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See 'Gretchen' Tonight on Sundance Channel

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Gretchen

Update: Check out this cool episode of Between the Scenes that includes some behind-the-scenes footage from the Gretchen shoot as well as cast and crew interviews. (Thanks to John Merriman for the heads-up.)

One of my favorite movies from SXSW 2006 was Gretchen, the story of a high-school girl who isn't exactly one of the beautiful people. Austin filmmaker Steve Collins expanded his short Gretchen and the Night Danger and kept two of its stars, Courtney Davis (in the title role) and John Merriman. The feature also includes Betsy Ann Baker as Gretchen's mom, and Stephen Root. The cinematographer is Austin filmmaker P.J. Raval, who has also photographed the Oscar-nominated doc Trouble the Water as well as other Austin films.

Gretchen has sadly never had a theatrical release and has not yet had a DVD release. So I urge you to watch Gretchen when it airs on the Sundance Channel on Tuesday (3/31) at 5:15 pm CST and again at 11:30 pm CST. As a bonus, John Merriman says he'll be live-tweeting his commentary of the movie during the earlier screening on Tuesday. He's one of the funniest Twitter users I know, so you may want to follow him tomorrow.

My review for Cinematical closed with this line: "Overall, Gretchen is a beautiful, delicate look at the nasty pains of teenage relationships. And Gretchen could totally kick Napoleon's ass."

New AFF Series is 'Made in Texas'

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Texas State History MuseumAustin Film Festival is starting a monthly film series called "Made in Texas" that will feature movies that are all -- well, you guessed from the title. The films will be shown on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:30 pm in the Texas Spirit Theater at the Texas State History museum. Admission is a mere $5 -- in fact, if you're an AFF or Texas State History member, it's free.

Several of these screenings will also feature writers and/or directors, and I am particularly pleased to see that the series kicks off with a movie written by Bud Shrake. About 12 years ago (maybe more), AFF showed Kid Blue during the fest, with Shrake and Dennis Hopper in attendance, and both the movie and ensuing discussion were unforgettable. I keep hoping for an encore screening, since Kid Blue isn't on DVD, but I'm happy to try a new Shrake-scripted film instead.

Full lineup after the jump ...

Quick Snaps: Connie Britton at Texas Film Hall of Fame

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Connie Britton

It's been noted that we've been posting lots of photos of the guys lately, and I thought we could use a little balance. Connie Britton is one of the stars of the TV series Friday Night Lights, which is shot in Texas, so it seemed fitting she should appear on the red carpet at the Texas Film Hall of Fame awards. In addition, she's in the film Women in Trouble, which played SXSW this year. I reviewed the film for Cinematical. Britton's character is stuck in an elevator for hours with Carla Gugino's porn star, Elektra Luxx.

Expect more Texas Film Hall of Fame photos here soon -- if you can't wait, there's a photo gallery over at Cinematical.

Next Fest: Head to AFI Dallas

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 Rian Johnson

I attended AFI Dallas in its first year and had a great time. I'd love to go back this year, but it starts Thursday night and I'm still recuperating from SXSW.

This year's opening-night film is Rian Johnson's The Brothers Bloom, which played during Fantastic Fest as a sneak preview last year. Johnson was at the Austin screening, as you can see from the above photo. Johnson and Reiko Kikuchi are scheduled to attend the AFI Dallas event. Kikuchi nearly steals the movie, which is a comedy about con men, in the tradition of The Lady Eve.

The Brothers Bloom isn't the only film from Fantastic Fest 2008 to play at AFI Dallas this year. Zombie Girl, the documentary about Austin teenager Emily Hagins directing a horror film, is screening in competition. And a favorite short from the fest, The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon, is in the shorts competition.

Slackery Non-SXSW News Tidbits

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TXFHOF 2009Why does this entry include a photo of Brendan Fraser from the Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards, you might ask? The answer is that I have no idea. I didn't feel like digging around for something more relevant, and at least this photo is funny. And no, this is not part of a covert plot to feature a Hot Dudes of SXSW photo gallery on Slackerwood. Although, since someone did suggest such a thing ...

Ahem. Anyway. Onto the latest Austin film-related news:

  • If you missed Bradley Beesley and/or his doc Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo at SXSW this year, you can say hi to him and hear about his film on Wednesday afternoon. He's visiting Ellen Spiro's documentary class at UT from 6 to 8 pm, and visitors are welcome. There may even be snacks. The class is in CMB (the brown building at Dean Keaton and Guadalupe), in Studio 4D.
  • Congrats to the Alamo Village for getting a spiffy new projector, a Sony 4K digital that can project 3D movies. I wish it had arrived before Coraline was in theaters, since I'm not especially excited about Monsters vs. Aliens. However, this also means that all first-run movies at the Village will now be digitally projected, and that should be pretty cool. Alamo programmer Lars Nilsen says (via Facebook), "It makes all other digital cinema look like a bear pooped on it."

Quick Snaps: Zack Shows SXSW His 'Troll 2' Tattoo

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Zack at Best Worst Movie

I've got plenty of SXSW 2009 photos to share, but one of my favorites is from the Best Worst Movie screening on Friday night. Best Worst Movie is a documentary about the weird cult phenomenon of the film listed as the worst on IMDb, Troll 2. I should have known that the movie would have an Austin connection, namely Alamo Drafthouse. One of the Troll 2 events shown in the film took place at the old Alamo on Colorado. It was nice to see the old place again. In addition, Austin-turned-L.A. filmmaker Nick Robinson was interviewed at the Alamo screening, and Rolling Roadshow did a big event where Troll 2 was shot, so we also saw Tim League and Zack Carlson.

Zack was at the Q&A Friday night along with the Best Worst Movie filmmakers and some of the original Troll 2 cast. And in the documentary, you see that he is such a big fan of the film that he got a tattoo to commemorate it. So naturally, during the Q&A, everyone started chanting for him to take off his shirt and show off the tattoo. Thus, the above photo. But wait, there's more.

SXSW Day 9: Drive-By Reviews

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500 Days of Summer cast and crew

It's over, at least the film festival is. Post-fest depression is already setting in. New friends made, old friends well met, and everyone's exhausted after gorging on the cinematic smorgasbord. I managed to see 34 films (not including 1 short), and explode my Twitter list.

I was actually able to get five films in today, and the best one of the day has local connections. My Suicide has the kinetic, unconventional immediacy of Four Eyed Monsters, a previous hit at SXSW, with the ironic insight of a Juno or Chumscrubber. Shot with a variety of cameras and emphasizing subjective shots, it's a causticly funny dissection of and by the YouTube generation. As we increasingly editorialize our experiences as they happen, we become further dislocated from our lives, and 17-year-old Archie (Gabriel Sunday) can't take it anymore. When he declares his video project will be on his own suicide, he upsets the status quo, frequently quoting and recreating famous movie scenes. If I heard right, director David Lee Miller mentions that the sound editor and one of the graphics team are Austinites in the Q&A. As it doesn't have distribution yet, I'll be following up on it to get more details on that Austin connection.

SXSW Day 8 Drive-By Reviews

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SXSW 2009

Only one more day to go, and I'm ready for SXSW to be over. It's not the quality of the films, but the lack of quality sleep that makes me appreciate the fact that film festivals do end.

Yesterday, due to a miscommunication, I headed downtown pointlessly on a #3 bus to meet a friend, and it was insanely packed with people and cars. I quickly came back to my home theater, the South Lamar Alamo.

I only caught a few films on Friday, and the stand out was Berlin Calling, a very long but good electronica music video good enough to convert the uninitiated to DJ Paul Kalkbrenner. Karlbrenner stars in the movie about a Berlin DJ whose overuse of recreational drugs induces a psychotic break. As director Hannes Stohr says, it's a story told a thousand times. With the music mirroring and forecasting the emotional ups and downs, it's worth a watch as much as a listen. It made me want to buy the soundtrack, and now I understand why some friends follow DJs.

SXSW Day 7: Drive-By Reviews

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SXSW 2009

With the film conference over, and the music conference and festival well underway, attendance is dropping for the screenings, but not nearly as much as in recent years. From what I understand, attendance is up overall, but this is a very positive sign for the festival and for Janet Pierson's first year as the producer. Succession is not an easy thing, and Matt Dentler certainly left his stamp on SXSW, but I have to say it's been a solid program, and the SXSW team should be proud.

I had the day planned out, I was going to make it to five screenings, but first I got up later than expected, and then the music festival hit. I'm not a big fan of the Sixth Street insanity at the best of times, and the cacophony of very loud music from every possible angle, just made it impossible for me to keep my sanity and stay at the Ritz as planned. So after just one screening, I was back at the South Lamar Alamo, which is my home theater. I ended up skipping my last screening there, not because the buzz was bad (just the opposite), but because I'm getting movied out. I'm so movied out, I haven't done the snippet reviews of what I watched yesterday.

Check Out Encores of SXSW Movies at Alamo

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Updated 3/22: SXSW Film badgeholders get in free; anyone else should buy a ticket through Alamo.

If you haven't been able to watch any SXSW films this week, you've got a second chance. Alamo Ritz will show four SXSW films on Sunday as part of a "Taste of SXSW" series that I hope continues in upcoming weeks/months. Even if you've been at SXSW Film Festival, you may have missed one of these. These screenings aren't part of SXSW, so you need to buy tickets through Alamo Drafthouse.

  • Beeswax -- Plays at 1:45 pm. I can recommend this one, which I reviewed for Cinematical. Beeswax was shot in Austin and half the filmmakers in town have minor roles.
  • Anvil! The Story of Anvil -- Plays at 4:30 pm. I missed this movie last night because I was too chicken to deal with downtown parking. But on the Sunday after SXSW, parking shouldn't be a problem. It's a documentary about a heavy metal band that's been touring on and off for 30 years now.
  • Adventureland -- Plays at 7:30 pm. This is the latest film from the director of Superbad and stars Jesse Eisenberg and Kristin Stewart.
  • Ong Bak 2 -- Plays at 10:10 pm. Tony Jaa's martial-arts sequel played only at midnight during SXSW, so if you're a little more of an early bird, you can see this Sunday night.
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