October 2007

­I don't like the LED screen that the Arbor uses as its main marquee, which is visible from Hwy 183. However, the Arbor has a second marquee, the old-fashioned kind, on the side of the building that faces Jollyville Road. Last week, whoever put together the marquee obviously had a sense of humor -- and was able to get away with it, too.

I think "Shadow of the Jane Austen Universe" would make a great science-fiction film.

It's a big night at the Paramount, of course, with Sidney Lumet's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead and Grace is Gone lighting up the big screen at the Bullock, but it's also your last chance to see a couple of the really great films that may not be coming to your local cineplex soon. Heck, you could spend the whole night at the Dobie and be supremely entertained:

America Unchained - in this amusing doc, a British gent decides to try driving a 1970 Torino station wagon from L.A. to New York without eating, sleeping, or tanking up at a chain restaurant/hotel/gas station. It's this last that becomes really difficult. A great audience flick. 6:00 p.m., Dobie.

First Saturday in May - There's a lot of buzz around this documentary about the Kentucky Derby, and rightfully so: it speaks from an insider's perspective and keeps things interesting by never letting the story rest for long. Even if horses aren't your thing, any sort of sports enthusiast should check this out. 7:45 p.m., Dobie.

Blood Car - In the very near future, gas is up to $30 and an enterprising young vegan inadvertently invents an engine that runs on blood. If you're thinking Roger Corman blood and guts and unpleasantness, you're half right -- it's all played for laughs, and rather successfully. If you're any kind of comedy or horror enthusiast, this is a can't-miss. 9:30 p.m., Dobie.

Tickets are $8 at the door. Visit austinfilmfestival.com for more information.

The official word from Tim League has been posted to the Alamo Drafthouse blog: the new Alamo at the Ritz theater will have its grand opening on Thursday, November 1. The evening's lineup is similar in structure to the Alamo Downtown closing night earlier this year: a triple-feature possibility with a big movie feast as the first event and a bizarre midnight movie in store.

The food-and-film event is an all-mushroom feast served around the movie Matango (aka Attack of the Mushroom People). I love mushrooms, but they scare my husband a little, so I'm not sure I'll be there for that one. (To be fair, he tells people that mayonnaise scares me. It's one of those weird relationship things.) The second film is a sneak of the Coen brothers' upcoming film No Country for Old Men, which I've been looking forward to seeing. And the midnight movie will be the first Terror Thursday film at the Alamo Ritz, but the movie itself is still a surprise. The Alamo blog entry says that "it will jump start this signature series with an 80,000 volt electric shock," so you might be able to venture some guesses from that hint.

Tickets will be on sale starting at 5 pm on Sunday, Oct. 21 at the Ritz, and any remaining tickets will be available at 6 pm online at the Alamo site. No word yet on prices, which are supposed to be announced by Friday.

I was at a party Friday night where somehow I ended up trying to explain what "mumblecore" is (and failing, I suspect) and someone said, "I remember liking this film I saw at Village a few years ago, what was it, Pillow?"

"Dear Pillow," I guessed.

"Yes, what happened to that, is it on DVD?"

"I don't think so," I said. "Too bad, I liked it a lot."

Less than 24 hours after that conversation, Dear Pillow producer Jacob Vaughn posted to his blog, e-Jake, that Dear Pillow will be out on DVD on November 13. How's that for coincidence?

Dear Pillow, which was made in Austin by writer-director Bryan Poyser and producer Vaughan, premiered at Slamdance in 2004, then pla­yed SXSW and a number of other festivals. The filmmakers were nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in the "Someone to Watch" category.

The film sadly never found theatrical distribution (the sexual subject matter might have been a difficult sell), but in the fall of 2004, Alamo Village showed it nightly for about a month, where it built on word-of-mouth.  I remember that my husband and I went to see the film at the end of its run, having to push ourselves because we are not usually 10 pm moviegoers, even though we live around the block from Alamo Village. We were seeing it on the urging of friends (and John Pierson's persuasive article about the film for the Austin Chronicle) and weren't sure what to expect, but the film totally blew me away. I reviewed it later for Celluloid Eyes. [More after the jump.]

"Best bet" articles about film festivals always seem like such a raw deal -- sure, you're hearing about the big splashy films, but what about the undiscovered gems that will fill only half the theater? They deserve better. So here in chronological order are some of my picks for films that deserve your attention more than the big studio previews playing at the Paramount. (You'll be able to see those movies in a few months at the multiplex anyway, right?)

If human interest stories are your thing, turn your attention to Owl and the Sparrow tonight at 7, part of the Viet Film Wave series. If historical biopix are more your thing, check out Neal Cassady, which traces the life of Cassady "as he goes from his trip with Jack Kerouac on the road to literary stardom, a friendship with Ken Kesey and membership in the Merry Pranksters, toward a downward spiral into drugs and self loathing."

Need something with a little more oomph? Check out Bloody Aria at the Dobie (kind of a Korean Wrong Turn but with a decent screenplay) or the more uplifting The Go-Getter at the Bob Bullock. Ah, Zooey Deschanel ....

If you're in a documentary kind of mood, check out local filmmaker Anne Lewis' film Morristown, which examines the plight of migrant workers in a global economy.

Night owls should check out the Troma-esque Street Team Massacre at the Hideout.

All shows are $8 at the door or buy your film pass ($35 for unlimited films!) or badge at the Driskill Hotel.

Austin Film Festival's "Film and Food" event is, quite frankly, one of the best parties of the year. It starts in just a few hours but you can pick up tickets at the door (it's in the Driskill Hotel) and besides having awesome food from a variety of Austin restaurants and an open bar, the proceeds benefit a great film-related cause.

Read more about Film and Food here.

On Thursday the 2007 edition of the Austin Film Festival takes over the Driskill Hotel, the Paramount Theatre, and various other venues around town. Even if you're the kind of cinephile who balks at downtown parking or just driving in general, there's no excuse for missing the screenings near you. Whether you find yourself the converted ballroom upstairs at the Stephen F. Austin Hotel, the Regal Arbor, or the Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek, there are great films to be seen. Here's the first installment of a few AFF previews coming your way at Slackerwood.

American Fork

Only in independent film could a picture like American Fork get made. What studio executive in his right mind would greenlight a movie that plays a three-hundred pound protagonist for his sensitivity instead of broad laughs? A handful of indie favorites (Bruce McGill, Kahtleen Quinlan) and unlikely character players (including the unexpectedly wonderful William Baldwin, who also shows up at AFF 2007 in A Plumm Summer) populate a strong story supported by deft cinematography and a lively score.

If American Fork feels like a kinder, gentler Napoleon Dynamite, there's a reason -- they share a number of crew members, including producer/editor Jeremy Coon. The two films also share a certain quirkiness and a sense of tragic comedy, but I think American Fork may lose some Napoleon Dynamite fans for its refusal to camp things up. It will certainly win admirers for its sympathetic presentation of its main character, Tracy Orbison (Hubbel Palmer, who also wrote the screenplay) and on the whole I think American Fork is a better movie.

But while Fork offers a more complete story and a set of wholly believeable characters, it won't gain a cult status quite like Dynamite's. A lot of the fun in Napoleon Dynamite comes from its extreme turns between the cruel and carefree. Fork walks a more moderate road. The picture wallows in the mundane to great effect and occasionally delivers a heartbreaking bit of dialogue, but keeps its feet stubbornly on the ground where other films might veer off into fantasy.

The comparison to the earlier film is easy and natural, but a bit unfair: American Fork has more serious things to say, greater depths to plumb. It stands tall -- and wide -- on its own. American Fork is an easy festival favorite.

American Fork plays Saturday afternoon at the Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek and Monday evening at the Bob Bullock History Museum.

Zombie lovers take note: The Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek presents Dismember the Alamo on October 23 - 25th with evening screenings of zombie flicks both new and old. The lineup so far: Pathogen (with writer/director Emily Hagins in attendance), Re-Animator, blackspoitation "classic" Sugar Hill, Peter Jackson's Dead Alive, Fido, Return of the Living Dead, and a selection of zombie shorts that will be screened free to a first-come, first-serve crowd.

That's quite a varied lineup, even for a bunch of zombie movies. ­Fido, though flawed, has some intriguing imagery and manages to make a zombie character sympathetic, while Sugar Hill should just be a hoot. (And when was the last time you think that one played on a big screen in Austin?) The Lake Creek branch of the Alamo has really been trying to step up its game, programming-wise, and this is the best move they've made so far.

(Well, that and providing a screen to the Austin Film Festival for some up-North screenings during the fest. It's worth mentioning that next week Lake Creek will host a number of genre-interest titles from AFF like Trail of the Screaming Forehead and The Zombie Diaries, as well as some other great indie fare like American Fork and Judy Toll: The Funniest Woman You've Never Heard Of.)

All screenings at Dismember the Alamo are $5 each (except for that free shorts program). See the Dismember the Alamo web site for screening times and more information.