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Slackery News Tidbits: January 28, 2013

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Here's the latest in Austin and Texas film news.

  • IndieWire reports that HBO has ordered a pilot from former Austinites Jay and Mark Duplass. The brothers will write, executive produce and direct the pilot for the half-hour comedy Togetherness, about two couples living in the same house. Although neither brother is set to appear on screen, Togetherness, if ordered as a series, will be their television project as writers and creators.
  • The Tom Hanks-produced film Parkland (Ryan's dispatch), about the going-ons at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, has started shooting in Austin, IndieWire reports. The film, adapted from author and former prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi's book Reclaiming History: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy, stars Paul Giamatti, Billy Bob Thornton and University of Texas alum Marcia Gay Harden, among others. Parkland is scheduled for a late 2013 release, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's death.
  • Despite ensuing controversy, MovieMaker Magazine has named Austin the best city for indie filmmakers, according to Joe M. O'Connell's blog. New York, Seattle, LA and Portland follow in the annual top 10 list, whose criteria includes "film community," "access to new film," "access to equipment," "cost of living" and "tax incentives." Last year Austin was ranked number two behind New Orleans, which dropped out of the top five this year.

2012 in Review: Jordan's New and Remastered Favorites

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Wake in Fright

There's something about 2012 I just can't shake. I find myself going back to the films I enjoyed last year, the ones I went to after a philosophical debate with my downstairs neighbor, or when I wanted to sing and piss her off. There's variety in the movies I chose, ready to set whatever mood you're in.

  • Wake in Fright (pictured at top) -- Long-considered to be lost (and almost destroyed), this Australian thriller was remastered and acquired by Drafthouse Films last year. It's gritty and sometimes shocking protrayal of masculinity and the pliable nature of the human psyche, not to mention the disturbing performance by Donald Pleasence, is like nothing I've seen before. I'm not sure if I would have ever heard of Wake in Fright (an Australian friend of mine hadn't heard of it), let alone been able to find and watch the movie, if I hadn't attended Fantastic Fest.

    Based on the 1961 book of the same name, the film, which was nominated for a Palme D'Or at Cannes in 1971, tells the story of good-natured British schoolteacher John Grant (Gary Bond). Upon arriving in a rough outback mining town on his way to Sydney, he meets a group of alcohol-induced degenerates who change his life forever. The film's U.S. distribution rights were sold at Cannes in 1971, and yet it only had a short run in theaters and never appeared on VHS or DVD ... until now. I owe a big thank you to the film's cinematographer, who found the original negatives in canisters marked for inceneration in Philadelphia. After decades in obscurity, and with support from the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, Wake in Fright was restored and had the rare honor of being screened twice at Cannes in 2009.

Slackery News Tidbits: January 21, 2013

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Here's the latest Austin movie news.

  • Films such as Slacker and Grindhouse may have put the "third coast" on the map, but the Texas House and Senate have proposed to eliminate the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program budget, which provides financial incentives for movies, video games and advertising, according to Austin Movie Blog. The state legislative bodies budget proposals include $4.2 million for the Texas Film Commission and Texas Music Office, which would not include incentives, instead of the $39.2 million the Governor's office requested. If approved, the budget cuts could cause many productions to move out of Texas.
  • The "third coast" isn't down yet. Austin Film Festival is kicking off the return of its Audience Series with a screening of the Austin-made horror-comedy Saturday Morning Massacre (Jette's review) on Monday, February 4 at Alamo Drafthouse Village. The film, which screened at AFF 2012, is about a group of down-on-their-luck paranormal investigators and their beloved pooch, who embark on an adventure to debunk the ghost stories surrounding an abandoned mansion. 
  • Andrew Bujalski's latest film will put you in check. The critically acclaimed Austin-based filmmaker's movie Computer Chess, which is premiering at Sundance this week, will screen internationally at the Berlin International Film Festival (aka the Berlinale) next month. The Austin-shot Computer Chess revolves around chess players and computer programmers at a computer chess tournament in the 1980s. Bujalski, a 2011 Texas Filmmakers Production Fund recipient, raised more than $50,000 in crowdfunded donations through United States Artists for the film. (The filmmaker also has a small role in the above-mentioned Saturday Morning Massacre.)
  • The PBS show Independent Lens will broadcast two shows with Texas connections in the next few weeks. Tonight at 9 pm on KLRU, you can watch SXSW 2012 selection Beauty Is Embarrassing (Jette's review), the documentary about artist Wayne White. (If you are Texan, you will love White's LBJ mask.) And on Monday, January 28 at 9 pm, catch The Revisionaries (Don's review), which examines the Texas State Board of Education. Visit the Independent Lens web page for a full broadcast schedule.

Slackery News Tidbits: January 14, 2013

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Here's the latest in Austin film news.

  • Austin-based producer Cori Shephard Stern has received an Academy Award nomination for the documentary short Open Heart, according to The Austin Chronicle. Set in Rwanda, Open Heart follows eight children afflicted with rheumatic heart disease, and their journey to Sudan and the Salaam Centre for Cardiac Surgery. Stern's next project, the feature film Warm Bodies, about a zombie who falls in love with the girlfriend of one of his victims, opens in the U.S. on February 1.
  • Despite Texan Matthew McConaughey's Oscar snub, he received a Best Supporting Actor award from The National Society of Film Critics last week for his work in Richard Linklater's dark comedy Bernie (Don's review), and Steven Soderbergh's dramedy Magic Mike (Don's review).
  • Austin Film Festival has announced its first round of 2013 panelists. The only Texas-connected panelist so far is Alvaro Rodriguez (Machete). Other speakers include Jim Uhls (Fight Club), Dan Sterling (producer of Girls), John August (Frankenweenie) and Rick Dugdale of Enderby Entertainment, among others, are scheduled to speak at the 20th annual festival, running from October 24-31.
  • The historic New Mission Theater in San Francisco, which has been closed since 1993, has been approved for a renovation and remodel into a five-screen Alamo Drafthouse, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The San Francisco City Planning Committee gave final approval last week to the $10 million deal for the 1916 theater. Work is scheduled to begin this summer.

Slackery News Tidbits: January 7, 2013

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Here's the latest Austin film news. 

  • Kicking off the new year, AGLIFF-Polari is teaming up with Queer Cinema for a Superhero Spectacular on Saturday, January 26 at 8 pm. Austin celebrity host Rebecca Havemeyer and a lineup of queer superhero talent will present the Indonesian film Madame X, about a transgender hairdresser who moonlights as a superhero, with pre-show entertainment and party following the screening.
  • For a look back at Austin film in 2012, check out Austin American-Statesman reporter Matthew Odam's retrospective for the Austin American-Statesman.
  • The Austin-shot film Holy Hell (our review), which premiered at the 2009 Austin Film Festival, will be the first movie to premiere on the iPad. The comedy, about a strapped-for-cash church whose parishioners decide to make a horror movie to raise the necessary funds, will be free to download on Friday and Saturday at the iTunes store.

Holiday Favorites 2012: Nathan Christ, 'Twin Peaks'

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Welcome to Holiday Favorites, a series in which Slackerwood contributors and our friends talk about the movies we watch during the holiday season, holiday-related or otherwise.

This installment comes from Nathan Christ, director of the Austin music documentary Echotone. Here's his pick:

This holiday season, I'm re-watching Twin Peaks.

It's not a film per se, but a series of one-hour films, and it's pure cinema. It speaks about society in a magical and mysterious way. It's the story of a community and is bursting with melancholy romance, spirituality, and battling archetypes. Most of its characters seek to be good but are frequently disrupted by shocking bursts of evil and violence, which takes on a visceral and chilling significance for me in our recent times.

Holiday Favorites 2012: Brandon Dickerson, 'Millions'

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Welcome to Holiday Favorites, a series in which Slackerwood contributors and our friends talk about the movies we watch during the holiday season, holiday-related or otherwise. 

This installment comes from Brandon Dickerson, director and co-writer of Sironia.

Seeing a film on Christmas Day has been a tradition since I was a kid and one we've continued with our own family the past few years. We started early with special Alamo Drafthouse screenings of Gremlins and It's a Wonderful Life with our kids and I'm certain that Elf and Love Actually will be enjoyed at home in the few days leading up to Christmas celebrations.

Whereas all of those films would make my "Holiday Favorite" list, along with A Christmas Story, my absolute favorite movie to enjoy during the winter holidays is Millions. Danny Boyle's playfully directed story of a seven-year-old boy who discovers a bag of English pounds just days before the currency is switched to euros, grabs me every time I see it. It's also at the top of my "man-I-wish-I-somehow-directed-that-film" list.

Slackery News Tidbits, December 26

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Here's the latest Austin and Texas film news.

Holiday Favorites 2012: Andrew Disney's 'Clause'

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The Santa Clause

Welcome to Holiday Favorites, a series in which Slackerwood contributors and our friends talk about the movies we watch during the holiday season, holiday-related or otherwise. 

This installment comes from Andrew Disney, writer/director of Searching for Sonny, the Fort Worth-shot detective-movie spoof that screened at Austin Film Festival in 2011 (Mike's review). Here's his pick:

I started writing with the intention to impress everyone. First I thought Gremlins, but it was already taken. Then I thought Kiss Kiss Bang Bang because I do love films set during Christmas that have little to do with the holiday. But deep down inside I knew it would all be false. There's one Christmas movie I've watched every Christmas Eve since I was nine. Of course, I'm talking about the 1994 hit movie starring Tim Allen ... The Santa Clause (with special emphasis on the "e").

I distinctly remember sitting in the theater listening to my dad try to explain the legal definition of "clause" to me and my younger sister. The entire movie hinges on this pun, and I don't think I quite got it as a kid. As a nine-year-old, where would I ever encounter a "clause"? But now that I'm older and I'm looking back, I love how wonderfully bizarre this movie is.

Slackery News Tidbits, December 17

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Here's the latest Austin film news.

  • Take a trip back in time with the screening of Amos Poe's film Unmade Beds at 7 pm on Wednesday in the Austin Film Society Screening Room. It's 1976, New York City, and "Rico," a photographer, is searching for reality down the barrel of his camera lens to fulfill his innermost fantasies in this No Wave classic, starring Debbie "Blondie" Harry
  • The Austin documentary Trash Dance, which premiered at SXSW 2012 (Mike's review), is up for a Cinema Eye audience award ... and you can vote for it online right now. The film is about choreographer Allison Orr's project to create a "dance" performance based around Austin Department of Solid Waste staff and vehicles. The results will be announced at Cinema Eye's awards ceremony on January 9.
  • The 2013 Sundance Film Festival has added a few more features to its lineup ... including El Mariachi, Robert Rodriguez's first feature from 1992. The movie joins a long list of features and shorts with Texas connections screening at the Park City festival next month.
  • Congratulations to Austin Film Festival 2010 Screenplay Finalist Chris Cantwell, whose script Halt & Catch Fire has been ordered by AMC as one of four projects to get the pilot greenlight. The AFF newsletter reports that filming is scheduled to begin next year. The drama unfolds during the personal computer boom of the early 1980s in Texas.
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