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November 2008
A heroic visit
Brea Grant — “the speedy thief Daphne Millbrook” on TV’s “Heroes” — will be at the Alamo Lake Creek to present the Dec. 8 episode of the NBC series. Better than being a superhero of sorts, Grant is a former Austinite. Yippy-yay.
Here’s what: “Brea will be on hand to provide a Q-and-A after the episode and also to sign your ‘Heroes’ swag,” Alamo folks promise.
Admission is free, but you can reserve a seat by buying a $5 food voucher HERE.
This one — yeah, her — will be at the Alamo Lake Creek on Dec. 8.
Stoic Gary Cooper stars in the 1952 western “High Noon” during the Westerns in the White House series on Dec. 11 at the Bullock Museum. A 35mm print of the film will screen at 6 p.m., followed by a discussion about the film, the presidents who watched it and its influence on presidential politics, lead by Jeffrey Richardson, Curatorial Assistant at the Autry Museum.
Free for museum members; $2 general. Reservations required: 936-4649.
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Criterion starts streaming
What with everyone getting into the streaming-video racket — see the recent post about iTunes, a veteran streamer, now presenting “Slacker” for online viewing — it only makes sense that the best DVD distributor, The Criterion Collection, would unleash its prestigious library of classic, foreign and art house titles into the online ether.
Enter The Criterion Collection Online Cinematheque, where you can watch or buy great movies in pristine editions — although, notably, not all streamed versions offer their DVD counterpart’s supplements. Films currently up and ready for rental include “Solaris,” “Clean, Shaven,” “The Cranes Are Flying,” “Fat Girl,” “Juliet of the Spirits,” “Lord of the Flies,” “The Thief of Bagdad” and more. Also check out the site’s new film festival link.
Rent, shop and peruse in awe HERE.
“Thief of Bagdad” (1940)
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Cine Las Americas wants your movie
“Call for Entries — Convocatoria — Convocacao”
The 12th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival is taking submissions of “the best of Latino and indigenous cinema” from North, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Spain.
The festival happens May 7 through 14. Deadline is Jan. 30. Complete details and guidelines HERE.
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‘Slacker’ on iTunes
Low-tech meets high-tech: “Slacker,” Richard Linklater’s 1991 ode to Austin, has gone digital. You can now rent the movie for $2.99 and buy it for $9.99 at Apple’s iTunes. Just so you know.
The Papsmear Pusher, slacking.
Latest headline dropped in our inbox: Psychological Thriller “Sweet Sister” Starts Pre-Production in Austin, TX
Briefly: Archstone Pictures and Austin-based Dreamstream Entertainment are making the movie partly in Los Angeles and partly in Austin. Shooting starts “mid-winter.” The cast includes Joe Estevez (Martin Sheen’s brother, who seems to have made like five movies in Austin to date), Mona Lee Fultz, Sue Rock and Austin’s Gary Chason.
The plot: “The psychological thriller tracks the impact of child abuse on twin sisters, one reaching for her dream in music, the other doing all that she can to dig her way to hell while a psychopathic killer targets the club scene in the Live Music Capital of the World.”
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DVD picks for the week
Noteworthy DVDs released 11/25/08
PICK OF THE WEEK: “Bottle Rocket” and “Chungking Express” (Criterion): Two gems from the nineties, each of which introduced a unique filmmaking voice (Wes Anderson and Wong Kar-Wai, respectively) to a broad audience of American cinephiles. (WKW had made many previous films, but none got this kind of Stateside exposure.) Both have been on disc before, but Criterion gives them premium treatment — technophiles should postpone buying for a few weeks to see just how premium, as these two are in the (slightly postponed) first batch of Blu-ray titles the company will release.
OTHER TOP PICKS:
“The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” (Criterion): Put Bourne and Bond aside for a moment to return to John le Carré’s version of international intrigue, in a B&W thriller starring Richard Burton.
“Still Life” (New Yorker): Jia Zhang-ke’s award-winner examines the lives of people whose town is about to be destroyed by China’s enormous Three Gorges dam project.
“A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All” (Paramount): Tongue-in-cheek genius Stephen Colbert may be just the man to make the ever-expanding holiday season not only bearable but fun.
“Hancock” (Sony): Despite some head-spinning twists that don’t play out nearly as satisfyingly as they should, this grumpy-superhero yarn offers some enjoyable smart-alec moments for Will Smith, who returns to Serious Acting this season in “Seven Pounds.”
“Sounder” (Koch): The much-loved family film gets what, shockingly, appears to be its first release on DVD.
“Becket” (MPI): However dated and stodgy this Peter O’Toole / Richard Burton historical drama may be, its arrival on Blu-ray is surprising enough to tempt us to revisit it.
“ABBA: The Movie” (Universal Music): The big screen “Mamma Mia” didn’t do it for you? Go straight to the source with a 1977 tour film (directed by Lasse Hallström), just released on Blu-ray.
NEW ON BLU-RAY: “George Carlin: It’s Bad For Ya” (MPI); “Jarhead,” “The Kingdom” (Universal)
FRESH FROM THE MULTIPLEX: “Fred Claus” (Warner Bros.); “Meet Dave,” “Space Chimps” (Fox)
FROM THE VAULTS:
FROM THE ARTHOUSE: Afro-Cuba: Yesterday and Today: “The Last Run of Papa Montero” / “Sara Gomez: An Afro-Cuban Filmmaker,” “Johan Van Der Keuken: The Complete Collection Vol. 4” (Facets); “Moses and Aaron” (New Yorker)
STRAIGHT(ISH)-TO-VIDEO: “Closing the Ring” (Weinstein Co.); “River Queen” (Weinstein Co.); “Superman: Doomsday” (Warner Bros.)
BEST OF TV: “24: Redemption” (Fox); “Beverly Hills 90210” Season 6 (Paramount) “The Doris Day Show,” “Family Affair” (MPI)
CULT CORNER: Psychic Killer (Dark Sky)
REISSUE/REPACKAGE: “The Atomic Cafe” (Docurama); “Freaks and Geeks” Yearbook Edition (Shout! Factory); “The Pink Panther: Ultimate Collection” (MGM); “The Ron Howard Spotlight Collection” (Universal)
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Old films find a new day
The Texas Archive of the Moving Image — calling itself TAMI — threw a fine shindig Wednesday night to celebrate the opening of its new online library and to announce the discovery of what might be the earliest film footage ever of Austin.
A clip of the footage, from 1911, was screened for about 100 attendees. The grainy, crunchy, silent film was shot by brothers W. Hope and Paul W. Tilley and depicts scenes of the Capitol Grounds, W. Seventh St. and Congress Ave. — looking much different than today’s bustling tableau.
More movies by the Tilley brothers remain on TAMI’s Top 10 “Wanted: Lost Texas Films” list. (Others include a lost biographical film starring Pancho Villa as himself, footage from the nation’s first Spanish-language television station in San Antonio and films by traveling filmmaker Melton Barker.)
TAMI specializes in excavating, archiving and transferring old or lost movies shot in Texas to digital formats for eternal preservation. You and your old films can take part: Starting in March, TAMI’s Texas Film Round-Up program will travel across the state and offer “free on-site digitization services as well as film screenings, educational programs, and interactive exhibits celebrating Texas media history.”
Details about TAMI and all its services, as well as the online library and wads of clips right HERE.
Still from a Texas dog circus film that’s really old.
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Two great DVD rentals
Every once in a while a DVD of a movie I’ve never heard of lands on my desk. Almost invariably I take a peek. Rarely am I blown-away.
Recently, two unsolicted DVDs astonished me, and I urge discerning viewers to rent them. The first was the streetwise “Chop Shop,” which I plugged HERE.
The latest is the powerfully restrained Israeli melodrama “My Father, My Lord” by neophyte David Volach. It won best narrative feature at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2007.
Suffused with lyrical naturalism, and gentle with its damning message, the film depicts how a conservative rabbi’s hectoring manner with his young son leads to unnecessary tragedy. Its touch is respectful and non-judgmental, its emotional impact quiet and cumulative, its aesthetic fine and meditative. It recalls both Italian neo-realism and the recent spiritual cinema of Vietnam. (And it runs at a zero-fat 72 minutes.)
More HERE.
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Oscar winnows the doc race to 15 films
IndieWire has posted the 15 films on the short-list for the best feature documentary Academy Award, which includes Sundance winner “Trouble the Water” that was shot by Austin cinematographer PJ Raval. They were picked from 94 qualifying films. Five Oscar nominees will be announced Feb. 22.
Other short-listed docs: Werner Herzog’s “Encounters at the End of the World”; Josh Tickell’s “Fuel” (opening Nov. 21 in Austin); Peter Gilbert and Steve James’ “At the Death House Door” and Daniel Junge’s “They Killed Sister Dorothy” — both played SXSW this year — and James Marsh’s “Man on Wire.”
Read the full list — plus reader comments decrying the omission of sometime-Austinite Margaret Brown’s “The Order of Myths” — HERE.
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New picks for DVDs
Noteworthy DVDs released 11/18/08
PICK OF THE WEEK:
“Tropic Thunder” (Paramount): Nasty and unrepentantly over-the-top, Ben Stiller’s sendup of war flicks inevitably drew protests but is often hilarious and much sharper than detractors admit. One of its cast members deserves an Oscar nomination — and we don’t mean Matthew McConaughey, though he may be more fun here than in anything since “Dazed and Confused.”
OTHER TOP PICKS:
“WALL-E” (Walt Disney): If Pixar’s delightful robo-enviro fable exhibited a shortage of subtlety in imagining the human race’s blubbery future, it more than made up for it with its hero’s delicate, lovable performance.
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (Universal): Guillermo del Toro’s moody hero returns in multiple home-vid editions boasting gee-whiz special features.
“Encounters at the End of the World” (Image): Werner Herzog’s recent polar expedition is also the first of his movies to get a Blu-ray release — great for all those icy vistas.
“D.W. Griffith Masterworks Vol. 2” (Kino): “Birth of a Nation” may be plenty for some, but Kino’s 5-disc box offers new restorations of rarely seen titles like “Sally of the Sawdust” and an extensive documentary on the cinematic trailblazer.
“Fanfan la Tulipe” (Criterion): Swashbuckling comedy offers a taste of what the French were watching before the New Wave came along.
“Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson” (Magnolia): The SXSW-shown doc about Thompson’s career hits stores concurrently with “The Gonzo Tapes,” a 5-CD box set of his home recordings.
“Up the Yangtze” (Zeitgeist): Widely praised doc explores the impact of China’s Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric project in the world.
NEW ON BLU-RAY: “Blue Streak,” “Mirrormask,” National Security,” “Revolver,” “Southland Tales” (Sony); “Caligula,” “Encounters at the End of the World” (Image); “Heathers,” “Mad Money” (Anchor Bay); “Lucky Number Slevin” (Weinstein Co.); “Paris, Je T’aime” (First Look); “The Stendhal Syndrome” (Blue Underground)
DOCUMENTARIES: “The Chomsky Sessions” (Docurama); “High Fidelity: Adventures of the Guarneri String Quartet” (First Run Pictures); “The Last Klezmer” (New Yorker); “Manhattan, Kansas” (Carnivalesque Films); “Stax” (Infinity); “Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell” (PlexiFilm); “Wu: The Story of the Wu-Tang Clan” (Paramount)
FROM THE ARTHOUSE: “The Derek Jarman Collection” (Kino); “The Films of Michael Sporn” (First Run Pictures); “Mister Lonely” (IFC)
BEST OF TV: “Doctor Who” Series 4 & “Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest” (BBC); “Hannah Montana” Season 1 (Walt Disney); “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” Complete Series (A&E); “Night Gallery” Season 2 (Universal); “SpongeBob SquarePants” Season 5, Vol. 2; “Star Trek” Original Series Season 3 (Remastered with new CGI effects) (Paramount); Victor Borge Classic Collection (Questar)
FRESH FROM THE MULTIPLEX: “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2” (Warner Bros.)
REISSUE/REPACKAGE: “300” (Warner); “Columbia Best Pictures Collection” (Sony); “Monty Python Holy Trinity” (Sony)
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Celluloid grab-bag: parties, screenings, classes, etc.
I’m back from an epic vacation, so it’s time for a tragically late catch-up on local movie matters. Like these:
- On Wednesday, the happily mushrooming Texas Archive of the Moving Image celebrates the launch of its new online library and presents a peek at the Texas Film Round-Up, the group’s traveling media preservation and education program premiering February in Austin. Featuring munchies, drinkies and ancient clips from old-timey Texas cinema, the party is open to all. RSVP at round-up@texasarchive.org or 485-3073. It’s from 6 to 8 p.m. at 501 Studios Soundstage (E. Fifth and Brushy streets). This is good stuff — important and fascinating (look for yourself HERE).
- They’re in L.A. now, but the Duplass brothers’ collective heart and art is stuck in Austin. Such as their Austin-made indie-thriller-spoof “Baghead,” which shined at Sundance and SXSW, enjoyed a theatrical run, and now arrives on DVD on Dec. 30. Special features include: Commentary with directors-writers-producers Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass; featurette “Mark and Jay Duplass Answer Questions They’ve Already Answered”; and “Baghead Scares.”
- The magnifique Austin Cinematheque keeps up its strong program of art house films — screened free, always — with new 35mm prints of Claude Chabrol’s essential new waver “Les Bonnes Femmes” at 7:30 p.m. Monday and Louis Malle’s classic 1971 charmer “Murmur of the Heart” at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 24. At the Texas Union Theatre at UT. The works right HERE.
A trio of Asian films, with post-show chats, happen at UT. Read about them at Chale Nafus’ Austin Film Society blog HERE.
Speaking of the Film Society, its board boasts some new members, including the Alamo Drafthouse’s Karrie League, and has just appointed Chris Adams, a partner at Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP, the President of the Board of Directors. Read more HERE.
Learn about the generous — and heavily attended — discount Sensory Friendly Film Screenings, offered by the Austin Autism Society. The shows are tailored for special viewers and families, and are only $5. The next one is the animated “Bolt” on Dec. 6. Details HERE.
Finally, Austin film queen (our term) Kat Candler shares her moviemaking gifts with more classes, beginning January. Learn all about her latest “Script to Screen” right HERE, where you may also sign-up.
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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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Special ‘Twilight’ screening
The Austin Film Society is hosting the premiere of ‘Twilight’ at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 20 at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum.
Director Catherine Hardwicke will be in attendance to discuss the movie, which deals with a romance between a vampire and mortal.
The movie opens Nov. 21. Tickets at http://austinfilm.org. $50 tickets include screening and after-party. $15 tickets for screening and Q&A with director.
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New picks for DVDs
Noteworthy DVDs released this week
PICK OF THE WEEK: — “JFK” (Warner Bros.): Hot on the heels of the underwhelming “W.” comes an entry from the other end of the Oliver Stone-does-history spectrum. Though sometimes infuriating, the conspiracy-happy “JFK” lingers in the cinematic craw in a way “W.” isn’t likely to, and its lurid vision is just the thing for a new Blu-ray edition.
OTHER TOP PICKS:
— Director’s Series: Roberto Rossellini (Lions Gate): Two little-seen titles, “Dov’è La Libertà” and “Era Notte A Roma,” from the Italian master’s mid-career.
— Walt Disney Treasures (Disney): The latest batch of archival goodies, ranging from obscure (1964’s “Dr. Syn”) to the nostalgic (an Annette-centric Mickey Mouse Club disc).
— “Shogun Assassin” box set (AnimEigo): A quintet of bloody samurai films that are English-dubbed versions of the famous Japanese adaptations of the “Lone Wolf and Cub” manga series.
— “The Boys in the Band” (Paramount): Ten years before he drew fire from gays with “Crusing,” director William Friedkin adapted Mart Crowley’s more gay-friendly (if now very dated) play.
— “Madame Bovary” (1991) (Koch): Claude Chabrol + Isabelle Huppert + Gustave Flaubert = Arthouse catnip.
— Paramount’s “Centennial Collection”: A new line of double-disc classics launches this week with reissues of the much-loved “Roman Holiday,” “Sabrina,” and “Sunset Boulevard.” Sadly, the remasters aren’t available on Blu-ray.
NEW TO BLU-RAY:
“Band of Brothers” (HBO); “Black Christmas” (Somerville House); “Firefly” (Fox); “Soundstage: Sheryl Crow Live,” “Soundstage: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers” (Koch)
FROM THE ARTHOUSE:
“…And the Earth Did Not Swallow Him,” “Liberty Kid,” “Little Fugitive” (1953) (Kino); “Camp de Thiaroye” (New Yorker); “Love Songs” (Somerville House); “Mister Foe” (Magnolia); “Opium: Diary of a Madwoman” (Koch); “Sukiyaki Western Django” (First Look)
FROM THE VAULTS:
“The General” (Kino); “The Homefront Collection,” ” Classic Holiday Collection,” Quo Vadis (Warner Bros.)
RECENT DOCUMENTARIES:
“Dalí in New York” (Jack Bond); “The Dalí Dimension” (Dalí Society); “Here Is Always Somewhere Else” (Cult Epics); “The Kennedys: America’s Emerald Kings” (Warner); “Operation Valkyrie: The Stauffenberg Plot To Kill Hitler” (Koch); “Planet B-Boy” (Arts Alliance America); “Toots” (Indiepix)
FRESH FROM THE MULTIPLEX:
“Star Wars: The Clone Wars” (Warner Bros.)
BEST OF TV:
“The Cosby Show” box set (First Look); “I Dream of Jeannie” (Sony); “Little House on the Prairie,” “Shaun The Sheep” (Lions Gate); “Scrubs” Season 7 (Walt Disney / Touchstone); “The Sopranos” Complete Series (HBO)
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Best of the new DVDs
Noteworthy DVDs released this week:
Pick of the week: The Films of Budd Boetticher (Sony): How significant are these five 1957-1960 Westerns directed by Boetticher and starring Randolph Scott? Ask Clint Eastwood and Martin Scorsese, who provide introductions on this set, which marks their first-ever release on DVD.
OTHER TOP PICKS:
The Gregory Peck Film Collection (Universal): The Peck classics ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and ‘Cape Fear’ are joined by four new-to-DVD titles including ‘Arabesque.’
‘Planet of the Apes’ (40 Year Evolution Blu-ray Collection) (Fox): The entire dirty-ape saga, presented in high-def splendor.
‘A Christmas Story’ (Warner Bros.): It’s good enough news that this Yuletime classic is now out on Blu-ray. The string of ‘leg lamp’ Christmas lights in the new ‘Ultimate Collector’s Edition’ box is just goofy icing on the cake.
‘Tenacious D: The Complete Master Works 2’ (Sony): Concert footage plus a second disc with the AFF-shown doc ‘D Tour.’
‘The Persuaders’ Triple Feature (Lions Gate): Swinging secret agents Roger Moore and Tony Curtis globe-trot their way through three adventures.
‘What We Do Is Secret’ (Peace Arch): Biopic of Darby Crash of The Germs.
‘DJ Spooky’s Rebirth of a Nation’ (Anchor Bay): D.W. Griffith’s troublesome masterpiece gets remixed by DJ Spooky.
‘Futurama: Bender’s Game’ (Fox): Another feature-length outing of the Matt Groening sci-fi comedy that wouldn’t say die.
‘Waterworld’ Extended Edition (Universal): For everyone who thought 136 minutes wasn’t enough.
Documentaries: ‘All Together Now,’ about the Beatles/Cirque du Soleil event ‘Love’ (EMI); ‘Comic Books Unbound’ and ‘Too Tough to Die: A Tribute to Johnny Ramone’ (Anchor Bay)
New to blu-ray: ‘Monster’s Ball’ and ‘Universal Soldier’ (Lions Gate); ‘Vexille’ (FUNimation)
Fresh from the multiplex: ‘Get Smart’ (2008) (Warner Bros.); ‘Henry Poole Is Here’ (Anchor Bay); ‘Transsiberian’ (First Look); ‘When Did You Last See Your Father?’ (Sony)
Best of TV: ‘The Batman’ Complete Animated Series and ‘Popeye the Sailor’ Volume 3 (Warner Bros.); ‘Fraggle Rock’ Complete Series (Lions Gate); ‘Get Smart’ Gift Set (HBO); ‘The Howdy Doody Show’ (Mill Creek); ‘Project Runway’ Complete 4th Season (Genius); ‘The Starlost’ Complete Series (VCI); ‘The Wild Wild West’ Complete Series (Paramount)
Guess it’s nearly that time again: ‘A Christmas Carol’ (1951) (VCI); ‘Christmas Is Here Again,’ ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ (2000) (Universal); ‘The Christmas Toy’ (Lions Gate); ‘This Christmas,’ ‘The Perfect Holiday’ (Sony)
Reissued/repackaged: ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ (Fox), ‘Star Wars’ Trilogy, ‘Star Wars’ Prequel Trilogy (Fox); ‘The Bourne Trilogy’ (Universal); ‘Madagascar’ (Paramount)
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