Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2009 > November > 30
Monday, November 30, 2009
‘Me and Orson Welles’ Austin red carpet with Zac Efron
Masses of Austinites, old and young, pressed forward under the Paramount Theatre marquee Monday night at the premiere of Richard Linklater’s new film, “Me and Orson Welles.”
One glance revealed why: post-teen idol Zac Efron walked the red carpet.
Efron, sporting a black leather jacket and a fitted T-shirt, spent most of his time signing autographs and charming cameras and fans with his mega-watt smile.
Co-star Christian McKay was more glib, joking: “I’m the only actor in the world who had to lose weight to play Orson Welles.”
Perfectionist director Linklater said the creative process was comparatively painless. “It only took three years from optioning the book to finishing production,” he said. “‘Scanner Darkly’ took six years.”
Proceeds from the premiere, hosted by the Austin Film Society, will benefit the Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund. “Orson Welles” opens nationwide on Dec. 11.
Photo by Larry Kolvoord. Reporting by St. Edward’s University entertainment journalism students. (I set them up, then headed to the Andy Roddick event
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Open Source Bar Guide: East Seventh Street
Austin’s nightlife changes from night to night. It’s tough keeping track of all those bars, clubs and restaurants where we all socialize. Help us update our annual bar guide through this series of open-sources lists by micro-district. Send updates to mbarnes@statesman.com. The guide will be published alongside interviews with bar regulars on Dec. 10. (Thanks to readers who have already helped!)
Beauty Bar. 617 E. Seventh St. 391-1943
Colors. 403 E. Seventh St. 482-9002
Creekside Lounge. 606 E. Seventh St. 480-5988
Driskill Bar & Grill. 604 Brazos St. 391-7162
Emerald City. 403 E. Seventh St. 482-9002
Firehouse Lounge. 605 Brazos St. 478-3473
Fuel. 607 Trinity St. 632-0568.
Lovejoy’s. 604 Neches St. 477-1268
Mike’s Pub. 108 E. Seventh St. 479-6424
MugShots. 407 E. Seventh St. 236-0008
Red 7. 611 E. Seventh St. 476-8100
Rusty Spurs. 405 E. Seventh St. 482-9002
Side Bar. 602 E. Seventh St. 322-0697
Stephen F’s Bar & Terrace. 701 Congress Ave. 457-8800
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Austin Celebrity Roundup: Robert Rodriguez, Sandra Bullock, Luke Wilson
Hungarian director Nimród Antal may prefer full sets and live action to CG animation, but he and Austin producer Robert Rodriguez (a CG fan) remain in sync on the Austin-shot “Predators.” “(Rodriguez) is involved in the screenplay and we’ve had a lot of conversations, and any big decisions I want to make, I always speak to him about,” Antal told Coming Soon. “But he’s been very gracious and he’s been letting me do my thing. He’s really let me perform and he’s let me dance, so again, I’m grateful to him for that.” While using Rodriguez’s local crew, Antal brought along director of photography Gyula Pados, who worked with him on “Kontroll.”
Now they are talking Oscar. That’s right, for Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side.” Say what you will, the Austin actress is proving box office gold this year. She landed “The Proposal” in part because she works cheaper that Julia Roberts, but it scored $164 million. Critically punished “All About Steve” only made $34 million, but “The Blind Side” has already grossed $100.3 million and is likely to top $200 million by the end of the year. That would mean Bullock’s films could reap almost $400 million for three fairly low-budget films.
Another Austin-linked name is enjoying a huge comeback. Frequent visitor and AT&T map pitchman Luke Wilson is involved in a “big-bucks marketing battle that’s already threatening to make the cola wars look like child’s play,” says industry follower Advertising Age. The combatants this war: Verizon Wireless and AT&T, the No. 1 and No. 2 U.S. wireless carriers. Wilson’s amiability has been drafted in the feud between the nation’s second-largest advertiser (Verizon’s marketing war chest is $3.7 billion) against the third largest (AT&T spent $3.1 billion last year).
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