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SXSW announces features lineup, including ‘21 Jump Street,’ ‘Bernie’ and ‘Killer Joe’
Filmmaker Emmett Malloy and his cameras followed Mumford and Sons on the British band’s train tour that passed through Austin in April. His “Big Easy Express,” a documentary about the tour that included Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show, will close the festival March 17.
The festival will also feature the latest from University of Texas alumnus Matthew McConaughey, who stars with Emile Hirsch in the crime drama “Killer Joe” from “French Connection” director William Friedkin. Austin filmmaker Richard Linklater, who gave McConaughey his big break in “Dazed and Confused,” will screen his dark comedy, the locally shot “Bernie,” which stars Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine and McConaughey.
Other movies with Austin ties playing SXSW include “Do-Deca-Pentathalon” from University of Texas alumni, brothers Jay and Mark Duplass; Austinite Bob Byington’s “Somebody Up There Likes Me,” starring Offerman and Kevin Corrigan; the Zellner brothers’ “Kid-Thing,” which recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival; and the documentary “America’s Parking Lot,” Austinite Jonny Mars’ directorial debut about two die-hard Cowboys fans and their finals days as tailgaters at Texas Stadium.
Always a highlight in the Live Music Capital of the World, the 24 Beats Per Second category features music-related films. Those include “Charles Bradley: Soul of America,” a documentary about the late-blossoming soul singer who drew raves with his performance at last year’s SXSW. Two Los Angeles-themed documentaries, “Sunset Strip,” which chronicles the 100-year history of the legendary street, and Mark Ford’s “Uprising: Hip Hop & The L.A. Riots,” a look at hip-hop’s role in the social unrest of the ’90s, should also play to large audiences at the film festival.
SXSW will screen 130 features during the festival, including 51 films from first-time directors. The narrative and documentary feature categories will each consist of eight films making their world premieres.
“SXSW has long been a haven for bold filmmaking and a launching pad for authentic voices,” says Janet Pierson, the film conference and festival producer. “Every year we start anew, trying hard not to rely on our own formulas or expectations. This year we’re excited to present a fresh slate of breakout talent, but one that’s still uniquely SXSW.”
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Meat Loaf, Barry Corbin and Douglas McGrath to be inducted into Texas Film Hall of Fame
The Austin Film Society announced today that it will induct the men at the 12th annual Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards on March 8 at ACL Live. It was also announced today that musicians Nakia and Suzanna Choffel will make special appearances at the ceremony and perform with the ceremony’s house band, Grupo Fantasma.
Tickets and sponsorships for the March 8 event are now available online, ranging from $75 balcony seats to $25,000 for a 10-person “Blockbuster table” on the floor with a cocktail hour and catered dinner from Trace at the W Hotel. Richard Linklater, and John Paul and Eloise DeJoria are event co-hosts for the 2012 awards.
For tickets or sponsorship information, visit austinfilm.org or contact Ann Welch via email or by phone at 322-0145.
(Photo: Meat Loaf appears on stage during the first concert of his tour through Germany in Hamburg, northern Germany, on Tuesday, June 12, 2007. (ASSOCIATED PRESS Kai-Uwe Knoth)
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Sundance wrapup, awards
Often at film festivals, the jury awards, and sometimes even audience awards, don’t always go the films that have been buzzed about all week by festivalgoers.
This was not the case Saturday night at Sundance, where the two much-hyped films I mentioned in my last post, “Beasts of the Southern Wild” and “The Surrogate,” came away with the Grand Jury Prize for Drama and the Audience Award for U.S. Drama, respectively. Fox Searchlight, which purchased both films earlier in the week, will feel that their choices have been validated, and it is now only a matter of time before these films invade theaters with the full force of Fox’s publicity department behind them. Congrats to these filmmakers on what will surely be a giant step forward for all of their careers.
I was also pleased to see writer/director Ava DuVernay, whom I mentioned as a talent on the rise in a previous post, win the U.S. Directing Award for Drama for “Middle of Nowhere,” and it’s no surprise that the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award went to Derek Connolly for his hilarious and poignant work on “Safety Not Guaranteed,” one of my personal favorites of the fest.
Major documentary awards went to veterans Eugene Jarecki (“Why We Fight”) for “The House I Live In,” a film about America’s failed war on drugs, and Kirby Dick (“This Film Is Not Yet Rated,” “Outrage”) for “The Invisible War,” which investigates the disturbingly widespread sexual assault in our nation’s military. There were no awards for the two major Friday night premieres, “Predisposed” and “The Words,” both of which were met with mixed reviews.
Compared to the frenzied buyer’s market of last year, this year’s Sundance was calmer by comparison. Several surefire audience pleasers have had to wait all week before offers were made by studios, while some are still sitting on the bargaining table.
Remarkably, a film like “Lay the Favorite,” despite being fueled by the glitzy star power of Bruce Willis and Catherine Zeta-Jones, has settled on a day-and-date distribution deal, meaning that it will be available through Video-on-Demand the same day as it releases in a handful of theaters. A few years ago, this “direct-to-video” moniker would have been considered a label of shame, but now it speaks more to the economic conditions facing independent film.
No studio wants to take expensive chances on indie films that don’t have obvious upsides, but, luckily, we have more outlets than ever before to experience these movies. I hope you’ll take advantage of these opportunities and see some of these amazing films, which will serve as proof to the industry at large that there is still an audience for well-made independent films.
(Stephen Jannise is the film program director for the Austin Film Festival).
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High-profile picks at Sundance
Stephen Jannise, the film program director for the Austin Film Festival, is attending the Sundance Film Festival and is filing reports. Here’s the latest, from Friday, 01/27.
Over the course of 10 days at Sundance, certain films with great word of mouth become hot tickets, making it very difficult to get into the additional screenings for those films. This is particularly the case with two films, “Beasts of the Southern Wild” and “The Surrogate,” which generated a great deal of chatter on the streets of Park City after their initial screenings. Don’t worry if you can’t see these films at Sundance, though; both have been bought by Fox Searchlight and will be coming to a city near you later this year.
Other films are more of a slow build, like Richard Bates Jr.’s “Excision,” which has been picking up buzz as the week goes on. Anyone who has seen the TV series “Nip/Tuck” or the new “90210” will recognize lead AnnaLynne McCord, who plays a seductive vixen in both shows.
In “Excision,” she has moved as far away from those roles as she possibly could, playing a nerdy, acne-ridden, semi-sociopathic high school student struggling with strange sexual desires and her overwhelming mother. To my surprise, she carries this role off with great aplomb, creating a unique character who never ceases to fascinate. While Traci Lords is equally surprising in the role of the mother, and John Waters and Malcolm McDowell lend their famous personas to the project for a few moments, no one can steal this movie from McCord, who proves here that she is more than just another pretty face.
I also had the great pleasure of seeing the new film from Austinites David and Nathan Zellner, “KID-THING.” While the film won’t be for everyone, as, I think, the brothers would be the first to admit, I thoroughly enjoyed the film’s portrait of childhood mischief from the perspective of the child.
As the filmmakers said in a Q&A following the film, they felt that films about childhood are too often told from an adult perspective, whether it’s the adults surrounding the child or an adult looking back on childhood. Here, the Zellners stay focused on young Annie, played with anger and heart by newcomer Sidney Aguirre.
At times hilarious, nostalgic, and disturbing, the film seems to be about a child trapped in her own fantasy world with no responsible adults around to pull her out of it. Of course, the filmmakers ultimately give each viewer the opportunity to construct a different interpretation of this thoughtful, beautifully shot piece, which is one of the hallmarks of good filmmaking.
A few films have yet to screen, including tonight’s big premieres “Predisposed,” starring Jesse Eisenberg, Melissa Leo and Tracy Morgan, and “The Words,” which stars Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Irons and Dennis Quaid and was bought by CBS Films before it even played in front of an audience. Stay tuned for a report on these films and on the big winners at Saturday night’s Awards Ceremony.
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Sundance update
Certain films are starting to pick up buzz at Sundance, sending audiences into a frenzy for tickets and distributors into bidding wars for the chance to put their name on the next “Like Crazy” or “Martha Marcy May Marlene.” But the films aren’t the only things making news. From angry Q&As to the loss of a beloved industry veteran, emotions have been running high in the past few days.
“Compliance” has enjoyed very solid word-of-mouth with the added bonus of contentious Q&As, suggesting that the film will be a surefire conversation starter. When a man claiming to be a police officer calls a local fast food restaurant and demands that the manager, Sandra, detain her young female employee, Becky, Sandra follows his orders. As the film progresses, Sandra continues to do what the man says, with horrific results for Becky.
The film examines how quickly we can bow to authority and how dangerous it can be to do so without question. “Compliance” is tense and terrifying, and after its world premiere, some audience members who felt that the film had gone too far loudly voiced their opinions. One filmgoer took offense to the violence against women depicted in the film, arguing that it was too exploitative, and the argument is certainly valid. This film is anything but tame and conservative, and it will surely elicit strong responses from its audience, whether positive or negative. Craig Zobel directs, and Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker and Pat Healy star.
Spike Lee was in town for the premiere of his new film “Red Hook Summer,” and his Q&A was also somewhat contentious. The film itself has received mixed reviews, but, as a fan of Lee’s films, I enjoyed it and think other fans of the director’s work will, too. You’ll find the unmistakable writing and visual style that has been the strength of his past films, particularly since the film is a sequel of sorts to “Do the Right Thing.” But don’t tell Lee that.
Using words that can’t be printed here, Lee asserted that the film is absolutely not a sequel and went on to claim that major studios “know nothing about black people.” As usual with Lee, the spectacle of his rant has overshadowed the fact that he has some good points. Lee is a filmmaker who puts a lot of thought and heart into his films, and it doesn’t seem so crazy that he would want his latest film to stand on its own merits, rather than being aggressively marketed as “Do the Right Thing 2.”
Lee’s dissatisfaction with the studio experience underlined the importance of indie film champions like Bingham Ray, who passed away early Monday morning. The independent film community has profited from Ray’s ambition and foresight for years; he played a significant role in the careers of indie masters like Mike Leigh, Lars von Trier, David Lynch and Jim Jarmusch. It is clear, based on the mood in industry parties, that he will be greatly missed, even by those who never got to know the generous and genuine man that he was.
Strong emotions were also felt at the screenings for two films that depict families struggling to cope when a loved one is sentenced to several years in prison. “Middle of Nowhere” follows a young woman with remarkable patience who finds herself waiting for five years for her drug-dealing husband to be released. Director Ava DuVernay wrote the screenplay after having conversations with several women dealing with an incarcerated spouse or partner, and she drew memorable performances from her lead Emayatzy Corinealdi, Lorraine Toussaint as a mother concerned that her daughter is throwing her life away, and the unceasingly charming David Oyelowo as a man who offers our heroine a second chance.
DuVernay is a talent to keep an eye on, as is Gina Rodriguez, who portrays the title character in the pulsating “Filly Brown.” This is an astonishing, star-making turn for Rodriguez, who plays an aspiring hip-hop artist trying to make the money she needs to bail her addict mom out of prison. The actress not only handles a very difficult role with aplomb, but she is also an incredible musician, leading several people in the audience to beg for the soundtrack. With great supporting performances from Lou Diamond Phillips, Edward James Olmos and the rest of this amazing cast, the film is so much more than an “8 Mile for Girls.”
After the screening, “Filly Brown” received a standing ovation from the 1,000 people filling Sundance’s largest venue, which brought Rodriguez to tears. She took a bow and thanked everyone in the theater for sharing in the realization of her indie dream. At that moment, I couldn’t help but think about Bingham Ray. Those are the kind of moments that people like Ray spend their lives fighting for. We have lost another fighter.
Stephen Jannise, the film program director for the Austin Film Festival, is attending the Sundance Film Festival and will be filing updates on the events for Austin360. This is another of his reports.
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Producer with Austin ties gets Best Picture Oscar nomination for ‘The Help’
Green said he, “The Help” actress Octavia Spencer, who received a best supporting actress nomination, and executive producer Tate Taylor had a slumber party Monday night and watched the nomination announcement together on Tuesday morning.
“Whatever happens, we started this trip together, whether it’s good or bad,” Green said by phone Tuesday. “We were hoping to get nominated, but it’s always a surprise because you just never know what the Academy is going to do; so we were thrilled at 5:30 a.m. to be up. Octavia was screaming her lungs out. It was great.”
(Photo: Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis are shown in a scene from “The Help.” (DISNEY/Dale Robinette)
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Oscars 2012: An early summary with Austin perspective
Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life,” which was filmed in Smithville and Central Texas, earned three Oscar nominations on Tuesday for best picture, director and cinematography.
The impressionistic tale about family life became the first Texas film to win the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May, but the movie divided audiences, and its nominations for best picture and director were considered longshots.
“Bullhead,” a Belgian tale that was a hit at Austin’s Fantastic Fest, was one of five nominees for best foreign language film. Austin’s Drafthouse Films acquired U.S. distribution rights to the movie after its local success.
But other Austin movies didn’t fare as well in the nominations Tuesday. “Take Shelter,” the critically acclaimed story written and directed by Austin’s Jeff Nichols and a leading contender in the Independent Spirit Awards, did not receive any nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nor did its star, Michael Shannon.
Overall, Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” led the Oscars with 11 nominations, including best picture and best director. In second place was “The Artist,” a black-and-white silent homage to early Hollywood, with 10 nominations.
Because of a change in rules, the best picture race was narrowed to nine contenders rather than the 10 from last year. In addition to “The Tree of Life,” “The Artist” and “Hugo,” the other best picture nominees are: “The Descendants,” a family drama starring George Clooney; the Deep South feel-good drama “The Help”; the romantic fantasy from Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”; the World War I tale from Steven Spielberg, “War Horse”; the baseball story “Moneyball”; and the highly divisive Sept. 11 story, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.”
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Oscars 2012: Cinematography
“The Tree of Life” ended up with three nominations Tuesday. In addition to best picture and best director nods for Terrence Malick, Emmanuel Lubezki was nominated for best cinematography.
The other nominees for cinematography are: Guillaume Schiffman for “The Artist”; Jeff Chenoweth for “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”; Robert Richardson for “Hugo”; and Janusz Kaminski for “War Horse.”
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Drafthouse Films’ ‘Bullhead’ nominated for Oscar
Fantastic Fest stand-out and subsequent acquisition by Tm League and Drafthouse Films, “Bullhead” was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film this morning. Director Michael Roskam’s psychological noir thriller, which League has called a “near-perfect” film will represent Belgium at the 84th annual Academy Awards on February 26.
“Michael Roskam is an incredibly exciting new director,” Drafhouse Films founder and CEO League said. “We are so happy that the Academy thinks as highly of him as we do.”
For some blow-by-blow on this morning’s action, check out this FantasticFest.com blog from Devin Faraci, who is in Sundance with League and the Drafthouse team.
Also nominated for Best Foreign Language Film are “Footnote” from Israel, “In Darkness” from Poland, “Monsieur Lazhar” from Canada and the early favorite, “A Separation” from Iran.
“Bulhead” plays at the Santa Barbara Film Festival next week and is slated to open theatrically in early 2012.
Related: Read our review of “Bullhead” from last year’s Fantastic Fest.
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Oscars 2012: The leaders
Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” leads the Academy Awards with 11 nominations, including best picture and director. “The Artist,” a silent black-and-white homage to early Hollywood, was the second most-honored movie, with 10 nominations.
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Oscars 2012: The actors
Rooney Mara, the newcomer star of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” was nominated for best actress this morning in something of a surprise. Most critics hailed her performance, but the academy tends to overlook newcomers in these high-profile categories.
The other nominees were as expected: Viola Davis, “The Help”; Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”; Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”; and Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn.”
For best actor, the big surprise nominee was Demian Bachir of “A Better Life.” The other nominees were George Clooney, “The Descendants”; Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”; Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”; and Gary Oldman, “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.”
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Oscars 2012: The nominations
“The Tree of Life” was nominated for best picture and Terrence Malick was nominated for best director by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this morning.
The movie, which was filmed in Texas by the Austin director, was a surprise nominee, in part because it was left out of most major awards leading up to the Oscars. But it won the prestigious Palme d’Or in Cannes in May.
Jessica Chastain, who starred in “Tree,” was not nominated for her role but did garner a nomination for supporting actress for “The Help.” Octavia Spencer was also nominated in the same category for “The Help.”
Other best picture nominees were “War Horse,” “The Artist,” “Moneyball,” “The Descendants,” “Midnight in Paris,” “The Help,” “Hugo” and “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.”
The nomination for “Extremely Loud” was one of the biggest surprises. The 9/11 tale has split critics, with some denouncing it as manipulative.
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