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February 2009
Weighing in on ‘Watchmen’
Reviews for the looong-awaited “Watchman” are dripping in. Here’s a teaser graf from Variety:
Finally unleashed from a much-publicized rights dispute between Fox and Warner Bros., “Watchmen” is less a fully realized comicbook epic than a sturdy feat of dramatic compression. Fans of Alan Moore’s landmark graphic novel, concerning a ring of Gotham superheroes brought out of retirement by an impending nuclear threat, will thrill to every pulpy line of dialogue and bloody act of retribution retained in director Zack Snyder’s slavishly faithful adaptation. But auds unfamiliar with Moore’s brilliantly bleak, psychologically subversive fiction may get lost amid all the sinewy exposition and multiple flashbacks. After a victorious opening weekend, the pic’s B.O. future looks promising but less certain.
“Watchmen” opens March 6.
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From No. 1 to No. 10, Austin plunges as filmmaking mecca
Or so says MovieMaker magazine in its annual (dubious?) Top Movie Cities poll.
It’s true: Last year Austin ranked No. 1. This year we are No. 10. Crud.
(Last year our arch-nemesis Shreveport was No. 3. It has dropped to No. 4.)
How did we, the mighty, fall? Read all about it, with a chunk of salt, HERE. Also note that the mag defines the list as “The 25 best cities in the U.S. to ride it out as an independent moviemaker this year.”
Here’s the Top 10:
- Chicago, IL
- Atlanta, GA
- New York, NY
- Shreveport. LA
- Albuquerque, NM
- Boston, MA
- Stamford, CT
- Memphis, TN
- Milwaukee, WI
- Austin, TX
See last year’s list with some feisty reader reactions HERE
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Noteworthy DVDs released 2/24/09
PICK OF THE WEEK:
Blu-ray Goes Crazy for Car Chases: Fox/MGM are rolling out a quartet of classics on Blu-ray that will be embraced by lead-footed film buffs everywhere. The first and second “French Connection” films are joined by cult classic “Vanishing Point” and the modern globe-trotting adventure “Ronin.” Don’t let the kids lay their hands on your keys after renting these.
TOP PICKS:
“Ironweed” (Lions Gate): Nicholson and Streep go to seed in Hector Babenco’s 1987 adaptation of the William Kennedy novel.
“What Just Happened?” (Magnolia): Robert De Niro offers one of his most enjoyable performances of recent years — admitedly, that’s not saying much — in this satire of the movie-producing biz.
“The Whole Shootin Match” (Watchmaker Films): For the first time on DVD — in fact, it was “unavailable in any format for at least two decades” — this influential Austin film is joined by a doc about Eagle Pennell and copious reprinted archival material.
Roller Derby Mania: Two derby docs, “Jam” (Virgil Films) and the Austin-centric “Hell on Wheels” (IndiePix), follow skaters who like to rough each other up in front of a crowd.
FRESH FROM THE MULTIPLEX
“Extreme Movie” (Weinstein Co.); “The Haunting of Molly Hartley” (Fox); “Sex Drive” (Summit)
NEW ON BLU-RAY
“Akira” (Bandai)
“The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” (Blue Underground)
DOCUMENTARIES
“Cat Dancers,” “Wonders Are Many” (Docurama); “Chris & Don: A Love Story” (Zeitgeist); “Dear Zachary: A Letter To His Son About His Father” (Oscilloscope); “The FTA” (Docurama)
ARTHOUSE/FOREIGN
“Man Walking On Snow,” “The Pear Tree,” “Poil de Carotte” (Facets)
FROM THE VAULTS
“The Pickwick Papers,” “Svengali” (VCI)
BEST OF TV
“Breaking Bad” Season1, “Just Shoot Me” Season3 (Sony); “Dirty Jobs” Collection 4 (Image); “Enemy at the Door” Series 1, “Painted Lady,” “Trial & Retribution” Set 2 (Acorn Media); “Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder” (Fox); “Oliver Twist” (2007 Miniseries) (BBC)
REISSUE/REPACKAGE
“Last House on the Left” (MGM)
STRAIGHT(ISH) TO VIDEO
“Cyclops” (Anchor Bay); “Red Sands” (Sony)
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Academy Awards live chat
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Oscar’s best fashion moment, inarguably
An actual Norse Loki necklace:
Mickey Rourke’s Loki the dog necklace, worn at tonight’s Oscars:
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Former Austinites win big at Spirit Awards
One-time locals Alex Holdridge and Margaret Brown took prestigious honors today at the annual Independent Spirit Awards.
Holdridge won the John Cassavetes Award, given to the best feature made for less than $500,000, for his lo-fi rom-com “In Search of a Midnight Kiss”
Brown won the Lacoste Truer Than Fiction Award for her Alabama Mardi Gras documentary “The Order of Myths.” The award is “presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant, funded by Lacoste.”
Brown with her trophy
Read about Brown and her competitors for the award HERE.
See all nominees and categories HERE.
See all winners — “The Wrestler” showed very well — HERE.
You can watch the ceremony in repeat at 9 tonight on AMC.
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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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Reel road trip stops in Austin
San Francisco indie filmmakers Austin and Brian Chu are on the road in a van for a three-month cross-country filmmaking odyssey about the recession. And they land in Austin today and Friday to chat with regular folks about how the downturn is downturning their lives.
The project’s called “The Recess Ends” and will traverse 45 states and 55 cities. Read all about it and watch bits HERE.
Now it’s California’s turn. From The New York Times:
On Monday the state’s legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger continued to debate a budget proposal that included $100 million a year in tax credits for so-called below-the-line spending — payments other than those to the stars and filmmakers — on certain movies and television shows in the state.
Read the story HERE.
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Dog gone: Rourke’s best friend dies
No! Mickey Rourke’s beloved chihuahua Loki has died. She was 18.
Remember Rourke’s pitiful Golden Globes acceptance speech?
“I’d like to thank all my dogs, the ones who are here and the ones who aren’t here anymore,” Rourke said. “Sometimes, when a man is alone, that’s all you got is your dog. And they’ve meant the world to me.”
A couple of us here have recently lost pets, so we feel the pain.
Read and bawl your eyes out HERE.
Loki, RIP
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‘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:
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.
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Oscar, meet Austin
Austin’s enjoyed a modest share of Oscar admiration in the past. Springing to memory are nominations for Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy’s “Before Sunset” screenplay in 2005, Michael Corenblith’s art direction and set decoration for “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” in 2001 and Terrence Malick’s direction for “The Thin Red Line” in 1999.
Local ties are more tangential this year, but it’s worth recognizing our homegrown participants at the annual fete.
Austin filmmaker PJ Raval is the cinematographer for best documentary nominee “Trouble the Water,” a personal, flood-level portrait of Hurricane Katrina and its victims. The movie won the Documentary Grand Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008.
“I’m especially proud of the film and I hope all this recognition encourages more people to see it and learn from (the subjects’) incredible story,” Raval says. “I hope it inspires viewers to remember those in New Orleans and filmmakers to keep telling stories that need to be told.”
Austinite Mikail Davenport is featured in “The Final Inch,” which is nominated for best documentary short. The film by Irene Taylor Brodsky traces the ongoing global war against polio in developing nations.
Davenport, who contracted polio at age 2, says he occupies about five minutes of the 38-minute movie, but you can watch more scenes featuring him HERE.
Davenport, a Web, print and graphic designer and ordained interfaith minister, will be at Sunday’s Oscar show, thanks to the generosity of the filmmakers. He’s not sure about his seats, because he will be sitting in a wheelchair.
“I’ll be the short good-looking guy,” Davenport quips.
“The Final Inch” will air on HBO this spring.
Davenport in ‘Final Inch’
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‘Jollenbach’ premiere
Midian Films, the Round Rock-based movie production, is holding a premiere Thursday night of its first feature-length film, ‘Jollenbach.’
The thriller from the Midian team — including Dana Glover, Michelle Carter and David Anderson — stars Heath Thompson and Laura Rey, with cameo appearances by Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo, former local TV news anchor Cathy Conley Swofford and former sports anchors Hugh Lewis and Michael Coleman.
Glover and his team plan to take the movie to the annual market at the Cannes Film Festival in May, hoping to secure international distribution. The company also has plans to make more movies locally and is inviting area actors to attend the premiere.
7 p.m., Arbor, 9828 Great Hills Trail. www.midianfilms.net. For invites, e-mail midian.films@gmail.com.
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Noteworthy DVDs released 2/17/09
TOP PICKS
The Paul Newman Film Series (Warner Bros.) : The late, great Paul Newman is celebrated in DVD releases of a handful of not-so-famous outings, from his first screen gig (a Bible epic called “The Silver Chalice”) to the “Rashomon” adaptation “The Outrage” and one of his directing efforts, “Rachel, Rachel,” starring wife Joanne Woodward.
“Hobson’s Choice” (Criterion) : Like the undeservedly obscure “Ruggles of Red Gap,” this David Lean film shows the underexposed comic side of Charles Laughton, better known for haughty stuff like “Mutiny on the Bounty.”
“High School Musical 3: Senior Year” (Walt Disney) : Disney’s hugely popular series squeezes in one more installment before sending the kids off to college.
“Changeling” (Universal) : For your Oscar-rooting pleasure, Angelina Jolie plays a woman who loses her child only to have him replaced by someone else’s.
“Body of Lies” (Warner Bros.) : Leonardo Di Caprio flees from “Revolutionary Road” to someplace less frightening — the Middle East — in this CIA flick from Ridley Scott.
“Choke” (Fox) : Actor Clark Gregg makes his directing debut with an adaptation of Chuck (“Fight Club”) Palahniuk’s tale of depravity.
“Joni Mitchell’s ‘The Fiddle and the Drum’” (Koch Vision) : Highlights from Mitchell’s career are used as the basis for an Alberta Ballet Company work focused on war and environmental dangers.
FRESH FROM THE MULTIPLEX
“Flash of Genius” (Universal); “How To Lose Friends and Alienate People” (MGM); “The Midnight Meat Train” Director’s Cut (Lions Gate)
NEW ON BLU-RAY
“Capote / In Cold Blood”(Double Feature), “Gandhi,” “Kramer vs. Kramer” (Sony); “Raging Bull,” “The Passion of the Christ” (Fox)
DOCUMENTARIES
“Blindsight” (Image); “Moving Midway” (First Run Pictures); “Religulous” (Lions Gate)
ARTHOUSE/FOREIGN
“I Served the King of England” (Sony)
BEST OF TV: “The Beverly Hillbillies” Season 3, “Sabrina, The Teenage Witch” Season 5 (Paramount); “Dead Like Me” Complete Series (MGM); “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” Season 8, “Murder, She Wrote” Season 9 (Universal)
REISSUE/REPACKAGE
John Cassavetes’s “Faces” & “Shadows” (Criterion)
STRAIGHT(ISH) TO VIDEO
“Feast 3: The Happy Finish” (Weinstein Co.); “Quarantine” (2008) (Sony); “Still Waiting… ” (Lions Gate)
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Jason slices, dices, burns, mutilates opening records
Says Variety:
“Warner Bros./New Line’s redo ‘Friday the 13th’ scared up the best opening ever for a horror movie in grossing an estimated $42.2 million from 3,105 theaters through Sunday.”
The Austin-filmed movie, “breathing new life into the classic franchise, is on its way to posting the best four-day holiday gross ever for a R-rated pic. Studios will report four-day numbers for President’s Day weekend on Monday.
“Paramount is a partner on ‘Friday,’ which was produced by Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes. Production budget was $19 million, meaning the film recouped those costs in its first day in release (Friday’s gross was $19.4 million.)”
It obviously makes the movie the best performing Austin-made film on the books. In contrast, Robert Rodriguez’s “Spy Kids 3-D” opened at $33 million and “Sin City” at $29 million. The “Texas Chainsaw Masscare” re-make, by the same peeps who did “Friday the 13th,” pulled in $28 million on its opening weekend in 2003.
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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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Film camp for youngins
Movie camp! Kids can learn how to make movies and either a) fill their heads with wildly unattainable dreams of Hollywood grandeur, or b) simply discover a nice new hobby.
Where they can do this is at the Summer Filmmaking Camp thrown by the venerable Austin Film Society in June, July and August (you know, in summer) at Austin Studios.
It’s hands-on real stuff, and you can sign up and learn more HERE.
Austin filmmaker Tom Suhler’s short doc “At What Cost?” will play the Sedona International Film Festival, running Feb. 24 through March 1 in Sedona, Arizona.
The film, say its makers, “documents the demise of a 100-year-old pecan grove in the heart of Austin, which was cut down to make room for condominiums. The film takes the form of a fictional obituary for one of the trees cut down.”
More about the movie HERE.
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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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Joaquin Phoenix’s odd, odd interview on ‘Letterman’
Joaquin Phoenix showed up on David Letterman’s show last night … or did he?
This might just be one of the most uncomfortable, awkward interviews ever. Was it a publicity stunt? A joke? Or is Phoenix really this eccentric and this uneasy about being in front of a TV camera? You make the call. Letterman sure had fun with it.
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Noteworthy DVDs released 2/10/09
TOP PICKS
“Blindness” (Miramax) & “Frozen River” (Sony): Two chilly, desperate films (in very different ways) that ranked among the best of 2008; in the latter, Melissa Leo delivers a performance to rival the bigger stars she’s competing with for the Oscar.
“Obama: All Access” (CBS): Standing out in the glut of Obama product out there, this “60 Minutes” presentation gathers the Inaugural address with other highlights like the news program’s own coverage and his Philadelphia speech on race.
“The Exterminating Angel” & “Simon of the Desert” (Criterion): Two late-ish-career highlights by “Un Chien Andalou” provocateur Luis Buñuel.
“Dennis Potter: 3 To Remember” (Koch): Three teleplays by Potter (“The Singing Detective”), one of the most important writers in British TV history.
“What Makes Sammy Run?” (Koch): The scathing showbiz novel by Budd Schulberg, in a 1959 made-for-TV adaptation starring Larry Blyden and John Forsythe.
“Faerie Tale Theatre” (Koch): Two themed single-disc collections come out this week, but don’t overlook a recent complete collection of the Shelley Duvall-hosted show, which draws on such surprising talents as Tim Burton and Frances Ford Coppola.
FRESH FROM THE MULTIPLEX
“Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” (Paramount); “Miracle at St. Anna” (Touchstone); “Nights In Rodanthe” (Warner Bros.); “Soul Men” (Weinstein Co.); “W.” (Lions Gate)
NEW ON BLU-RAY
“Amadeus” Director’s Cut (Warner Bros.); “Boondock Saints,” “Donnie Darko” (Fox); “Doom,” “The Rundown” (Universal); “A History of Violence” (New Line); “Pretty Woman” (Touchstone)
DOCUMENTARIES
“Iggy Pop: Lust for Life” (MVD); “My Name Is Bruce” (B-movie hero Bruce Campbell, that is) (Image); “Obscene,” “The Universe of Keith Haring” (Arts Alliance America)
ARTHOUSE/FOREIGN
“The Geisha” (AnimEigo); “The Romance of Astrea and Celadon” (Koch)
FROM THE VAULTS
“Ode to Billy Joe” (Warner Bros.)
BEST OF TV
Curious George” “Monkey Collection, Vol. 1 & “Robot Monkey and More Great Gadgets” (Universal); “Kennedy” Complete Series, starring Martin Sheen (MPI); “Melrose Place” Season 5, Vol. 1, “Tales from the Darkside” Season 1 (Paramount); “Shaun the Sheep: Back in the Ba-a-ath,” “Thomas & Friends: Railway Friends” (Lions Gate); “She Stoops to Conquer” (Acorn Media); “Tim and Eric Awesome Show” Season 2 (Warner Bros.)
REISSUE/REPACKAGE
“Clint Eastwood: American Icon Collection” (Universal); “The Enforcer” (Jet Li,1995) (Weinstein Co.); Hitchcock’s “The Lodger,” “The Paradine Case,” “Sabotage,” and “Young & Innocent” (MGM); “The Skulls Trilogy” (Universal); “Street Fighter” (1994, Blu-ray and DVD) (Universal); “Wallace & Gromit” short films (Lions Gate)
STRAIGHT(ISH) TO VIDEO
Steven Seagal tries horror in “Against the Dark” (Sony); “Chocolate,” by “Ong Bak” director Prachya Pinkaew (Magnolia); dubious Hitchcock remake “The Lodger” (2008) (Sony); “Spy School” (Universal); Cuba Gooding, Jr. in “The Way of War” (First Look)
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Student films wanted for fest
Submit your disability-themed short film for the 2009 Cinema Touching Disability Student Film Competition and win big.
Win big what? Oh, $500, $250 or a plaque. And all top finalists’ films will screen at the Alamo South.
Everything you need HERE.
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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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Call for entries at AFF
The Austin Film Festival & Conference has issued its annual call for entries, seeking screenplays and teleplays.
The festival is seeking screenplays in the following categories: drama (historical, western, drama, family, romance, horror, thriller); and comedy (dark, satirical, slapstick).
This year, the festival has two more categories: the Latitude Productions Award, which is an adult-themed, character-driven script with a budget under $10 million; and the Sci-Fi Award, which includes science fiction, fantasy, horror, surrealism, myth/legend and fanstastical storytelling. To be considered in either of the two new categories, you must have your screenplay entered in either the drama or comedy category. Postmarked deadline: May 15. Late deadline: June 1.
Then there’s the teleplay competition. It’s open to spec scripts for any network or cable TV show currently in production, with two categories: drama and sitcom. The postmarked deadline: June 1.
Winners will be announced at the 2009 Austin Film Festival and Screenwriters Conference held Oct. 22-29.
For more information, call 1-800-310-3378, email alex@austinfilmfestival.com. 512-478-4795. Austin Film Festival, 1801 Salinas St., Austin, 78702. www.austinfilmfestival.com.
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Keaton busts open the Cinematheque season
Buster Keaton’s silent and fabulously funny “Steamboat Bill Jr.” kicks off the new season of the Austin Cinematheque at the Texas Union Theatre at the University of Texas (24th and Guadalupe streets).
The show’s at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 16, and it’s free. Details HERE.
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Austin doc wheelin’ to DVD
Just another reminder that Austin filmmaker Bob Ray’s ballyhooed doc about Texas roller girls arrives on DVD on Feb. 24.
Details HERE.
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Grab-bag of local film happenings
Andrew Shapter’s uplifting doc “Happiness Is,” which played the Austin Film Festival last year, screens at 7 p.m. Feb. 20 at St. Edward’s University Ragsdale Center, Jones Auditorium. It’s free for all.
Shapter roams far and wide asking a disparate array of minds how people can create more happiness in their lives. A panel featuring Shapter and others, including Khotan Harmon, host of KOOP’s “Idea Lounge” and “Writing on the Air,” follows the movie.
More about the event and the Screen Door series HERE.
The best short films less than five minutes long will be shown during the third annual Off-Centered Film Fest, April 3 and 4 at the Alamo Lake Creek.
But first you need to submit your movie, due March. 1. The contest cum festival is thrown by Dogfish Head beer and everything you need to know — such as the big, big prizes — is right HERE.
Read Patrick Beach’s report about last year’s fest HERE.
“A Powerful Noise,” a doc about issues facing women and girls in the global fight against poverty, will screen at 7 p.m. March 5 in five Austin area theaters: Tinseltown Pflugerville, Metropolitan 14, Cinemark Cedar Park, Cinemark Hill Country Galleria and Cinemark Southpark Meadows.
The special one-night screening will be followed by a live town hall discussion simulcast from New York featuring Dr. Helene Gayle, Christy Turlington Burns and Nicholas Kristof.
Details and tickets HERE.
Cine Las Americas has announced new dates for this year’s featival: April 22 through 30.
Explains the fest: (The change) is “to better integrate the festival’s program into the local film events calendar.”
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Rodeo fans wanted for movie
Cowdudes and cowgals, listen: Documentarian Havana Marking — who just won two major awards at Sundance for her film “Afghan Star” — is in Texas right now, looking for die-hard RODEO FANS for her new doc about those peculiar people.
Her pitch: My next project is looking at rodeo. Across the world people watch and see rodeo as the embodiment of America. I want to find the true fans of the sport, and through them try and understand what, why and how the Cowboy image is still so powerful in US culture. There is something so romantic and alluring about the cowboy and I would like the SERIOUS fans — men and women — to contact me. The ones who travel across the country to see rodeo, the ones who dream of marrying a cowboy, the ones who dream of being a cowboy …
She is heading to the Stock Fair and Rodeo in San Antonio on Wednesday.
Write or call Marking at info@redstart-media.com or 435-940-4093. She will be in the U.S. for three weeks.
Learn about her award-winning movie HERE.
Wanted.
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Noteworthy DVDs released 2/3/09
Pick of the week
“Office Space” (Fox): Call us shameless local boosters, but any chance to celebrate this lovable Mike Judge comedy — one of those fortunate films whose audience grows on home video — is one we’ll take.
Other top picks
“Being There” (Warner Bros.): Peter Sellers’s enigmatic outing as “Chauncey Gardiner,” arguably the last great Hal Ashby film, gets the Blu-ray treatment in addition to a standard DVD reissue.
“Zack and Miri Make a Porno” (Weinstein Co.) & “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist” (Sony): Two romantic comedies for those fed up with the usual generic fare.
Natalie Wood: Warner Bros. celebrates the actress not only with “The Natalie Wood Signature Collection,” which includes numerous new-to-DVD titles, but with a standalone version of the sci-fi flick “Brainstorm,” directed by Douglas Trumbull — best known for the trippy effects in “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
“I Love the 80’s”: Paramount’s odd reissue series continues, using a VH1 marketing tie-in, corny graphic design, and bonus music CDs to sell both titles that fit its silly retro vibe (“Flashdance,” “Staying Alive”) and those that don’t fit in the least (“Gallipoli,” “Ragtime”).
“Martini Movies”: Sony offers its own odd series of catalog titles, presumably suggesting that everything from the Jeff Goldblum/Cyndi Lauper vehicle “Vibes” to Stephen Frears’s tongue-in-cheek “Gumshoe” either revolves around — or would benefit from — free-flowing intoxicants.
“Rent” (Filmed Live on Broadway) (Sony): For fans of the original musical who thought the Hollywood adaptation left something to be desired.
“The Cure: Trilogy” (Eagle Rock): The hardest working goths in eyeliner take to the stage for straight-through performances of three albums: “Pornography,” “Disintegration,” and “Bloodflowers.”
New on Blu-Ray
“Assault On Precinct 13” (1976), “Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself,” “K.D. Lang: Live in London” (Image); “Clerks 2” (Weinstein Co.); “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Napoleon Dynamite,” “Sideways” (Fox)
Fresh from the multiplex
“The Secret Life of Bees” (Fox)
Arthouse/Foreign
“Ben X” (Film Movement)
From the vaults
“Inside Moves” (Lions Gate); “The Magnificent Trio” (Image); “Oliver & Company” (Walt Disney); “Yentl” Extended Director’s Edition (MGM)
Best of TV
“Afro Samurai: Resurrection” (FUNimation); “The Berenstain Bears: Springtime Surprises,” “Bewitched” Season 7, “The Partridge Family” Season 4 (Sony); “Columbo” Mystery Movie Collection (Universal); “Mystery Science Theater 3000” Vol. XIV (Shout! Factory); “Tom and Jerry Tales” Vol. 6 (Warner Bros.)
Reissue/Repackage
“Alec Guinness Collection,” “Peter Sellers Collection” (Lions Gate); “Friday the 13th” Parts 1, 2, and 3-D (Paramount)
Straight(ish) to video
“Space Buddies” (Walt Disney); “Bottle Shock” (Fox)
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Cusack and Thornton join film hall of fame wingding
The annual Texas Film Hall of Fame awards has rounded its celebrity lineup for the March 12 celebration at Austin Studios.
Inductees and inductors: Billy Bob Thornton will be inducted by Dennis Quaid; Keith Carradine will induct Powers Boothe; John Cusack will induct director Catherine Hardwicke; Linda Gray will induct Larry Hagman; and Thomas Haden Church will emcee the fund-raising party.
Details and tickets HERE.
J.R.
J.C.
A new Alamo Drafthouse — yes!
As reported by the Community Impact Newspaper: “A $5 million Alamo Drafthouse Cinema theater is planned to open in 2009 in Circle C Ranch, near the intersection of MoPac and Slaughter Lane. The 35,000 sq. ft. theater will have at least eight screens and will be the largest corporate-owned Alamo Drafthouse theater. The new theater will feature digital 3-D technology.”
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Things to do in a movie theater
The Austin Film Society presents the third annual installment of “Children of Abraham/Ibrahim: Films of the Middle East and North Africa,” from Feb. 17 to March 31 at the Alamo South.
It kicks off with Deepa Mehta’s sumptuous Indian drama “Earth” at 7 p.m. Feb. 17 and continues with a slew of important films set in Iran, Morocco, Pakistan and beyond.
All films and full details HERE.
‘Earth’
Matt Radecki and Michael Caine’s doc “TV Junkie” gets a special showing at 8 p.m. Feb. 18 at Salvage Vanguard Theater (2803 E. Manor Rd.). It’s part of the Salvage UnReeled series. Admission is $5.
More about this amazing Sundance winner HERE.
Not quite the Butt-Numb-a-Thon, but still something of trial is the AMC Best Picture Showcase, taking place all day Feb. 21 at the AMC Barton Creek.
What it is: All five 2009 best picture Oscar nominees screened back-to-back for a flat fee of $30, which includes a large popcorn with unlimited refills for the entire day. You get other goodies, too.
The sked:
“Milk” — 10:30 a.m.
“The Reader” — 1:05 p.m.
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” — 3:45 p.m.
“Slumdog Millionaire” — 7:15 p.m.
“Frost/Nixon” — 9:45 p.m.
More HERE.
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Allagash beer dinner at Lake Creek Alamo postponed
Tonight’s Allagash beer dinner at the Lake Creek Alamo Drafthouse has been postponed after the brewery’s owner, Rob Tod, broke his hand and suffered other injuries Sunday.
Tod apparently was delivering a keg in Boston and slipped down some stairs, according to the Alamo’s Paul Michie.
No make-up date has been scheduled. Michie said all attendees who bought tickets through the theater’s web site have received refunds.
A beer tasting with Tod set for later tonight at the Flying Saucer will go on as scheduled but not with Tod in attendance.
Meanwhile, the dates are set for Dogfish Head’s Off-Centered Film Festival are set: April 3 and 4. More info at drafthouse.com.
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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
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)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
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)
SPOTLIGHT PREMIERES (Premieres and sneak previews of films with distribution, plus world premieres from notable filmmakers or about notable subjects.)
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)
For all the rest — and there is MUCH more — go HERE.
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