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Two docs examine dire situations
The true story of a plane wreck in the Andes, a rugby team and cannibalism is retold in Gonzalo Arijon’s potent doc “Stranded: I’ve Come From a Plane that Crashed in the Mountains,” which screens at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Alamo Ritz (320 E. Sixth St.).
It’s part of the Austin Film Society’s Documentary Tour, which says this: “Visually breathtaking and crafted with riveting detail by documentary filmmaker (and childhood friend of the survivors) Gonzalo Arijon with a masterful combination of on-location interviews, archival footage and reenactments, STRANDED is by turns hauntingly powerful and spiritually moving.”
Details and tickets HERE.
Austinite Laura Dunn’s hailed Barton Springs doc “The Unforeseen” plays at 7 p.m. Jan. 23 at St. Edward’s University Ragsdale Center, Jones Auditorium. It’s free.
Presented by Screen Door Films, the special screening will include a discussion with Dunn, S.O.S. director Bill Bunch, Austin rancher and one of the film’s stars Henry Brooks and moderator Dr. Peter Beck, assistant professor of Environmental Science at St. Edward’s University.
Info and directions HERE.
Future Screen Door screenings include: “Happiness Is…” on Feb. 20; “At The Death House Door” on April 17; “The Whole Shootin’ Match” on May 22; and “Body of War” on June 12.
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A pair of epic musicals on Austin screens
Kenneth Branagh’s newish and reportedly eye-popping adaptation of Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” will get its Austin premiere in style at 7 p.m. Monday at the Alamo South.
Presented by the Austin Film Society, Austin Lyric Opera and the Alamo, the show will feature special guest Lyubov Petrova, who plays the Queen of the Night in film and who will be appearing in the Lyric Opera’s upcoming production of “Rigoletto.”
Get $10 tickets HERE.
Watch the film’s trailer HERE.
The great “West Side Story” (one my two favorite musicals, by the by) gets the full, billowing 70mm treatment at the Paramount Theatre for four special showings: 7 p.m. Jan. 21; 7:30 p.m. Jan. 23; and 4 and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 24.
Tickets are $8 at the box office.
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Late actor Pat Hingle was a UT alum
You might have heard that familiar character actor of stage and screen Pat Hingle died Saturday at age 84 of a blood disorder. He was memorable as J. Edgar Hoover in the 1992 HBO movie “Citizen Cohn,” as and Warren Beatty’s father in the 1961 film “Splendor in the Grass” and as Police Commissioner Gordon in the pre-Christian Bale Batman movies, beginning in 1989, reports The New York Times.
But did you know he went to the University of Texas? We didn’t either.
Read this from the Times:
Mr. Hingle went to high school in Weslaco, Tex., where he played tuba in the band. He attended the University of Texas, but dropped out during World War II to enlist in the Navy. He served as a fireman aboard a destroyer that saw action in the South Pacific. He liked the ship, later telling interviewers that it was his “first real home anywhere.”
In 1946, following his discharge, he returned to the University of Texas and joined a drama club because, he said, that’s where the prettiest girls were. He received a bachelor’s degree in 1949. When the war in Korea began he was recalled by the Navy, serving as a boilerman technician.
He came to New York in 1952, joined the Actors Studio and began to get parts both onstage and in films. His early movies included “On the Waterfront” (1954) and “No Down Payment” (1957).
Read the Times’ obit HERE.
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Exciting new venues for two local docs
“Inside the Circle,” Austin filmmaker Marcy Garriott’s hit documentary about Texas’ hip-hop subculture, will show on MTV from Sunday through Jan. 15. It’s a great way to check out an important film with deep local ties.
Air times (CST) are: 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday; noon Monday; 9 a.m. Wednesday; and 7 p.m. Jan. 15.
Bob Ray, who needs no intro, and his bodacious CrashToons are heading to Playboy.com, where Ray’s profane and insane cartoon shorts, like “Platypus Rex,” will begin streaming Jan. 20.
Says Ray: “Word is, there’s gonna be a big ol’ re-launching of the Playboy site, and lil’ ol’ CrashToons is gonna be a part of it. Cool, huh? … So, yeah, we’ll be making more CrashToons pretty darn soon.”
Wee-ha!
See Crashtoons HERE. Find Playboy.com HERE.
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Mims’ mammoth new filmmaking course
Steve Mims at Austin FilmWorks is offering an ambitious 16-month feature filmmaking lab, beginning with an orientation meeting Jan. 26 at Studio A-7 (701 Tillery St.).
In Mims’ words:
FEATURE LAB students make two festival-competitive shorts and a feature length finished film in an intense 16-month, four semester program. Divided into three levels, FEATURE LAB includes Production One, Two and Three: introductory, intermediate and advanced courses designed to create an individual short, a group short and a group feature.
All you need to know HERE
Former Austin Film Society intern Lani Golstab gets to present Renoir’s masterpiece “Grand Illusion” on Turner Classic Movies as a guest programmer in April.
It’s part of the cable channel’s 15th birthday celebration, and it goes like this:
TCM has selected some of its biggest fans from around the country to serve as Guest Programmers. Each fan will join TCM host Robert Osborne to introduce a movie chosen from TCM’s unparalleled library of films … Fans include people of all ages, from a 14-year-old who loves classic films and a 27-year-old working for the Austin Film Society to a 51-year-old who works in historical preservation in Las Vegas and a 69-year-old who was chosen because of his frequent contributions to TCM’s online message boards.
Pretty cool. Learn more about it right HERE.
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Hagman, Boothe top-line Texas Film Hall of Fame awards
“Twilight” director and McAllen native Catherine Hardwicke, television icon and Fort Worth native Larry Hagman and veteran character actor and Snyder native Powers Boothe will be inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame during its ninth ceremony March 12 at Austin Studios.
Hagman’s award will be presented by his longtime “Dallas” co-star Linda Gray. The annual bash raises money for the Austin Film Society. Past inductees include Horton Foote, Cyd Charisse, Ethan Hawke and Farrah Fawcett. Tickets and more information HERE.
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Noteworthy DVDs released 1/6/09
PICK OF THE WEEK
“The Films of Michael Powell” (Sony): Though this small box set’s name suggests something far more comprehensive, the two films offered here (in uncensored cuts) are more than welcome: “A Matter of Life and Death,” a Pearly Gates-testing affair starring David Niven, and “Age of Consent,” which will be an eye-opener for anyone who knows Helen Mirren only from “The Queen” or “Prime Suspect.”
OTHER TOP PICKS
“Appaloosa” (New Line) : The second feature directed by actor Ed Harris is a straight-ahead Western most appealing for the relationship between Harris’ icy gun-for-hire and his more human sidekick played by Viggo Mortensen.
“Pineapple Express” (Sony) : Stoner humor by way of the Apatow crew and David Gordon Green, who’s better known for highbrow fare like “All the Real Girls.”
“The Wackness” (Sony) : Another pot-centric flick, this Sundance crowd-pleaser got attention with Ben Kingsley playing a shrink who scores drugs from a patient.
“Blind Mountain” (Kino) : A young Chinese woman gets sold into captivity in this drama by Yang Li, director of the similarly named “Blind Shaft.”
“The Lizard” (Image) : Also known as “Bi hu,” this is the latest installment in Image’s Shaw Brothers kung-fu reissue series.
“Patti Smith: Dream of Life” (Palm Pictures) : Commercial photographer Steven Sebring took over a decade making this documentary portrait of punk icon Smith.
NEW ON BLU-RAY
“Caligula” (Image); “Dexter” Season 1 (Paramount); “Friday Night Lights” (Universal); “The Last Emperor” (Criterion)
FRESH FROM THE MULTIPLEX
“Babylon A.D.” (Fox); “Bangkok Dangerous,” “Disaster Movie” (Lions Gate); “Ping Pong Playa” (Image); “Righteous Kill” (Anchor Bay)
BEST OF TV
“Battlestar Galactica” Season 4 (Universal); “Bob the Builder: Race to the Finish” (Lions Gate); “Duckman” Seasons 3 & 4, “Transformers: Animated” Season 2, “The Tudors” Season 2 (Paramount); “Frisky Dingo” Season 2, “The Waltons” Season 8 (Warner Bros.)
STRAIGHT(ISH) TO VIDEO
“The Alphabet Killer” (Anchor Bay); “Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia” (Fox); “Eden Lake” (Weinstein Co.); “Hard Gun” (BCI Eclipse, also on Blu-ray)
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Let the 2009 film festivals begin
Austin’s 2009 film festival season ignites with the Austin Jewish Film Festival, running Jan. 24 — 30 at the Arbor, UT, Texas Hillel and City Lights Theatre in Georgetown.
Badges and flex-passes are on sale for the 28-film fest, which includes filmmaker appearances and discussions.
Films hail from Belgium to Brazil and Slovakia to Tunisia. Highlights include: award-winning young-adult drama “Someone to Run With”; award-winning dramedy “Noodle”; the inspiredly titled documentary “Circumcise Me”; the comedy “Max Minsky and Me”; and lots more.
All you need HERE.
Award-winner ‘Noodle’ screens Jan. 25
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Ann Savage, gruff and tough noir star, dies
Ann Savage, ferocious star of the classic, down-n’-dirty 1945 noir “Detour,” has died at age 87. She was most recently seen in Guy Maddin’s acclaimed “My Winnipeg,” playing Maddin’s mother.
Savage was at the old Alamo Drafthouse Downtown in 2004 to screen “Detour.” I interviewed her by phone a few days before her appearance. We re-run it here:
She played the angry young woman, a hard-bitten harridan so venomous she didn’t speak, she hissed. Her male co-star cowered not out of gutlessness, but because she had the goods on the sap, could wreck his life with a phone call. This dime-store Medusa played her ace to the cruelest hilt.
This is Ann Savage, who portrayed wicked Vera in Edgar G. Ulmer’s classic noir “Detour” with such vituperative force, the actress struggled to shake her image as the harpy from Hell. That bad-girl swagger, that clipped delivery rendering words shrapnel, that emasculating snarl. It’s not easy to watch 1945’s fast, scrappy “Detour” (the cinematic spitball clocks in at a punchy 67 minutes) without feeling the burn of Savage’s nuclear heat.
And yet, here she is on the phone sounding for all the world like your beloved grandmother.
“People tell me I’m very sweet,” Savage says with a knowing chortle.
Savage is at her Los Angeles home, preparing for another road show with Eddie Muller, author of “Dark City Dames: The Wicked Women of Film Noir,” a collection of profiles about noir’s sauciest femme fatales, from Marie Windsor to Jane Greer and, of course, Savage. For six years, Savage and Muller have toured theaters to screen “Detour,” discuss the film and sign Muller’s books for diehard fans of the downbeat, postwar film style called noir.
Savage and Muller bring “Detour” to the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown for two shows tonight.
The actress’ preparation for the show includes avoiding the tennis court. “I never play tennis before I go on these tours, because you have a responsibility to what you’ve been asked to do,” says Savage. At 83, she can’t dismiss potential injuries. “I’ve fallen a couple of times. I go for any ball I can hit!”
That sounds more like Vera, a woman whose preferred riposte is a scratchy “Shut up!,” who snaps like a junkyard cur and marinates her fury in battery acid.
In “Detour,” Al Roberts (played by Tom Neal) finds himself in a bind when his ride abruptly croaks and he decides to hide the body and keep driving. He picks up Savage on the side of the road. “The very last woman I should have ever met,” says Al in the trademark world-weary voice-over of noir.
But before he realizes what kind of rotten apple he’s picked, Al glances over at Vera napping in the passenger seat of the breezy convertible. “She seemed harmless enough,” he says.
As if on cue, Vera jerks awake and bites Al’s head off. Throughout the movie’s taut, corrosive journey, she never stops chewing.
Made by B-flick factory Producers Releasing Corporation, known as PRC, “Detour” never quite shinnied out of the B-movie basement, despite some good reviews in 1945. Yet like many gems overlooked in their time, such as “Sweet Smell of Success,” “Detour” acquired a patina of cult adoration, and is considered by buffs to be one of the great quintessential noirs. A 1992 remake didn’t fare so well.
“I’m thrilled to death,” Savage says of its longevity, “because it’s kept me in the limelight.”
Low-budget director Ulmer shot “Detour” in six days with a limited allowance of film stock. Most of the simple story takes place in a grubby apartment in Los Angeles, where Vera and Al’s ill-paired chemistry pressure cooks. Though he’s innocent, all fingers point to Al’s guilt in the driver’s death, and Vera holds him hostage in an extortion deal. Al sweats and squirms as she tightens her serpent’s squeeze. The slightest protest from Al is swatted down with vinegar outbursts. “You’ll pop into jail so fast it’ll give you the bends!” Vera growls.
In one of those fabled Hollywood miracles, Savage shot her scenes in three and a half days. Preparation was minimal, Savage recalls, as the character of Vera was written (by Martin Goldsmith, on whose novel the film is based) so sharply. Ulmer had Savage speed up her delivery to make it snap and asked her to speak “tough and hard.”
“I couldn’t talk from the diaphragm,” Savage says. “I was delivering it right out of the throat through clenched teeth to keep that anger. She was very angry all the time. You’re very tense when you’re playing angry. It wipes you out.”
Born Bernice Lyon in South Carolina, Savage’s oddly apt stage name was inspired by her real-life temper. She demonstrated this spirit to co-star Neal when they worked previously on “Klondike Kate,” in which Savage played the lead. Neal, on a dare, stuck his tongue in the actress’ ear. She socked him in the jaw.
Savage later channeled her dislike for Neal as Vera. “I had got such mistreatment from him that when I got the part of Vera with him playing such a milquetoast, I had to go home at night and laugh, because that had to be hard for him,” she says.
Savage took the role of Vera after Columbia dropped her contract, making her a free agent. But the role of a lifetime had more of a stigmatizing than star-making effect. Her acidic performance burned into the memories of directors and producers, who saw Vera when they looked at the glamorous Savage.
Savage worked in film and television until 1986. Her movies were chiefly B and Savage was typecast as the “other woman.” Later in life, she took up flying planes for fun and did secretarial duties in a law office for 28 years.
It’s with presentations of “Detour” like tonight’s that Savage can bask in belated glory among fans.
“Vera was a wonderful part. It was so strong,” she says. “Bad girls are the best parts. Vera got to be drunk, maudlin, sexy. There were many wonderful little nuances about her.”
When “female empowerment” is mentioned in the same sentence as Vera, Savage recoils. “Oh, please don’t use that. ‘Female empowerment.’ ” She chuckles. “That’s a new one to me.”
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McQuarrie, others coming to Austin Film Festival
Panelists are already signing up for next year’s Austin Film Festival and Screenwriters Conference.
So far: hot writer-director Paul Feig (“Freaks and Geeks,” “The Office,” “Mad Men”); writer Christopher McQuarrie (“Valkyrie,” “The Usual Suspects”), who will launch the new panel series Script-to-Screen; and Hollywood Reporter journalist Jay Fernandez.
The festival runs Oct. 22 — 29. Early bird conference registration ends Dec. 31.
Everything you need HERE.
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Reilly, Tomei in next Duplass brothers comedy
While their charitably reviewed, Austin-made indie “Baghead” hasn’t made any year-end Top 10 lists, the Duplass brothers — UT alums Mark and Jay — are moving on to bigger movies and name casts. Ever since their cult-hit rom-com “The Puffy Chair” in 2005, the Duplass duo has lived in Los Angeles, taking meetings and making deals.
Here’s the big news on their latest project, and ogle those star names (story from FirstShowing.net):
The Duplass Brothers, more commonly known as Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass, have announced the cast for their next feature film. Tentatively titled “Safety Man,” the story centers on a recently divorced man, played by John C. Reilly, who meets the woman of his dreams, played by Marisa Tomei. However, she has a teenage son, played by Jonah Hill, who has no interesting in sharing his mother with a new man. The Duplass Brothers have a very unique brand of comedy, part of which involves shooting all the scenes in the film in sequence, as opposed to out-of-order like most other films.
Not too much more is known about the project, but it is set up at Fox Searchlight, which already means good things. … (The brothers) are already in post-production on another indie comedy titled “The Do-Deca-Pentathlon,” however, “Safety Man” is their first mainstream project with name actors.
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Another Texas film swiped by Shreveport
More evidence that Shreveport, La., is sucking away Texas film business: Austin filmmaker Anthony Burns has just wrapped his directorial debut “Skateland” in Shreveport, with some shots done in Marshall, Texas, too. Shreveport, which famously offers substantial tax incentives, poses as East Texas in the film.
The picture’s a nostalgic coming-of-age story set amid 1980s roller-rink culture. Say the producers: “The film follows a young man named Ritchie Wheeler who has to make tough decisions about his future when he is forced out of his job at the small-town roller rink.”
The cast includes Shiloh Fernandez, Ashley Greene (“Twilight”), Melinda McGraw (“The Dark Knight,” “Mad Men”), Taylor Handley, Heath Freeman, Brett Cullen (“Lost”), and Haley Ramm (“X-Men: The Last Stand”). Plus two dozen Texas roller derby skaters.
Austin-based Freeman Film and Reversal Films are producing the movie. Actor and co-writer Heath Freeman and co-writer Brandon Freeman are UT alums.
Post-production will be complete in May. We’ll keep you posted as things progress.
More about “Skateland” HERE.
Executive producer Brandon Freeman and director Anthony Burns on the ‘Skateland’ set.
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Austin film critics pick best of year
“The Dark Knight” has been voted the best movie of the year by the Austin Film Critics Association, and its director, Christopher Nolan took top directing honors in the annual polling.
The summer movie took three other honors: best supporting actor Heath Ledger, best adapted screenplay and best original score.
Sean Penn won best actor for his portrayal of gay rights activist Harvey Milk in “Milk,” while Anne Hathaway won best actress for “Rachel Getting Married.”
Taraji Henson won best supporting actress for her role as the mother in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”
Charlie Kaufman won best original screenplay for “Synecdoche, New York.”
Other top awards:
Cinematography: Colin Watkinson for “The Fall.”
Animation: “WALL*E”
Foreign language film: “Let the Right One In”
Documentary: “Man on Wire”
Breakthrough artist: Danny McBride, for “Pineapple Express,” “The Foot Fist Way” and “Tropic Thunder”
Best first film: “Timecrimes” by Nacho Vigalondo
Austin film award (for a movie made in the Austin area or by an Austinite): “Crawford”
The group also issued a list of its top 10 films of the year. Besides “The Dark Knight,” the top 10 include, in order:
2) “Slumdog Millionaire”
3) “Milk”
4) “Synecdoche, New York”
5) “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
6) “The Wrestler”
7) “WALL*E”
8) “Frost/Nixon”
9) “Let the Right One In”
10) “Gran Torino”
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SXSW names opening night film
The Paul Rudd comedy “I Love You, Man” will open the South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival on March 13, the fest has announced.
Co-starring Jason Segel and Rashida Jones, the movie was co-written and directed by John Hamburg, who co-wrote “Meet the Parents” and “Zoolander” and directed “Along Came Polly.”
SXSW describes it like this: “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.”
SXSW film runs March 13 — 21. All HERE.
More about the movie HERE.
The Austin Business Journal reports that the Alamo Drafthouse is hatching a branch at Circle C Ranch in southwest Austin.
The Journal’s story:
Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas plans to bring a new $5 million theater to Circle C Ranch next year that will boast digital projectors, the latest sound system and equipment to show 3-D movies, which appear to be making a big comeback.
The roughly 35,000-square-foot proposed theater will be a model for future theaters moving forward, said John Martin, president and CEO of Alamo Drafthouse. The Circle C location, slated to open in 2009, will have at least eight screens and will be the largest corporate-owned unit for the movie theater company.
Alamo Drafthouse is in lease negotiations with Austin-based developer Stratus Properties Inc., which would be a development partner in the theater, Martin said.
Stratus Properties declined to comment about the deal.
THIS links you to the story.
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Noteworthy DVDs released 12/16/08
PICK OF THE WEEK:
“Into the Wild” (Paramount): “Milk” fans impressed with Emile Hirsch’s supporting performance can see him starring for director Sean Penn in last year’s critics’ favorite, just upgraded to Blu-ray.
OTHER TOP PICKS:
“Generation Kill” (HBO): David Simon and Ed Burns, writers of “The Wire,” head to Iraq for a seven-part TV miniseries.
“Grindhouse: Death Proof” & “Grindhouse: Planet Terror” (Weinstein Co.): Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez intentionally mutilated their latter-day exploitation flicks to make them a sleazy double feature; now both are expanded to feature-ish length and — beware of bad splices! — immortalized on Blu-ray.
“Same Old Song” (New Yorker): Musical comedy from Alain Resnais, better known for the highbrow brainteaser “Last Year at Marienbad”
“Mamma Mia!” (Universal): Did someone say “musical comedy”? With plenty of ABBA and theater fans disappointed in this adaptation, marketers are pitching it as a home sing-along experience.
“Sangre De Mi Sangre” (IFC): Sundance prize-winner about a Mexican man seeking his father in New York City
“Traitor” (Anchor Bay): The recent Don Cheadle vehicle hits stores on Friday, for some reason, days after the customary Tuesday new-release day.
“The Little Mermaid Trilogy” (Walt Disney): One family favorite bundled with two made-for-video sequels.
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
“8 Mile” (Universal); “Bottle Rocket,” “Chungking Express,” “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” “The Third Man” (Criterion); “Coach Carter,” “The Heartbreak Kid” (2007), “Old School,” “Tommy Boy” (Paramount)
DOCUMENTARIES:
“Billy the Kid” (Zeitgeist); “The Corporal’s Diary” (Typecast); “Garbage Warrior” (Open Eye Media); “Operation Filmmaker” (First Run / Icarus)
FRESH FROM THE MULTIPLEX:
“The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” (Universal)
FROM THE ARTHOUSE:
“The Wedding Director” (New Yorker)
BEST OF TV:
“Aqua Teen Hunger Force” Volume 6 (Warner Bros.); “Will Shakespeare” (1978 Mini-series starring Tim Curry as the Bard), “Mr.
Bean” Ultimate Collection (A&E); “Swingtown” Season 1 (Paramount)
REISSUE/REPACKAGE:
“The Mummy Trilogy” (Universal)
BLU-RAY IN THE CONCERT HALL:
“Rigoletto” (ArtHaus); “Tchaikovsky Gala” (BelAir); “Der Rosenkavalier” (Medici Arts); “Carmen,” “Zoroastre,” and Balanchine’s “Jewels” (Opus Arte)
STRAIGHT-TO-VIDEO:
Alan Arkin and Frank Langella in “Crossroads” (aka “The Novice”) (MTI); middle-aged author Campbell Scott flings with co- eds in “Crashing” (ThinkFilm)
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‘Homo Erectus’ — recut and renamed
A few years ago, the now-defunct Burnt Orange Productions and still-rolling UT Film Institute made a movie with funnyman Adam Rifkin titled “Homo Erectus.” It’s about a precocious, wisecracking cave-dude who’s evolving far faster than his peers and family. It was shot in Austin with lots of local color and extras and starred Rifkin, David Carradine, Ali Larter and Tom Arnold.
It played Slamdance 2007, then National Lampoon picked it up. The movie had a blink-length release in a city or two, then went straight to DVD. But not until it was re-named “Stoned Age.”
Finally, after lots of consideration and presumably disappointment, the DVD arrives Jan. 20 from Paramount. It’s the crude and rude unrated version, stuffed with extras. We’ll follow this around the release date with an interview we had with Rifkin earlier this year.
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David Mamet returning to UT
Playwright, filmmaker, Renaissance man David Mamet returns to UT to present his tangly 1997 thriller “The Spanish Prisoner,” starring Steve Martin, and talk about the movie with UT prez William Powers Jr. on Feb. 5 at the Texas Union Theatre on campus.
Mamet’s appearance is part of his series of short residencies at UT associated with the Ransom Center’s acquisition of the writer’s manuscripts and such. Mamet’s first residency was in March this year.
We’ll post ticket details as they become available.
Read about “The Spanish Prisoner” HERE.
Read our Mamet interview from March HERE.
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Local ‘Zombie’ attacks Slamdance
Austin filmmakers Justin Johnson, Aaron Marshall and Erik Mauck’s winsome documentary “Zombie Girl” will vie in the documentary feature competition at Slamdance. It happens on the heels of its well-received debut at Fantastic Fest in September.
The doc follows plucky Austin 12-year-old Emily Hagins and her incredible journey making a full-length feature horror movie called “Pathogen.”
Slamdance, the ugly stepchild to the bigger Sundance in Park City, Utah, happens Jan. 15 — 23.
Read our story about Emily and “Zombie Girl” HERE.
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Free screenings by Austinites
The new Austin Filmmakers Group presents its first public screening of films by, well, Austin filmmakers. The pre-party starts at 7 p.m. and the movies start at 8 p.m. Dec. 16 at Sherlock’s (9012 Research Blvd.). It’s free.
Films are: “People That Do Something” by Marlayna Glynn Brown and Paul Galvan; “Mr. One Note” by Reagan Peterson; and “Great Roommate Manny” by Jaime Orta.
Learn more about the show and the group HERE.
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Noteworthy DVDs released 12/9/08
PICK OF THE WEEK:
“Murnau, Borzage and Fox” (Fox): This year’s bonanza for film history buffs is a twelve-feature, two-book set that is all the more impressive for devoting such scholarship and production value to filmmakers whose names aren’t as famous as the one celebrated in last year’s John Ford set.
OTHER TOP PICKS:
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.): Hitting living rooms and home theaters just in time for the “could it get nominated?” Best Picture buzz.
“Man on Wire” (Magnolia): Transfixing and dumbstruck-grin-inspiring, James Marsh’s film about the man who walked a Twin Towers tightrope may be the doc of the year, even in a year that gave us a new Errol Morris film.
“Europa” (Criterion): A weird nightmare that will look even stranger to those who know Lars Von Trier only for his Dogme 95 efforts.
“Three Short Films by Werner Herzog” (New Yorker): ‘Nuff said.
“The Wire” & “Deadwood” (HBO): Complete-series sets of series whose tangled plots and brilliant language reward close viewing and (despite the hours involved) tempt viewers to revisit them.
“TV Party: Color Show” & “TV Party: The Sublimely Intolerable Show” (MVD): A vintage public access show serves as a time capsule of late-’70s hipster New York.
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
“Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” “Super Troopers” (Fox); “Dumb and Dumber,” “The Mask” (New Line); “Jet Li’s Fearless” (Universal)
DOCUMENTARIES:
“Flow: For Love Of Water” (Oscilloscope)
FRESH FROM THE MULTIPLEX:
“Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!” (Fox); “Sex and the City: The Movie” (New Line)
FROM THE ARTHOUSE:
“Peter & The Wolf” (2008), the Oscar-winning animated short (Magnolia); “The Quare Fellow,” “Takva: A Man’s Fear of God” (Koch)
BEST OF TV:
“Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist” Best of; “Happy Days” Season 4 (Paramount); “Lost” Season 4 (Walt Disney / Touchstone)
REISSUE/REPACKAGE:
“Great Directors Box Set” Volume 1 (Kino); “I Am Legend” Ultimate Collector’s Edition (Warner Bros.); “Irma Vep” (Zeitgeist); “It Happened One Night,” “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “You Can’t Take It With You” (Sony)
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Ebert’s faves include two with Austin ties
Speaking of Austin filmmaker Jeff Nichols — who (name-drop alert!) I sat next to and caught up with at the recent “Australia” screening — critic eminence Roger Ebert has named Nichols’ drama “Shotgun Stories” one of the best films of 2008. The slow-cooked southern tale about a combustible family won top honors at the Austin Film Festival in 2007 and is on DVD.
Here’s Roger’s rhapsody:
“Shotgun Stories” — You’ll have to search for it, but worth it. In a “dead-ass town,” three brothers find themselves in a feud with their four half-brothers. It’s told like a revenge tragedy, but the hero doesn’t believe the future is written by the past. Written and directed by Jeff Nichols, it avoids the obvious and shows a deep understanding of the lives and minds of ordinary young people in a skirmish of the class war. The dialogue rings true, the camera is deeply observant. The film was the audience favorite at Ebertfest 2008.
Nichols, left, shooting ‘Shotgun Stories’ (photo: Screen Australia)
Another big winner all over the place this year, including at Sundance, is the doc “Trouble the Water,” which was shot by Austin’s PJ Raval. Ebert taps it as one of the best docs of 2008:
“Trouble the Water” — A few days before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, a young couple from the Ninth Ward named Scott and Kimberly Rivers Roberts bought a camcorder. As the rains began to fall, they began to film, even while trapped by rising waters inside their attic. Their astonishing footage, unlike any other, is incorporated by Carl Deal and Tia Lessin into a documentary that shows why Brownie was not doing a great job, not at all.
Read Rog’s whole list HERE.
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The opening night film is killer, “Someone to Run With”, a sort of “August Rush” but with a very sharp edge.
... read the full comment by David G | Comment on Let the 2009 film festivals begin Read Let the 2009 film festivals begin
Please note that the festival link is www.austinjff.org. It’s a great line-up this year and we’re looking forward to everyone coming out!
... read the full comment by Emily | Comment on Let the 2009 film festivals begin Read Let the 2009 film festivals begin
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