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March 16, 2011
SXSW Talks: Tom McCarthy, 'Win Win'
He had appeared in two consecutive movies as a 30-year-old wondering if he should get married or not. The only discernible differences between the roles were the films’ settings and his characters’ religious backgrounds. That’s when McCarthy decided to take matters into his own hands.
“Rather than complain about it, I decided to just start to write. And that was the ‘Station Agent.’”
McCarthy’s 2003 debut about an unlikely trio of characters finding solace in each other’s company won him the best original screenplay award from the Independent Spirit Awards and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
The writer-director followed those achievements in 2007 with “The Visitor,” a story of a lonely man who stumbles into companionship, which garnered him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Director and a nomination for best screenplay from the Writer’s Guild of America.
Both films showed a sensitive and subtle filmmaker exploring ideas of loss and the need for connection.
With his third feature, “Win Win,” which screened Monday night at the Paramount Theatre, McCarthy again examines relationships. But his story of a man who makes an unethical, and seemingly innocuous, decision that eventually impacts his family and those around him does not tread emotional ground quite as weighty and somber as his previous films.
“Ultimately, look, especially after ‘The Visitor,’ I wanted to have fun with this story,” McCarthy said Monday morning before his movie played SXSW. “I just wanted to loosen up and kick back — a little sloppy, a little fun.”
Despite his best efforts, middle-aged suburban lawyer Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti) can’t seem to stay ahead of life. When faced with the opportunity to take advantage of aging client’s dilemma, the straight-shooting Mike makes an unethical and out-of-character move that will earn him $1500 a month. Although it seems a victimless crime, Mike realizes his plan is not fool proof when his client’s grandson, Kyle (an excellent turn by Alex Shaffer), appears.
Although the movie is funnier than McCarthy’s previous script, the Yale drama school grad admits that the broad comedy also resonated with him on a deeper level.
“When decent people that we know - he has a family and he lives and town and he’s a good guy, but he did this thing,” McCarthy said. “That to me was speaking very, very directly to where we are as a society, especially financially.”
McCarthy has a nuanced opinion of some of the players involved in the economic calamity that has engulfed the country.
“I don’t think they’re all evil people; I’m not a big believer in that. My family works on Wall Street. But there were some really bad choices made by decent people. Too many things like this happen and we say, ‘Oh, those guys are bad guys. We’re in this situation cause of bad guy.’ I think we’re in this situation because collectively we’ve made some pretty bad choices.”
The filmmaker said he was specifically fascinated by the collapse of former Texas energy titan Enron.
“The thing Joe and I kept talking about was Enron. We kept looking at the Enron model. That’s the thing that interested me. Because it was this company, which now we are all aware of its fall from grace, but which at the time it was the pillar. The company was the flagstone. And a lot of good came out of that - a lot of decent people’s lives were made, kids went to college and philanthropically and bolstering the economy in local communities and all this great stuff. Granted a few people were getting very rich, but all this wonderful trickle-down fallout … until that moment happened and everyone was like, ‘Whoa! Hold it. What? What is this?’ Then it didn’t look so good. And that to me was really interesting.”
The filmmaker, who continues to work regularly as a character actor (most notably as unethical Baltimore Sun reporter Scott Templeton on HBO’s “The Wire”), never judges his characters in “Win Win,” primarily because they are good people who succumb to bad decisions, just like all of us do at times.
“I think if we were all cognizant of the bad choices we’re making, we wouldn’t make them,” McCarthy said. “If we just lived with them fully all the time, we would be less prone to engage in them. But it’s the fact that we can compartmentalize …”
Look for more from my conversation with McCarthy and “Win Win” actress Amy Ryan when the movie opens in Austin.
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March 14, 2011
SXSW Talks: Rainn Wilson and James Gunn, 'Super'
The movie stars Rainn Wilson as Frank, a schlubby soul who loses his wife and then reinvents himself as an absurd superhero with no superpowers. Joining Frank on his battle to enforce justice and save his wife is comic book store employee Libby (Ellen Page), who is also desperate for a chance to inject meaning into her life.
One would expect a movie starring Wilson and Page to be cute and clever, maybe even too much so. Those fears would be unwarranted. “Super” is funny, but it’s also sad, violent, gory and a bit disturbing.
“I think for some people, it’s a little too much frankly because it comes at you from so many different angles at the same time,” Gunn said Sunday following the film’s U.S. premiere Saturday night at the Paramount.
Wilson said he recognizes the complexity of the sometimes dichotomous emotions that the film elicits, but argues that life is the same way, with comedy and tragedy often juxtaposed.
“I think sadness and comedy happen to us all everyday. Actually, I’m not comparing ‘Super’ to ‘The Office’ at all, but ‘The Office’ does that very well,” Wilson said. “There’s sadness in ‘The Office.’ People are lonely and disconnected and they’re uncomfortable, but it’s also hysterical and weird and goofy at the same time. And I think that’s why it strikes a chord.”
Gunn originally wrote the screenplay for “Super” in 2002, but had shelved it for several years before his ex-wife Jenna Fischer suggested to Gunn that he show the script to her “Office” co-star.
“A lot of people think I wrote the role for Rainn because he fits it so completely,” Gunn said.
“I like to pretend that he did,” Wilson said. “Sometimes I’ll sit at night in my PJs and drink hot cocoa with little marshmallows and think, ‘Oh, James wrote that beautiful role just for me.’”
Once Wilson signed on to the project, Gunn knew he had to make the movie.
“The Blues Brothers were on a mission from God. Frank (Wilson’s character) is on a mission from God. And me and James were on a mission from God to make this movie,” Wilson said.
(“Super” screens again Monday night at 9 at the Arbor.)
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SXSW Talks: Morgan Spurlock, 'The Greatest Movie Ever Sold'
“The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” film pulls the curtain back on the world of product placement, as the filmmaker lines up product tie-ins to pay for the entire endeavor. Pretty meta. It is both funny and a little unsettling, as discussions with advertising executives, branding gurus, corporate marketing departments and filmmakers reveal the degree to which “selling out” has become de rigeur in the entertainment business … with the operative word being business.
The documentary is the fifth film Spurlock has been connected to that has played at SXSW, which he called the “greatest film fest on the planet.”
The filmmaker may be spending even more time in Texas soon, as he is developing a TV show for HBO about Texas politics. The pilot has been written by literary giant Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, who teamed up for the “Brokeback Mountain” screenplay. Spurlock says rewrites are ongoing with hopes for production of the pilot to begin as soon as possible.
Why Texas?
“It’s Texas. It’s its own place,” Spurlock said.
Spurlock says the plan is to shoot the yet-to-be-named (or at least title-to-be-announced-at-a-later-date) show in Texas.
Even if the state tax incentives go away?
“We’ll cross that bridge when it’s burning,” Spurlock said.
Video: Chatting with Morgan Spurlock about his new film.
Look for more from this interview when “The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” opens in Austin.
Photo of Morgan Spurlock at the Hyatt Hotel on March 13 by Jenni Jones.
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March 13, 2011
SXSW Talks: Jake Gyllenhaal and Duncan Jones, 'Source Code'
I spoke with “Source Code” star Jake Gyllenhaal and Jones (separately) on Saturday, and both discussed the comedic elements of the film Jones said lands in the gray area between hard sci-fi and soft sci-fi.
“Duncan and I both have a sort of weird, strange, sick sense of humor that we relate to,” Gyllenhaal said. “I always love the character where they walk through the door and they hit their head and then they beat the crap out of somebody or they get the crap beaten out of them. It’s the idiosyncrasies and the strangeness of life that makes things funny … We just found those moments and we just went with it. And sometimes I just think that comedy is confidence, and we just had this confidence in those situations.”
In talking to Gyllenhaal about the character, I was reminded of Harrison Ford, a sentiment that Jones, unprovoked, later echoed in comparing Gyllenhaal to Indiana Jones.
“An everyman who’s pissed off and frustrated with the rest of the world but you share the ride and the humor of the stuff he goes through,” Jones said of the similarities between Gyllenhaal’s character and Indian Jones.
Jones said the original script, which both he and Gyllenhaal praised, spent a little too much time on exposition, which can kill a sci-fiction film.
“We thought it was important to keep the focus on where it needed to be - on the characters on the relationships and on the fun of the story,” Jone said. “I think that is what I kind of brought to it initially was the tone of the film. I talked to Jake and said my take on this is let’s lighten the tone, let’s inject some humor into this because that’s going to help do the job of getting the audience to buy into it in the first place. I think humor is a very powerful tool, especially in filmmaking because you can immediately create a connection between the audience and your protagonist.”
With all of this talk of humor, it seems only fitting that my interview with Gyllenhaal was pushed back a few minutes thanks to a surprise visit from comedy icon Paul Reubens aka Pee Wee Herman, who popped in to spend a few minutes with the actor.
(Look for more from this conversation closer to the April 1 release of “Source Code.”)
Photo from @PeeWeeHerman on Twitter.com.
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March 11, 2011
SXSW Talks: Susanne Bier, director of 'In a Better World'
Bier’s moving tale of forgiveness and revenge plays Friday night at the State Theatre, less than two weeks after the movie garnered the Danish director an Oscar for best foreign language.
“It’s huge,” Bier said of her triumph at the Academy Awards. “I don’t think anybody realizes the pride a country of five million people takes in winning this prize. It’s been seen by 10 percent of all Danes. So already before going to the Oscars there was a lot of investment in the film; there was a lot of engagement in the film. Everybody was very excited about winning the Golden Globe and the Oscar was like crazy. It was like winning the World Cup. It’s actually really wonderful. It’s very gratifying.”
The film chronicles two families dealing with pain caused by death and separation and the friendship that two young boys cling to during a time of domestic difficulties. Set against the backdrop of atrocities enveloping a refugee camp in Africa, the film shows the universality of the human character regardless of language or income level.
The original title of the film in Denmark was “The Revenge.” While the name is representative of one of the film’s main themes, Bier says she is pleased they had time to change it for international release.
“I much prefer the English title because it points at the hopefulness of the film, whereas revenge points at the severeness of the film. And I prefer the hopefulness,” she said.
Although reluctant to go into much detail regarding her next project, Bier says she is determined not to let her Oscar lull her into complacency.
“Never look back and always look forward,” she said with cool conviction.
(Look for more of this conversation with Bier in coming weeks.)
Click here for our capsule preview of the film.
“In a Better World” screens at 6 p.m. Saturday at Alamo South.
Updated to correct Friday screening location to the State Theatre.
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March 10, 2011
SXSW capsule preview: 'In a Better World'
Young Christian and his father Claus have moved from London to Denmark following the death of Christian’s mother, a loss the child struggles to process as he holes up in his cramped room, isolated from his father.
At his new school Christian befriends bullied classmate Elias, who finds comfort in his new companion. Elias is enduring his own difficulties at home as his parents work their way through a separation with his doctor father splitting time between an African refugee camp and Denmark.
The two children form an unequal but touching alliance, with Christian controlling the weaker Elias, as they both deal with the frustration of their parents not being exactly who their children hope them to be.
A youthful and dangerous bout of rebellion tests the limits of the two boys’ friendship and their relationship with their parents, as unspoken fears and resentments eventually boil over at home.
If this Academy Award winning film was produced by an American studio, it would likely play as a straight horror film, with the troubled Christian (William Jøhnk Nielsen in an incredible debut performance) depicted as the embodiment of evil, but Bier delivers a beautiful and nuanced film with characters that earn our sympathies without asking for them.
“In a Better World” screens Friday, March 11 at 6 p.m. at the State Theatre and again on Saturday, March 12 at 6 p.m. at the Alamo South.
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Five must-attend panels at SXSW
Dozens and dozens of panels will be held during the South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival. Here’s a look at five must-attend events.
1. Straight from the Source (Code) Duncan Jones’ debut feature, “Moon,” wowed SXSW attendees in 2009. The director comes to Austin this year with his second film, “Source Code,” in tow. Stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan join the director for a discussion about the time-space-continuum-melting thriller that opens the film festival. (11 a.m. Saturday, Austin Convention Center, Room 16AB)
2. SUPER-Talented: A Conversation with James Gunn, Ellen Page and Rainn Wilson Take a peek inside the mind of Troma Entertainment alumnus writer-director James Gunn and see how this filmmaker devised his superhero-meets-camp horror-meets-parable flick. Expect Page and Wilson to dazzle with their astonishing superpowers of charm and wit. (12:30 p.m. Saturday, Austin Convention Center, Room 18ABCD)
3. Catherine Hardwicke’s Directing Workshop McAllen native and University of Texas graduate Catherine Hardwicke got her start in the movie business as a production designer. But she marked herself as a filmmaker to be watched with her stirring debut, the indie coming-of-age tale “Thirteen.” The director whose reimagining of “Red Riding Hood” screens at the festival will discuss her process while sharing exclusive clips, concept drawings and storyboards. (2 p.m. Saturday, Austin Convention Center Room, 16AB)
4. A Conversation with Todd Phillips Chances are, Todd Phillips has made you laugh countless times, whether you want to admit it or not. The director has helmed some of the funniest and highest-grossing comedies of the past decade, including “Old School,” “Due Date” and “The Hangover.” Later this year, he will try to top his box-office feat of 2009 with “The Hangover II,” which should provide plenty of fodder for your annoying friend who likes to retell movie jokes in their entirety. (3:30 p.m. Saturday, Austin Convention Center, Room 18ABCD)
5. A Conversation with Paul Reubens
The creator of the most memorable comedy character of the 1980s embedded his laugh into the national consciousness with his television series “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” which earned the actor multiple Daytime Emmy Awards. Decades later, he has reinvigorated his career with a successful Broadway run of “The Pee-wee Herman Show,” which will air on HBO starting March 19. Separate fact from fiction, and the character from the character who created him, at what promises to be a wildly entertaining discussion. (12:30 p.m. Sunday, Austin Convention Center, Room 18ABCD)
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SXSW capsule preview: 'Ceremony'
Sam (Michael Angarano) fancies himself quite the bon vivant: He’s a writer; he likes a good cocktail; he snaps at waitresses; he winks at people a lot.
The would-be raconteur and his friend Marshall (Reece Thompson) take off for a restorative weekend on Long Island. While taking in some much-needed pool time — Marshall has shut himself off from the world for a year — the two young men stumble upon a wedding down the beach.
But, as Marshall comes to realize, this is much less happenstance than a designed ruse by Sam. The 23-year-old still holds a candle for the bride-to-be (the always stunning Uma Thurman). Over the wedding weekend, Sam attempts to win back the heart he never owned while undermining her dashing British fiancé, Whit (Lee Pace, in the movie’s finest performance). As a debauched weekend gives way to personal insight, Sam slowly and bravely comes to realize that he is not yet the man he imagines himself to be.
Writer-director Max Winkler (son of Henry Winkler) shows promise in his feature debut that aspires to be the type of film that made everyone fall in love with Wes Anderson.
“Ceremony” screens at 5 p.m. Saturday, March 12 at the Paramount.
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SXSW capsule preview: 'Win Win'
Slightly schlubby with shoulders slouched forward, a jogger sputters along a wooded trail as a couple of fleet-footed runners pass him. He stops, winded and defeated.
Such is life for Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti). Try as he might, the middle aged lawyer in small town New Jersey can’t seem to stay ahead of life. A tree in the front yard is threatening to topple and collapse the roof of his family’s house, the boiler at his small law office is on the fritz and his roster of small-time clients aren’t getting the bills paid on time. Adding insult to injury, the high school wrestling team he coaches in his spare time couldn’t pin an autumn leaf to the ground.
When faced with the opportunity to take advantage of aging client’s dilemma, the straight-shooting Mike makes an unethical and out-of-character move that will earn him $1500 a month. Although it seems a victimless crime (the blasé treatment of elder abuse here is slightly unsettling even for a dark comedy), Mike realizes his plan is not fool proof when his client’s grandson, Kyle (an excellent turn by Alex Shaffer), appears.
At first the bleached-blonde teen offers more solutions than problems: it turns out his fantastic wrestling skills are a windfall for Mike. But the specter of catastrophe looms (and looms for quite awhile, as much of the movie unfolds placidly - and somewhat unbelievably - with almost no real conflict), and it seems just a matter of time before Mike’s plan begins to unravel. That’s when we get the frantic and nervous Giamatti character we’ve all come to gladly endure if not quite love. Kudos go to Bobby Cannavale and Amy Ryan as Mike’s best friend and wife, respectively.
“Win Win” screens Monday at 7:15 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre.
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SXSW capsule preview: 'Super'
The moping Frank D’Arbo (Wilson) tells us that he has only had “two perfect moments which offset a life of pain, humiliation and rejection.” Those moments were marrying his gorgeous wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) and meekly alerting cops to the direction of a fleeing robber. Not much to hang your hat on. When Sarah, who has succumbed to a life of drugs, leaves him for a sleazy club owner, Frank’s first brush with perfection is shattered.
Inspired by a ridiculous Christian superhero on TV, Frank decides to revisit his fleeting heroism. Combing comics for research to help create his own superhero alter ego, Frank meets the wise cracking and spunky Libby (Page), who, after first shaming Frank for his tepid imagination, takes a shine to the lonely loner. After a somewhat disturbing visitation from a grotesque monster, Frank, who believes the finger of god had touched him, transforms into The Crimson Bolt, a hapless hero who patrols the town whacking bad guys with a massive wrench.
In an effort to become a more fully realized version of himself, Frank, filled with a hopeful naïveté and aided by his new sidekick Boltie (the indefatigable Libby) goes on a murderous killing spree as he attempts to save his wife from the clutches of evil, as personified by her new boyfriend-pimp-drug dealer (played to uneasy effect by Kevin Bacon).
The movie shifts wildly from cute to cruel and back, exploring religious themes of salvation and grace while lampooning the conventions of movies about both heroes and sad sack alike. It’s not what you think it’s going to be, until it is. But only for a moment.
“Super” screens at 10 p.m. Saturday, March 12 at the Paramount Theatre and Monday at the Arbor at 9 p.m.
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March 29, 2010
Fat Mike of NOFX banned from Emo's for serving 'tainted' tequila
In case you missed it during the madness that was SXSW, NOFX frontman Fat Mike did a set at Emo’s Annex as his alter-ego “Cokie the Clown,” a name that was also the title of a November 2009 EP from NOFX. The name alone is cause enough for pause.
As you might expect from a punk rock clown, there was some disturbing behavior exhibited at the show, which was reportedly very, very dark.
TMZ.com posted video from the show, which depicts “Cokie” pouring shots of tequila for the audience followed by the musician playing video on a TV screen. The video appears to show “Cokie” urinating in a bottle of Patron, presumably the one from which he served the shots to the audience.
According to TMZ.com, punk rock anti-hero Fat Mike told the site he “confirmed that urine was not classified as a biohazard waste and not subject to the risks of legal ramifications of blood, semen, or feces.”
The litigation-minded lead singer may feel safe from serious legal action, but he did not escape the wrath of Emo’s. The club’s owners say they were told after the fact that the stunt had actually been slight-of-hand tomfoolery. Regardless, Emo’s said that Fat Mike has been banned from the club.
Looks like the joke’s on him.
A call has been placed to SXSW for comment regarding Fat Mike’s future at the fest.
Video of the show, though edited for vulgarity, may be considered Not Safe For Work.
Photo of NOFX (Fat Mike, third from the left) by Jesse Fischer
*Additional reporting by Isadora Vail
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March 21, 2010
SXSW video: The M.O. at Red Bull's Thre3Style party featuring Mos Def
Check out this scene report from Saturday night’s Red Bull Thre3Style party in downtown Austin, featuring Mos Def.
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In good: Company rides down to SXSW with Band of Horses
One day you’re asking one of your musical heroes if he wants cream with his coffee; six months later you’re asking him if he’s seen your wah pedal lying around. That’s the shorthand version of the story of Brian Hannon, frontman for the band Company, and how he ended up playing at the Central Presbyterian Church with Band of Horses on the Friday night of SXSW.
Following one Company’s shows at a club in Charleston, South Carolina, Hannon, wearing a Band of Horses t-shirt, was approached by David Bridwell, father of Band of Horses frontman Ben Bridwell. Hannon happily gave a Company CD to the father of the bearded rock star who had become a regular at the restaurant where Hannon worked as a waiter.
Soon after his introduction to the elder Bridwell, the baby-faced (despite the eager beard) singer approached his musical hero at the restaurant and finally worked up the nerve to introduce himself. Bridwell remembered hearing Company from his father and shortly thereafter asked Co. to play a local gig with Band of Horses in December.
“I was just a guy at a restaurant, but he’s still nice enough to talk to me like a normal person,” Hannon said of Bridwell’s kindness and generosity.
The show in December led the big brother Band of Horses to invite Company (whose psych-tinged rock should bring the youngsters some more attention as their playing matures) out West to play two shows in Denver before coming down to Austin for SXSW.
While extremely grateful for the opportunity his young band has been afforded by one of the country’s most critically acclaimed bands, Hannon admits that he hopes the whirlwind of the past six months is only the beginning for him and his friends in Company.
“It’s great. I hope it continues,” Hannon said.
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March 20, 2010
Scene report: One girl follows her Muse to SXSW
The trio from the UK isn’t just the kind of band that can draw people from one end of a park to another, it’s the kind of band that compels fans to travel from one city to another (and likely one country to another), even when the chances of seeing their musical demigods is about as good as Billy Murray not showing up on Red River Street during SXSW.
Before the sun went down on Friday, the line to get into Stubb’s already stretched down the block. It had been highly publicized that only badge holders would be getting into the “surprise” Muse show at 10 p.m. but that didn’t keep hundreds from showing up anyway, hoping a badge would fall into their hands (around their necks?). Once the amphitheater reached capacity, dozens lined the roof of the parking garage across the street. But some decided to listen to the show from 9th street, behind the stage, where the band loads and unloads.
Among the devoted lining the sidewalk was 20 year-old Erika Waller and her group of girlfriends. They had already seen Muse in Ft. Worth on Wednesday and Houston on Thursday, but, with appetites not satiated, they made the drive up I-35 from San Antoino to try and get one more glimpse of their musical heroes.
Waller, who has seen the band perform 9 times since her first Muse experience at ACL Fest in 2006, actually had the great fortune of receiving a harmonica from bass player Christopher Wolstenholme — who, according to Waller works the harp as a lead in to “Knights of Cydonia” — at the show in Houston.
She followed Muse to Austin in hopes of meeting the band. And, while a full-on tour of the bus and photo opp. hadn’t occurred at the time we spoke, she did get Wolstenholme’s attention as he was exiting the bus at 9 p.m.., and, recognizing her from the night before in Houston, he graciously autographed the instrument for her. As we talked, she held it in her hand like it was the holy grail.
“They blend classical music with rock, and every song is different … no two songs are the same,” Waller said.
Her pilgrimage continues this spring, as she follows her Muse to California for the Coachella fest.
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Scene report: First in line for Band of Horses at Central Presbyterian
I picked up my first SXXpress Pass Friday morning. I wanted to make sure I caught Band of Horses at Central Presbyterian Church around 9 p.m., and given reports of the madhouse that was the Grizzly Bear show there last year, I figured I wouldn’t be the only one. Realizing the church would reach capacity early in the evening, I knew that if I got there before the doors opened, I would be assured a seat. When I arrived, I expected to see at least a small Xpress line, but it was just I. At least I thought it was until I realized the middle-aged gentleman already sitting on the wall was a fellow pass-holder and not a musician.
Stephen Hoad had seen the queue on Wednesday night — one he said was equally long to the 100+ line formed by 6:45 p.m. Friday — and figured he would play it safe by getting an Xpress pass for Saturday night. The Brit from Aylesbury, England said he had been turned onto the South Carolina-based band by his son but had missed them their last time in the UK and he was determined to remedy that.
Attending his fifth SXSW, Hoad said he loved the smaller crowds and venues of the fest because, “it’s the way I like to listen to music.” Having attended the Wednesday night showcase, he was already enchanted with Central Presbyterian, a venue who compared to Union Chapel in London, though he said the church in downtown Austin was nicer.
When I asked the well-versed music lover for any fest highlights of the week, he pointed to California duo El Ten Eleven, a band he said he had been waiting to see for five years after a DJ from the BBC whom he ran into at SXSW turned him onto the band. That’s quite a wait, but Hoad seemed to think it was worth the wait, calling the band “just stunning.” Seems I have a new band to check out.
With that, the doors to the church opened and Hoad and I went our separate ways, with him taking a seat in a pew about 10 rows from the front, just past the soundboard and a perfect distance from the speakers, ensuring a fantastic listening experience. The guy knows his music.
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March 18, 2010
SXSW video: Austinist's Gonna Gonna Get Down V day party
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SXSW scene report: No-waiting Wednesday
Even with a badge or a wristband, you often have to stand in line from time at SXSW to time if you’re attempting to check out a popular or buzzy act. But not all acts require a wait. Wednesday night, I walked down Sixth Street and popped in to multiple venues where my badge allowed me to walk right on in (and stopped by to question a few line-standers at others). It did not take long to realize that sometimes there’s a very good reason for there not being a line.
9:40 PM — I pop into Maggie Mae’s and catch the last two songs of Infantree from Calabasa, California. Fortunately, I do not realize the precious spelling of the band name, or I would have to double fist Miller Lite, official sponsor of SXSW* (said in either commercial-voiceover-guy voice or that of the bubbly blonde who offered me one, you pick). The young quartet seems grateful to be there, but they sound like the Avett Brothers on quaaludes. The walls lined with casualties of St. Patrick’s Day, the place smells like aftershave wafting off of alcoholics at a public golf course grill.
10:07 PM — Waltzing into Mi Casa, I discover it is playing host to the DART International Music House. I spot a familiar face or two, which I chalk up to locals Maneja Beto having just left the stage. Sadly, the area near the end of the bar wreaks of the putrid dysfunctional relationship between bleach and vomit. Before the band is introduced, the crowd is urged to fill out the U.S. Census, as it determines how money is allocated to states and cities. “You need to be connected, bro,” I am told. Who invited ean Penn to SXSW? Following that public service announcement, Palenke Soultribe takes the stage. The LA-based Colombian trio rides a crashing surf of cymbals into some electronic beats as the DJ works his laptop, ubiquitous Mac apple logo glowing. The band’s music does not match its energy, and I find it all rather boring. Maybe with the right stimulants at a rave at 4 AM the house beats would play better, but even the preternaturally supportive Latin crowd seems disinterested. As one of the members manipulates a very small set of images being projected on the side wall, the almost indiscernible visual production brings to mind the rearranging of deck chairs on the Titanic. Time to go. On the way out, the doorman tells me that about 30-40 percent of the crowd tonight has a wristband or badge.
10:20 PM — The festival’s tent has expanded each year to include more and more comedy, and on Wednesday night, Comedy Central is ensconced at Esther’s Follies for a showcase. At first, I am told that the approximately 300 are all taken (105 of those tickets sold and the other 200 a mix of badges, wristbands and Comedy Central VIPs), so I turn to leave. The someone decides to swoop me in. I hear something about “he’s with the press,” so I am feeling like this may be breaking my rules. Reluctantly, I follow the manager to an aisle seat in the third row and hear Maria Bamford, her voice alone can make you laugh. But the guy next to me says “my” seat is being saved. So, it seems fated. I leave. Comedy at SXSW seems do be doing just fine.
10:30 PM — Across the street, a long line has formed to get into Emo’s. But … there is no line for badges. I walk to the front and am told by a friendly volunteer that I would be the next badge in. To me, that’s a wait, so I walk over to the sidewalk where a small group is congregating, trying to figure out what to do. Turns out the group of people is actually a group, as I learn from Clova (David Williams), rapper for Huntsville, Alabama hip-hop group G-Side. Clova asks if Nas is playing Emo’s, and when I confirm his suspicions, he seems somewhat curious about attempting to get in. His crew, however, seems tired from the long drive, and they convince Clova that hits time to crash for the night. G-Side plays NPR’s day show at The Parish at 2:45 PM on Thursday, so the guys need their rest. After talking to the guys, I learned that, according to the Huntsville Times, “At today’s SXSW gig, ST said he and Clova plan to dedicate the show to the families of Discovery Middle School shooting victim Todd Brown and those shot and killed at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.” Very solid. These guys definitely seem worthy of checking out.
10:35 PM — Although getting into Nas was just a minute wait away, I decide to head back down the street, true to my mission. Before decamping from the general Emo’s vicinity, I talk to one of the folks standing in line in hopes of buying a ticket. Despite waiting by himself, and with his arm in a cast, Austinite Logan Anderson maintains a positive attitude. It’s his first foray into the SXSW madness, and he realizes that waiting is just the price you pay (in addition to the $20), especially for what he calls “the show of the day.” He says he will wait till about midnight, and I like his chances of getting in, in part due to his good attitude. When I return an hour later, he has creeped closer but is still 40 people or so shy of the entrance. I learn he had been in the club earlier and has the stamp to prove it, but when I go ask the aforementioned volunteer about the rules regarding re-entry for those who don’t have badges, she tells me the stamped and credential-less must return to the back of the ticket line. So, Logan continues to wait. I hope he gets in.
10:39 PM — I deviate from Sixth Street by about 15 feet, as I am lured into Emo’s Annex by a promise to Michael Corcoran and a woman’s voice singing Marvin Gaye’s classic “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler).” The keyboard player wears a big waitch-style Beck hat, the simple bass line and horn section evoke Morphine and the sexy blonde female lead bounces and writhes on stage. Obviously these folks (The Asteroids Galaxy Tour) are from … Denmark. Sweet. I leave as people are filing in at $5 a head.
10:55 PM — I enter Wave (formerly the Daiquiri Factory) for the first time in my life. The place is starting to fill up, and bar owner Jay Vail tells me that 800 people have confirmed online their intent to attend the night’s showcase. While Vail says his bar (which is in its third year as a SXSW venue) usually draws about 80 percent badges, tonight, the numbers are more like 60 percent badge/wristband and 40 percent covers. The reason for the shift? Headliner Surfer Blood. Vail says the bar made more money when it wasn’t an official venue, but admits that this night is expected to be packed, likely third to only Halloween and New Year’s Eve. He says that the strong headliner seems to be a result of the balance that needs to be struck between the needs of the bar and the festival. The bar’s agenda is to get as many people to stay in their establishment all night, while the fest wants to move people around frmo venue to venue. The presence of a buzzy band like Surfer Blood seems like it will benefit Wave on this night. Property owner Randy Allen admits that this Wednesday night is much more crowded than previous first nights of the fest, and attributes it in part to the rebounding economy.
11:00 PM — Wave features two stages, one upstairs and one down. I head upstairs and catch some of the slightly whiny alt-country rock of the quartet We Are Country Mice. What the band lacks in harmonizing ability, they attempt to make up for with attitude and they have the crowd modestly engaged, but it seems like most of the 27 year-old due bro demographic is packed in tight in early anticipation of headliner Surfer Blood, who take the stage in two hours.
11:23 PM — Back downstairs, Brooklyn band La Strada (who knew they had bands in Brooklyn?) is finally ready to play after a prolonged period of tuning. The symphonic pop sounds of the international-tinged band featuring violin, cello and accordion feel like Arcade Fire starter kit. Unfortunately, Arcade Fire has made a few too many bands think they can pull of a yelling sort of singing. Or maybe I am just slightly disoriented by a bands that looks like its from the Catskills being fronted by a Charlie Kaufman lookalike.
11:40 — Exiting to the masses, I find Sixth Street overflowing its banks, a river of dangerously drunk (and mostly happy) people. I check to verify that getting into Nas is still a fool’s errand, and head home.
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March 16, 2010
Food in the SXSW Zone: Hot Dog King
Located in the parking lot next to Beerland, the King, whose name may conjure images of Elvis, but who looks more like a Midwestern Philip Seymour Hoffman, serves a few variations on the all-beef hot dogs you would expect from a native of Chicago.
But he really sets himself apart from the lifeless dirty-water hot dogs of a tired street vendor with some of the finer offerings from his menu of a dozen meals on a bun.
Save yourself the trip out to Elgin by digging on the small town’s most famous export - the sausage, piqued and fatted with jalapeno and cheese for $5. Enjoy a taste of the (slightly) exotic with a venison Polish sausage that is full of flavor and comes hand-sliced.
And, for vegetarians, there’s a vegan, organic tofurkey dog, Though it does seem a sin to skip out on encased meats from this Red River royalty.
Hot Dog King
Yellow Truck @ 8th Street and Red River Street
Hours during SXSW: 11am - Late (3am?)
(American-Statesman photo by Mike Sutter)
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Food in the SXSW Zone: Kebabalicious
Inspired by some Turks whom they met while logging serious kitchen hours in Europe, friends Chris Childre and Kristian Ulloa opened the late-night trailer near East Seventh and Trinity streets three and half years ago. Kebabalicious became such a hit that the guys parlayed their success into a second trailer at Second Street and Congress Avenue, meaning a downtown office worker with a drinking problem can now eat spit-roasted lamb and beef or chicken wrapped in warm pita for lunch and dinner.
The staple of European street foods, the kebab comes topped with fresh, crunchy tomatoes and lettuce that have no business being up at the late hours of the original Kebabalicious’ operating hours, along with a homemade tzatziki and tangy red sauce that carries varying degrees of spice.
Vegetarians are no afterthought here, as they can choose from the falafel kebab (which holds up admirably against its meaty brethren), which features lightly fried plum-sized garbanzo bean balls and hummus.
Expect long lines at the food trailer that helped usher in quality street dining in downtown Austin, but if you ask any local in line, they’ll tell you that it’s worth the wait.
East 7th and Trinity streets
SXSW Hours
Tuesday, 3/16 (9 PM - 3 PM @ Congress Ave & 2nd Street)
Wednesday, 3/17 - Saturday, 3/20 (11 AM - 3 AM @ 7th & Trinity streets)
Photos by Mike Sutter AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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Food in the SXSW Zone: Frietkot
7th Street and Neches Street, next to Lovejoy’s
Photos by Mike Sutter AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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Panel wrap: 'MacGruber'
One thing that became abundantly clear during the “MacGruber” panel: making the movie must have been an incredibly fun experience. After a screening of the red-band trailer, which elicited more than a few laughs, the major principles of the film entered the room. The panel was ostensibly led by Akiva Schaffer (“Saturday Night Live,” Lonely Island) whose longtime friend and collaborator, Jorma Taccone, directed and co-write the movie with star Will Forte and John Solomon (both of “Saturday Night Live”), though with comedians Forte and Kristen Wiig on stage, not to mention the spontaneous, absurd and brilliant Val Kilmer, the talk did not adhere to much of a format.
Kilmer actually fired off the first question, asking someone in the audience if he liked the movie and what parts he liked. Forte humored the audience with a story about a “courtesy pillow” that was used, much to his dismay, during intimate scenes with Wiig. He joked that he didn’t want the pillow between them, but that Wiig had insisted. The adorable and quite blonde Wiig, did not do too much talking, but had a great line when she discussed the sweat of sex scenes as “body drool.”
Taccone, who said the film, which was produced in short time and on a budget of only $10 million said that he got inspiration for the film from the 80s vibe of the “Lethal Weapons” movies and “Die Hard.” All of the interiors were smoky, he said, while all these exteriors were soaking wet. He also discussed the nascent stages of what became Loney Island and confessed that in their early days in Hollywood, he, Schaffer and partner Andy Samberg lived off of the food he stole from the set of “Spin City,” on which he worked as a writers’ assistant.
Kilmer did digress from the jokes a bit with a nice nod to the creative process behind the movie and “SNL,” which he described as inspired and painstaking work, although he did joke that he thought “the entire script is kind of designed to ruin (his) career.”
Although he did not say too much at the panel, and I continue to wonder if that is actually Ryan Phillippe’s real voice, Taccone said that the Ken-doll-handsome actor was one of the keys to the film because his straight character is “us watching the movie.” Taccone also gave great credit to Kilmer’s perspicacity regarding comedy.
Phillippe dodged a question from the audience about his involvement in a Captain America movie, but he did coyly say that he was “into it” and we’d just have to see what happens.
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March 13, 2010
A taste of 'Leaves of Grass'
I was a little skeptical when I read the “Leaves of Grass” synopsis and learned that Edward Norton was not only going to be playing opposite himself as twin brothers in writer-director Tim Blake Nelson’s film, but that he would be doing so in a marijuana comedy. My fears were alleviated Friday night, however, when I quickly realized that “Leaves” was not a typical stoner flick and even more quickly remembered how enjoyable it is to watch Norton on film.
With a baby on the way and the responsibilities and dangers of being a big-time weed grower and distributor weighing on him, Brady Kincaid (Norton) lures his Ivy League professor brother, Bill (Norton), back home to Oklahoma to play unwitting accomplice in his half-baked attempt to redirect the course of his life.
As Bill gets reluctantly charmed by his brother, he comes to question his long-held resentments and judgment of the life he left behind and realizes that the boundaries and truths which he found in the study of philosophy were no more valid than the life led by his uneducated brother.
Nelson has penned a thoughtful and at times touching study on what it means to lead an authentic life and how one’s search for happiness can take on many forms. The weightiness of the message, which seems to represent a personal and meaningful struggle for the filmmaker, and the plot digressions slow the pace of the film, at times, and the whip-neck changes are cause for as much confusion as entertainment, but the performances by Norton, who obviously embraced the challenges offered by the roles, make for a lively parable - part Coen brothers, part Tarantino.
It’s hard to think of a better place than Austin for the movie to make its U.S. premiere. That was thinking of writer-director Tim Blake Norton, who told me Saturday that he made sure the film’s release was pushed to the first week of April to accommodate screening first at SXSW.
While it is easy to say that marriage makes sense due to the proliferation of marijuana in the movie, an herb not too difficult to sniff out in Austin, the real reason for the effective paring rests in the dichotomy shared by the film and the city: intellectualism balanced by sensualism. Nelson, Norton and I discussed that aspect of the film, along with fear, the business of making movies, mystic Cowboys and more in an interview that will appear on Friday, April 2, when the film is released here in Austin.
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Capsule summary: 'Tiny Furniture'
Many small, intimate films have portrayed the plight of wayward 20-somethings stumbling awkwardly into adulthood, but few have so effectively accomplished it from such an honest and often neglected point of view. That, in part, is why “Tiny Furniture,” written and directed by 23 year-old Lena Dunham is so refreshing yet familiar.
(That, in part, is why “Tiny Furniture,” written and directed by 23 year-old Lena Dunham feels so utterly original. Many small, intimate films have portrayed the plight of wayward 20-somethings stumbling awkwardly into adulthood, but few have so effectively accomplished it from the often neglected point of view of a young woman.)
Having moved back to her artist mother’s loft in New York City following graduation from a college in the Midwest, Aura (Dunham) searches for a sense of purpose and self-worth amidst a sea of pretentious would-be artists; immature and opportunistic men; and low-paying jobs.
The brilliantly written dialogue, especially between Aura and her (actual) mother and sister (Laurie Simmons and Grace Dunham), is burdened and enlivened by the offerings of daily life, both mundane and profound, and offers a pace and emotional depth that feels utterly natural. Even when it is incredibly witty, the movie never feels overwrought or embellished. It seems as it if is telling a truth, one that we have not heard enough in movies.
“Tiny Furniture” screens Monday, March 15 at 2:15 PM at Alamo Ritz 1; Tuesday, March 16 at 11:30 AM at Alamo South; and Saturday, March 20 at 4:15 PM at Alamo Ritz 2.
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Panel thoughts: Nobody Wants to Watch Your Film
Panelists: Graham Leggat (Executive director of the San Francisco Film Society), Peter Becker (president of the Criterion Collection) and Sarah Pollack (YouTube)
Moderator: Efe Cakarel, TheAuteurs.com
ADD nation is in full swing, I realized when I sat down for the “Nobody Wants to Watch Your Film.” Adjacent to the stage on which the panelists sat was a giant screen that carried a live, streaming Twitter feed of Tweets germane to the panel. Attendees could use the hash tag #watchyourfilm to contribute to the discussion. At first, it seemed extremely rude. Why on earth would you come to a panel and then spend half your time Tweeting while people on the stage attempted to speak to a less than captive audience. Then I saw a few Tweets that provided some good food for thought. It was kind of a cool, a way for everyone to take part in the panel, without interrupting or raising their hands. But it was also extremely distracting, and ultimately unnecessary. I realize the wonder of technology allows us to all comment in real time on everything happening and that old models of almost everything are being transformed. Maybe I will come to feel less offended by it in the future, but for my first panel of this year’s fest, it came as a bit of a wake-up call for where we’re headed with our constant meta-communication.
The panel itself centered around the following question from Cakarel: “What do you think is going to be the prominent business model five years from now?” I was curious as to how much new ground would be covered here. For years now, it seems like we’ve endured panels at fests talking about people going to the movies less, how distribution channels are rapidly changing and how hard it is to get someone to watch our film. There always seems to be much gnashing of teeth, but no real answers as to where we’re headed and how people will be able to continue to make money with their content.
Obviously this is the case because this is going to take time to shake out. We probably won’t see much difference on a broad level for another few years, but the panelists seemed to agree the key to easily accessing content and drawing in the largest numbers of viewers possible is a sort of EZ Pass that eliminates speed bumps and allows users to move seamlessly on their computers/TVs from one content provider to another without having to provide payment or log-in information.
Some highlights:
Becker on the balance of commerce and art: “How do you make room not just for greed in the world, but for art.” The answer he says, is not simply that content should be free.
Pollack: Films are going to have to start being made for a lot less money. Artists are going to have to start smaller and see if they can build interest and a following. YouTube now offers a pay model called the Screening Room, which is allowing content creators to earn some ad revenue, but filmmakers need to understand that it is their responsibility to generate demand in their films. They can do this by attending smaller film fests, using social networking and creating a connection between themselves and their fans.
Becker: People are watching more content online, but they’re not watching more features. The two-hour feature was once an ideal time for seeing a movie in terms of the social context of the day. That length is not sacrosanct, he said, and a new generation of filmmakers is going to be making shorter works for the new mediums which we will use to consume film.
Leggat: The reasons people watch movies online are 1) instantaneity and 2)
Leggat: Dispelling fears that we will be wathcing movies only on hand-held devices in the future: “We’re not gonna be watching 3-hour films in scope w/ subtitles on our mobile phones” … “For cinephiles, going to the theatres will not change. It’s like going to Church.”
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March 12, 2010
SXSW capsule summary: 'Pelada'
‘Pelada’
Knowing when to walk away from the game is a problems that has haunted athletes for decades. How do you leave something you love?
In the documentary “Pelada,” filmmakers Ryan White and Rebekah Ferguson follow former collegiate soccer players Luke Boughen and Gwendolyn Oxenham as they travel the world playing in pick-up soccer games from Brazil to China.
Although it is widely understood that soccer is the world’s most popular sport, the film reveals how deeply the roots of the game are planted in nearly every culture. Players don’t rely on chalked fields or officials or scoreboards to commune with one another. They simply need a ball — or sometimes something approximating a ball.
As they travel from the slums of Buenos Aires to the concrete urban landscapes of Shanghai, Oxenham and Boughen revel in a game that, as long as they have the desire to play, can never truly be taken away from them.
Screenings: 7:15 p.m. Sunday, aG-Tech Theater; noon Monday, Alamo South; and 3:30 p.m. Friday March 19, Alamo South.
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March 9, 2010
SXSW capsule summary: 'No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson'
‘No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson’
Most casual sports fans probably know Allen Iverson as the heavily tattooed basketball player who once rhetorically (and repeatedly) asked a group of reporters if they really needed to waste his time talking about practice.
Despite being one of the greatest-ever NBA players, Iverson has become more known for his selfish attitude (real or perceived) and thuggish image.
In the documentary “No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson,” director Steve James of “Hoop Dreams” returns to basketball and returns to his home of Hampton, Va., to investigate Iverson’s formative years and one incident that helped shape the superstar’s world view.
In the middle of a high school athletic career in which he led his football and basketball teams to state championships, Iverson’s life changed forever. He was at a bowling alley on Valentine’s Day during his junior year when an argument erupted.
What happened next is clear: A fight ensued between Iverson’s friends and a group of white patrons, chairs were thrown and a woman was injured. What was unclear, and still is, is the extent of Iverson’s involvement. Despite conflicting reports, Iverson and two of his friends, all minors, were tried as adults and convicted on a felony charge of maiming by a mob. (The conviction was later overturned.)
In his documentary about the case, James reveals the racial and cultural tensions that still exist in Hampton. And while the facts might ultimately be muddied by history, “No Crossover” leaves audiences with a clearer understanding of the troubled future Hall of Famer, who ever since has had a me-vs.-the-world attitude.
Screenings: 11 a.m. Sunday , Paramount; Also, 2:45 p.m. Friday March 19, G-Tech Theater
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March 8, 2010
5 Questions with ... Steve James, director of 'No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson'
Here, we talk to Steve James (“Hoop Dreams”), director of the documentary “No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson,” a look at one of the most controversial moments in the history of one of the NBA’s most controversial stars. James dissects the felony charge and subsequent trial of the high school aged Iverson, while highlighting the simmering racial tensions in America and challenging pre-conceived notions about the heavily tatted star. (In the spirit of the basketball Mighty Mouse who could always get to the rack, we did this 5 Questions, and-1 style, with six questions.)
“No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson” screens at 12:00 PM on Monday, March 15 at the Alamo Ritz and again at 11:30 a.m. on March 17 at Alamo South Lamar.
The M.O.: Who approached you about doing the ESPN “30 For 30” series and how did you decide to focus on Allen Iverson? What other topics, if any, did you consider?
Steve James: I was first approached by John Sloss, who represents me and was serving as an advisor for the series. My first thought for a story was to do something on Dr. J, Julius Erving, who as a rookie, played for my hometown ABA team, the Virginia Squires. Watching the then-unknown Erving burst on to the scene was a, um, religious experience for me. But Erving’s rookie year was in the 70’s, too early for the series which focuses on stories that have happened in the last 30 years. So my second thought was Allen Iverson and the bowling alley brawl. I wasn’t living in Hampton, VA when it happened, but followed it through my parents and then the media. I realized something very significant was happening at that time, and it had to do with race, and sports, and the legal system. If I wasn’t knee deep in “Hoop Dreams” at the time, I would have gone home and started filming. So, 17 years later, ESPN gave me another chance to make this film.
Where on the continuum between best player inch-for-inch in history and selfish, un-coachable star do you think Allen Iverson falls? Or is there no answer?
Well, as the tag line for our poster says, there’s one Answer, but many opinions. I think what’s so fascinating about AI is that he is different things to different people. His grit and courage and toughness are without question, but in those same qualities, one can sometimes legitimately criticize him for selfishness as a player. I think Iverson is something of a Rashoman-like figure: how you view him says as much about you as it does about him.
What role, if any, did your late father play in your desire to make this movie? Was there a way in which making this film formed a deeper connection between you and him?
I think making the student film I made on him (and that’s featured some in this film) was what really formed a deeper connection. Maybe making this film was a way of resurrecting what he meant to me now that he’s gone. But I was very conscious of not trying to make this film too personal. I had no desire to hijack the story of Iverson and the trial in favor of my own story of growing up. I just hope that the personal parts help inform the viewer about my hometown and what it felt like to grow up there. Making this film certainly made me much more aware of my hometown’s history and the broader community. Playing basketball there in high school, I thought I knew more about the black community of Hampton than I did. This film was a real education for me, which is what I love about making documentaries.
Why do you think so many people refused to be interviewed for the film?
I think people have a hard time talking about race, and since this whole thing was prompted by a racial brawl, many people didn’t want to go back there and talk about what they were feeling or thinking at the time. It seems to me that race is indeed the “elephant in the room” as Pastor Marcellus Harris says in the film, but many of us would rather not talk about it. We worry, if we are white, that we might be perceived as racist if we speak candidly. And perhaps if you are black, you worry that people will accuse you of living in the past when there “really was racism.” And on a practical level, people refused to talk because they didn’t want it to affect how bosses and colleagues and fellow church members would view them. They wanted to put distance between that time and themselves.
Going into the making of the movie, did you have an opinion as to Iverson’s guilt or innocence in the case? If so, how did you remain objective? Do you care to share your thoughts as to his guilt or innocence?
Like most “liberal types”, I first expected — maybe even hoped — that I’d find that Iverson was innocent. During the making of the film, I went back and forth between thinking he was innocent or guilty. The reality we found was, the testimony on both sides was flawed. But what became clearer as we went along was that ultimately the real issue for me wasn’t guilt or innocence. That even if Iverson was guilty, the question is, was he treated fairly by the justice system? In the film, I weigh in on that one… But I’d rather you see the film then just read about it here, to find out what I think. And of course the other real issue was, why did Allen Iverson and this event so divide the community? And that’s really what the film is about.
Do you believe if Iverson and his fellow defendants were white that they would have received the same punishment?
I specifically address this question in the film… But I think part of the reason to watch the film is for the viewer to come to their own conclusions about this question. We really tried to make sure all voices were heard and that Allen’s supporters and detractors were fairly represented before I gave my opinion. And one of the interesting surprises was, though the community divided largely along lines of race over Allen Iverson, it was not exclusively so by any means. Because he also divided the community along lines of class.
“No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson” screens at 11:00 AM on March 14 at the Paramount Theatre and again at the G-Tech theater at the Austin Convention Center on Friday, March 19 at 02:45 PM.
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March 5, 2010
MapQuest wants to stuff you full of free Salt Lick BBQ
In a packed crowd of companies positioning themselves at SXSW for a little publicity and some love from consumers and would-be consumers, you’ve got to go the extra step to stand out. Shoving your keychains and postcard-sized flyers into canvas bags won’t get the job done.
With that in mind, MapQuest is stepping up its game at this year’s conference. On Sunday, March 14, the company won’t just show you how to get to Driftwood, it’s offering to take you there. They’ve chartered some buses and will be transporting about 150 SXSWi attendees (along with cold beer) to the Salt Lick, arguably the most famous, if not most delicious, barbecue in Central Texas. And they’re not just picking up the tab on gas, they’re also buying lunch.
As for me, I’d prefer a Google Maps party at Smitty’s. But you can get all of the details on the MapQuest blog here.
Photo by Kelly West AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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February 26, 2010
Honestly, I don't give a damn where you are
I’m not going to sit here and get all preachy about the unnecessary oversharing of social media. I use Facebook (though my usage is dwindling) and Twitter regularly, and once did the same with Friendster and MySpace. It helps me stay in touch with friends, allowed me to send my first electronic message to the woman who would become my girlfriend and it gives me a platform to disseminate certain of my blogs posts — about which I am sure all my friends are thrilled.
While I have gotten use to the mundane status updates and Tweets (and know I can be guilty of the same), the one thing I have not quite come to accept or tolerate is the “location update.” You know: “So-and-so just checked in to Amy’s Ice Cream, 1012 West 6th Street.” I am not sure how these apps work, and I don’t really understand their value, except to pimp the businesses being mentioned, giving them social currency. Outside of being somewhat obnoxious, it seems they would also give followers or friends a way to track (stalk) your every move. Do we really need that? Is it for people to play coy about wanting to be surrounded by others but not having the nerve to ask for their company? Has the Internet, which turned people into shut-in extroverts, now using mobile power to turn them into awkward public extroverts? Am I just a grumpy ol’ late adopter?
Whatever the case, I’m not so intolerant that I have de-friended (Facebook) or stopped following people (Twitter) the way some of my friends have. But I am growing close.
Well, if the techie soothsayers are right, there’s a possibility that I’m going to have a lot fewer friends or folks I am following. According to MG Siegler at TechCrunch, “location will be this year’s Twitter at SXSW.” Great.
From the post:
Based on what I’ve been hearing, basically at the major players in the location-based space have big things planned for this year’s SXSW. Foursquare hopes to have a new, completely overhauled version of its iPhone app ready for the event this year. They are also likely to have a huge batch of new badges for people to collect throughout the week. Meanwhile, Gowalla has a large event of its own, complete with special VIP access if you use the service throughout the conference. The SXSW conference is also highlighting the Austin-based Gowalla as a key tool on its own pages. A newer startup, Plancast (started by TechCrunch alum Mark Hendrickson ? think “Foursquare For The Future”), has already put together a helpful unofficial SXSW guide surrounding events during the conference (and actually events for those who aren’t attending too). They also hope to have their iPhone app ready in time for the conference.Meanwhile, both Twitter’s and SimpleGeo’s plans are still largely unknown at this point, but both are planning big things, we hear. Twitter could use the event to launch its ad platform, and CEO Evan Williams is giving the keynote on Monday.And then, of course, there is Facebook. While they’re sniffing around Loopt right now, could they use the conference to talk a bit more about their location plans?
Of course, for all my bluster, just as I reluctantly came to Twitter and Facebook years after their launch, I am sure I will end up eventually being sucked into this nonsense. But, I hope not. In fact, this is it. “I’m talking about drawing a line in the sand, Dude. Across this line, you I DO NOT.”
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5 Questions With ... Frank V. Ross, director of 'Audrey the Trainwreck'
Using a five-question format, we’re interviewing South by Southwest filmmakers about their movies before and during the festival, which runs March 12 through 20.
Here, we talk to Frank V. Ross, director of the feature “Audrey the Trainwreck,” an intimate portrayal of the ennui and frustration suffered by 30-somethings stuck in a rut on the path most traveled. (Composer John Medeski jumps in at the end, as well, for his thoughts on the film’s score.)
“Audrey the Trainwreck” screens at 12:00 PM on Monday, March 15 at the Alamo Ritz and again at 11:30 a.m. on March 17 at Alamo South Lamar.
Have you worked an office job similar to the one Ron works in the film?
Frank V. Ross: No, my friend did. I went to her office to record some sound and when noon struck she pulled a box of wheat thins from her desk drawer and waited for me to be done so she could go to lunch. I don’t know why I thought it was so funny, all she said to justify her squirrel-like behavior was “People eat’em.” That element of office jobs is the interesting part for me. The decision to make it an ATM parts business was simply because I’m pretty sure there won’t be ATMs in 20 years.
Do you think most people hate their jobs?
Slippery. There has to be times we hate them, times we notice and verbalize that this sh** is getting old. Fleeting moments of anger and hate should be cultivated, because in those moments, we’re capable of so much. I’ve worked jobs I hate for the better part of my life and can’t claim to understand all people, but I know I’m not the only one letting jet run up my butt.
How do you go about making the mundane interesting?
The mundane gets a bad rap. Ron gets a cup of coffee from the same place everyday. That’s taken from someone I know, and probably someone else that you know or even you. My friend gets a coffee from the gas station every morning and I was incredulous when I found out - “Every morning?” “Every morning for the past eight or nine years.” It felt so private, this part of his everyday life that I was so oblivious too. So much of the mundane is never spoken about out loud, it makes it interesting to capture it.
How do you choose the scenes you use to show day-to-day life and how stultifying it can be? And how do you avoid unauthentic moments?
Film language has its established way of showing repetition, routine, and the resulting internal rage. In Audrey, I tried to show it in the ellipses of each moment. More than aiming for ‘authentic’ as a goal, which would result in its own kind of fake, I try to strip away anything that feels typical, or put there because it has to be to solve narrative problems. The unauthentic is only allowed in when you play smarter than the audience.
One song into the film, I wrote in my notes “funky piano, Medeski-esque” … then come to see that it was, in fact, (jazz pianist) John Medeski. How did you come to work with John and can you talk about that process?
No one else sounds like that guy, right? He’s the best. I’m just a fan, he had seen my previous film and liked it. I think the way I wanted to go about scoring the movie appealed to him. Didn’t want him to write anything, we’d watch the clips, John would play what he felt and I would jump up and down clapping when I liked something. He honed everything into a piece that he could recreate but still play around with. It’s amazing to see someone with complete communication within themselves between their imagination and what they can create.
John Medeski: For me, the process was natural and very fast. We worked together as I recorded the music, which helped a lot. Frank had completely clear vague ideas about what he was looking for. Perfect for me. He would give a general description of the style of what he was feeling for the scene and i would try a few things until he said, ‘yes….yes………yes.’ We would throw down a couple of versions with some different options and move on to the next scene. Without getting into any musical terminology, Frank communicated what he was looking for in a way that i could really understand. It was fun. i hope he calls me again after he gets all famous.
Audrey the Trainwreck (first trailer) from David Lowery on Vimeo.
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February 25, 2010
Could Thom Yorke be coming to SXSW?
It was just announced that Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and Atoms For Peace, the band he formed to play “The Eraser” (and other) material, will be doing a mini-tour in the U.S. starting the first week of April. Naturally, the band won’t be coming to Austin. Hell, Yorke hasn’t been to Austin since 1995, when Radiohead played with R.E.M. and Natalie Merchant. Yea, it’s been awhile.
So, Thom … why not get to the states a little early to get over your jetlag and do some rehearsing with your band? You guys could rent out the Hotel St. Cecilia for weeks, grub on some vegan fare, get some sun for that pasty skin of yours, rejuvenate yourself in Barton Springs and make the Metallica surprise show of a year ago look like a drop-in by Bob Schneider at the Saxon.
Sure, this is a festival for unsigned bands (allegedly), and you need the exposure about as badly as (insert analogy here about something that doesn’t need something) blah blah blah … but, whatever.
Everyone is expecting Muse to show up at Stubb’s in the midst of their Texas dates and knock everyone’s socks off, so why not one-up them. Seriously, in the tweeted words of former SXSW Film guru Matt Dentler, “Muse is only popular because people wish Radiohead still made albums like ‘The Bends.’”
(For the record, I give this pie-in-the-sky booking about 1/100 odds. Or, as my buddy Tom said, there’s also a chance Johnny Cash and George Harrison are coming.)
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February 23, 2010
Jim Morrison is coming to SXSW
It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost two decades since Oliver Stone’s “The Doors” hit big screens and provided for an entire generation the portrait of boozed-up, womanizing, quasi-mystic.
Nineteen years later, director Tom DiCillo (who directed “Living in Oblivion” and served as director of photography on Jim Jarmusch’s “Coffee and Cigarettes”) brings to SXSW “When You’re Strange,” a documentary featuring previously unseen footage that shows another side of the Los Angeles-based band and its iconic frontman, Jim Morrison. If that’s not enough to make all the men who want to be him and the women who want to be with him swoon, the doc is narrated by Johnny Depp. (Does this mean we can expect Red River in 2011 to be littered with wannabe-Morrisons, dressed in leather pants, drunk on whiskey and openly reciting LSD-inspired poetry? Would that be an upgrade?)
Check out the trailer here. Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek says in an interview that this new documentary “will tell the real story of The Doors, unlike the Oliver Stone story of The Doors, which is sort of Oliver Stone in leather pants, as opposed to Jim Morrison.” Zing. Manzarek goes on to call Stone’s version, “a gross exaggeration … a cutting together of Jim’s drunken moments that show Jim as absurd, rebellious and wild.”
Check out Manzarek and Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger playing “Riders on the Storm” at the Gibson house at Sundance in 2009. If Manzarek and Krieger could head up to Utah to jam, I think it would only be right for them to jam in Austin.
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March 13, 2008
SXSW coverage
For complete SXSW coverage from our entire team, please check out the Austin Movie Blog and Austin Music Source on Austin360.com. Enjoy the fest.
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February 21, 2008
NPR to broadcast/webcast R.E.M. showcase at SXSW
Can’t afford a badge or don’t think your wristband will get you in to some of the big names at SXSW this year? Fret not. NPR will broadcast and webcast R.E.M.’s showcase at Stubb’s on March 12, along with performances from My Morning Jacket, Yo La Tengo and the Whigs, Shout Out Louds, Yeasayer, Vampire Weekend and more.
From NPR’s Web site:
NPR Music will webcast and broadcast three concert line-ups from the 2008 South by Southwest music festival on March 12 and 13. The concerts, featuring 15 bands, will be webcast live on npr.org/music and broadcast live on KUT, KEXP, The Current, WFUV, and WXPN. All concerts will be recorded and archived.
Check out the full line-up here.
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March 22, 2007
SXSW Conspiracy, Part Infinity
As I mentioned yesterday on my post about the hipster selling off bits of the Elks’ Lodge railing that collapsed during the VICE! party, there were a slew of parties that got shut down during SXSW. As with most SXSWs, rumors and speculation abound as to why the parties were canceled? Was it a vendetta by Louis Black? Did the city conspire to end the parties? Was it the work of the underground (and mythical?) Granola Mafia? Or did party promoters simply not understand the law? While many questions remain unanswered, Factory People (clothing boutique and regular party-thrower) owners Thomas and Le Popov sent an open letter to the media offering their take, replete with skepticism and once-bitten-twice-shy anger.
The letter from the Popovs appears below in its entirety:
“As life-long independent music lovers and long-time Austinites (at least one of has lived here since 1989), we have come to love mid-March when the SXSW Music Festival brings Austin to life. After the events of this year’s fest, it’s unlikely we’ll ever feel the same affection for SXSW. On Thursday, March 15th, an inspector of the City of Austin’s Fire Marshal’s Office shut down the FactoryPeople after-party within an hour of the doors opening. He held in his hand a list of 19 other events he would visit that night. Friday night saw a rumoured 26 parties targeted while Saturday saw even more confusion.
“We were ticketed for not obtaining a public assembly permit. As of late last year any gathering of more than 49 people (even on private property) requires a permit to be issued after a visit by a fire inspector. We have since learned that this ordinance was passed as a means of combating out of control frat parties. In applying this ordinance to parties during the SXSW music festival, the city cast a very wide net.
“In the three years that we have had our S. Congress retail store open, we have hosted numerous parties the largest during SXSW and ACL Fest. We have always gone out of our way to create a safe environment that is also law abiding. As such, we employ two off-duty APD officers to monitor such things as crowd control, noise levels, as well as to provide a level of service to our guests like flagging taxis at the end of the night (which we sometimes pay for if the guests have had too much to drink and can’t afford the fare). Two weeks before our most recent event, Officer Tankaksinanukij set up a time to visit us and discuss details. On the day of the event, two other officers stopped by get more information as well. We were never asked once if we were in possession of the public assembly permit. This new ordinance was news not only to us, but to the very professional and informed officers that we hired for our event. Would we have known about this new ordinance if we had been in communication with the Fire Department? We’re not so confident.
“Los Angeles based label-head and promoter Franki Chan made multiple trips to Austin organizing his official SXSW showcase and two after-parties. The fire inspector visited the site of one event numerous times last week and never discussed the ordinance nor did he ever request a copy of any permits (with full understanding of the large-scale event that was going to take place there). The night after our event was shut down, Franki’s party was too for the same reason - lack of permit.
“We might have been two of the biggest events to be shut down, but we weren’t the only ones. Parties in conference rooms, outdoor venues, established party spaces and downtown clubs were all affected. The Fire Inspector had direct orders to shut these parties down, not for safety issues, but for non-compliance to a mystery ordinance. Visitors from all over the world who descend upon Austin every year for the music festival were left wondering, what is going on?
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March 20, 2007
Everybody trying to profit on SXSW
I mentioned yesterday how the VICE! party got moved from Blue Genie over to the Elks’ Lodge. Apparently the rockin’ hipsters were a little more than that old building could handle. After Against Me!’s set, part of the balcony (that once offered a beautiful view of downtown Austin) collapsed, causing the party to shut down again.
Of course, anytime you have that many ‘brilliant’ hipsters in one spot, especially from NYC, someone is bound to get a wild enterprising hair. Today, we were alerted by a post on Gawker, that some kid from Brooklyn is actually selling pieces of the broken balcony on Ebay. Wow.
This blog (linked via Gawker) has a run-down of the throwdown. Obviously the poster is from New York or somewhere, as they described the Elks’ Lodge location as being “in a distant part of Austin.” Yea, pretty distant, it’s like a whopping 1.4 miles from 6th and Congress. I guess sitting in a car for the 5 mile drive from Blue Genie must seem like crossing 5 burroughs when you’re stuck in traffic and tripping off of 10 Red Bull and vodkas.
Image taken from the Ebay post.
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March 19, 2007
How we gonna kick it? Gonna kick it shutdown!
Well, another SXSW is in the books, but not without a little controversy. I received a harried text from a friend late Thursday night that the after-hours party at Factory People had been shut down. Rumor has it the party was actually just limited to 50 people, which, in effect, is a shutdown. More rumors had the Vice Party shutting down prematurely at Blue Genie and being forced to move over to the Elks’ Lodge. And yet more scuttlebutt had the I <3 Comix party being shut down due to a lack of permits. One promoter told me she had heard that the fire marshal had a list of parties that were going to be shut down. Nobody seems quite sure as to the origin of this directive or why this year’s unofficial late-night festivities appeared to be under much closer scrutiny than in year’s past, but there have been some unhappy campers grumbling about it online, most notably, in the comments section over at Austinist.
The whole ordeal should make for some interesting cat & mouse and red-taping hurdling come this time next year, or come ACL Fest, for that matter.
Party on, party people.
Were you at a party that got busted? Got a scoop?
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March 16, 2007
SXSW Day 2 Highlight: Andrew Bird
When I found out about a month ago that Andrew Bird would be playing SXSW, I was giddy. After being turned on to Mr. Bird’s work a couple of years ago, he has been a mainstay in my car and on my iPod. His multi-instrumental (whistling included) genius has brought me much delight, and after hearing a leaked copy of his forthcoming album last week, I was eagerly anticipating seeing him for the first time and hearing his new tunes played live. Although I would be working during his showcase Friday night, I knew I’d get a chance to see him. Thank you, day parties. And thank you, in particular, to The Onion for having him play their party Thursday at Emo’s.
Bird played a 45-minute set that mostly featured his new material. Bird’s delicate violin fingering, enchanting guitar loops, ethereal whistling and powerhouse voals combine to form a sound unmatched in today’s music. His sound reminds me of a college kid who took a trip to Europe with his guitar, decided to pop over to Tunisia and came back about 10 years later a changed man, bringing with him this surreal music.
Anyhoo…my mission for SXSW ’07 was to see Andrew Bird play. Mission: Accomplished. Check out my photos.
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March 15, 2007
SXSW Day 1 Recap
Check out my photo gallery from Day 1 at SXSW.
I got things started Wednesday with a stop at the Austinist day party at The Mohawk. Despite early rains, the crowd was at capacity when I arrived around 3 p.m.
When I arrived, the campy Apes & Androids were steadily bringing the rock (and the goofiness, with inflatable monsters whipping around near the stage). The singers were decked out in glam fashion that would have made Ziggy Stardust proud. The band lost a little of their tight sound as the set wore on, but the fans stayed with them throughout.
I then popped inside to check out The Hourly Radio from Dallas. You’d never know these boys were from just up the road on Interstate 35, as they displayed a layered atmospheric rock sound, one might have easily attribute to a British band. Architecture in Helsinki closed out the Austinist party with a rollicking set that had the packed house bopping around gleefully with their tunes that seem a marriage of Talking Heads and Rusted Root.
After meeting some out-of-town friends for a quick visit, I headed over to catch The Pipettes and The Rapture at La Zona Rosa. The Pipettes, dressed in polka-dotted dress, with lead singer in a platinum bob, are a British band that tends toward a campy doo-wop sound. Not really my cup of tea, but the large crowd seemed to enjoy the frivolity, and I was a little smitten with the gorgeous lead. Following the fluffy Pipettes, The Rapture took the stage and rocked out to an adoring crowd that was obviously very familiar with the catalogue of this band that featured a sound reminiscent of ’80s electro pop, although the end of their set skewed harder, heavier and louder.
The first six hours of Sx made me long for a brief respite from rock ‘n’ roll, so I headed to the serene sanctity of Central Presbyterian Church, where I was entreated to a beautiful set by the imminently crushable Rosie Thomas. I have enjoyed her music for years but had never had the honor of seeing her live. I was rather shocked to hear her speak in such a squeaky voice, punctuated with Lisa Simpson-esque laughter. Her quirky speaking voice belies a powerful and beautiful voice that would stop the grumpiest of Sx’ers dead in their tracks. The gregarious and inspiring singer reminded me of the cute, funny girl from your poetry 315 class in college who always has a clever remark and is primed for witty banter; then one day you walk into the local coffee shop and you hear the voice of an angel waft over you. You look up, and, “Oh my God! It’s her!” Sweet, smart, hilarious, self-effacing and obviously blessed and thankful to be able to perform live music for a living, Rosie Thomas was just what I needed in the midst of my first day of Sx onslaught.
I finished the night with a set from Merge artist The Broken West at Antone’s. The small liberal arts college crowd was out in full force for this power pop alt-country band. Obvious comparisons to Spoon and Uncle Tupelo obviously rush to mind when seeing these scruffy cats on stage, as well as some nods to bands as far back as The Byrds, but The Broken West really didn’t affect me much in the way those bands have. The lead singer’s voice lacked significant strength, and while the harmonies were nice, they seemed almost an after-thought, especially hidden behind the loud crescendo of strumming on which the band relied. The guitars and keyboards and drums would build on a sound, building anticipation to a nice release, but I was generally left wanting. Maybe it was just time to head home and re-group. So, I did.
This afternoon I hope to check out the following shows:
Peter, Bjorn and John at the Rhapsody party at The Mohawk
Andrew Bird at The Onion party at Emo’s
The Walkmen at the Found Magazine part at Bourbon Rocks.
Tonight:
8 p.m. - The Cinematics at Flamingo Cantina
9 p.m. - New Violators at Emo’s Jr.
10:30pm - Tom Brosseau at Central Presbyterian Church
11 p.m. - Fujiya and Miyagi at Karma Lounge
Midnight - Ghostland Observatory at La Zona Rosa
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March 14, 2007
SXSW Day 1: Let the Madness Begin
Wait, what was I talking about again? Oh yea, SXSW. I was down on Red River this morning helping friends set up for their day party. It is really something down there right now. Rental trucks and vans unloading gear before the streets shut down (from 4 p.m. today until 4 a.m. on Monday, Red River Street will be closed from Fifth Street to 10th Street, and Sixth Street will be closed from Brazos Street to Interstate 35). In a few short hours, downtown will be swarming with New Yorkers and Angelenos and Minnesotans looking to get their party on, and their network on.
I will venture into the madness soon. Here is my intended shcedule for Day 1 of SXSW. If you have any suggestions, by all means, let me know.
1-6 p.m.: Austinist’s Gonna Gonna Get, Get Down II with Architecture in Helsinki, Apes & Androids, Nicole Atkins and more.
(I might sneak over to UT to see a taping of Ghostland Observatory at KEXP’s special broadcast.)
8 p.m. - Future Clouds and Radar at Light Bar
10 p.m. - Rosie Thomas at Central Presbyterian Church
11 p.m. - The Postmarks at Blender Bar at the Ritz
Midnight - The Broken West at Antone’s
12:30 a.m. - Peter, Bjorn and John at La Zona Rosa
1 a.m. - Marc Broussard at The Parish
Photo of Kevin Durant by Deborah Cannon (Austin American-Statesman).
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March 12, 2007
On-the-scene with 'Black Sheep' director Jonathan King
Waiting for the start of “All the Boys Love Mandy Lane,” I had a chance to chat with Jonathan King, director of the horror/comedy “Black Sheep.”
The New Zealander was sitting next to me sipping a Dos Equis, and we discussed his cinematic influences and first appearance at SXSW.
“Black Sheep” tells the story of two brothers, one who has suffered from a paralyzing phobia of sheep returns home to find his brother performing genetic experiments on the ubiquitous New Zealand livestock. The experiment goes horribly awry, and the sheep develop a thirst for human blood. Can New Zealand survive?
In a land where sheep outnumber humans, they seemed the perfect subject for the director’s first feature.
“It’s what everyone knows about New Zealand; so I thought I’d capitalize on it,” King said.
The director confirmed my assumption that fellow New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson was one of the influences on his work and desire to be a filmmaker.
“I was interested in how he (Jackson) made “Bad Taste” and Raimi’s “Evil Dead.” It’s kind of the Robert Rodriquez principle. I wanted to learn how to do everything in case I needed it,” King said.
Living just down the road from Jackson gave King insight into the amount of work required of a successful filmmaker, and that actually becoming a success is attainable if you work hard.
“You can’t lie around saying, ‘I can’t do it — if only someone would give me a break, I’d be a star.’ Who does that happen to?”
“Black Sheep” screens at Midnight on Wednesday at the Alamo Downtown.
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'All the Boys Love Mandy Lane.' Me? Not so much
Following ‘The Ten’ Friday night, I scampered over to the Alamo South to catch ‘All the Boys Love Mandy Lane,’ the feature debut from director Jonathan Levine. Due to the fact that the film was shot in Bastrop, most of the cast and crew were on hand to make for a packed house.
The film was pretty basic teen-slasher fare with a nice plot twist thrown in at the end to make the otherwise boring film and its stock characters more palatable. In typical fashion of the genre, there was much boozing and pot smoking by the archetypal teen characters.
The film centers on the enigmatic Mandy Lane (Amber Head) and her relationship to this new set of friends into which she has fallen. Although angelically beautiful, all is not what it seems with Lane. As the kids head out to a ranch to spend an idyllic summer weekend, foul pay is afoot and people keep ending up dead. But who is behind the killings? The jaded loner smitten with Lane? The dashing ranch hand? Only time will tell. Sadly, by the time of the big reveal, I was left not caring too much one way or the other.
The highlight of my moviegoing experience was a nice little chat that I had with ‘Black Sheep’ director Jonathan King . That conversation appears in my next post.
Overall grade: C-
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March 10, 2007
SXSW capsule movie review: David Wain's 'The Ten'
I got into the swing of SXSW Film with two movies today. My first film of the festival was the absurd new comedy ‘The Ten’ from Stella and The State alum David Wain. Festival producer Matt Dentler explained in his introduction at the Paramount screening that while ”The Ten” may have been a midnight screening at Sundance this winter, it is the type of film that can play any time during SXSW - morning, noon or night.
As the film’s narrator Paul Rudd tells the audience from the outset, the movie is a series of 10 vignettes based on the Ten Commandments. From America’s fascination with idolizing celebrities as false idols, to a prison inmate coveting a fellow inmate’s ”wife,” the stories were not only completely absurd, but also very meta, with tongue-in-cheek irony and self-referential humor sprinkled throughout. Some of the bits achieved much better results than others. I particularly liked a scene in which a delusional Wynona Ryder falls in love with a ventriloquist’s dummy, and another sequence in which a 35 year-old virgin travels to Mexico and loses her virginity to Jesus. Yes, the Jesus. I also enjoyed seeing all of the members of The State, along with a slew of cameos that did not feel too gratuitous, although Jessica Alba’s appearance made me scratch my head.
In between the acts, Rudd’s narrator character engaged the audience with his own moral play, a device that helped break up the pieces nicely. While some of the bits lagged or missed their marks, the movie did not drag as a whole because of the use of the vignettes. Much like long-form improvisation or sketch comedy, if one bit seemed to fail slightly, you could take solace in the fact that another was right around the corner. A few elements and characters reappeared in each story, giving the movie as a whole a bit of a through line. The audience seemed delighted with the absurdist pastiche from the seasoned post-modern sketch comedy veteran.
I guess I will be trite and go ahead and give grades for the films I see this Fest; so, I’ll give ”The Ten” a B. It made me laugh; although there were a few times it just seemed to be trying a little too hard. I don’t know if it is because the wonderful and friendly ushers at the Paramount are all septuagenarians, but it is always freezing in that place. Like, you could hang meat cold, and I’ve had more leg space on a flight from Dallas to Abilene. Just sayin’.
Additional note: For all of you fans of The State, Wain said production of a DVD of the late great show is in the works.
Random celebrity sighting: members of OK Go, who apparently took in a matinee before opening for Snow Patrol tonight at Stubb’s.
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'Billy the Kid' World Premiere and After-party
SXSW is an amazing synergy of film, music, boozin’ and parties. In that vein, the folks at Eight Films/Isotopefilms, GrandLife & FeralCat Productions are throwing down to celebrate the world premiere of “Billy the Kid,” the touching documentary from director Jennifer Venditti.
Venditti found the subject of her documentary in her role as a casting agent. Her work as an agent had her traveling all over the world, “street scouting” real people for advertising, fashion, and film, enabling her to discover diverse talent otherwise ignored by traditional casting methods. When she came across Billy, she couldn’t resist chronicling the life of this 15-year-old in this coming of age piece.
Synopsis from SXSW.com: By turns humorous and disturbing, this subtle, verite portrait of an underdog challenges the viewer to understand a triumphant teen on his own terms.
Following the premiere of the film at 9 p.m. at the Austin Convention Center, head over to Factory People to celebrate Venditti’s cinematic accomplishment and the life of young Billy.
“Billy the Kid” will also screen at 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday the 13th and Saturday the 17th at the Alamo Downtown.
“Billy The Kid” World Premiere
Austin Convention Center
Sunday, March 11
9 p.m.
After-party
Factory People
Sunday, March 11
11 p.m. - 2 a.m.
