Blogs

It's been a helluva couple weeks for celebrity deaths, hasn't it? As we head into Independence Day weekend, additional tributes to Michael Jackson continue at the Alamo, where the love is on for the gloved one's music, but both of them are sold out.

On a happier note, Fantastic Fest has announced the date of the first lineup announcement and shown off their annual poster design. On top of all that, the fest is presenting a screening of The Collector later this month. Slackerwood will be covering Fantastic Fest as well as its teaser events from now until the fest ends in October.

I took this photo of the Paramount marquee during the Office Space anniversary screening back in February, and realized I've never shared it here. I don't have any particular news associated with the Paramount or the image above; it's just a photo that I like and hoped other people would, too. Enjoy.

On Saturday, many Texas Motion Picture Association (TXMPA) members braved the heat to network and do some committee brainstorming after local caucuses voted for new local representatives earlier this month. The Central Region, which includes Austin, voted for Paul Alvarado-Dykstra as the regional board representative and Shelley Schriber as the alternate. Alvarado-Dykstra is a film producer, vice-president of Villa Muse, and a co-founder of Fantastic Fest.

TXMPA initiated an online election system for last week to allow all members in good standing to vote for At-Large board members, regardless of whether they would attend the meeting in San Marcos on Saturday. In previous years, members had to be present at the annual meeting to vote, which took up most of the general member meeting time.

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.

It's been a dramatic week, with three entertainment icons passing away. The Alamo team put together a post-midnight tribute edition of their signature Michael Jackson sing-alongs that sold out quickly. Another MJ Tribute sing-along is scheduled for tonight at the Ritz. Hopefully it will be a quieter weekend.

This week we're focusing on new releases, since it seems to be a light special-event week. Next week's edition of Movies This Week will be early -- on Wednesday -- for the holiday weekend, including Public Enemies.

You've already seen my review of Transformers: Rise of the Fallen included in a rant about mob mentality. Massawyrm has an eloquent, detailed review as a fan of Michael Bay and the first Transformers film at Ain't it Cool News. I demurred on the objectifying rant, but Kim Voynar over at MCN didn't.

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.

For all of you horror fans who just can't get enough during Fantastic Fest:

The World Horror Society has named Austin, Texas as the location for the 2011 World Horror Convention (WHC). The international gathering of horror's brightest talents and their fans will take place from April 28 through May 1, 2011. Does it help that Austin is home to the largest urban bat colony in the world?

"Texas has a long history of strange fiction, serving as home to such luminaries as Robert E. Howard, Michael Moorcock, and Joe R. Lansdale," says Convention Co-Chair Nate Southard in a press release posted to his website. "Bringing the World Horror Convention to Austin is a natural. It's a vibrant city with a taste for the eccentric and a love of the arts. Further, its central, southern location makes it convenient for travelers throughout the US, and visitors from abroad will have no trouble reaching us either."

WHC 2011 has confirmed author Sarah Langan as its first guest of honor. Ms. Langan's latest novel Audrey's Door will be released in late 2009 and has already been optioned by The Weinstein Company for film.

Two other guests of honor have been announced this week: authors Brian Keene and Joe R. Lansdale (pictured at right). You might recall that Bubba Ho-tep, filmed in Texas, was based on one of Lansdale's short stories.

Last month, Jenn reported that Simon Rumley, whose film The Living and the Dead won an award at Fantastic Fest 2006 (which he's holding above), would be shooting his next film around Austin: Red, White and Blue.

The production is currently looking for extras to fill the Broken Spoke in a scene that will be shot on Tuesday, July 7. You have to show up in country-and-western clothing and it seems some beer drinking may be involved. For more information, check out the Alamo blog entry written by the film's executive producer, Tim League.

The Austin Chronicle published a story today with more details about Red, White and Blue and Rumley shooting in Austin. We're also planning more news about the production soon -- I heard a rumor that one of the shooting locations is also the home of a Slackerwood contributor (aside to husband: no, not our house, don't worry).

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:

[Ed. Note: Please welcome Slackerwood's newest contributor, Debbie Cerda.]

When Jette blogged in late March about the Austin Film Festival (AFF) "Made in Texas Film Series," the July 8 screening had yet to be set. I am quite pleased to see it's been announced and is one of my favorite films made in Texas, True Stories.

There are many reasons to appreciate this gem of a film beyond the fact it is set in Texas, beginning with the director and co-writer, David Byrne of the Talking Heads. Mr. Byrne brings the quirkiness of Texas urban legends to the screen, set to a well-blended soundtrack by the Talking Heads. When he was scouting locations for his film in 1985, he enlisted the assistance of a Dallas real-estate agent to find several pink houses for potential locations. This real-estate agent was the mother of a friend of mine who was quite happy to help his mom show David Byrne around Dallas, including a viewing of Mary Kay Ash's pink palace.

True Stories features a strong cast, including John Goodman, Swoosie Kurtz and the late Spalding Gray. Goodman's performance as Louis Fyne is both genuine and endearing. In my list of "Who Should Star in This Film?" I would wholeheartedly support Mr. Goodman if he were to star in the role of the late Don Walser, "the Pavarotti of the Plains." The droll but ever-amusing Spalding Gray delivers as well. Who knew that you could use food to represent modernization and industrialization?