May 2010

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is an epic action-adventure film based on the Ubisoft video game of the same name. Set in medieval Persia, the story's central plot focuses on an adventurous prince who reluctantly teams up with a rival princess to stop a ruthless ruler from unleashing a sandstorm that will scour the face of the earth. Director Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) attempts to create a film of epic proportions that falls a bit short of its predecessors.

Prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) was born and raised a pauper, but after king Sharaman (Ronald Pickup) witnesses an act of bravery by Dastan, he is welcomed into the royal household. As an adopted prince and brother, Dastan enjoys wrestling with his men to the politics of the kingdom, leaving the future leadership to brothers Tus (Richard Coyle) and Garsiv (Toby Kebbell). The brothers invade the holy city of Alamut after their Uncle Nizam (Ben Kingsley) convinces them that the citizens of Alamut are providing weapons to their enemies. Dastan isn't fully convinced, but rather than disagree with his brothers he instead leads a successful and heroic attack on the city. There he meets the mysterious and beautiful princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton), who is guardian to an ancient dagger that is a gift from the gods. Through chance, Dastan discovers the dagger's exceptional power -- by releasing the Sands of Time contained in the hilt, the possessor can reverse time. It doesn't take long for Dastan to realize that the dagger is the ultimate weapon -- someone with malicious intentions could use the dagger to rule the world.

Local nonprofit organization Reel Women presents Lunafest, a national touring festival of award-winning short films by, for and about women. Reel Women has been the Austin host for 10 years. The event benefits Reel Women’s membership and education programs and the Breast Cancer Fund, which is dedicated to eliminating the environmental factors in breast cancer. The special screening takes place Thursday night at Picture Box Studio.

The program includes 10 award-winning short films selected from more than 600 submissions that made their way through a multi-stage judging process. The films shown at Lunafest embody a wide range of topics dealing with what it means to be a woman in the 21st century. Ranging from animated shorts to fictional drama, they cover topics such as women’s health, body image, spirituality, relationships, cultural diversity and breaking barriers.

The women behind these short films are inspirational -- be sure to check out the filmmakers' biographies on the main Lunafest website. From a young Australian woman fresh out of film school to director Courteney Cox, these women provide a special look at issues affecting women across the world. Visit the Reel Women Lunafest event page for more details about the films and filmmakers.

Arizona's new immigration law has provoked accusations of racial profiling, since it gives police the power to stop and detain suspects if they have "reasonable suspicion" they are in the country illegally. The law has triggered a national debate about immigration and the role that local and state authorities play in enforcing federal laws. A new documentary shines a spotlight on the social and economic impacts of immigration policies, including racial profiling.

The documentary 9500 Liberty, directed and produced by SXSW Award Winner Eric Byler (Americanese) and Coffee Party Movement founder Annabel Park, depicts the battleground in Prince William County, Virginia and on the Internet in the battle over immigration policy. Anti-immigration networks used online media to frighten local lawmakers and citizens in Prince William County. In order to counteract the racial divisions that occurred in their community, residents formed a resistance using YouTube videos and virtual townhalls. The inflammatory showdown between the groups had profound and devastating social and economic impacts in their community. 9500 Liberty shows how real people and local businesses were affected by the "Immigration Resolution."

Austin filmmaker Bryan Poyser kicks off a local theatrical run of his latest feature, Lovers of Hate, with a benefit screening for the Texas Filmmakers Production Fund (TFPF). This is especially fitting because Poyser works for Austin Film Society as Director of Artist Services, and part of his job is promoting and administering the TFPF, which awards grants of money and services to Texas independent filmmakers.

Admission is $10 -- very affordable for a benefit screening. Poyser and other as-yet-unspecified cast and crew will be there for a Q&A.

Lovers of Hate is a comedy about an aspiring novelist whose wife kicks him out and whose brother is a J.K. Rowling-esque successful children's book author. Chris Doubek, Heather Kafka and Alex Karpovsky star in the film, which was shot in Austin and in Park City, Utah. The movie debuted at Sundance this year and also played SXSW. You can read my review for the details.

Terror Tuesday this week brings us Fear No Evil, also known as Lucifer, from 1981. Admission is $1. Zack has the scoop for us:

"The other kids at school won't lay off Andrew. It may be his awkwardness...or his femininity...or the fact that he's The Antichrist. Regardless, Andrew's teen years are about to come to an end, and so is the world.

"Genuinely unsettling human Stefan Arngrim (CLASS OF 1984) plays the lead, a self-loathing wiry geekazoid handed all the Unholy Powers of Darkness. What results is the most off-kilter nerd revenge fantasy to ever set a bible aflame. Over the course of FEAR NO EVIL, you'll see baptized babies bleeding, corroded corpses cavorting, armored angels avenging and a healthy celebration of teenage suicide ('DO IT!').

"Director LaLoggia was only 23 years old at the time of filming, shooting all the school footage in the same halls where he was personally shunned and mocked, establishing a satisfyingly uncomfortable personal tone of godless redemption."

We have two winners from last week's Simmons on Vinyl contest. Each winner will be able to pick up two pairs of tickets before the Austin Film Festival-sponsored screening at Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek on Thursday night. Winners, I will be emailing you today with the details.

Congratulations to Cecy Correa and Zack Teibloom. Zack's favorite album on vinyl is Led Zeppelin I, and Cecy's is Saturday Night Fever.

For everyone else, you can still buy tickets for Thursday night's screening and they are quite affordable ($4), so check it out. Here's my review again if you need a refresher on what the movie is about.

The Paramount is offering a double feature with the silver screen's first sleuthing couple, Nick and Nora Charles -- Another Thin Man and The Thin Man Goes Home. 30's and 40's film favorites William Powell and Myrna Loy starred in the hugely popular mystery comedy series. The Thin Man Goes Home is the fifth in the Thin Man film series.

The Paramount is offering a double feature with the silver screen's first sleuthing couple, Nick and Nora Charles -- Another Thin Man and The Thin Man Goes Home. 30's film favorites William Powell and Myrna Loy starred in the hugely popular mystery comedy series. Another Thin Man is the third in the Thin Man series.

The Paramount brings us a double-feature of two films from late in Alfred Hitchcock's career: Psycho, from 1960, and Frenzy, from 1972. Frenzy focuses on a man wrongly (perhaps) accused of serial killings in London (via necktie).

Admission is free if you bought tickets to the stage production of The 39 Steps as part of the Paramount's 2010-11 season.

The Paramount brings us a double-feature of two films from late in Alfred Hitchcock's career: Psycho, from 1960, and Frenzy, from 1972. If you have never seen the famous shower scene on the big screen, now's your chance.

Admission is free if you bought tickets to the stage production of The 39 Steps as part of the Paramount's 2010-11 season.

Casablanca (1942) (102 min/b&w) Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid. Directed by Michael Curtiz. We keep showin’ it, because you keep comin’ to see it! And why not? This perfect film is one of the movies’ most enduring romances, set against the backdrop of World War II. Bogart stars as a nightclub owner with a past, played by Ingrid Bergman, who’s married to a leader of the French underground resistance (Henreid).

• Regular Admission - $9
• Online Advance Admission - $7
• Purchase Flix-Tix (10 Admissions for $50)

Become a Film Fan & receive $4 off regular admission, free popcorn & reserved seating. Regular Admission tickets available day-of-show at the Paramount Theatre Box Office (713 Congress). Online tickets not available day of show.

MonkeyWrench Books is hosting a special screening of the 2007 documentary The Unforeseen, about Central Texas's water supply and the effects of development on Barton Springs. Filmmaker Laura Dunn will be available for a Q&A after the film. Admission is free.

Before we had Crazy Heart, we had Robert Duvall starring in Bruce Bereford's 1983 film Tender Mercies. Written by Horton Foote, shot in Waxahachie and Palmer, Texas, with musical performances from Duvall.

You can read more of contributor Laurie Coker's reviews and features at True View Reviews.

Throughout the screening of MacGruber at SXSW this year, the audience laughed riotously and cheered. Afterwards we had the pleasure of meeting the cast in a Q&A session and hilarity abounded. Admittedly, I chuckled during the film, based on a Saturday Night Live sketch that spoofs one of my favorite old televisions shows, MacGyver. Still, I am not into silly, sometimes sick, stupid, over-the-top humor like my husband, so some of the film had me head in hand, thinking "Are you kidding me?" To be fair, I am not familiar with the skits on SNL created and made famous by comedians Will Forte and Kristen Wiig, so I went in not knowing what to expect, but if the audience reaction says anything, I most definitely was in the minority that night.

Forte plays MacGruber, a pseudo-MacGyver character who sports a mullet-like haircut and a cherry-red muscle car and seems permanently trapped in a particularly terrible 80s action movie or sitcom. In the SNL sketches, MacGruber's entire life consisted of trying to defuse something, only to be distracted just long enough for the bomb to go off and kill them all, but this would not do in a feature-length film, especially one hoping to garner sequels. So in the movie, he is a sort of uber-commando hired to stop an evil plot by a villain named Cunth (Val Kilmer) – yes, Cunth. The villain's name basically speaks volume to the kind of humor that makes up the rightly R-rated MacGruber.

Jenn Brown and I caught the premiere of locally made film The Happy Poet at SXSW this year, and had a great time. It's a charming low-key comedy about a guy who decides to open a food cart at Auditorium Shores that will sell vegetarian and organic sandwiches and treats. He's battling a limited budget, a hot-dog-loving clientele and a delivery man with occasional shady habits. Writer-director Paul Gordon also plays the lead character, and the cast includes Chris Doubek, Liz Fisher and Jonny Mars. Read Jenn's review for more details.

The Happy Poet is scheduled to play in New York in late June, and Gordon and his producers are in need of some travel funds so they can attend their own NYC premiere (at Rooftop Films Summer Series, very cool). Therefore, they're showing the movie in Austin again as a fundraiser. Admission is $10. Cast and crew will be in attendance, new "sexy" (!) t-shirts will be unveiled, and the event's hosts promise giveaways and other surprises. A cash bar will be available, too.

This is such an Austin-ish comedy that I want to urge all of you to check it out. I wish The Marchesa (which some of us may remember as once housing Lincoln Theaters) was near a food cart where you could buy eggless egg sandwiches to get yourself in the mood for The Happy Poet, but you're on your own for pre-screening comestibles. (I will say that I visited The Jalopy trailer the other day and the guy in charge convinced me to buy veggie chips and gave me a free vegetarian sandwich, which made me pause and look around for Gordon, Mars and Doubek.)

The 1977 Japanese horror classic Hausu will play daily at Alamo Ritz for a week as part of the theater's Big Screen Classics series. As Alamo programmer Zack Carlson says, "This is your chance to prove that you've got what it takes to stand up to the most vibrant and compelling theatrical oddity Japan has ever unleashed."

The 1977 Japanese horror classic Hausu will play daily at Alamo Ritz for a week as part of the theater's Big Screen Classics series. As Alamo programmer Zack Carlson says, "This is your chance to prove that you've got what it takes to stand up to the most vibrant and compelling theatrical oddity Japan has ever unleashed."

The 1977 Japanese horror classic Hausu will play daily at Alamo Ritz for a week as part of the theater's Big Screen Classics series. As Alamo programmer Zack Carlson says, "This is your chance to prove that you've got what it takes to stand up to the most vibrant and compelling theatrical oddity Japan has ever unleashed."

Instant cult film Birdemic is back at Alamo.

Let's see what's been going on with Austin-related film news lately:

• Austin Film Society is celebrating 10 years of Austin Studios with a big Make Watch Love Movies party on June 18 starting at 6:30 pm. Admission is free for AFS members, Texas film crew and Austin Studios neighbors, although you can help sponsor the event if you choose. The event will honor Moody Anderson as well as Alison Macor's book about Austin film, Chainsaws, Slackers, and Spy Kids. Elizabeth Avellan, Mike Judge, Richard Linklater and Robert Rodriguez will be hosts.
• The Paramount Theatre is looking for five "volunteer publicists" -- bloggers who will spread the word regularly about the joys of the theater's Summer Classic Film Series. In return, you get an all-access pass for the film series. Too bad I don't already have a website devoted to this sort of thing or I'd be right there in line. Deadline is tomorrow so act fast.
• Nueva Onda kicks off its 2010 monthly Movie Nights on Thursday with three short films: Flat Daddy, a work-in-progress documentary about military families; the short-short To Do That from local filmmaker Jason Brenizer; and Manos de Madre, the story of a Guatemalan woman forced to live on a garbage dump, which played at the Hideout during SXSW this year. Also, check out the new Nueva Onda Movie blog for info on upcoming screenings.

[Editor's Note: Why yes, I did swap out of the photo accompanying this entry -- apparently some people think a bare butt is NSFW. They are probably correct.]

Last year, I caught the low-budget comedy Simmons on Vinyl at Austin Film Festival. I liked it so much that when I heard AFF was bringing the movie back for an encore screening at Alamo Drafthouse at Lake Creek this month, I asked if Slackerwood could give away a couple of pairs of tickets. The nice AFF folks agreed, so now you have a chance to see this very funny indie for absolutely free.

The film screens on Thursday, May 27 at 7:30 pm at Alamo Lake Creek. Mark Potts, Cole Selix and Brand Rackley -- who between them wrote, directed and acted the three main roles in the film -- will be at the screening. They'll also preview a bit of their new film S&M Lawn Care. They run a pretty funny Q&A, as I recall.

Slackerwood is giving away two pairs of tickets to the May 27 screening. You have two ways to enter the contest -- the fun extroverted way and the easy introverted way:

• The fun way: Post a comment on this entry that tells us what your favorite record (on vinyl) is or was, and why.
• The easy way: Use the Slackerwood content form to send me a message that includes your name, with the subject line "Simmons on Vinyl." I know some of you are shy about posting comments or publicly admitting your favorite record (or that you are too young to have ever owned something on vinyl).

Local filmmaker Bob Ray is premiering his latest film, Total Badass, on Wednesday night at Alamo Ritz. Ray, whom you might remember from his previous films Hell on Wheels (the rollerderby doc that played SXSW 2007) and Rock Opera, recently finished work on this feature-length documentary about Chad Holt, who is also scheduled to attend the screening.

I think I should let Ray describe the film in his own words (from his Facebook event page for the premiere):

"Total Badass blazes the true Texas tale of a hilarious, crazy-ass writer/publisher/singer/weed-dealer/sex addict/Guinea pig enthusiast/dad/pirate radio host/raconteur and general man-about-town as he rides out the last six months of felony probation and subsequently must change his ways when a financial crisis befalls his estranged family.

"Fascinating in its deep access to unbelievable scenes of outlandish self-expression, Total Badass reveals an unsettled soul, fettered by a felony conviction and relegated to the underground arts scene. Will a happenstance family of his own finally ground this roustabout? Does Chad just need to grow up, relinquish his aspirations and get practical?"

Both The Human Centipede and The Good, The Bad & The Weird continue at Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar, two films you might not be able to see in a theater unless you lived in Austin. But it's also a fantastic weekend for new arthouse films, with several opening at the Arbor and the Dobie that are worth your attention. 

The Exploding Girl -- It's a summer of love for an epileptic girl who has a new boyfriend, but also has a friend staying for the summer. Sorry, this one never made it to my radar, so I know nothing more about it.  (Dobie)

Exit Through the Gift Shop -- This crowd pleaser has been making the film geek corner of the twittersphere explode, and the AFS screening, on two screens no less, sold out quickly.  The tagline for this documentary is "The incredible true story of how the world's greatest 'Street Art' movie was never made" and apparently doesn't do it justice. Keep an eye out for Debbie's upcoming review. (wide)

It's little wonder that the stunning crime thriller The Secret in Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos) won the 2010 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The Argentine import, opening Friday at the Arbor, is all at once lyrical, brutal, poignant and provocative, an intimate and personal journey with much broader implications about the nature of justice.

Equal parts police procedural, psychological thriller and love story, The Secret in Their Eyes is the story of recently retired criminal investigator Benjamín Esposito (Ricardo Darín), who in 1999 decides to write a novel based on a 25-year-old rape and murder case that still haunts him. The story is told largely in flashbacks to 1974, following Esposito and his colleagues as they investigate the crime.

Like many horrific crimes, the murder claims many victims beyond Liliana Coleto (Carla Quevedo), the young woman who is brutalized and killed. Her husband, Ricardo Morales (Pablo Rago), lives with long-term grief and emptiness that drive him to irrational behavior; for months, he deludes himself into thinking he'll find the killer by waiting for him every day in a train station. Esposito and his alcoholic partner, Pablo Sandoval (Guillermo Francella), may be hardened cops, but they develop an obsession with the case that jeopardizes their careers as they break rules to find evidence and clash with superiors to keep the case open.

When I was in high school, I saw Hannah and Her Sisters and had such a crush on Michael Caine. That was my gateway drug to Caine movies, and led me to Sleuth and The Wrong Box and Mona Lisa and a lot of bad movies I hate to mention (The Swarm, sadly, and Sweet Liberty). So I experienced a moment of shock in the first scene with Caine in Harry Brown, when he shuffled out of bed and looked surprisingly like my grandfather. That's what having crushes on older men in films gets you. I don't even want to talk about Harrison Ford in the last Indiana Jones movie.

After recoving from my little moment of shock and mortality, I found Harry Brown an absorbing combination of melodrama and vigilantism. Caine plays the title character, who as he is growing older finds himself increasingly alone in the world. His wife dies of an unspecified long illness, his daughter is long dead. His best friend Leonard (David Bradley) has been complaining about the young people in their housing project who continually plague him ... and when Leonard tries to fight back, tragedy strikes.

Harry Brown, on the other hand, is ex-military, and he plots his attacks on the neighborhood gang with more finesse. Meanwhile, police detective Alice Frampton (Emily Mortimer) is trying to see justice done through legal channels, but to no real effect. She visits Harry and treats him like a child ... and yet, when Harry's vengeful acts catch the attention of the police, Alice is the only one who wonders if he might be a suspect.

Austin Film Festival brings back one of its popular movies from 2009, Simmons on Vinyl, to Alamo Lake Creek. (I had to fight my way into a sold-out screening last year.) Read my review for more details about this indie comedy.

Mark Potts, Cole Selix and Brand Rackley -- who between them wrote, directed and had the three main roles in the film -- will be at the screening, and will preview their new film beforehand, S&M Lawn Care. They run a pretty funny Q&A, so you really don't want to miss this. Admission is free for AFF members and $4 for everyone else.

In the summer of 1996, I spent several weeks conducting field research in Costa Rica on the Osa Peninsula. Historically, the dense forests and rocky terrain of the Osa Peninsula have shielded it from the outside world, accessible only by rugged roads and boats in some areas. However, expanding development threatens the peninsula and lands are being cleared for logging and agriculture at a higher rate than anywhere else in Costa Rica. According to The Nature Conservancy, illegal logging, poaching and ill-conceived land-use activities further threaten the region.

I'll never forget my experiences there, particularly a woman who had been raised in Sierpe but lived in San Jose for years. Hours after her arrival, she still wept for the loss of forestland converted to banana crops she'd seen on her drive from the capital city. Thanks to the deforestation and Hurricane Cesar-Douglas, I barely made it out of Costa Rica myself. Clearcutting of forests was blamed for the massive mudslides that took out areas of road along with dozen of bridges along the Pan-American Highway, making travel by vehicle impossible.

So what's the connection between rainforests and Austin film? Quite a bit, thanks to local nonprofit organization Rainforest Partnership, which creates mechanisms for conservation and sustainable use of rainforests in Central and South America that are threatened with deforestation. Rainforest Partnership hosted a M.A.F.I.A. event in April, and filmmakers had one week to make a short film with the theme "The Tree and I." Filmmakers submitted their films to one of three categories, including PSA, documentary and narrative.

This week's Terror Tuesday screening is Joe Dante's 1989 film The Burbs, starring Tom Hanks. Let's see what Zack has to say about it:

"'I want to kill everyone. Satan is good. Satan is our pal.' Yep, THE 'BURBS!! Because there's a brand new 35mm print! Because it remains the only major Hollywood studio comedy about suburban cannibalism! Because it's one of the most hilarious horror/comedies of the '80s, if not all time! Because we want to show it, goddammit!

"When Tom Hanks still had a pulse, he and Joe Dante led unsuspecting audiences into a deeply bizarre cul de sac of flesh-eating, body-thieving and suspected demonology, all with a banana peel slapstick flair that made everything feel as good-timey as an ice cream picnic with grandma. But the deep black waters of feral occultism run just beneath this fountain of yuks, with the spectre of death lurking around every turn. Hanks is joined by Carrie Fisher, Bruce Dern and Corey Feldman in uncovering the most sinister secret to ever sully the manicured lawn of the American dream."

AIGA is sponsoring this screening of the 2008 documentary Proceed and Be Bold, about letterpress printer Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.

Alamo Drafthouse kicks off a new monthly series, Zzang!, that focuses on showing 35mm prints of iconic 1980s films. Programmer Zack Carlson is starting things off with the 1983 film Valley Girl, directed by Martha Coolidge, starring an unbelievably young Nicolas Cage.

Alamo is hosting the local premiere of the mock exploitation/comedy film All About Evil, starring Natasha Lyonne, Cassandra Peterson and Mink Stole. Peterson, Stole and filmmaker Peaches Christ will be in attendance.

To honor the recent passing of filmmaker Joseph Sarno, Weird Wednesday is screening the 1966 film Moonlighting Wives. Let's see what Lars has to say:

"There are a number of important sexploitation auteurs, brave souls who carved out something special and wholly individual in the world of adult films. The best known of these are Russ Meyer, Radley Metzger, Doris Wishman and our dear friend Joe Sarno. Sarno's specialty is erotic psychodrama. Even when his budgets are limited to the point of absurdity, he manages to create situations that are complicated, kinky, exciting, vaguely absurd and often pretty hot. In many sexploitation movies the plot is a utility, a desultory device for moving the action from one set-piece to another. With Sarno, the plot serves to place each situation in a deeper stratum of intensity, until the final, usually taboo shattering encounter provides the climax of the film. Such is the case with MOONLIGHTING WIVES, the story of a suburban prostitution ring that masquerades as a late-night secretary service. If you like Sarno, don't miss this rare screening, if you don't know his work yet, it's time to start your education."

Austin Film Festival's monthly "Made in Texas" series continues with the 1980 film Urban Cowboy, aka "the one where John Travolta rides a mechanical bull." The film's screenwriter, Aaron Latham, will be in attendance along with actor Barry Corbin. Admission is free if you're an AFF or Texas State History Museum member; a mere $5 for everyone else.

The best-laid plans of film festgoers are often led astray. I had hoped to catch some shorts on Saturday morning, but instead had the opportunity to interview The Dry Land director Ryan Piers Williams and producer/actress America Ferrera. I picked the interview ... after a leisurely breakfast at a place called Cochineal, where they make a mean Eggs Florentine. Sit-down meals in Marfa restaurants appear to be leisurely as a rule -- they're not hurried or worried about times or deadlines.

The interview went very well -- I'll save details for when it is published. I enjoyed meeting Williams and Ferrera, and look forward to hearing (and sharing) more about the release tour for The Dry Land.

After the interview, I went to a place I had been told had the best hot cocoa in Marfa, Squeeze Marfa, for a pick-me-up. The rumors were absolutely correct. It's a good thing that cocoa is in Marfa and not Austin or I would have to be rolled around town.

I finally made it over to to the Crowley Theater in time for a short film/feature combo. The short film was Cosmic Clock, from filmmaker Al Jarnow, who has made a lot of interesting shorts for PBS shows like The Electric Company or in this case, 3-2-1 Contact. Cosmic Clock shows a speeded-up history of the planet, with some lovely visuals. You can watch it here. I found out that Jarnow's shorts have been collected and are available on a DVD called Celestial Navigations, which I'm very tempted to check out.

As a member of Austin Cinemaker Co-op -- a Super 8 filmmaking collective that is sadly no more -- one of the most popular events was our annual Make a Film in a (M.A.F.I.A.) weekend event. Filmmakers had 48 hours to film a short in camera with no editing, incorporating a prop that was provided at the beginning of the event. Nowadays local nonprofit Austin School of Film hosts a Youth M.A.F.I.A. Day Film Festival for SXSW every year. Students have only 24 hours to conceive, shoot, and edit their films.

One of the largest 48-hour filmmaking events, The 48 Hour Film Project, will include an Austin event this year. The project is spread across over 50 cities across the United States and another 34 international cities. Reel Women founder Sherry Mills is organizing the Austin event, which takes place June 25-27. 48 Hour Film Project began in 2001, and Austin filmmakers have participated since 2005. On Friday night, teams receive a character, a prop, a line of dialogue and a genre, all which must be included in their movie. They will then spend a wild and sleepless weekend writing, shooting, editing and scoring it -- in just 48 hours. The winning film will go up against films from around the world.

Want to participate but don't have a team? No problem -- just stop by one of the upcoming Reel Women events including the First Monday Mix at the Stompin' Grounds from 6-8 pm on June 7, or at the monthly meeting at 7 pm on Wednesday, June 16. First-timers can ask questions as former team leaders, cast and crew take part in a Q&A session. If you can't make the events, no worries. To help teams come together, 48 Hour Film Project hosts a networking service that you can join here.

I just laughed as I picked a category tag for this entry, because Marfa Film Festival is not at all local. (Since then, I added a new category for non-local Texas fests.) I had to drive for 7 hours or so from Austin to get here, nearly as long as it takes me to drive to New Orleans. I may still be in Texas, but it's a very different Texas than the one I left behind.

I left Austin a little late, but it was fortunate because I managed to catch Steve Wilson on KUT on Thursday morning. He's the curator for the "Making Movies" series at the Harry Ransom Center, and it was a good reminder that I haven't seen the exhibit yet and hope to do so soon. (And once upon a time, many years ago, I once adapted a scene from Cyrano de Bergerac for Wilson to shoot in his RTF production class at UT. But that's another story.)

The drive from Austin to Marfa isn't too bad, although it does involve some very dull stretches of I-10. I had my iPod on shuffle the whole time. The best road music was from soundtracks of Quentin Tarantino movies. I highly recommend Kill Bill and Death Proof to enliven your driving.

Sequels are dicey choices for movie fans; either they're following up a bad movie so they aren't given a fair chance or an unexpected good one, so the expectations are too high.

Iron Man 2 falls into the latter category -- there was a lot of noise about it likely being a bad film, and surprisingly it won over many audience members. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has managed to master his suit, defeat the bad guys and become an international hero. Unsurprisingly, Iron Man has become a pop icon since there are no bad guys left to risk the wrath of Iron Man. He cockily dismisses government attempts to take control of the technology, especially after rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) fails miserably in replicating similar suits. Only all is not well, especially when someone else (Mickey Rourke) has the original technology, and is out for Stark's blood. 

Stark is perhaps one of the most vainglorious characters on film, with hubris and brains to back it up. Downey again proves he's more than capable of making Stark equally aggravating, entertaining and sympathetic. In fact, the entire cast is full out outstanding actors a lot of people would pay just to read the phone book, but luckily for us, they do a lot more than that. Don Cheadle has taken over the role of Lt. Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes and Cheadle has always had the knack of standing up to larger than life co-stars.  Along the same lines, Gwyneth Paltrow again has to balance exasperation with adoration as she tries to keep her boss and unrequited crush from ruining his company. 

Last week I took a tour of the new Gold Class Cinemas, a movie theater in The Domain that officially opens this weekend. In addition, Jenn Brown and I went back to the theater this week for "mock service" -- as part of the process for training the theater staff, we watched Shutter Island (it actually improves on a second viewing) and ordered some of the menu items the theater offers.

Like the Alamo Drafthouse chain, Gold Class does have a menu -- it also has a full bar. In fact, it's an especially nice bar that could have fit perfectly in The Domain as a stand-alone. But Gold Class strikes me as unlikely to compete directly with Alamo, as it is a very different experience.

First of all, the point that everyone is discussing: the tickets for Gold Class are pricey. A full-price ticket costs $29, and no, that doesn't include any food or drinks. Hearing that a ticket for a regular first-run movie costs over $20 sounds shocking at first, and it's off-putting to many people I know, no matter what they learn about the theater afterward. This is the biggest hurdle that Gold Class has to overcome in Austin.

This week has been a nostalgic one for me. Two days after I moved to Austin in 1993, I saw Bob Schneider as the hair-slinging, shorts-dragging frontman of Joe Rockhead at a Fourth of July outdoor concert at Zilker Park. I became better acquainted with Schneider that same year as a regular at the Steamboat 1874 and the Black Cat, two historic Sixth Street music venues that are long gone (although there's a huge Steamboat reunion at Threadgill's on May 16). After Joe Rockhead left the scene, Schneider fronted Ugly Americans and then The Scabs before striking out on what's proven to be quite a successful solo career.

Schneider has always been good about releasing live recordings of many of his performances, but until now the Austin musician has not really explored much on the video side of his music. That's changed recently with the help of one of Austin's busiest and most well-known filmmakers, Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez took a weekend off from post-production on Predators and Machete to direct a music video for Bob Schneider's song "40 Dogs (Like Romeo and Juliet)," from the album Lovely Creatures. The video stars Schneider and actress Kat Denning, and, Rodriguez's youngest son Rogue Joaquin also appears. The video is embedded below -- see if you can identify the Austin locations, which I'll reveal after the jump.

Alamo is celebrating Cinco de Mayo with a feast centered around the 1986 John Landis comedy Three Amigos!

This week's Weird Wednesday selection is the 1978 film Stingray, with a special guest in attendance. Admission is $1. Let's hear what Lars has to say:

"This regional car chase movie from the St. Louis area doesn't skimp on automotive action, humor or surprising violence. Chris Mitchum and Les Lannom play a pair of boring pals who save up their money to buy a red '64 Corvette, only to find that some hoods have stashed heroin and cash under the seat. They're also wrongly accused of being cop-killers so not only are the crooks after them, but the police too. Fortunately, as dull as the heroes are, the bad guys are great. Their leader, sexy foul-mouthed Abigail Bratowski (Sherry Jackson) is a machine-gun wielding psychopath who makes her entrance dressed in a nun's habit. Abigail's main enforcer is big William Watson, who looks like a sinister cartoon cheetah and seems to ad lib every single line he speaks. One of the best things about this movie is its crazy split personality -- one minute you're watching a wacky car chase scored to tinkling piano music, the next minute cops are getting riddled with bullet holes. The other great thing about this movie is its truly superior car action provided by such top professionals as the King of stunt drivers Carey Loftin and Austin's own Bobby Sargent, who will be in attendance to give you some background about STINGRAY. Be there!"

Alamo has a brand new 35mm print of Sam Raimi's 1981 classic horror film, The Evil Dead. Groovy. Why in the world aren't you buying a ticket right now?

Local filmmaker Karen Skloss's documentary Sunshine will be broadcast on PBS at this time as part of the Independent Lens series. KLRU is hosting a free viewing party that includes live music and a panel discussion. You must RSVP using the link above to attend.

Check out our 2011 Guide to Free (and Cheap) Summer Movies in Austin for the latest information.

Updated on July 5 with new Alamo Lake Creek series, on June 11 with details on Deep Eddy Pool Movies, and on June 9 with details on the new Cinema East series and specific films for the 101X series.

Last year's Guide to Free Summer Movies in Austin was Slackerwood's most popular article nearly every week through the fall, and one of our most viewed articles for 2009. Apparently everyone wants to know about free movies playing in town this summer -- well, why wouldn't you? So we're not going to wait for summer this year to bring you the 2010 edition, which we'll keep updating as more movies are announced.  

Austin is home to at least 16 film series this summer, 12 of which are free, so you can watch movies on a budget practically every weekday this summer, especially if you're looking for family fare. (If you liked Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, boy are you in luck ... it's playing in nearly every children's series throughout the summer.) Some of the series are outdoors -- be sure to bring lawn chairs or a blanket.

Only a few series haven't announced their schedules yet, so you can start planning now. In addition to the movies listed below, bear in mind that Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz still hosts Terror Tuesday and Weird Wednesday screenings each week that cost a whopping dollar to attend ($2 if you buy online). Also, keep an eye on our Event Calendar for free movies that aren't part of a regular series.

Did you know that 2010 marks both the 200th anniversary of Mexico's independence and the 100th anniversary of its Revolution? I didn't until this year's Cine Las Americas International Film Festival. 

To celebrate the dual anniversary, Cine Las Americas is programming related free movies and Mexican films in general for the rest of the year, starting with a four-film series co-presented by the Harry Ransom Center.

"The Mexican Revolution Films of the 70s" includes four rare features by influential directors that explorethe Mexican Revolution and other national realities from a period of unprecedented latitude. Here are the four films and the descriptions from the Cine Las Americas website:

• El prinicipio (The Beginning), directed by Gonzalo Martínez Ortega. "Mexico is in the midst of Revolution when the protagonist returns after studying in Paris to find his native town in Chihuahua occupied by Francisco Villa’s revolutionary forces. He visits his deserted home and remembers people and events from his adolescence that provide glimpses of pre-Revolutionary society under dictatorship." (May 6)
• Cananea, directed by Marcela Fernández Violante. "Colonel William Greene, in an expedition across the Sonoran desert, stumbles upon large copper reserves. Almost immediately he decides to set up mines and he quickly becomes one of the wealthiest men in the region. His ambition, however, leads him to mistreat and exploit the men working in the mines." (May 13)

May 13: Cananea (1976) – Directed by Marcela Fernández Violante 

Part of the Mexican Revolution Films of 70s co-presented by the Harry Ransom center, running May 6-27 in the Charles Nelson Prothro Theater. All films are in Spanish with English Subtitles. Admission is Free.

Four rare features by influential directors critically exploring the Mexican Revolution and other national realities. Films include  El prinicipio (The Beginning) directed by Gonzalo Martínez Ortega (5/6), Cananea directed by Marcela Fernández Violante (5/13), La casta divina (The Divine Caste) directed by Julián Pastor (5/20), Cuartelazo (Mutiny) directed by Alberto Isaac (5/27).

May 27: Cuartelazo (Mutiny, 1976) – Directed by Alberto Isaac 

Part of the Mexican Revolution Films of 70s co-presented by the Harry Ransom center, running May 6-27 in the Charles Nelson Prothro Theater. All films are in Spanish with English Subtitles. Admission is Free.

Four rare features by influential directors critically exploring the Mexican Revolution and other national realities. Films include  El prinicipio (The Beginning) directed by Gonzalo Martínez Ortega (5/6), Cananea directed by Marcela Fernández Violante (5/13), La casta divina (The Divine Caste) directed by Julián Pastor (5/20), Cuartelazo (Mutiny) directed by Alberto Isaac (5/27).

A film venue?  Why yes, in the heat of the summer, you can watch a family-friendly movie while cooling off in Deep Eddy Pool. Entrance fees vary, so check the fee schedule for current costs.

Maintained by the Round Rock Parks and Recreation Department, Old Settlers Park is a multi-use municipal park and the home of Round Rock Movies in Your Park in the summer.

This theater is located in the Barton Creek Square Mall.