March 2008

UT prof and filmmaker Spencer Parsons bangs out a bit of retrospective prose for Film in Focus on whether Austin is as cool as it used to be.

Move to Austin, and you're likely to hear from people that you just missed it. Upon arrival, I took the laments for what had just been snuffed out more seriously than I do now, not because I've discovered the complaint to be untrue or found peace with the ultimate franchising of America, but ironically because I now so often find myself telling newcomers the same thing. Austin was way better before this legendary club closed, or that dollar cinema with Bollywood Fridays lost its lease to CVS, and of course it was better before all the fucking condos. Not that there isn't much to be missed, but on the whole, the city's been good at holding onto its identity, and whenever I travel to other American cities, I find that, for instance, our Starbucks saturation appears to remain at a national low.

Read "The Once and Future Austin" at Film in Focus.

Billy Bob Thornton, photo by Kris Krug

As "curated" by the Flickr community. See the whole slideshow.

As predicted, the house ads for SXSW this year were in fact a return to the Burger Hut salad days of 2002. I loved the shorts even when I saw them on the last day of the festival. If you weren't there, you missed out ... or did you?

I kept hearing that the shorts had been posted on Facebook but I was too busy to check and anyway, Facebook isn't public so that didn't seem worth writing about. But Cinematical contributor Scott Weinberg has more energy than I do -- he found all five of the SXSW bumper ads on YouTube and embedded them into a single news story.

I'm not sure which of the shorts was my favorite -- "Dumblecore" had the best punch line, but I saw the "Glengarry Glen Ross" spoof the most and by the end, could happily recite the lines along with the cast. In fact, at the Young @ Heart screening on Saturday night, a bunch of us in the back started doing just that, until we were shushed by, of all people, Scott Weinberg. Being shushed by Weinberg, who is not exactly a shrinking violet, was so very startling that we all did in fact stop reciting (and considering that the audience for that particular film was probably not full of SXSW fest regulars, that was very considerate).

I've embedded the "Glengarry Glen Ross" short below in case you want to be able to recite along with it, too. This YouTube link takes you not only to all the SXSW 2007 ads, but also to the classic Burger Hut ads from 2002.

Film critic/film producer Elvis Mitchell (The Black List), screenwriter Josh Olson (A History of Violence), and author Harlan Ellison after the SXSW panel "A Conversation with Harlan Ellison" on Sunday. Ellison was signing a copy of his anthology Dreams with Sharp Teeth for Mitchell.

A documentary about Ellison, also called Dreams with Sharp Teeth, is screening at SXSW this week (and is very good if you're a fan of the author). I also enjoyed seeing The Black List, which Mitchell produced, in which he interviews a number of well-known African-American politicians, artists, and other leaders.

I plan to write more about the panel with Ellison later; it was certainly memorable.

It was Saturday night and I was at Austin Convention Center, looking for an empty table where I could sit down and maybe do a bit of work (hah) before catching the documentary about Harlan Ellison, Dreams with Sharp Teeth. I finally found an empty spot in a corner, where I could also see the line for the film so I could pack up and duck in if it got too long. I sat down and started to unpack my laptop.

I looked up and realized that I recognized one of the guys at the table next to me, the only person at the table facing me. It was Kent Osborne, and if you've seen any films at SXSW this year, you've seen him in the Burger Hut house ads. I remembered meeting him briefly at SXSW 2007 when he was here as part of the Hannah Takes the Stairs cast. I thought it would be cool to get a random snapshot of him at the convention center. So I walked up, introduced myself, and asked if I could take some photos.

I looked at his friends and suddenly this bearded guy next to him is greeting me warmly: "Jette! How ya doin." I realize that under the beard, it's filmmaker Mark Duplass, whom I interviewed via e-mail a week or so ago. The woman next to him is Lynn Shelton, whose film My Effortless Brilliance is screening at SXSW this year, and whom I'd corresponded with a bit through e-mail last month. And the guy on the other side of Kent is Ross Partridge, whom I didn't know at all but would end up seeing as one of the main characters in Baghead the next night. It was like a little mumblecore (or is that Dumbledore?) gang right there next to me, and here's a photo to remember it by. So the moral is not to be afraid to just walk up fearlessly to people and ask to take their picture, because you never know who you might end up seeing (or shooting).

I'm at the Hideout and I have 10 minutes before I have to head to the Paramount. What can I tell you so far about what I've seen? Let's find out.

Bama Girl: A funny and sweet look at an African-American candidate for Homecoming Queen at the University of Alabama. How many documentaries have you attended where the filmmakers pass out tiaras for everyone? It's playing again later this week, so if you're here for SXSW you should check this one out.

The Order of Myths: Another movie set in Alabama, this time in Mobile, which has the oldest Mardi Gras tradition in America. Their Mardi Gras is even more segregated than in New Orleans, and this doc examines the racial issues behind the celebrations and balls. This movie was made by Austin filmmaker Margaret Brown, and it's playing again too. Warning: It will make you crave Moon Pies.

Baghead: Not set in Alabama at all (it was shot in Texas but is set in Southern California). This movie is totally not what I expected -- its direction took me totally by surprise. I liked it very much, and although it's not playing SXSW again, Sony Pictures Classics should be releasing it later this year.

Dreams with Sharp Teeth: A documentary about Harlan Ellison. Mr. Ellison was in attendance, and I also saw him at a panel the next day. I liked the doc but I'm not sure how interesting it would be to non-fans of the author. I think it's playing again later this week; if you're an Ellison fan it's worth seeing.

I also saw The Black List and Crawford and some other stuff and damn, I'm out of time. More later, including tons of photos.

Roger Tinch, Art & Online Director of Cinevegas, gets comfy on a couch at the Driskill Bar.

I'll write more about the Texas Film Hall of Fame awards ceremony later, and my baptism by fire into the world of professional photography. But I'm short on time this morning -- gotta get to the Paramount -- so I'll whet your appetite with one of my favorite photos from last night. Somehow, Morgan Fairchild ended up on the red carpet at the same time as ZZ Top, and they all gathered together happily for group shots. I worried my lens wasn't wide-angle enough, but I just managed to get everyone in the photo. Woo-hoo! Now let SXSW begin.

One of the more entertaining aspects of registering at SxSW is the chance to see filmmakers and entrepreneurs promote their movies and products in clever ways. For the premiere of her university homecoming doc 'Bama Girl, director Rachel Goslins positioned spokesmodel Carolee Gee (above) at the Convention Center dressed as a homecoming queen. Needless to say the flyers for her film disappeared in a hurry.

Bama Girl premieres Monday, March 10th at the Alamo Ritz at 1:30 p.m. and plays again on Tuesday and Thursday. Check out the entry on SxSW's site here.

If you're a filmmaker who is bringing a movie to South by Southwest (or any festival) this year, you really ought to read Film Festival Secrets, the website run by frequent Slackerwood contributor Chris Holland. Over the past week, Chris has posted a three-part series of helpful hints that are especially geared toward SXSW.

• Part One focuses on last-minute preparation, and although I'm not a filmmaker I wish I'd read it earlier, because I completely forgot that I wanted a new set of business cards. (And I saw a really snazzy Moo card for Tulia, Texas this week that made me envious.)
• Part Two offers good advice on improving your film's website, which I personally cannot agree with enough. It drives me crazy when I want to write about your film and I can't find any info or stills online. So then I pick another movie's stills to use instead. Get the hint?
• Part Three tells you what to do before you leave for Austin, so go read it right now, before you get on the plane or in the car. Go! Now! He also links to some good guides to local restaurants, which I found helpful myself because I don't eat in that part of downtown very often.

Chris is also planning a Part Four, so keep an eye on his site this week.