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September 2009
Sneak peek at Fantastic Fest: ‘Daybreakers’
Yet another vampire thriller doesn’t sound that promising for the closing night film at Fantastic Fest, but “Daybreakers,” putting the punctuation mark on this year’s fete, proves a solid closer — a slick, throttling vampire flick with smart twists and, most importantly, gushers of orgiastic gore. Fantastic fans should be delighted.
On Wednesday the press got a sneak peek of the film, which won’t be released until January 8. Being extremely discreet, not revealing too much, this is what we saw:
The world is ruled by vampires. Humans, scared for their lives, are being hunted down by the military for blood harvesting by the undead. A national blood shortage, in critical stages, means that human blood is even rarer and more precious than ever, so a pharmacology lab, with Ethan Hawke its chief hematologist, is attempting to manufacture a blood substitute.
But because he empathizes with the endangered humans — the vampires were once human, after all — Hawke’s good doctor joins the living to help them with a cure for vampirism. (He has a big heart, even if it doesn’t beat.)
What unfurls is a war between the vamps and the humans, with more blood and ripped flesh than you’d expect from a Hollywood picture. Grim undertones of civil rights struggles, bigotry and fear and hatred of the Other are elegantly woven into the action, which isn’t afraid to embrace a cliche or three. But mostly “Daybreakers” keeps it fresh, twinning thrills with compelling ideas and gallons of splatter.
Willem Dafoe, as a southern-fried former vampire, and Sam Neill as the venal CEO of the blood harvesting company, also star.
“Daybreakers” plays at 9:45 p.m. Thursday at the Alamo South, with directors Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig in attendance. More info and the movie’s trailer HERE.
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What I’m watching
Wherein our movie critic periodically shares what DVDs he’s been viewing in his spare time …
- “Wages of Fear” (1953; Henri-Georges Clouzot): Four desperate derelicts, including the strapping Yves Montand, willingly risk their lives to deliver truckloads of nitroglycerin across harrowing terrain in South America. Every bump and jar along the way is an opportunity for explosive obliteration, but the drivers’ need for money supplants good sense. Clouzot’s thriller, at times unbearably tense, recalls Huston’s “Treasure of the Sierra Madre.” Both are about bootstrap survival and rivalries among men, with setting playing a decisive role. Holds up terrifically.
- “Ballast” (2008; Lance Hammer): Hammer’s stunningly assured, award-winning debut never made it to Austin theaters, but arrives on DVD on Nov. 10. Set in a poor town on the Mississippi Delta, it follows a single mother and her troubled son as they struggle to stay afloat while pieces of their painful past swirl to the surface. Understated and impressively muted, a sturdy entry in the unofficial neo-neo-realism movement and a vital piece of recent American indie cinema.
- “Frownland” (2007; Ronald Bronstein): A fascinating, baffling what-is-it tightly (claustrophobically) focused on a manic, unhinged fellow ((Dore Mann, in a frighteningly committed performance) in the throes of an urban crack-up. This relentless and uncompromising character study basks in its jagged, grainy aesthetic for a concentrated dose of the modern human condition. It’s often hard to watch, with the screen dominated by a spluttering one-man carnival of perspiring neuroses. But it’s equally hard to pull your eyes away.
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Fantastic Fest award winners revealed
The super-inspired, ultra-silly animated Belgian feature “A Town Called Panic” won the Audience Award, “Human Centipede” won the best Horror picture and “Mandrill” took the prize for best Fantastic picture at the fifth annual Fantastic Fest, it was announced Monday night.
Read the full list of winners right HERE.
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Noteworthy DVDs released 9/29/09
PICK OF THE WEEK
“The Wizard of Oz” (Warner Bros.): You might say a new video format doesn’t really exist until “Oz” has been released on it. Blu-ray, your time has come — and “Oz” gets so many bonus features you’d need an army of munchkins to carry them.
OTHER TOP PICKS
“42nd Street Forever 5: Alamo Drafthouse Edition” (Synapse): Austin’s legendary trove of vintage movie trailers is cherry picked by the Exploitation lovers at 42nd Street.
“Away We Go” (Universal): Small-screen comic actors John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph do themselves proud as a young couple looking for a place to raise their child.
“The Girlfriend Experience” (Magnolia): In between his half-day Che epic and his upcoming 3-D Cleopatra film, Steven Soderbergh makes a legit drama starring an adult film actress.
NEW ON BLU-RAY
“Billy Jack” (Image); “The Dark Crystal,” “Facing the Giants,” “Fireproof,” “Labyrinth” (Sony); “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer” (MPI); “Yellowstone: Battle for Life” (BBC)
FRESH FROM THE MULTIPLEX
“Filth and Wisdom” (IFC); “Monsters vs. Aliens” (Paramount); “Shrink” (Lions Gate)
ARTHOUSE/FOREIGN
“Frownland” (Factory 25); “Gus on the Clackamas” (Microcinema)
FROM THE VAULTS
Tony Scott’s “Revenge” (Weinstein Co.); “Too Cool for School Collection” (Mill Creek)
DOCUMENTARIES
“The Art Guys: Home on the Range” (Microcinema); “Damon & Naomi’s 1001 Nights” (Factory 25); “Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie” (Oscilloscope); “Secrecy” (Docurama)
BEST OF TV
“C.S.I.: N.Y.” Season 5 (Paramount); “Cagney & Lacey”: “The Menopause Years” & “The Return” (S’More Entertainment); “Foyle’s War” Series 1-5, “Midsomer Murders” Set 13 (Acorn Media); “How I Met Your Mother” Season 4, “The Unit” Complete Series (Fox); “Kings” Complete Series (Universal); “Life On Mars” (US) Complete Series (Walt Disney); “Man Stroke Woman” Complete Series (MPI); “The Patty Duke Show” Season 1 (Shout! Factory); “The Real Ghostbusters” Complete Series (Time-Life); “Sense and Sensibility” (1971) (BBC); “Superman/Batman: Public Enemies” (Warner Bros.); “The Universe” Season 3 (A&E)
REISSUE/REPACKAGE
“Traffik” (Acorn Media); “The New York Ripper” (Blue Underground)
CULT CORNER
“Stepfather II” (Synapse)
KIDS’ STUFF
“Baby Einstein: World Animal Adventure,” “Disney Animation Collection: Volume 7, Mickey’s Christmas Carol” (Walt Disney)
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Austin Film Festival announces opening and closing films and one big subtraction
The Austin Film Festival, which we mentioned last week had announced a large part of its roster of films, today announced its complete list.
Kicking off the fest on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 7p.m. is the Cheryl Hines-directed “Serious Moonlight.” Hines, who directed the film written by the late Adrienne Shelly, will be in attendance for the film’s regional premiere.
“High-powered Manhattan lawyer Louise (Meg Ryan) is told by husband of 13 years, Ian (Timothy Hutton), that he’s leaving her for a younger woman. Things really start to go wrong when Louise holds Ian captive until he professes his love for her. The unexpected arrival of an opportunistic young gardener (Justin Long) and Ian’s impatient mistress (Kristen Bell), only serve to complicate the crisis even further, while somehow forcing Louise and Ian to reckon with their past and realistically deal with their future”
Academy Award-nominated director Jason Reitman will be in town with his film, “Up in the Air,” to close the festival on Thursday, Oct. 29 at 8 p.m..
“The timely odyssey of Ryan Bingham (Oscar winner George Clooney), a corporate downsizer and consummate modern business traveler who, after years of staying happily airborne, suddenly finds himself ready to make a real connection. When he falls for a simpatico fellow traveler (Vera Farmiga), Ryan’s boss (Jason Bateman), inspired by a young, upstart efficiency expert (Anna Kendrick), threatens to permanently call him in from the road. Faced with the prospect, at once terrifying and exhilarating, of being grounded, Ryan begins to contemplate what it might actually mean to have a home.”
The AFF has pulled the Austin premiere of the George Clooney film, “Men Who Stare at Goats,” after it ran as a surprise screening at Fantastic Fest on Saturday night.
Click here for the film schedule, and right here for the schedule of panels.
The 16th annual Austin Film Festival & Conference takes place October 22-29. For tickets, badges and more information, go to the AFF’s official site.
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Fantastic Fest 2010 badges on sale Monday
Fantastic Fest, still deep into FF ‘09, running through Friday, has announced this:
“Regular and VIP Fantastic Fest 2010 badges will go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday. VIP Badges are $285 and guarantee you admission to any show at Fantastic Fest. Film badges are $170 and guarantee you admission to a show at every time-slot, but does not guarantee your first choice.”
Go HERE to purchase a 2010 VIP badge. Go HERE to purchase a 2010 Film Badge.
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Vampires chomp into Fantastic Fest
Night three of Fantastic Fest offered another red-carpet premiere at the Paramount Theatre. Saturday’s show was “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant,” an undead fantasy based on the young adult series of books by Darren Shaun.
The audience skewed decidedly younger for a Fantastic Fest flick, with tweens and teens gathering outside the venue to snap cell-phone photos of stars John C. Reilly, Josh Hutcherson and Chris Massoglia. Reilly, who plays a vampire in the movie, was greeted with a blast of shrieks and applause on his arrival.
More about “The Vampire’s Assistant,” including the trailer, HERE. The movie, directed by Paul Weitz, opens Oct. 23.
John C. Reilly at the Paramount on Saturday
Josh Hutcherson on the red carpet
Chris Massoglia
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Interview with the stars of ‘Zombieland’
The action-horror-comedy “Zombieland” premiered Friday night at the Paramount Theatre during Fantastic Fest. A few hours before the screening I sat down at the Driskill Hotel with the film’s stars Woody Harrelson (“Natural Born Killers”) and Jesse Eisenberg (“The Squid and the Whale,” “Adventureland”), who play two of the last survivors in a post-apocalyptic world populated by the raving, starving dead.
“Zombieland” opens Oct. 2.
Chris Garcia: Are you guys zombie or horror film fans?
Jesse Eisenberg: No, no I’m not. I don’t like those kinds of movies. I don’t like horror movies or monster movies. I don’t understand the appeal. I like movies about Jewish people in New York City complaining about their lives. But I loved this movie so much. I’ve seen it three times now and I can’t get over how much fun it is. I think it has to do with the fact that zombies are secondary to the movie and interesting characters and comedy are first.
Woody Harrelson: I feel the way Jesse does. Horror movies really scare me. Like seeing “28 Days Later” affected my dream life. I’m sensitive that way. It kind of gets into my brain. I try not to watch them.
Vampires and zombies are enjoying a real resurgence in popularity. What makes “Zombieland” special and different from the rest of all the zombie movies?
Harrelson: I think we are the “Citizen Kane” of action-comedy-zombie movies.
Eisenberg: This is one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in my life and I think that’s what separates it. It’s mostly a comedy. I think people who like zombie movies will like it because it has zombies in it, but I don’t think that’s the point.
In person and certainly in the film you two have a genuine chemistry, a sort of yin-yang energy but also an odd couple friction. How did you cultivate that?
Eisenberg: The script was really great in creating two characters who are very different from each other, but in the circumstances they have to work together. To the director’s credit, he let us improvise. Woody’s an amazing comedic actor and that made it easy. He’s hysterical.
Harrelson: Right away I felt comfortable with him. Sometimes you want to improvise with someone and it feels like playing handball against cardboard and some people hit it back over the net twice as hard and that’s him. He’s funny as (expletive).
What does each of your characters bring to the party?
Eisenberg: My character is the brains of the operation and he’s like the muscle. And toward the end of the movie I get a little muscle and he gets some brains and starts following my rules.
In the movie you guys get to blow off heavy artillery, smash zombies, trash a gift shop, run around an amusement park and, in a crucial plot point, eat Hostess treats. How much fun was it to shoot the film?
Eisenberg: It was great. Every day there was a new spectacle to look at. You’d go to the set and there’d be like 50 burned, overturned cars in the street. The next day you’re trashing a store. It was fascinating to see what they’d cooked up each day.
Fantastic Fest celebrates everything fanboy and geeky, and one of the issues horror fans bring up is the difference between “slow” zombies and “fast” zombies. Your movie features fast zombies, meaning they can run, not just stumble and shamble.
Eisenberg: It didn’t occur to me until someone mentioned it yesterday. The writers were saying that the new trend was fast zombies from “28 Days Later” and that they were more threatening.
Did you find them threatening, Woody?
Harrelson: Well, not personally, but I think it works for the film.
Eisenberg: I found them personally threatening, because I was being chased by some of the fastest people in the world, these stunt people. I was being chased by the guy who played (the stunt double for) Spider-Man. They don’t get tired, because that’s their job, and I’m used to doing movies about Jewish people in New York.
Harrelson and Eisenberg take on a gargantuan zombie in “Zombieland.”
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Zombies besiege the Paramount
They were out in force, the ghastly ones. Hordes of stumbling, moaning, bloodied zombies invaded the Paramount Theatre on Friday night for the local premiere of the deliciously funny-sick zombie comedy “Zombieland,” the marquee title for night No. 2 during Fantastic Fest. (“Zombieland” opens in theaters Oct. 2. More about the movie, with trailer, HERE)
Besides the film’s coterie — stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg and Emma Stone and director Ruben Fleischer — droves of the dead wove through the crowd in front of the theater. This was thanks to Zombie Manor, an Arlington-based horror make-up crew that offered free “Zombieland” T-shirts to ticket holders willing to get gussied up as a zombie. They also came with their own minions of professional zombies that harassed and groaned at movie-goers.
It was an only-in-Austin, only-at-Fantastic-Fest scene …
The bride wore blood.
Getting made-up in a lovely, livid shade of corpse.
A clown the only way we like ‘em — dead.
Zombabe.
Woody Harrelson
Emma Stone
Jesse Eisenberg, Stone and Harrelson
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Sam Rockwell talks up ‘Gentlemen Broncos’
Actor Sam Rockwell is in Austin this weekend following the local premiere of his new film “Gentlemen Broncos” on Thursday night at the Paramount Theatre. The screening kicked-off Fantastic Fest, which runs through Oct. 2.
In “Broncos,” a shambolic mash-up of arch comedy and low-rent pulp science fiction directed by Jared (“Napoleon Dynamite”) Hess, Rockwell plays two imaginary characters from a sci-fi novel. One is Bronco, a wild-eyed hillbilly with a grudge. The other is Brutus, a swishy fellow who flounces in pink and tosses back a long cascade of lank white hair.
Rockwell showed up to Thursday’s premiere with his father and a group of friends, as well as Hess and cast members, including Jemaine Clement. The actor, who’s been seen in “The Green Mile,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Choke,” “Frost/Nixon” and this year’s “Moon,” headed to the premiere after-party at the all-new Highball, but didn’t stay long. “It was a little overwhelming with all the people there,” he says. “It was intense.”
We sat down with Rockwell for a quick chat on Friday afternoon.
Chris Garcia: You’ve described the character of Brutus as “Captain Kangaroo in drag.” Where did you get such an apt description?
Sam Rockwell: Well, he looks a little bit like Captain Kangaroo. But he also looks like Hulk Hogan. Actually, though, the look is based on these two guys in the band Kansas. You can check it out.
Hence the use of Kansas’ “Carry on My Wayward Son” during the film’s closing credits.
Absolutely.
You’ve made a career doing these more serious, even cracked, offbeat roles. Where do Bronco and Brutus fit in?
I’ve done “Galaxy Quest” and “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” It’s funny, sci-fi comedy seems to be a thread. To me, it’s purely coincidence, but maybe it’s not. I wanted to work with Jared and these fun characters. I really love his films. I don’t do a lot of comedy.
You do, it seems, more scary, dark comedy …
Yeah. There’s some films like “Welcome to Collinwood” and “Safe Men” that are comedies played very seriously. This is obviously really broad, and it was very liberating to not worry about good acting or anything and be silly.
How much freedom did Jared allow you in creating the characters?
It was great. Jared let me go quite a bit. I think he was more hands on with Brutus than Bronco. I had a good take on Bronco pretty quickly. It’s funny, but Jared is actually the only director who can give me a line reading and it’s better than my reading. Actors do not generally like line readings from a director. It’s a major faux pas. You don’t do that to an actor who’s been around for a while. It’s very not cool. But with Jared it was cool and I sort of welcomed it. He’s such a nice man. It is said that he can do all the voices in “Napoleon Dynamite” just as good and maybe better than all the actors in the film. He did Brutus better than I did Brutus. He had it thought out and he would literally tell me how to say it, the lisp and the whole thing. And I would go, “My God, that’s genius.” He’s the only director who’s been able to do that, though.
Were the cheesy special effects fun or kind of a pain to do? They of course look ridiculously cheap and shoddy …
It’s based on “Turkish Star Wars,” the cheap look and silliness. I asked Jared what I should watch and he said to watch that. He sent me a tape. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to tell you that. Jared has weird references, man, like this bicycle movie from the ‘80s called “Rad.” But when I saw “Turkish Star Wars” I totally got it.
This is your second Austin film premiere this year, after “Moon” at South by Southwest in March. You do premieres all over the world. How does Austin stack up?
I love Austin, man. I love it. I’m here till Monday. It’s like a vacation for me. Everyone’s so mellow here. I have a friend here and she introduced me to her friends. There’s just nice people here. You don’t have the hubbub of L.A. or New York. It’s more like San Francisco.
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Opening night scene at Fantastic Fest
For the first time in its five-year run, Fantastic Fest is using the Paramount Theatre for a handful of its bigger titles. That included “Gentlemen Broncos” — a loopy, all-over-the-place sci-fi/comedy directed by Jared Hess (“Napoleon Dynamite”) and starring Jemaine Clement (“Flight of the Conchords”) and Sam Rockwell — which launched Fantastic Fest #5 on Thursday night.
After a red carpet entrance for the director and part of the cast, festival co-founder and face Tim League introduced “Broncos,” noting that this year Fantastic Fest is hosting 200 stars, filmmakers and industry figures, 120 members of the press and, at that moment inside the Paramount, a near-capacity house of about 1,000 fans.
Most of the audience was generous with laughter during the screening, but this critic found “Broncos” something of a misfire, straining for quirks and never grasping a firm comic tone. In a word, it’s a strenuous, seldomly funny mess.
Gathering crowd awaiting the stars of “Gentlemen Broncos” at the Paramount on Thursday night
A Fantastic Fest fanatic’s badge
“Broncos” star Jemaine Clement arrives on the red carpet
Clement swarmed by the adoring masses
The movie’s co-star and executive producer Mike White arrives at the Paramount
Co-star Sam Rockwell gets in the spirit of the festival
Clement, in the role of sci-fi writer Dr. Ronald Chevalier, which he plays in the movie, regales the crowd by reading three haikus that he calls “sci-fi-kus.” Left to right are director/co-writer Jared Hess, stars Michael Angarano, Sam Rockwell and Mike White and co-writer Jerusha Hess.
One of the ironically bad sci-fi-kus, read in Dr. Chevalier’s imperious accent and stentorian tones, went like this:
Twinkly little star
If I do not get my wish
I will destroy you
It cracked up his colleagues and many in the crowd.
“Gentlemen Broncos” opens in theaters in late October.
For more Fantastic Fest screenings, including the premiere of “Zombieland” on Friday at the Paramount, go HERE.
Photos by Chris Garcia
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Austin Film Festival unveils line-up
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” “The Men Who Stare at Goats” and “The Messenger” are a few of the major titles getting their local premieres during the Austin Film Festival, Oct. 22 — 29.
The festival is in the process of announcing the full line-up of 60-plus features and documentaries for its 16th annual celebration of screenwriters and directors.
Other highlights:
Festival honoree Ron Howard will present “Apollo 13.”
Festival honoree Steven Zaillian will show “The Falcon and the Snowman.”
Festival honoree Matthew Wiener will show his TV smash “Mad Men.”
Barry Levinson’s documentary “PoliWood.”
Eric Bana’s car racing doc “Love the Beast.”
John Woo’s Chinese war drama “Red Cliff.”
Robert Townsend’s doc “Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy”
Austin filmmaker Tim McCanlies’ “Alabama Moon.”
Get the full film festival line-up as it appears and Screenwriters Conference details HERE.
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” plays the Austin Film Festival in October
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One to watch (if you can bear it) at Fantastic Fest
“Paranormal Activity” could be the break-out flick at this year’s Fantastic Fest, running Thursday through Oct. 2 at the Alamo South.
The super-low-budget movie is earning “Blair Witch Project”-style buzz, what with its freak-out frights that appear utterly real and shrewd marketing strategies. Walk-outs have been reported at screenings, not because it stinks but because it’s that insufferably scary.
“Paranormal Activity” screens during Fantastic Fest at 11:59 p.m. Thursday at the Alamo South and will open in Austin on Friday.
Here’s a snippet about the film by John Horn in the Los Angeles Times:
“Steven Spielberg was certain his copy of ‘Paranormal Activity’ was haunted.
“It was early 2008, and the director’s DreamWorks studio was trying to decide whether it wanted to be a part of the micro-budgeted supernatural thriller. As the story goes, Spielberg had taken a ‘Paranormal Activity’ DVD to his Pacific Palisades estate, and not long after he watched it, the door to his empty bedroom inexplicably locked from the inside, forcing him to summon a locksmith.
“While Spielberg didn’t want the ‘Paranormal Activity’ disc anywhere near his home — he brought the movie back to DreamWorks in a garbage bag, colleagues say — he very much shared his studio’s enthusiasm for director Oren Peli’s haunting story about the demonic invasion of a couple’s suburban tract house.
“‘Paranormal Activity’ was hardly a typical studio production. Peli, an Israeli-born video game designer who had no formal film training, shot the $15,000 movie in a week in 2006 with a no-name cast, a crew of several San Diego friends and a hand-held video camera.
“But as Spielberg and the DreamWorks team believed, the movie held a special appeal — it was original and scary. The challenge was to fit this round peg into a DreamWorks square hole — a process that would ultimately take more than a year and a half, the delay exacerbated by the slow collapse of Paramount’s acquisition of DreamWorks. For a time, it looked as if Spielberg was right: ‘Paranormal Activity’ appeared cursed — to sit on a shelf.
“But now, supported by one of the more unusual marketing and distribution strategies conjured up for a studio release, Paramount is finally opening the film in 13 college towns on Friday, with a wider national rollout planned for mid-October. Scary movies are a dime a dozen these days — at least 75 horror movies have been released theatrically in the last three years — and “Paranormal Activity” doesn’t have the franchise awareness or recognizable actors that help separate a handful of genre films from the teeming herd.
“Yet as preview and film festival audiences can attest, “Paranormal Activity” exhibits something many fright flicks don’t — goose-bump inducing, gore-free scares. Now it’s up to the film (and Paramount) to translate Internet buzz into a ‘Blair Witch Project”-style phenomenon.
“‘The movie could be stratospheric, or it could just become a cult favorite,’ says Stuart Ford, the chief executive of international sales agent IM Global, which sold ‘Paranormal Activity’ to more than 50 foreign distributors. ‘It just depends on whether the studio can catch a wave.’”
Read the rest of the LA Times story HERE.
Read the Fantastic Fest description and screening details Read more about the movie HERE.
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‘Rock Opera’ turns 10
Wow, that went fast. Bob Ray’s legendary underground all-Austin feature “Rock Opera” is turning 10. How’d that happen?
So Ray is holding a rare theatrical screening of the movie at 8:30 p.m. Oct. 10 at the Alamo South, with a cast reunion and live music from bands featured in the rambling, pot-choked, rock ‘n’ roll comedy.
Also on tap: Clips from Ray’s documentary work-in-progress “Total Badass” and a selection of Ray’s short animated “CrashToons,” which have been shown at Playboy.com and on Turner Network’s Super Deluxe.
Local bands Voltage and Pocket FishRmen will jam at the after-party at the all new Highball, next door to the theater.
Tickets HERE.
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Noteworthy DVDs released 9/22/09
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Special screening of ‘Cabin Fever 2’
Austin actor Rusty Kelley isn’t sure why director Ti West has vocally disowned his horror flick “Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever.”
“It’s a big shock to me, because I feel like he did a great job,” says Kelley, who co-stars in the movie.
But West has been recorded in the blogosphere bad-mouthing Lionsgate for recutting his film, essentially neutering it and making it “much less esoteric and idiosyncratic.”
And now the film will bypass a theatrical release and go straight to DVD.
Except in Austin, where a special one-night screening of “Cabin Fever 2” takes place at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Alamo Ritz as a benefit for the Austin School of Film. Cast members Kelley, Rider Strong, Marc Senter and Noah Segan and producer Lauren Moews will be there, with an after-party to follow.
Kelley, who’s been making his own low-budget films since he was a teenager and starred in the Austin-made drama “Dear Pillow,” was recommended to West for the role of Alex by friends. Kelley, who was then 19, took a semester off school to shoot the movie in spring 2007. He’s since seen the completed film, which picks up days after the end of Eli Roth’s 2002 “Cabin Fever,” and relishes its “ultra-weirdness.”
“I loved it. Everything that I read in the script and liked is there. The sequel takes the weirdness of the first one to a more ‘80s camp level, but not in a cliched, silly way. The references are there but they’re not over-the top. It’s a surreal, funny movie. It really came out the way I thought it would come out.
“There’s tons of gore — ultra-gore, like diseased (male organs), dead babies, total insanity — but there are a lot of great comedic elements. Giuseppe Andrews, who played the sheriff in the first movie, is in it and he’s so funny. Whatever — even if I wasn’t in the movie, I would like it.”
If he’s disappointed that the movie won’t have a theatrical run, he hides it well. “I would have loved to see it go to theaters, but however people can see it is awesome.”
Get tickets to “Cabin Fever 2” HERE
Rusty Kelley in “Cabin Fever 2”
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Linklater’s latest
Richard Linklater is in casting mode for his next project “Liars (A-E),” a road trip comedy starring Kat Dennings and written by Emma Forrest.
Rebecca Hall (“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”) is in talks to co-star, according to Variety, which continues: “Hall will play a woman who is dumped by her rocker fiance on the eve of Barack Obama’s presidential election victory. She takes a road trip with a pal (Dennings) to Obama’s inauguration, and visits various ex-boyfriends to retrieve lost items.”
Other sources reveal that Linklater’s also working on the drama “Last Flag Flying” with Randy Quaid and a sequel to his hit comedy “School of Rock,” “School of Rock 2: America Rocks” with Jack Black starring and Mike White writing.
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Highball rolling in
You might have heard the buzz: Alamo Drafthouse creators Tim and Karrie League are about to crack open an all-new, retro-addled, ultra-hip, zeitgeist-nailing venue that’s part karaoke palace, bowling alley, ’50s diner, cocktail lounge, skee ball emporium and so much more that will massage your pleasure zones.
It’s called The Highball and it’s located in the old Salvation Army space mere steps and stumbles from the Leagues’ Alamo South (1120 S. Lamar Blvd.). And it’s opening next week, playing host to a slew of Fantastic Fest parties.
Read all about the joint and its bounty of accoutrements at The Highball blog HERE.
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Patrick Swayze dies
Eighties movie icon Patrick Swayze, beloved in such films as “Dirty Dancing,” “Red Dawn” and “Ghost,” died today of pancreatic cancer, which he had been fighting for 15 months, the Associated Press reports. He was 57.
Read more HERE.
Check out his official fan site HERE.
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Scenes from the ‘Machete’ shoot
Downtown office workers got a little taste of Hollywood today, as evidenced by these shots of the Robert Rodriguez production, ‘Machete,’ sent to us from a few camera-toting readers.
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Noteworthy DVDs released 9/15/09
NEW ON BLU-RAY
“An American Werewolf In London,” “Army of Darkness,” “Van Helsing” (Universal); “48 Hours,” “Deep Impact” (Paramount); “Child’s Play” (MGM); “The Hannibal Lecter Anthology,” “Misery” (MGM); “Sex, Lies, and Videotape” (Sony); Ultimate Force of Four Box Set, containing “Hero,” “Iron Monkey,” “The Legend of Drunken Master,” & “Zatoichi” (Walt Disney / Miramax); “Wrong Turn” 1 & 2 (Fox)
FRESH FROM THE MULTIPLEX
“Easy Virtue” (Sony); “Next Day Air” (Summit); “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (Fox)
ARTHOUSE/FOREIGN
“The Adventures of Werner Holt,” “The Axe of Wandsbeck” (First Run Pictures); Essential Art House #4, including “Le Jour se Leve,” “Gervaise,” “Mayerling,” “The 39 Steps,” “Tales of Hoffman” & “Throne of Blood” (Criterion); “Nightwatching” (E1 Entertainment); “Rumba” (Koch); “Treeless Mountain” (Oscilloscope); “Triangle,” a three-parter from Asian auteurs Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam and Johnnie To (Magnolia); “White Night Wedding” (IFC)
DOCUMENTARIES
“Big Pun: The Legacy” (Vivendi); “Directed by John Ford” (Warner Bros.); “Full Battle Rattle,” “Old Jews Telling Jokes” (First Run Pictures); “Nerdcore Rising” (Virgil Films); “Note by Note” (Docurama); “Trumbo” (Magnolia); “The Wonder of It All” (Indican)
BEST OF TV
“Astro Boy” Volumes 1-5 (Sony); “The Beiderbecke Tapes” (Acorn Media); “C.S.I.: Miami” Season 7, “One Step Beyond” Season 1 (Paramount); “Crash” Season 1 (Anchor Bay); “Doctor Who: The Next Doctor” (BBC); “Fame” Seasons 1 & 2 (MGM); “Grey’s Anatomy” Season 5, “Private Practice” Season 2, “X-Men” Volumes 3 & 4 (Walt Disney); “The IT Crowd” Season 3 (MPI); “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia” Season 4, “My Name Is Earl” Season 4 (Fox); “Sanctuary” Season 1 (E1 Entertainment); “Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Clone Commandos” (Warner Bros.); “Top Chef: Season 5 (A&E); “Transformers” Season 2 (Shout! Factory)
FROM THE VAULTS
“The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” / “The Scarlet Claw” & “The Hound of the Baskervilles” / “Pursuit to Algiers” (MPI); “King Kong Escapes,” “King Kong vs. Godzilla” (Universal)
REISSUE/REPACKAGE
“Friday the 13th” Parts 7 & 8, “Varsity Blues” (Paramount); “John Carpenter: Master of Fear” collection, “Wes Craven Horror Collection,” “The Wolf Man” (1941) (Special Edition) (Universal); “The John Wayne/John Ford Film Collection” (Warner Bros.); “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Collection” (New Line)
CULT CORNER
Action up-and-comer Michael Jai White in “Blood & Bone” (Sony); “Bodyguard: A New Beginning,” “Four Dragons” (Lions Gate); “Deadgirl” (Dark Sky); “Nude In Dracula’s Castle” (Secret Key); “Phantasm II” (Universal); “The Shadow Boxer” (Image)
STRAIGHT(ISH) TO VIDEO
“Bionicle: The Legend Reborn” (Universal); James Franco and Sienna Miller in “Camille” (2007) (E1 Entertainment)
KIDS’ STUFF
“Barney: Jungle Friends” (Lions Gate); Go Diego Go!: “Diego’s Mega Missions!” & “Diego’s Artic Rescue” (Nickelodeon)
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Local filmmaker takes festival prize
Austin filmmaker Jen White’s maiden feature “Between Floors” just won the best director award at the Atlanta Underground Film Festival, and heads to the Boston Film Festival next week.
The film “examines the human condition through a uniquely claustrophobic lens, intercutting between five stuck elevators and the people trapped inside them,” according to the filmmakers.
More about the movie, including the trailer HERE.
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Musical outfit finds its ‘Destiny’
Those old Fritz Lang silents pop with German expressionist eye candy. Witty musical accompaniment only enhances the sensual pleasures.
Check out Lang’s not-much-seen 1921 “Destiny” with a new score performed live by The Invincible Czars at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20 at the Alamo Lake Creek. It should be boffo.
Read more and watch a trailer HERE.
Tickets HERE.
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Zellner brothers rock with Octopus Project
We somehow missed this, but now we see it: It’s Austin’s Zellner brothers’ whacked music video for Austin’s The Octopus Project. Watch the witty curio, flittering with visual wonders, at Spoutblog HERE
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Linklater baseball doc at iTunes
Richard Linklater’s documentary about UT baseball coach Augie Garrido “Inning by Inning” is now available for rental ($3.99) or purchase ($14.99) at iTunes. Go HERE.
Get ready for this winter movie thing: The Austin Nordic Film Fest opens in town Feb. 27. No schedule yet, but you can read a tiny bit more HERE.
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Dobie’s movie poster sale this weekend
Getcher big, shiny one-sheets during the Dobie Theatre’s “Randomly Timed Poster and Movie Junk Sale,” happening 3 to 10 p.m. Friday, 1 to 10 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the venue.
That means hundreds of the theater’s left-over film posters, movie-related stuff, DVD and VHS screeners and more can be had for reasonable prices. Plus: raffle prizes. Totally.
Maybe they’ll have this one …
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Special screening of ‘Be Here to Love Me’
Sometime Austinite Margaret Brown’s hailed documentary “Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt” gets a special screening at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Alamo Ritz. Brown will be there to introduce the film.
Tickets are $20 advance, $25 at the door. Proceeds benefit the Austin Bat Cave, a writing and tutoring center for children.
Details and tickets HERE.
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Von Trier’s shocker to play Fantastic Fest
Lars Von Trier’s much-gabbed about, typically controversial new horror-psychodrama “Antichrist” will get its local premiere at Fantastic Fest later this month. (The fest runs Sept. 24 — Oct. 1 at the Alamo South.)
Here’s how FF describes it: “Lars Von Trier rocked the Croisette at Cannes this year with his latest beautiful, visceral opus with themes on depression, insanity and arrogance. It’s also got talking animals and some truly inspired horror moments.”
And, from Cannes in May, the American-Statesman’s Charles Ealy wrote that the film was extreme and disturbing enough to make cinematic history. Read his Cannes entry HERE
See the trailer and Fantastic Fest screening times HERE.
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What I’m watching
Wherein our movie critic periodically shares what DVDs he’s been viewing in his spare time …
- “Marlene” (1984; Maximilian Schell): Marlene Dietrich, grand Deutsch diva, is marvelously frank and haughty in this miraculous documentary portrait of the late actress. Schell recorded hours of audio with Dietrich and intersperses the interviews over scenes from her life and films. She can be impatient and hilariously forthright. For example, she calls Emil Jannings, her celebrated co-star in “The Blue Angel,” an awful “ham.” Hypnotically watchable, the doc was nominated for an Oscar.
- “Men in War” (1957; Anthony Mann): A masterpiece of combat drama by the great Mann, whose films consistently prove him one of the strongest directors of male-oriented action. (Check out his westerns and noirs — tough and indelible.) As soldiers with conflicting missions, consummate macho guys Aldo Ray and Robert Ryan go head to head in this Korean War-set nail-biter, a tragically unsung knockout.
- “The Fountainhead” (1949; King Vidor): Stodgy but entertaining adaptation of the Ayn Rand novel stars Gary Cooper (always a little stodgy but entertaining) as architect Howard Roark, whose individual artistic vision butts head with society’s conformist mores. Obvious and heavy-handed, with some romantic action between Cooper and Patricia Neal telegraphed through amusingly clunky visual symbolism.
- “Sunshine Cleaning” (2008; Christine Jeffs): A smart, subtle dark comedy starring the irrepressibly glowing Amy Adams and an archly funny Emily Blunt as unlikely cleaners-up of gory crime scenes. Sprightly, and surprising, entertainment.
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Cinemax lassoes Beesley’s ‘Rodeo’
Austin filmmaker Brad Beesley’s documentary “Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo” is airing at 6 p.m. Sept. 17 on Cinemax, with a repeat showing at 6:30 a.m. Sept. 25.
The film about female prisoners who throw a wild rodeo contest played SXSW this year. Read Charles Ealy’s write-up HERE.
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