June 2009

It's Monday morning and time to wake up, smell the coffee, and find out what's going on in Austin film right now. Here's what I've got so far:

• Fantastic Fest and website HorrorSquad are co-hosting a special screening of the horror thriller The Collector on July 22. Writer/director Marcus Dunstan and co-writer Patrick Melton will be in attendance. Click the link above to find out how to RSVP if you have a Fantastic Fest badge. If you haven't heard of The Collector, the movie toured the fest circuit under the title Midnight Man. [Full disclosure: I write for HorrorSquad's sister site, Cinematical.]
• Speaking of Fantastic Fest, a preview of the poster and t-shirt art is now available on the Mondo Tees blog for you to admire. "Yes, but when do we find out what's actually playing at Fantastic Fest this year?" The first batch of fest films will be announced on July 13.
• Decider Austin (the local online Onion site) has a fun interview with Austin Film Festival programming director Kelly Williams called "How not to enter the Austin Film Festival." Don't forget that the deadline for AFF film submissions is this Friday, July 3.

Last year, I compiled a list of Austin film-related organizations and film geeks who had Twitter accounts, which turned out to be very popular. I realized last week that the old list is out of date; many new people and groups have started using Twitter to share news and chat. A lot of those tweets are about Austin film.

As a result, I've created a page on Slackerwood to keep track of all the Austin film-related Twitter accounts, whether they're individuals who talk about lots of other things too, or news feeds. Check it out. You'll find a permanent link to the page in the left sidebar. If you think of someone I've missed, just let me know and I'll update the page.

The interactive site Twitter has become very popular these days. Omar Gallaga has a good article about it here, if you're unfamiliar with it. Lots of Austin film groups, festivals and online publications are sharing interesting bits of info via Twitter.

Here's a list of Twitter accounts that you can follow if you want to keep up with Austin film news and events and gossip. I'm only including publicly accessible accounts, not the private ones. If I missed anyone, please let me know.

Theaters, Groups and Fests

These Twitter feeds tend to be limited to links about upcoming Austin film and entertainment events -- not a lot of chatter, but solid news.

• afs1985 -- Austin Film Society
• alamolakecreek -- Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek
• alamovillage -- Alamo Drafthouse Village
• aaaff -- Austin Asian American Film Festival
• AustinCine -- Updates on programming/schedules for Austin Cinematheque.
• austinfilmfest -- Austin Film Festival
• cinelasamericas -- Cine Las Americas film festival
• drafthouse -- Alamo Drafthouse (League-owned)
• fantasticfest -- I think the Fantastic Fest and Alamo Drafthouse tweets are cross-posted to both accounts, but I'm following both just in case.
• ransomcenter -- The Harry Ransom Center posts info about all their upcoming events, including screenings and film-related exhibits.
• screendoorfilm -- News from the Screen Door Film programmers.
• sxsw -- Covers all aspects of the SXSW conference, including Film, Interactive, and Music.

Media and Websites

These Twitter feeds tend to focus primarily on links to film news, and sometimes other news as well, although some also will interact with other users.

• austin360 movies -- The writers for Austin Movie Blog, the film blog of Austin360/the Austin American-Statesman, tweet about a variety of Austin film goings-on.
• AustinChronicle -- General news from the Austin Chronicle.
• austinfilm -- Austin Film News, which posts links to news from a variety of sites.
• AustinistFilm -- Film news from Austinist.
• cinemaisdope -- Updates on the Cinema is Dope image-based website, run by Fantastic Fest programmer Blake Ethridge.
• spillcrew -- Austin-based film site Spill.com
• txmpa -- Twitter feed for the Texas Motion Picture Alliance.

Austin Film Geeks

These Twitter users may be film geeks, but tend to chat about a variety of topics. Most of us are friendly, so don't be shy to say hello.

• Aavarnum -- Austin Film Society communications manager Agnes Varnum, who also runs the blog Doc It Out.
• Accordion27 -- Local film geek Max Pozderac.
• annevid -- Writer/videographer Anne Heller, who runs the blog Exploitation Cine Digest.
• AustinCinephile -- The bloggers at Austin Cinephile.
• austinkleon -- Local illustrator Austin Kleon, who does some pretty cool sketches of film-related events.
• belfour1 -- Local film producer and movie lover Tiffany Sullivan.
• BTSjunkie -- Austin movie geek Brian Kelley. Bonus points if you know what the "BTS" stands for.
• cDab -- Austin film critic Cole Dabney.
• claudasaur -- Claudette Godfrey, SXSW Film Festival Coordinator.
• cyrusfromspill -- The name says it all: Cyrus from the film site Spill.
• donswaynos -- Local filmmaker/editor Don Swaynos.
• flabbyironman -- Film geek and graphic designer Brian Behm.
• domeister -- Local movie screening rep Hai Do, who sometimes posts info on free preview screening passes.
• gholson -- Local illustrator and Cinematical/Sci-Fi Squad contributor John Gholson.
• hyams -- B-Side Entertainment founder Chris Hyams.
• JanetPierson -- Janet Pierson, who's in charge of SXSW Film Festival.
• jmerriman -- Austin Film Festival programmer John Merriman. One of the most consistently funny Twitterers I know.
• jomoconnell -- Author and entertainment writer Joe O'Connell, who always has the latest film/TV production news from central Texas.
• jneece -- Jarod Neece of SXSW Film Festival and Taco Journalism.
• katcandler -- Austin filmmaker/film instructor Kat Candler.
• Kelly Williams -- Kelly Williams, Film Program Director of Austin Film Festival.
• larsalamo -- Lars Nilsen, Weird Wednesday programmer for Alamo Drafthouse.
• massawyrm -- Ain't It Cool/Spill contributor Massawyrm.
• moiseschiu -- Hollywood Elsewhere contributor Moises Chiullan.
• oh_steph -- Stephanie from Austinist.
• Paul_Gandersman -- Filmmaker/photographer Paul Gandersman.
• PeterSHall -- Peter Hall, new to Austin, contributor to Cinematical/Horror Squad.
• rejects -- Film School Rejects editor Neil Miller, now residing in Austin.
• RebFef -- SXSW Film Festival publicist Rebecca Feferman.
• Robogeek -- Austin producer Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, now the Central Texas rep for TXMPA.
• rodneydp -- Rodney Perkins, who writes for Twitch.
• timalamo -- Tim League, co-founder of the original Alamo Drafthouse theaters.
• timbasham -- Tim Basham, local contributor to Paste magazine.
• victorochodiaz -- News 8 Austin reporter Victor Diaz, who covers local film-related news and events.
• zackalamo -- Alamo Drafthouse programmer Zack Carlson, who wishes the world still ran on VHS.

Slackerwood Contributors

Because we're just shameless that way.

• slackerwood -- All of us at Slackerwood take turns posting news, links and miscellaneous commentary here.
• chipr -- Chip Rosenthal (profile)
• Jenn_Brown -- Jenn Brown (profile)
• jettek -- Jette Kernion (profile)
• snax -- Debbie Cerda (profile)
• stomptokyo -- Chris Holland (profile)

The Austin-based creators of a short documentary film about children with dyslexia were honored at this year's Barbara Jordan Media Awards, held on June 12 in the new (still under construction) Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Changing Children's Lives director/co-producer Steve Mims, co-producer Patrick Peyton, and Alice Marsel, Director of Education at the Scottish Rite Learning Center, were honored as the "Special Contribution" award winners for 2008. The film was shot in Austin, and you can view a clip here. The short documentary reflects the experience of young children dealing with variations of dyslexia and the conditions of this learning disability.

After the jump, read more about the Barbara Jordan Media Awards, from the Office of the Governor's website:

The movie Transformers: The Rise of the Fallen opens on Wednesday and not surprisingly, the advance screening Monday night was very popular with press and public who were lucky enough to attend. Summer blockbuster screenings are usually pretty crazy to begin with -- they give away many more "standby" passes than theaters can accommodate -- and this one was no exception. The studio rep had to give out wristbands to manage the chaos and reduce line jumping. The next day, the PR company sent a stern reminder to local press about screening/RSVP guidelines.

But what stood out for me, as a veteran of preview screenings, was the mob mentality at its worst. At some screenings, especially when radio stations (co)sponsor the event, there are promotional giveaways. A lot of wily people attend these screenings, and they can be aggressive about getting the goodies. It's problematic to the point that the sponsors try to be equally wily in finding ways to distribute the booty without causing pandemonium. [Ed. Note: Jette recommends you see Jenn Garrison's locally shot doc Prizewhores for a good example of this mentality.]

You probably already know about the Paramount's Summer Film Series. Maybe you rushed over there to catch Breakfast at Tiffany's (bleah) or The Awful Truth (woo-hoo). However, you might not be aware -- I wasn't -- that the Paramount also has planned special events around some of the movies they're showing.

For example, Singin' in the Rain and An American in Paris are double-billed at the theater this weekend. Between the two screenings on Saturday, the Paramount will host live "vaudeville-style performances" from Schave and Reilly.

And next Friday, June 26, the theater is hosting a The Big Lebowski-themed downtown scavenger hunt before showing the movie as a double-feature with Fargo. You can buy a ticket through the Paramount website that gets you into the scavenger hunt and both movies, as well as a free soda and popcorn.

Unfortunately, the Paramount website doesn't seem to have a separate section where all the film-related special events are listed. The event info is included with the descriptions for the appropriate films on the website ... or you can sift through the printed/PDF full calendar. To make it easier to find out about these little extras, we'll post an update at the end of this month that lists the special events for July, such as an egg-eating contest before Cool Hand Luke.

[Photo credit: "The State and the Paramount" by Jette Kernion]

An Austin-based filmmaker has made it to the semifinals of the Netflix Find Your Voice film competition sponsored by Netflix and Film Independent.

Robbie Pickering is eligible to win $350,000 to make his feature film Natural Selection. If he wins, Pickering is hoping to shoot the movie in Texas. The premise is that a barren housewife discovers her husband has been making deposits at a sperm bank for nearly 25 years. If that doesn't sound like an Austin sort of weird, I don't know what would.

For more information about Pickering and the competition, and to watch a clip from his film, go to the Netflix Find Your Voice website. You can vote for him there.

Writing about Weird Wednesday last week, especially Richard Rush's film Psych-Out, made me think about the time Rush was in town for some special screenings of his films at Alamo Drafthouse. This was in August 2006 at the old theater on Colorado. I brought my old camera that night and the photos are terribly grainy, but I still like them. At the time, I started to write about the evening, but never got it done (a placeholder was notoriously in the Slackerwood queue for about two years).

On Saturday, the Splash Party Movie Nights return to Deep Eddy Pool, just in time to cool off from the triple-digit temps predicted for this week.

The series runs every Saturday excluding Independence Day through the first weekend in August, starting at dusk. You can chill in the spring-fed pool, picnic on the lawn, and buy snacks from the refreshment stand.

The lineup includes six family-friendly movies:

• The Tale of Despereaux: June 20
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (the only PG-13 film): June 27
• Madagascar 2: July 11
• Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3-D: July 18
• Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: July 25
• Kung Fu Panda: August 1

You might note that some of these same titles are playing at other kid-friendly summer film series around town, and Willy Wonka is also featured at a special rooftop screening at Whole Foods on Friday. So you have options when it comes to venues. In this heat, having the water to cool off in while getting your film geek on seems like a good option.

The movie nights are covered under the regular pool entrance fee, which varies from $1-3 and does not include parking fees. Call 472-8546 for more information.

[Photo credit: "Deep Eddy" by Portal and Friends. Found on Flickr, used under Creative Commons license.]

It's Monday morning and we've got your hot exciting local film-related news for you! It's also too damn early for exclamation points and excitement. But, you know, some of this news is almost as energizing as coffee.

• Austin Chronicle writer Marc Savlov asked Tim League exactly what in the world is going on with Alamo Drafthouse these days, and got some happy news. The Leagues are turning the old Salvation Army space near Alamo South into a bowling alley/private karaoke/fun space where you can wait to see a movie at Alamo or chat about one afterwards. I admit I got a little misty when I read that the bowling lanes are from the old Rock'n'Bowl in New Orleans. I assume this space will be ready in time for Fantastic Fest. Yay!

On KGSR morning radio earlier this week, the hosts were complaining about an problem one of them had at Alamo Ritz when he saw The Hangover last weekend. He was annoyed that he couldn't hear the pre-show. For The Hangover, the Alamo Ritz pre-show consisted of stand-up comedy clips, and this guy felt that part of the Alamo experience is getting to watch the pre-show in relative peace. Instead, the pre-show comedy was drowned out by audience members were "shouting at the top of their lungs."

The morning-show hosts felt that people should keep their voices down as soon as they enter an Alamo theater -- make the minimum noises needed to get into seats and order food, but then treat the pre-show like it was the actual movie.

I have to disagree. When people go to movies in groups, they like to chat and have social time before the movie starts -- it's part of the fun of going to movies in groups. I think of the Alamo pre-show as a conversation piece, like a coffee-table book or the thing your aunt gave you that you don't know what it is. I do agree with the KGSR guys that you should use your inside voice in the movie theater, but I think that's true generally.

The famous Isaac Newton quote about standing on the shoulders of giants is about how we create better science by using the works of people that come before us. But when it comes to art, some say that's not better art -- it's stealing.

Remix culture is creating new forms in video and music, but traditional copyright holders are often hostile to these efforts. New movements such as Creative Commons try to find a balance between the rights of original content creators and those who want to build on their works.

The documentary RiP: A Remix Manifesto explores the movement towards remix culture ... and you can see this movie in Austin tomorrow night. The free screening is sponsored by ChannelAustin.

Thanks to the Harry Ransom Center, we'll have even more free summer movies to choose from in Austin. The Orientalist Silents Film Series is part of an HRC exhibit called "The Persian Sensation: The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in the West" that will run through August 2. The exhibit is also free -- and is open right before the screenings in case you want some context and culture.

The Orientalists Silents series begins this Thursday at 7 pm with the notorious Rudolph Valentino film The Sheik from 1921. The HRC theater isn't large, so get there early if you want a seat.

The film series will continue on June 25 with The Thief of Bagdad, the 1924 version that stars Douglas Fairbanks. And on July 23, you can see the 1926 German silent The Adventures of Prince Achmed, one of the first animated feature films, based on the Arabian Nights stories.

Austin Film Festival and the Blanton Museum of Art have teamed up to bring us more good movies over the next couple of months. The New Directions Summer Film Series will focus on "the exceptional work of emerging independent filmmakers," and several of the films in the series were shot locally.

The series kicks off on Thursday, June 18 with one of my favorite Austin-shot films that hasn't had a theatrical release: Gretchen, directed by Steve Collins and photographed by P.J. Raval. Watchmaker Films may be releasing it on DVD soon, but in the meantime, this is a chance to see this oddly sweet movie in a theater. I reviewed the film when it played SXSW in 2006.

Another Austin-connected feature ends the series: Shotgun Stories, written and directed by Austin filmmaker Jeff Nichols. The drama, which stars Michael Shannon, won a Best Narrative Feature award from AFF in 2007 and was also nominated for an Independent Spirit award.

You can catch the series at the Blanton's new auditorium on the University of Texas campus, on the Sundays and Thursdays listed below. Admission is $5 -- or $3 if you're an AFF member, a Blanton Museum member, or UT Austin faculty/staff/student.

Full schedule after the jump:

I was walking past this poster on the way to the bedroom and realized that it's been exactly 10 years since I bought it, at one of the big memorable movie events I've ever attended.

I wasn't seeing many movies in 1999, but when I heard that Alamo Drafthouse (then only one location on Colorado) was hosting a late-night triple-feature of all the Evil Dead movies, I actually stood in a line to buy tickets as soon as they went on sale. My friend Jay and I could not resist. The triple-feature started at something like 10 pm, and I believe that at the time, Alamo did seat assignments for special events. Alamo also printed special tickets for these events -- I found mine last week among some similar tickets for other events, and someday I will have to put all them in a collage to share.

We got to the theater and found these posters in a stack for sale -- they looked like they'd been made out of newspaper pulp. I mean, seriously, I thought they could fall apart at any moment. But I was caught up in the spirit of the event and I bought one anyway. The poster was too thick to fold, so I leaned it on one of the posts near our seats as we sat through all three glorious movies.

Bruce Campbell was a good sport and not only had he signed the posters, but he stuck around for at least two of the three movies that night, telling stories and answering questions between the films. He's returned to Alamo a number of times since then, and I even interviewed him on his last visit, but there was something especially intimate and chatty about that first triple-feature event.

DVD rentals are pretty cheap these days, especially if you use a monthly online service like Netflix. You can also watch some movies online for free -- legally, I mean, like through Hulu and YouTube. I don't want to encourage the other thing.

But you may not have discovered a great source for watching DVDs for free ... the Austin Public Library. With a library card, you can borrow up to 5 DVDs at a time, for a period of 7 days.

The first annual "Lights. Camera. Help." film festival, scheduled for July 31 here in Austin, is soliciting entries from non-profit and grassroots organizations. The deadline for entry is June 30, less than a month away.

The event organizers say:

This festival is the first of its kind in the nation and reflects the spirit of Austin, a prominent city in the non-profit, grassroots and activism communities. These organizations, along with filmmakers, will use the festival to spread the word about their cause, develop a community of followers, and expand the film-for-a-cause genre.

In a recent blog post, organizers highlighted some of the submissions received so far. They include a short doc entitled Prostitution: Beyond the Myths, a training video to help cancer patients, and a video showing a day in the life of a Nicaraguan musician.

You can keep an eye on this event at the festival's website, www.lightscamerahelp.com.

Editor's Note: The following report is from Aaron Zern and James Curry, who went to one of the first screenings of Terminator Salvation in Austin and sat in the new D-Box seats, the ones that Chris Holland tried out. I was interested to hear how the seats felt during a whole feature film, and thought I'd share their discoveries. (Thanks, guys!)

D-Box seats are billed as "The next Dimension of your cinematic experience. Taking you literally inside the movie" and the promotional material explains that "Using advanced proprietary robotics and commercial-grade motion technology, D-BOX Motion Code immerses theatregoers into the heart of the action. The experience is nothing short of stunning." Rhetoric so dramatic that it would lead you to opine that D-Box represents an advance akin to that between going to see a moving picture, and going to see one of those fabulous new talking pictures with sound. Common sense, on the other hand, would lend itself to suggesting that a gyrating seat in a darkened theater is more likely a leap between going to see a moving picture and going to see a moving picture while being made to feel slightly queasy.

At Galaxy Highland, we were ushered into the theater a little ahead of those with regular tickets and invited to take our seats in the D-Box section, 22 seats spanning two rows about halfway up from the screen.