So many movies. So little time to get from the Arbor to a parking spot near the Paramount. How's a film buff to plan a SXSW schedule?

Those who don't need to be the first on their block to see something can free up time by skipping titles slated to open theatrically: Stephen Chow's "Kung-Fu Hustle," which uses computer effects to bring "Looney Tunes"-style wackiness to a martial arts parody; "Palindromes," the latest from "Happiness" director Todd Solondz; and "Old Boy," a mind-bending, hyper-violent revenge story that might finally get South Korean cinema on the map around here.

This year's obvious high point is the "24 Beats Per Second" section, particularly Margaret Brown's beautiful new Townes Van Zandt documentary, "Be Here to Love Me." Watch these pages for a preview Sunday.

A few other titles leap out from the pack; some we've previewed already, some simply sound like must-sees:

"The Wendell Baker Story": Will it be "Bottle Rocket" or "The Big Bounce"? Who knows — but that Wilson brothers charm goes a long way, it was shot around here and it's the festival's opening-night premiere. Our sisters would never respect us if we didn't go. (9 p.m. March 11, Paramount)

"Reel Paradise": Independent film legend John Pierson takes his family to Fiji for a year, where they run a free movie theater. Culture-clash hijinks ensue, which are engrossing even if you can't identify with Pierson's need to run the "most remote movie theater in the world." (6 p.m. March 14, Paramount; 4 p.m. March 19, Alamo Downtown)

"Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room": It wouldn't feel right if SXSW didn't take at least one opportunity to let the world scorn something from Texas. This year, it's only tangentially related to the White House. (6:30 p.m. March 12, Paramount)

"Layer Cake": Directed by Guy Ritchie's producer Matthew Vaughn, this British crime flick is refreshingly free of the hyperactivity that "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" unleashed. Looking instead to '70s-vintage English cinema, it centers on a guy who'd love to get out of the racket, if only he didn't have this truck full of Ecstasy to unload. (9:30 p.m. March 13, Arbor)

"Unleashed": We used to have such high hopes for Jet Li's career in English-language films. This is a premise just out-there enough to merit one last chance: Li plays a killer who has been raised as Bob Hoskins' pit bull, only to get a shot at freedom via Morgan Freeman. (Midnight, March 12, Alamo Downtown)

"Cowboy Del Amor": Back to what festivals do so well — quirky documentaries. "Cowboy" stars a matchmaker whose clients are gringos who pay the "Cowboy Cupid" to find Mexican women to marry them. (7 p.m. March 12, 4 p.m. March 15 and 2 p.m. March 17, Austin Convention Center)

"Murderball": Fresh from Sundance, this film introduces viewers to a rugby variant played by quadriplegic athletes in chariotlike wheelchairs. Just the thing, perhaps, for activists upset at some recent films they feel suggest that life after a spinal injury isn't worth living. (9 p.m. March 14, Paramount; 9:30 p.m. March 17, Alamo Downtown)

"The Boys of Baraka": How do you help kids from a rough Baltimore neighborhood escape the ghetto? Send them to Kenya for a new perspective. In this doc, 20 boys are sent to an experimental boarding school. (1:30 p.m. March 14, 11 a.m. March 15 and 7 p.m. March 18, Austin Convention Center)