Austin360 blogs > Austin Movie Blog > Archives > 2008 > April
April 2008
Mike Judge ‘Extract’-s laughs
No word yet if he’ll make it in Austin, but Mike Judge is writing and directing the comedy “Extract,” with Jason Bateman in the lead.
The hometown humorist filmed his two prior features, the cult smash “Office Space” and the unjustly neglected “Idiocracy,” in Austin.
Bateman will play an extract plant owner beset by workplace and personal troubles, including a cheating wife. “Extract” will be the first feature from Ternion Productions, the new company Judge formed with John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky, according to Variety.
Judge, Altschuler and Krinsky write and produce the animated Fox show “King of the Hill” and are working on “The Goode Family,” an animated sitcom for ABC that will premiere next year.
Judge, Bateman
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Austin Movies Inc.: ‘The Goree Girls’
“Goree Girls” — A big maybe. DreamWorks is producing an adaptation of Skip Hollandsworth’s Texas Monthly article about a falsely convicted woman who forms an all-female band in a Texas prison. Jennifer Aniston could star, and Texas writer-director John Lee Hancock (“The Alamo”) is rewriting Margaret Nagle’s script.
Austin Movies Inc. Updates: Keeping checking this page. Add your reports and thoughts in the commentary block.
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Austin Movies Inc.: Untitled Alejandro Escovedo documentary
Untitled Alejandro Escovedo documentary — Director Jonathan Demme (“Stop Making Sense,” “Silence of the Lambs”) should be in town soon to film Escovedo in concert at Las Manitas Avenue Cafe for a documentary about the Austin musical wonder, according to several sources.
Austin Movies Inc. Updates: Keeping checking this page. Add your reports and thoughts in the commentary block.
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Austin Movies Inc.: ‘Kick the Can’
“Kick the Can” — A drama directed by Sol Tryon, whose comedy “The Living Wake” made a small splash at last year’s Austin Film Festival. Jesse Eisenberg, star of “Living Wake,” and Mark Webber, who starred in the Ethan Hawke-directed films “The Hottest State” and “Chelsea Walls” lead the cast. After opening an office in Austin and scouting for locations, the production is now in hiatus.
Austin Movies Inc. Updates: Keeping checking this page. Add your reports and thoughts in the commentary block.
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Austin Movies Inc.: ‘Whip It!’
“Whip It!” — Austin native Shauna Cross joined a roller-derby team when she moved to Los Angeles after graduating from the University of Texas. She funneled her experiences into the young-adult novel “Derby Girl” which is the basis for her script, an Austin-set roller-derby dramedy. Drew Barrymore directs, and “Juno“‘s Ellen Page stars. Shooting is rumored to start this summer in Austin, but no solid deals have been inked yet.
Austin Movies Inc. Updates: Keeping checking this page. Add your reports and thoughts in the commentary block.
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Austin Movies Inc.: ‘The Sno Cone Stand Inc.’
“The Sno Cone Stand Inc.” — Three 20-something stockbrokers want to bust out of the corporate rut and make a buck, so, of course, they open the confectionery kiosk of the title. The low-budget Austin comedy by first-time feature filmmaker Travis Knapp stars Morgan Fairchild and Tony Sirico of ‘The Sopranos,’ with cameos by local luminaries Michael and Susan Dell, Ruthie Foster and street-corner spectacle Leslie Cochran. No release date on the movie, which was made last year in town. www.thesnoconestand.com.
Austin Movies Inc. Updates: Keeping checking this page. Add your reports and thoughts in the commentary block.
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Austin Movies Inc.: ‘The Two Bobs’
“The Two Bobs” — Monday, a five-week shoot began for this ultra-low-budget comedy written and directed by Austin-based Tim McCanlies (‘Secondhand Lions,’ ‘Smallville’). It’s a gaming spoof, produced by Anne Walker-McBay and Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, who are not talking about the project. The comedy stars Cody Kasch, Devin Ratray and Tyler Francavilla. McCanlies provides his own plot summary at IMDB.com: ‘Just as they finish their ground-breaking 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. To get back their game — and their lives —The Two Bobs and their fellow-geek employees Munch, Doofus and The Dark Prince are forced to ‘turn detective’ and plunge into the strange world of Christian Venture Capitalists, aged Dixie Mafia hoodlums and bizarre Internet Spammers that inhabit Austin.’
Austin Movies Inc. Updates: Keeping checking this page. Add your reports and thoughts in the commentary block.
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Austin Movies Inc.: ‘Friday the 13th’
“Friday the 13th” — Filming began Monday all across the Austin area for this slasher rehasher, based on the 1980 original. Kids at a camp. A masked killer. Screams, blood, audience cheers. Michael Bay, in a producer’s hat, and director Marcus Nispel re-team following their 2003 Austin-shot ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ remake. It stars Amanda Righetti, Jared Padalecki and a creepy-looking Derek Mears as the sanguinary Jason Voorhees. It’s set for a Feb. 13, 2009, release.
Austin Movies Inc. Updates: Keeping checking this page. Add your reports and thoughts in the commentary block.
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Austin Movies Inc.: ‘Tree of Life’
“Tree of Life” — Storied Austin auteur Terrence Malick is keeping a characteristically tight shroud on the production of his original, 1950s period piece, which continues its long shoot through June in Smithville and occasionally Austin. Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, a dog, a baby and a tall tree star in what IMDB.com describes as an action/adventure/drama/fantasy/sci-fi epic, and offers this plot outline: “In a mystical world of folklore, several individuals embrace in a race to find the Tree of Life, said to give immortality, fertility and other supernatural powers.’” An Austinite who worked on the film said that when Malick saw a butterfly land on an actor’s head, the director chased the insect around with the camera for a half hour. That’s signature Malick, who’s working again with illustrious cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (‘The New World,’ ‘Sleepy Hollow’).
Austin Movies Inc. Updates: Keeping checking this page. Add your reports and thoughts in the commentary block.
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Austin Movies Inc.: ‘Shorts’
“Shorts” — Robert Rodriguez returns to family-friendly fun with this fantasy feature, which the filmmaker has kept ‘super, super, super quiet,’ says Bob Hudgins, director of the Texas Film Commission. Structured in short episodes, hence the title, the movie started production this week. ‘A group of young outcasts are swept into an unexpected adventure when they find a mysterious box in their neighborhood’ is the plot summary flittering about online. LatinoReview.com got its hands on the script and describes it as ‘an acid trip for kids,’ loaded with childish gross-out gags. ‘There are spaceships, dung beetles, toaster people, crocodiles and much more,’ the site reports. Elizabeth Avellan produces at the team’s Troublemaker Studios.
Austin Movies Inc. Updates: Keeping checking this page. Add your reports and thoughts in the commentary block.
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Austin Movies Inc: ‘Me and Orson Welles’
“Me and Orson Welles” — Austin’s Richard Linklater and crew wrapped this theater drama April 12 in London, not Austin, but some post-production will probably happen here. Adapted from Robert Kaplow’s novel by Austin couple Holly Gent Palmo and Vincent Palmo, it stars Ben Chaplin, Zac Efron (“High School Musical”), Claire Danes and Christian McKay as Orson Welles. Set in 1937, it’s a coming-of-age tale about a teenager (Efron) who’s been cast in Welles’ Mercury Theatre production of “Julius Caesar.” It was shot in London, Isle of Man and New York.
Austin Movies Inc. Updates: Keeping checking this page. Add your reports and thoughts in the commentary block.
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Austin Movies Inc.: ‘Will’
“Will” — Gaelan Connell, Vanessa Hudgens (of “High School Musical”), Scott Porter (“Friday Night Lights,” “Speed Racer”), Alyson Michalka, Lisa Kudrow and David Bowie star in this teen musical melodrama, which filmed from Feb. 4 to April 2 across town. A nerd named Will (Connell) rises to hip heights using his musical prowess.
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Del Toro captures ‘The Hobbit’
Newsflash from Variety:
In a major step forward on “The Hobbit,” former Austinite Guillermo del Toro has signed on to direct the New Line-MGM tentpole and its sequel.
The widely expected announcement — which had been rumored for several weeks — came Thursday afternoon jointly from exec producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, New Line president Toby Emmerich, and Mary Parent, newly named chief of MGM’s Worldwide Motion Picture Group.
Del Toro’s moving to New Zealand for the next four years to work with Jackson and his Wingnut and Weta production teams. He’ll direct the two films back to back, with the sequel dealing with the 60-year period between “The Hobbit” and “The Fellowship of the Ring,” the first of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. …
Del Toro and the furry-footed little fella (courtesy Slashfilm.com)
Del Toro won’t leave for New Zealand immediately as he’s still in post-production on U’s “Hellboy 2,” due out in July. His previous pic, “Pan’s Labyrinth,” was released through New Line’s Picturehouse and set a record as the highest grossing Spanish language film in U.S. box office history.
The official signing of del Toro comes four months after New Line settled a lawsuit with Jackson over “The Lord of the Rings” profits and announced that it had agreed with MGM to turn J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Hobbit” into two live-action films. Sam Raimi had been preceived as the initial front-runner as director but del Toro had emerged in recent months as the likely candidate.
The studios didn’t give a start date on production and don’t yet have a script. Though no screenplay deal’s been set, it’s expected that the “LOTR” scripting team of Jackson, Walsh and Philippa Boyens will collaborate with del Toro.
With del Toro blocking out four years for the project, it’s likely that the studios are aiming at starting shooting next year and releasing the films in late 2011 and 2012.
Jackson’s WETA stages, post-production and visual effects facilities — built for “The Lord of the Rings” — will be used for both films. And New Zealand will again be the site of Middle-earth, with the story centering on Bilbo Baggins taking the Ring of Power from Gollum. …
The Mexican director is specialized in fantasy, breaking into the biz in 1993 with “Cronos,” followed by “Mimic,” “The Devil’s Backbone,” “Blade II,” “Hellboy” and “Pan’s Labyrinth.”
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Moviemaking for the young set
The fourth annual Austin Film Festival Student Film Expo unspools from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday at Dougherty Arts Center (1110 Barton Springs Rd.), and it’s open to everyone — youth, parents and YOU.
And it’s free.
Chris Mass (writer/actor, “Chalk”) and David Layton (cinematographer), will discuss short filmmaking in Austin and how students can develop personal interests into practical ideas for creating films and documentaries.
Check HERE for more.
Send a girl to film camp with a small or (better!) big donation. Get the important scoop HERE. It’s a good cause. Just look.
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Best movie story of the day
This from The Hollywood Reporter (savor it):
James Caan has left the political comedy “Nailed” after a dispute with director David O. Russell led him to storm off the set, and it all seems to have centered on a cookie.
The trouble started Wednesday on the first of Caan’s two days of shooting the role of a U.S. speaker of the house who chokes to death on a cookie. Russell asked him to cough as he choked, but Caan argued that the character couldn’t cough and choke to death at the same time.
Russell suggested that they shoot it both ways, but the actor expressed distrust that his version would be considered and left the South Carolina set.
Caan’s part is being recast. The shoot began April 15.
“Nailed” stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Biel … in the tale of a woman who gets a nail lodged in her head and travels to Washington to fight for better health care.
Russell and Caan have reputations for on-set battles. The director had well-documented differences with George Clooney (in which the two came to blows on the set of “Three Kings”) and Lily Tomlin (in heated verbal exchanges on the set of “I Heart Huckabees” as seen last year on YouTube).
Caan, Russell — both nuts
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Austin-made ‘Homo Erectus’ coming out
The Austin-shot caveman comedy “Homo Erectus” is finally being released in theaters and on DVD. How do we know? The folks at National Lampoon, which picked it up for distribution, just called and said so.
Expect a staggered theatrical release in May and DVD release in September, about a year later than previously announced. Austin dates coming soon.
Comedian Adam Rifkin wrote, directed and stars in the movie, which also features the great, weird David Carradine, Talia Shire, Ron Jeremy and Ali Larter (“Heroes”).
Shot in late 2005, the film was produced by the UT Film Institute and Burnt Orange Productions. It played the midnight slot at Slamdance in 2007.
Read my on-set interview with David Carradine HERE, which despite the date posted on it, actually happened November 2005.
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Fund raiser for injured filmmaker
Outgoing SXSW film producer Matt Dentler posts this urgent and worthy news on his blog:
Thanks to the generosity of the Alamo Drafthouse, SXSW is hosting two benefit screenings on April 29, for ailing filmmaker Benh Zeitlin. Why?
Short filmmaker Benh Zietlin was in Austin on March 9th to World Premiere his film “GLORY AT SEA.” Unbelievably and unfortunately, Benh got in a serious car accident just hours before his screening. He shattered his hip (which has been replaced), broke his pelvis, and sprained both his ankles. While his film was showing to an enthusiastic crowd, Benh was in surgery. His medical bills have added up to about $80,000!!!!!!!!!
Go to Matt’s blog HERE to help.
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Texas Shorts Fest Monday night!
This one came to us very tardy, but we’ll give it a shot, and you should, too.
The second annual Texas Shorts Fest happens at 9 p.m. Monday (April 21) at Lamberts downtown. Shorts were selected from wads of entries.
The films are: “Piggyback” by Greg Omelchuck; “Trapped in a Box” by Nicholas Mann; “Rattle and Confuse Me” by Oswald James; “Zero Hour” by Christopher Macmillan-Rodriguez; “A Road Song” by Worm; “Iris Moon” by Iskra Valtcheva; “Crab Wontons” by Charles Rogers; “The Ruse” by Heath Allyn; “The Dentist” by Ravi Kiran; “Handicapped Horror” by Tony George; and “The Folded Crane” by Rob Smith.
Learn more HERE.
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Forget beer — Alamo Ritz uncorks liquor
A genuine cinema sipper
With savory potions like the Alamojito, the Alamo Ritz on Sixth Street is breaking from the 10-year Alamo tradition of just wine and beer as potent potables.
Break out the shot glasses!
The Ritz has acquired a liquor license. And there you go.
Expect movie and drink tie-ins, such as the Scotch Flight, a feast of scotch tasting during “Iron Man,” because its airborne hero likes his scotch. And these others:
The Cinco de Mayo “Three Amigos” Quote-along and Feast kicks off with a shot of Herradura Silver Tequila. Courses of the feast itself will be paired with top shelf margaritas.
For “Sex and the City,” cosmos will be served, natch.
When Master Pancake Theater heckles the James Bond classic “Goldfinger” prepare your gullet for “shaken, not stirred” vodka martinis.
Take a gulp of the booze news — including sample cocktails and prices — HERE.
Every weekend’s a ‘Lost Weekend’ at the Ritz, and we toast that
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‘Matador’ picked up
One of the most compelling docs at SXSW ‘08 was Nina Gilden Seavey and Stephen Higgins’ sumptuously filmed “The Matador,” a sometimes grisly look at the sport and one of Spain’s hottest practitioners.
Good news to those who missed it: City Lights Pictures has bought the movie and will release it theatrically. We’ll keep you apprised of its Austin dates.
Read my SXSW review of “The Matador” HERE.
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Spain and spaghetti the Alamo way
Every year the Alamo Cinema’s Rolling Roadshow hits the American road and screens films al fresco at title-related locations — say, “Close Encounters” at Devil’s Tower, Wyoming.
This one’s a little different, the Alamo announces:
This year’s event takes place June 6-8 and will pay tribute to MGM’s classic Sergio Leone “Dollars” Spaghetti Western trilogy, with screenings of “Fistful of Dollars,” “For a Few Dollars More” and “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly,” in Almeria, Southern Spain, the original location where all three films where shot.”
Does the press get free flights to Spain, Mr. Alamo? Just wondering.
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More Brad Pitt scoops from Smithville
Michael Corcoran snuck this tidbit into our blog’s comments section, but it deserves full play:
The Smithville Times is reporting that Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and the fam left town today. I had heard Pitt wouldn’t be done filming until the end of April, so maybe he’s coming back for a couple days.
And MSNBC.com has this juicy squirt of Pitt gossip, which Michael Corcoran debunked a few blog entries down. But see for yourself, for fun:
Pitt wanted 95 percent discount on resort stay
Sean Penn and the Jolie-Pitts all living under the same roof? For a brief time, such thing was a possibility.
Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and kids set up camp in Texas for nearly a month as Pitt filmed “Tree of Life.” Penn, who also stars in the film, arrived on set last week, and if the cost of Pitt’s accommodations hadn’t been an issue, Pitt and Penn might have both ended up staying at the same place.
Penn last week checked into the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort and Spa, near Austin, Texas. He stayed under an assumed name, and there’s no word on whether he was accompanied by anyone when he checked into the hotel’s Governor’s Suite, which is 1,200-square-feet with two bedrooms and a full kitchen.
And before the Jolie-Pitt clan arrived in town, a member of the film’s production company looked into having the family stay at the resort, but Pitt’s people balked at the price. Sources familiar with the inquiry say that Pitt was interested in the Litton House, a 2,600-square-foot residence separate from the main property, which costs about $2,000 a night. Pitt’s offer, via the production company, was reportedly only $3,000 for a 30-day stay. That’s a whopping 95 percent discount. (The Jolie-Pitt’s opted instead to rent a house near the shooting location.)
Read it in full HERE.
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The giving ‘Tree’
As you can tell with all those kids and ambassadorial trips, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are dedicated philanthropists.
So it’s not so surprising that Pitt, in the Austin area shooting “Tree of Life,” granted a child a Make-A-Wish Foundation wish. With help from MAWF board member Barbara Ann Allen, the wish child got to meet Pitt and, according to Allen, “act in a scene with him.” Pitt and producer Sarah Green “provided the wish child with two days of filming and being part of the cast on location.”
Smiles all around.
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Film festivals — they just keep coming
Catch eight sprightly Asian-themed movies during the mini-film fest that’s part of Asiafest 2008 from 1 to 9 p.m. May 3 at the future location of the Asian American Resource Center.
Films include Michael Kang’s wry teen-family comedy “The Motel,” the local premiere of Derek Shimoda’s “Killing of a Chinese Cookie” and Juli Kang’s musical “Damn the Past!”
There will also be cooking demos, karate exhibits and all things pan-Asian.
The film portion is sponsored by the Austin Asian American Film Foundation, which is throwing the Austin Asian America Film Festival in the fall.
Go HERE for more about Asiafest, and HERE for more about the AAA Film Festival.
The first annual Marfa Film Festival is celebrating the West Texas town’s status as the location for two of 2007’s biggest pictures, “No Country for Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood.”
The fest opens with a screening of “Blood” on the set where it was partially shot and closes with Dennis Hopper presenting his 1971 cult film “The Last Movie.” (Hopper was last in Marfa some 50 years ago to make “Giant.”) Both films will screen outdoors on the Alamo’s Rolling Roadshow inflatable screen.
Expect much more, including multi-media, art and musical presentations, as well as a screening of “Night of the Hunter” and a dance-party showing of David Byrne’s “True Stories.”
‘Night of the Hunter’
Get the big picture of this big fest HERE.
And for the sci-fi contingent, this just in: The new title for Fox’s “X-Files” film is officially … “The X-Files: I Want to Believe.”
I don’t believe it.
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Live chat: Laura Dunn, director of ‘The Unforeseen’
Few documentaries — ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ Michael Moore’s entertainments — have turned into box office gold. ‘The Unforeseen,’ the Barton Springs elegy by Austin director Laura Dunn, has not hit that level nationally, but outgrossed bigger films at the Alamo South during its first weekend ($12,877 according to Box Office Mojo) and continues to be a top performer at that theater. Dunn joined Statesman film critic Chris Garcia today for a live chat. Replay the live blog and see what the director, Garcia and readers had to say about the film and its success.
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Janet Pierson named SXSW Film Producer
This BIG NEWS just in: Janet Pierson is taking the place of Matt Dentler as the producer of the SXSW Film Festival and Conference.
From the press release that we just got:
Pierson brings a long history of accomplishments and relationships in the world of independent film to her new position. In 1986, she and her partner/husband John Pierson began acting as producer reps and were instrumental in the launch of a number of indie films including “Roger and Me,” “She’s Gotta Have It,” “Slacker” and “Clerks.” Their careers have included associations with Chris Blackwell as well as Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein.
Janet was the co-creator of the TV series “Split Screen” which beginning in1997 ran for 66 episodes on the Independent Film Channel.
Janet says, “I’ve been a huge fan and supporter of SXSW Film since its inception. I’m thrilled now to take on the challenge of continuing its exciting growth.”
Janet Pierson
Co-founder and Senior Director of SXSW Film Louis Black says, “Saying that Janet will hit the ground running as head of SXSW Film is truly an understatement considering her knowledge, accomplishments and the high regard in which she is held in the independent film world.”
Matt Dentler, who has acted as SXSW Film Festival Producer since 2004 will be moving to New York City to pursue a new career to head the marketing and programming operations of Cinetic Digital Rights Management.
Black notes that “SXSW Film has been privileged to have Matt Dentler working for it; the event has benefited extraordinarily from his leadership. We are very excited about his new job at Cinetic working with John Sloss and are all looking forward to his continuing the work he has accomplished at SXSW Film as a creative force in film.”
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More news branching off ‘Tree of Life’
The word from Smithville is that Brad Pitt will be done filming his role in Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life” in about three weeks.
The shoot, currently on a Tuesday to Saturday schedule, is expected to go until June. This means all the tabloid reports about Angelina Jolie having her twins in Texas are as wrong as just about everything else that’s been reported. One article, for instance, wrote about how the Pitt-Jolie clan wanted to live near the Smithville Regional Hospital in case she went into labor. Well, the Smithville Hospital doesn’t have a maternity ward.
Can’t say we’ll miss the paparazzi, who have gone to incredible lengths to get anything on Pitt, Jolie and their four kids. One pair of snoops even posed as wedding planners to take photos of the Hyatt Lost Pines exclusive Litton House, purported to be where the P-J brood were going to stay. The Star ran the spread, even though the superstar family is renting a ranch in Cedar Creek owned by pro wrestler Mark “the Undertaker” Calaway. Helicopters have been whirring overhead at the compound, with shots showing up here.
Life & Style Weekly broke the Undertaker/Pitt plot, but there was so much else wrong in the item (there’s no Smithville-Crawford Municipal Airport) that I didn’t believe it at first, but an insider confirmed to me that it was true.
Perhaps the craziest lie picked up around the world is that Pitt offered the Hyatt Lost Pines only $3,000 a month to stay in the $2,000 a night Litton House. Do you think Brad, Angie and the kids would check into a hotel, where the paps could also get rooms? The plan was always to rent a secluded house near Smithville.
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‘Tree of Life’ set in Waco?
It’s no secret that director Terrence Malick likes to keep his projects under wraps until they hit theaters. If the practice of signing non-disclosure agreements to work on a film wasn’t already around, Malick would’ve pioneered it. But being particularly interested because the movie is filming three blocks from my house in Smithville, I’ve been able to piece together a few things. (But as Adrien Brody, “star” of “The Thin Red Role,” can tell you, it’s all subject to change.)
For instance, Smithville is standing in for 1950s Waco, where Malick grew up. We know this because the film has asked the Waco Tribune to make some mock 1950s front pages. Could this be Malick’s first personal memoir film?
Brad Pitt plays the father and Jessica Chastain is the mother of three boys, ages 7- 12. One scene filmed Tuesday was at a barbecue pit on Lee Street and one witness told me that Pitt was driving three boys in a vintage 1950’s car. The day before filming started, the three kids were hanging out at the house on Burleson Street where the title tree is planted. The temporary schoolhouse where all the kids are being tutored is across the street. I asked the teacher, the only adult around, if I could take a picture of the “Tree of Life” and one of the young co-stars, in a colorful Texas drawl, asked me if I knew which tree it was. I think we’ve found the film’s narrator.
A couple days before filming started, there was a casting call for newborn babies, which makes me think the film will follow those three boys from creation to old age or maybe even death. Isn’t the Tree of Life from the book of Genesis?
Title tree (photo by M.C.)
Still don’t know what Sean Penn’s role will be. He was spotted in Austin a couple weeks ago, but no one in Smithville has seen him and he’s been busy in the Bay Area getting back with his wife. Word was that he had only a small role. That’s all the news for now from your Burleson Street correspondent.
Well, actually there’s one other thing. Another publication printed the rumor that someone had been defecating on the front porch of the film house. Not true, says the chief of police. The house is under surveillance around the clock, lest some Brad Pitt fan want something he touched.
Pitt’s porch (photo by M.C.)
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In defense of Ernie Cline
In our recent post about Austin “Fanboys” scripter Ernie Cline — scroll down just a bit — we suggested that the synopsis of his latest screenplay sounds “suspiciously” similar to the hot doc “King of Kong.”
A sharp reader, whose comment we’ve posted, points out that Harry Knowles read the new script in 2006, well before “Kong.”
Read Harry’s Ain’t It Cool News post defending Cline’s work HERE. Make sure to peruse the comments as well. Quite a lively symposium going on there.
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Swimming for dollars
UT film grad Matt Cook’s new documentary “Swim” is making the rounds at film festivals, including the GI Film Festival in Washington and the Jackson Hole Film Festival in Wyoming.
Cook and the film’s subjects — Rush Vann and David Broyles (son of formerly Austin-based screenwriter and Texas Monthly co-founder Bill Broyles) — are Iraq war veterans. “Swim” chronicles Vann and Broyles trying to raise $100,00 for disabled war vets by — you got it — swimming.
“As symbolic awareness,” Cook tells us, “they decide to attempt to become the 16th and 17th Americans to swim the Strait of Gibraltar, a feat fewer Americans have accomplished than climbing to the summit of Mount Everest. The film follows them as they train in Lake Austin, then on to Spain for the actual swim.”
Watch a clip:
We will definitely be following the film as it gets closer to playing Austin, so keep an eye peeled.
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Banff Mountain Film Festival
They came by bicycle and skateboard. They collected giveaways, including a free pair of athletic socks. They whooped — loudly — for films that chronicled the most daring of mountain adventures.
The Banff Mountain Film Festival made its decidedly unglamorous third appearance in Austin last weekend, giving Austin’s outdoorsy crowd its fill of BASE jumping, paragliding, snow skiing and other extreme sports.
Top messages gleaned from this year’s festival? Rock climbing can make your fingers look and feel like you’ve rubbed them in a cheese grater. BASE jumping can kill you. Just because a waterfall plunges dozens of feet down narrow channels doesn’t mean you can’t kayak down it. Even if they did do it in one movie, you will never be able to ride your bike down a 3-inch-wide log and hop it onto a plate-sized platform 5 feet away.
The biggest message of all? Protect the environment.
For the first time this year, the festival spanned two nights, with the first dedicated to the most adrenalin-pumped films, from stories about hyped-up mountain bikers to one about a trio of guys who donned webbed “wingsuits” that allowed them to jump off cliffs and soar to the ground like gigantic flying squirrels. The second night’s lineup covered a broader spectrum, including a 5-minute animated feature about a sleepy badger.
The Banff Film Festival, held last November in Banff, Alberta, has grown in its 32 years from a three-day event to a week-long barrage of documentary films that celebrate mountain culture all over the world. This year, 296 films from 32 countries were submitted. The road version travels to 36 locations in Canada and the United States.
Among the highlights shown at the Paramount Theatre in Austin were an hour-long film called “20 Seconds of Joy,” about a Norwegian woman obsessed with BASE jumping. It prompted plenty of discussion about athletes who face the very real possibility of death through their sport and the impact that has on their families and friends.
“It wasn’t just showing a thrill sport,” said Jim Kennedy, a bat biologist for Bat Conservation International who attended the festival for the second straight year. “It showed some of her angst, the downside of risk and fallout of mistakes.”
Makes caving look tame, eh Jim?
Kennedy, an avid caver since 1973 (who once broke his pelvis in a caving accident), came to the festival because he loves the outdoors and the artistic expression of the films shown at the event. “It’s a vast world out there, and I’m not going to get to all those places,” he says.
Bert Peeples of Whole Earth Provision Co., which sponsored the festival locally for the third year, says it’s a good match for Austin, where it seems as if everyone’s a kayaker, cyclist or climber — or wishes they were. “Some of it’s just dreamers,” Peeples said of the audience. “They can’t do it themselves, so they vicariously enjoy the thrill.”
A thrill that made some cringe.
“Hi Mom and to all moms everywhere — I apologize for what I’m about to do,” one daredevil kayaker told the camera in “Light In Liquid.” Then he plunged his kayak down a series of raging, rock-studded waterfalls.
Last year the festival raised $12,000 for the American YouthWorks Environmental Corps. This year’s festival benefited the Austin Parks Foundation and Tree Folks.
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Live chat with Laura Dunn on Wednesday
Have you seen Laura Dunn’s remarkable, award-winning Barton Springs documentary “The Unforeseen”? It’s packing them in at the Alamo South. Go. It’s terrific.
I will be moderating a live online chat with Dunn at noon Wednesday. Come to this site and toss questions and comments our way. We’ll talk for as long as you keep chatting with us.
First, see the movie at the Alamo South. And read more about the movie, which is co-produced by Terrence Malick and Robert Redford, HERE. Then join us Wednesday.
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Best contest for worst movie
“Troll 2” is officially, no argument, the worst movie ever made. We haven’t seen it, despite many crazily sold-out screenings at the old Alamo Downtown. Check out clips of it HERE via a new documentary about the movie and its cult following, then you decide.
A contest hosted by Filmmakingfrenzy.com wants your short film inspired by “Troll 2.” It’s a contest, and the best 10 will be selected for online voting.
All you need to know HERE.
Oh, he REALLY doesn’t like ‘Troll 2’
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PETA doesn’t monkey around (and that’s good)
Movies are important. Animals are more important. That’s our humble belief at the Movie Blog. So we share this letter from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals about “Speedracer”:
I’m writing to you concerning the (upcoming) feature film “Speedracer.” Unfortunately, in spite of PETA’s request to leave real animals out of the film, the Wachowski brothers chose to use a live chimpanzee to play the role of Chim Chim. If you review this film, we kindly ask that you consider conveying to your readers that its use of real chimpanzees is cruel and unnecessary.
While filming in Germany, a whistleblower contacted PETA alleging that one of the two chimpanzees used in “Speedracer” was severely beaten. The beating was said to have taken place out of the view of the cast and crew. PETA also confirmed the whistleblower’s report that a chimpanzee suddenly attacked and bit a young actor.
The filmmakers ignored PETA’s recommendation to use more reliable and humane alternatives, such as computer-generated imagery (CGI) or animatronics. In the film industry, infant chimpanzees — only a few weeks old — are forcibly removed from their mothers, causing lifelong emotional scars for both mother and baby. Trainers want these curious and playful animals to know who is boss, so the animals are often subjected to repeated beatings — a practice that the industry accurately refers to as “breaking the spirit.”
According to MSNBC.com: “A (‘Speedracer’) spokesperson confirmed that a chimp did chomp on a young actor, but said that the actor was treated and the animal was given a rest. She sent along assurances from the American Humane Society that no animals were being abused. … PETA isn’t satisfied.”
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Local screenwriter Ernie Cline strikes again
Austin screenwriter Ernie Cline is in the news again, this time for a screenplay that sounds suspiciously similar to last year’s great documentary “King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.”
Here, courtesy The Hollywood Reporter:
‘Fanboys’ scribe’s ‘Thundercade’ gets pickup
Lakeshore Entertainment has picked up “Thundercade,” a comedy spec from “Fanboys” co-writer Ernie Cline.
Lakeshore’s Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi are fast-tracking the project and producing it along with Cline’s manager, Dan Farah of Farah Films.
“Thundercade” follows a video game junkie facing a midlife crisis who learns that a young punk had broken a record he set as a teen. He and two lifelong friends embark on a quest to reclaim his place in video game history and win the world’s ultimate gaming championship, Thundercade.
Cline, a self-proclaimed lifelong video game addict, said he was inspired to write the screenplay by his nephew, who would trash talk him while the two played Xbox games.
“I fell in love with the idea of pitting older ‘classic arcade era’ gamers from the ’80s against teenagers — the Atari 2600 generation vs. the Xbox 360 generation,” Cline said.
A spotlight has been cast on Cline’s “Star Wars”-themed “Fanboys” because of a public dispute with the Weinstein Co. and filmmakers over competing versions of the film and whether it will see a theatrical release. Supporters of “Fanboys,” including the “Star Wars” fan club known as the 501st, staged demonstrations at screenings of the Weinstein Co.’s “Superhero Movie” in March to protest the latest version.
Here’s our recent blog post about Cline, with a link to a big Wired profile of the scripter: Ernie Cline
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Kids get involved at Cine Las Americas
Two youth-aimed events will spin off the Cine Las Americas film festival, which, you know, runs April 16 - 24.
What’s for kids:
“Emergencia” Youth Film Screenings, a competitive show of work by filmmakers age 19 and under at 11 a.m. April 19 at the Mexican-American Cultural Center, 600 River St. 478-6222.
BeatLab Film Scoring Workshop for Youth, in which Brian Ramos shows how to compose music for film. 1:30 p.m. April 19.
Both programs are at the Mexican-American Cultural Center, 600 River St. Phone: 478-6222. And both are FREE!
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Early taste of ‘The Sno Cone Stand, Inc.’
Who knows when the movie will hit screens, but the Austin-made comedy “The Sno Cone Stand, Inc.” looks to be readying for its close up. You can watch interviews with its makers HERE and watch clips and more HERE.
The low-budget lark stars “The Sopranos’ ” Tony Sirico, Morgan Fairchild and a smattering of local luminary faces like Susan Dell and Leslie, Austin’s favorite cross-dressing hobo.
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AGLIFF’s seasonal crusade, and posters at the Dobie
Watch PBS or listen to KUT and KMFA these days and you know it’s spring fund-raising time for estimable non-profits.
Add AGLIFF — the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival — to the roster of needy acronyms. Then join the group for its benefit event BLOOM from 6 to 10 p.m. April 17 at AMLI (415 W. Second St.)
It’s an eve of food, drinks and live sounds by DJ Architektur, plus a raffle to win spit-shiny new Vespas.
All the BLOOM details HERE.
Movie posters rule. Get some real ones of art, foreign and indie films during the Dobie’s periodic poster sale, noon to 6 p.m. April 19 at the Dobie Theater.
Hundreds of ‘em at non-offensive prices, they tell us. 472-3240.
We are quite sure this poster won’t be on sale. If it is, it’s OURS.
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Jules Dassin, great crime director, dies
Director Jules Dassin died Monday at age 96. We like him for a host of crackerjack crime pictures dunked in an inky shade of noir: “Brute Force” (1947), “The Naked City” (1948), “Thieves’ Highway” (1949), “Night and the City” (1950, starring Richard Widmark, who died last Monday) and two of the great, seminal heist flicks “Rififi” (1955) and “Topkapi” (1964).
Scan his bio HERE and read an obit HERE.
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‘Cassidy Kids’ plays the small screen on IFC
After its world premiere at SXSW 2006, the totally Austin-made movie “The Cassidy Kids” — almost legendary in its long absence — makes it to the Independent Film Channel for four airings starting Sunday.
IFC is on Time Warner Cable channel 774. Showtimes are: 11 a.m. Sunday; 11:05 a.m. April 10; 9:05 a.m. April 14; and 2:10 p.m. April 25.
A curious blend of comedy, drama, mystery and Gen-X nostalgia, “The Cassidy Kids” is one of the few completed films from the currently in-hiatus production team of Burnt Orange Productions and the UT Film Institute, which employs local crew and UT film students.
Top-line Austin talent fills the main credits: writers Tasca Shadix, Tom Willett and Bryan Poyser; director Jacob Vaughan; cinematographer PJ Raval; and editor Kyle Henry.
Kadeem Hardison, Anne Ramsay, Jonathon Lewis, Rusty Kelley and Judah Friedlander star.
See a great link for the film HERE
Tiger Darrow, looking a bit like Ellen Page, in ‘Cassidy Kids’
