a “representative sample of the FF’s signature midnight genre programming, featuring six new premieres exclusive to SXSW.”
Which means blood, guts, guns and giant monsters in diapers.
The program’s line-up will be announced later this month HERE.
Speaking of Fantastic Fest — and we totally were — a full-throttle Texas horror flick that played last year’s FF, “The Wild Man of Navidad,” is coming to IFC Films Festival Direct. So you can watch the nifty little Texas gothic, with its creepy “Texas Chainsaw” flavors, on demand or pay per view starting Feb. 11.
The scoop HERE.
Sebastian Cordoba’s doc “Through Thick and Thin” kicks off the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival’s new Monthly Screening series at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 in the Spirit Theatre at the Bullock Museum. Cordoba will be there and a party follows at 8:30 p.m.
The film screens in conjunction with the Bullock’s “Altered Lives: An Immigration Film Series.”
More about the AGLIFF show HERE.
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February 1, 2009
SXSW unveils all 2009 films
SXSW has announced its full 2009 roster of films, including new titles by Austinites Andrew Bujalski and Tim McCanlies, Spike Lee and Kathryn Bigelow, as well as some big titles fresh out of Sundance like “Humpday,” starring former Austin boy Mark Duplass (who stars in not one, but two films at the fest).
Here are MANY — but not all — of the titles:
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
SPOTLIGHT PREMIERES (Premieres and sneak previews of films with distribution, plus world premieres from notable filmmakers or about notable subjects.)
For all the rest — and there is MUCH more — go HERE.
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January 20, 2009
More Austin-related news out of Sundance
This blip from Variety tip-toed across our radar. It has to do with IFC Films, South by Southwest and aspiring filmmaker Joe Swanberg. We serve it up whole here (but we’ve corrected the spelling of Swanberg’s surname, which Variety mauled):
IFC Films and the SXSW Film Conference and Festival will simultaneously world preem Joe Swanberg’s “Alexander the Last” on March 14 at the fest and on the channel’s “Festival Direct” VOD platform.
Produced by Noah Baumbach [say what? — Ed.], pic explores the highs and lows of a young marriage.
Steven Soderbergh, who’s pic “Che” will be released on Wednesday via VOD, joined IFC prexy Jonathan Sehring, SXSW Film producer Janet Pierson, and Swanberg to announce the partnership Monday at the Sundance Film Festival.
Soderbergh explained that since theater chains have locked out movies like “Che,” VOD becomes a natural option. He also stressed that filmmakers have to give up the idea of a purely theatrical release and “change their thinking in the way they expect revenue to be generated.”
“It’s our job to connect talent with audiences,” said SXSW’s Pierson. “Conversations are getting louder about how festivals can and should aggressively help filmmakers.”
“It’s a smarter way to make the release an event,” added Swanberg. “Better than just sitting in a theater, waiting on people to come.”
Swanberg’s previous film, “Nights and Weekends,” also went out on IFC’s VOD after a theatrical run. “More people saw it on VOD than ever saw it in the theater,” he explained.
Other upcoming SXSW films are also involved in the deal. Javor Gardev’s neo-noir “Zift” and Matthew Newton’s dark comedy “Three Blind Mice” will have their simul-preem on the channel and fest. And in a fest rewind, IFC will offer the 2008 SXSW pics “Medicine for Melancholy” and “Paper Covers Rock.”
Sehring said they will look to expand the program to other festivals, “It’s a natural leap for us.”
“At a time when the U.S. marketplace for truly American independent and foreign films is rapidly changing, and many films are having difficulty getting exposure, IFC Films has created opportunities for a wide range of films to find an audience,” said Sehring.
While IFC was guarded about the actual numbers, Sehring said 250 VOD transactions equals $1.8 million. “It’s been a big success,” he said.
Magnolia Pictures has spent mid-six figures for worldwide rights to Lynn Shelton’s “Humpday,” a lo-fi buddy comedy that attracted six offers and a protracted bidding war.
Film stars former Austinite and UT alum Mark Duplass and Joshua Leonard as two straight best friends who decide to film themselves having sex for an art project. Pic preemed Friday in the Sundance Film Festival’s competition section.
An unorthodox release plan will see Magnolia launch the pic on VOD before an August theatrical opening, much like their release of the crime pic “Flawless” starring Demi Moore.
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January 13, 2009
Seth Rogen back at SXSW
Sure, Seth Rogen stars in the centerpiece film at this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival, another very Rogen-esque comedy called “Observe and Report.”
But guess what? We’re a little weary of Rogen and his one-note, lovable schlep/stoner routine. We’re more excited (a teeny bit) that the movie’s directed by Jody Hill, who’s half responsible for “The Foot Fist Way.” So there.
They bill it as Rogen’s return to SXSW — yes, he’ll be there — after his and Paul Rudd’s triumph with “Knocked Up” in 2007.
More panelists for the SXSW film conference have also been announced, including Catherine Hardwicke, Robert Rodriguez, Mike Judge and the inexplicably tolerated Joe Swanberg.
For more SXSW film titles and panelists, go HERE.
“Channeling: An Invocation of Spectral Bodies and Queer Spirits,” a cool traveling exhibition of short videos, arrives in Austin, thanks to the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival and Austin Video Bee.
The 68-minute program plays at 8:30 p.m. Jan. 24 at the Hideout on Congress Avenue, and is described by its curators as “entryway into the spirit realm and the queer body politic: a program of experimental moving image work that calls up the ghosts of the past and the specters of the future.”
Details HERE.
Austin’s movie reviewing wunderkind Cole Dabney passes along this delectably mean survey of 2008’s worst film-critic quote whores. It’s great, and it’s HERE.
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January 12, 2009
'Office Space' turns 10 with flair
Mike Judge’s cult comedy “Office Space” turns 10 this spring. Damn.
And no Austin-made movie worth its Chronicle coverage is going to celebrate its 10th birthday without a sold-out bash/screening at the Paramount Theatre.
Judge and yet-unnamed cast members will host a special showing of “Office Space” at 8 p.m. Feb. 9 at the Paramount. The party’s being thrown by SXSW and Fantastic Fest.
Plus, we’re told, “There will be exclusive giveaways courtesy of Fox Home Entertainment, and co-presenters SXSW and Fantastic Fest have promised special ‘Office Space’ activities before and after the screening.”
Tickets go on sale at noon Thursday. But: Tickets ONLY are available for the first 48 hours to 2009 SXSW and Fantastic Fest badge holders. Tickets will be available to the general public starting at noon on Saturday, January 17 at the Paramount Theater box office or online at gettix.net.
Wanna volunteer at South by Southwest? Calls are Jan. 25 and 26. All you need right HERE.
The Golden Globes are an obscenity, pointless puffery and piffle, wearing a dipped-in-bronze smile and oozing corruption and fraudulence.
That said, we liked a few acceptance speeches at last night’s synthetic ceremony, orations that let something warm and human and real shine through. We tried to find them on YouTube, but failed. Still, note:
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December 16, 2008
SXSW names opening night film
The Paul Rudd comedy “I Love You, Man” will open the South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival on March 13, the fest has announced.
Co-starring Jason Segel and Rashida Jones, the movie was co-written and directed by John Hamburg, who co-wrote “Meet the Parents” and “Zoolander” and directed “Along Came Polly.”
SXSW describes it like this: “The film centers on a man who, upon getting engaged, realizes he has no close male friends and must find someone to be the best man at his wedding.”
SXSW film runs March 13 — 21. All HERE.
More about the movie HERE.
The Austin Business Journal reports that the Alamo Drafthouse is hatching a branch at Circle C Ranch in southwest Austin.
The Journal’s story:
Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas plans to bring a new $5 million theater to Circle C Ranch next year that will boast digital projectors, the latest sound system and equipment to show 3-D movies, which appear to be making a big comeback.
The roughly 35,000-square-foot proposed theater will be a model for future theaters moving forward, said John Martin, president and CEO of Alamo Drafthouse. The Circle C location, slated to open in 2009, will have at least eight screens and will be the largest corporate-owned unit for the movie theater company.
Alamo Drafthouse is in lease negotiations with Austin-based developer Stratus Properties Inc., which would be a development partner in the theater, Martin said.
Stratus Properties declined to comment about the deal.
THIS links you to the story.
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November 11, 2008
Call for entries
If you’re a high school filmmaker, there’s no better way to get exposure than entering the fifth annual Texas High School Film Competition.
It’s sponsored by the South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival. The call for entries was issued this week.
The competition is open to Texas students in the 9th through 12th grades. Only films completed in 2008 will be considered, and the films must be less than five minutes in length. Finalists will be featured in a special program.
Deadline for submission: Dec. 20. $10. http://sxsw.com/film/screenings/submissions/texashighschool
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October 30, 2008
South by Southwest gears up
The South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival has announced the first round of speakers for the 2009 event, scheduled for March 13-21.
The lineup so far: Writer/directors Todd Haynes (‘I’m Not There’) and Richard Linklater (‘Me and Orson Welles’) are scheduled for a joint appearance/conversation.
Also on hand will be Col Needham, founder and vice president of IMDB Service Limited, and longtime Stanley Kubrick producer Jan Harlan.
The festival’s call for entries is open, with an early deadline of Nov. 14 and final deadline of Dec. 12. For more information, visit www.sxsw.com/film.
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