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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2009 > October > 21
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Austin’s acting A-list stars in ‘Holy Hell’
Need money for your community church to survive? Why not make a horror film? The film industry is, after all, where the big bucks are, right?
That’s the hairbrained plan hatched by congregants of the money-challenged Church on Peachtree in “Holy Hell,” the quirky satire by Austinites Rafael Antonio Ruiz and Lowell Bartholomee getting its Austin premiere as part of the Austin Film Festival.
However, when a reactionary Christian organization — Fight4Right — gets wind of the Peachtree project, production on the horror flick is besieged with protests while the mild-mannered yet sincerely devout congregants, led by the noble if naïve Pastor Lane (Ken Edwards) and tense, angry Deacon Pardo (Kenneth Wayne Bradley) are subjected to a negative media blitz.
Isn’t honest faith and a desire to lead a faith-filled life enough these days? Apparently, not for the Church on Peachtree.
The negative news siege culminates when Pastor Lane is ripped to shreds on a talk show by British author and vociferous atheist Christopher Hitchens, (A close friend of the film’s executive producer, Jeff Scheftel, Hitchens actually wrote his own lines for debate.)
All kinds of sacred cows are skewered by Ruiz and Bartholomee in “Holy Hell” - the bizarre contradictions of organized religion, the absurdities of the film industry and the conflict-hungry, spectacle-obsessed media.
If “Holy Hell” is a little rough around the edges when it comes to production values (well, it was made for considerably less than $100,000, producers report), the literally dozens of A-list Austin actors unleash their considerable talents to great affect (Austin theater aficiandos will have fun actor-spotting; Austin residents will recognize local spots where the movie was shot).
Nuanced performances — even in the smaller roles — bring both a smart panache and a sweet sincerity to the over-the-top plot in a script that is nicely written by Ruiz and Bartholomee.
‘Holy Hell’
Written by Rafael Antonio Ruiz and Lowell Bartholomee. Directed by Rafael Antonio Ruiz.
USA: 97 minutes
Screenings: 7 p.m. Oct. 22 and Oct. 28. Rollins Theatre, Long Center, 701 W. Riverside Dr.
Image: Kenneth Wayne Bradley stars in “Holy Hell.”
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Damian Priour’s first 30 years of sculpture
A fifth-generation Texan, artist Damian Priour has always looked to the landscape of the Texas Gulf Coast for inspiration. His palette? Fossilized limestone and blue and green glass from which, over three decades, he’s crafted abstract sculpture both monumental and miniature.
‘Water Sparks,’ the current retrospective at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum, features 50 of Priour’s sculptures, both indoor and outdoor pieces, ranging from maquettes for his monumental architectural work to smaller ‘Primitive Pets’ and ‘Rusted Bolt’ series to several of the miniature chairs that were a part of his recent ‘Texas Chair Project’ which was on exhibit at the Austin Museum of Art.
‘WaterSparks’ was organized by Galveston Art Center curator Clint Willour and scheduled to open in Galveston this fall until — perhaps in a bit of odd Texas Gulf Coast fate — Hurricane Ike last year forced the Art Center to close for repairs. The exhibit will finally travel to Galveston in January. Until then, we have it here in Austin.
Priour gives a talk about his work Thursday night at 6:30 p.m.
‘Water Sparks: The First 30 Years of Sculpture; A Damian Priour Retrospective.’
6:30. p.m. Thursday
Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum, 605 Robert E. Lee Road
www.umlaufsculpture.org
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