SXSW 2010: Jette's Wrap-Up

This was my sixth SXSW Film Festival and my fifth as a distinguished member of the press. This was also the first SXSW that I seriously felt like an editor here at Slackerwood. If you look at our SXSW coverage list, you'll see why. We've written 50 articles during and after SXSW so far, not counting the guides and interviews done beforehand. We were able to run five articles a day some days, which is really fucking incredible for a site that used to be dead for two weeks at a time because Chris and I felt too busy or slackery to update it. We had unexpected contributors who pitched in and added to the fun. It did mean more time on the computer and less time in the theater, but I still saw so many wonderful movies that I can't complain.

Let's get to the fun part. I'm taking the slackery way out and giving you a list of my SXSW 2010 experiences.

Favorite movies coming to a theater near you: Micmacs, the latest film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie), which I liked so much that I saw at a press screening and then at the official SXSW screening. Okay, part of that was because the line for Cold Weather was too long and I knew I wouldn't get in, but still. Here's my Cinematical review. Expect to see Micmacs in American theaters sometime this summer. I also really liked Steven Soderbergh's film about Spalding Gray, And Everything Is Going Fine, which I hope to review soon (we'll see). And the Duplass brothers' film Cyrus was quite enjoyable (my review), and should be hitting theaters this summer too.

Favorite movie you can see right now if you have cable: Bryan Poyser's film Lovers of Hate (my review), which IFC is making available on cable VOD. I hope it hits Amazon VOD or Netflix Watch Instantly soon so I can see it again.

Favorite movie I don't know when you'll get to see: Marwencol, which just blew me away. Read my review to find out why. I also liked several other movies hitting the film-fest circuit in search of distribution: World's Largest, Tiny Furniture (my review) and Cold Weather (my review).

Biggest surprise: I didn't especially want to see a documentary about some guy in Motorhead but I was assigned the review by Cinematical. Turns out that you don't have to know or like anything about Motorhead to enjoy Lemmy (my review), and having Lemmy himself at the screening made the evening even better.

Favorite video I hope you'll get to see soon: Me interviewing the charming and fun directors of World's Largest, Amy Elliott and Liz Donius, for Studio SX. Those videos will be posted to the SXSW YouTube channel soon, I just don't know when exactly.

Oddest coincidence: Two of the movies I saw on the last day of the fest had strong Lion King references: Waking Sleeping Beauty and Four Lions. I don't think they'd make a good double-feature, though.

Favorite movie noticeably shot in Austin: The Happy Poet, which is just as cute as a bug. Here's Jenn's review. Local foodie groups need to find a way to show this film, preferably while serving healthy organic treats. I also liked Mars (Jenn's review), which was shot locally but on green screens, so you can't spot any locations. There are still a few Austin films from the fest that I haven't seen yet that I hope to catch at a later date.

Most Austin-y crowd: The folks in the Paramount for the premiere of For the Sake of the Song: The Story of Anderson Fair. Yes, I realize Anderson Fair is in Houston. Still, the audience was populated with fans of Texas folk musicians, and were so pleased to see these musicians in the movie. It was one of the only movies where I saw a standing ovation this year. I suspect there were a lot of ticketholders in the audience, as opposed to badgeholders. I went with my husband, the only time we managed to swing that during the fest, which also made it an extra-nice experience for me. (And then he offered to review the movie. I married a prince.)

Number of movies I seriously fell asleep during: One. There's always one, every year. It's always in the afternoon. Usually it's at the Paramount, where I can't order food to stay awake, but this year I succumbed at Alamo South. Sometimes the movie is good but too slow for me at that particular time, sometimes I just want to escape. This is also the only movie I walked out of, because I wasn't reviewing it and it wasn't worth fighting sleepiness over. I walked outside into a gorgeous sunny day and enjoyed the good weather before trying again with another film I liked better.

Number of movies I didn't get into because they "sold out" even to badgeholders: Technically speaking, none. However, when I saw the line for the first screening of Cold Weather I knew I didn't have a chance, and picked a movie at the Paramount instead. I only used my press status once to request a reserved seat from a PR rep for a movie, one that was in the small Ritz theater ... and I got there early enough that I would have had a seat if I'd stayed in line instead of taking photos of all the filmmakers hanging around in front.

Number of midnight movies seen: None. Usually I manage to stay up late for at least one, like Drag Me to Hell last year, but I was a giant wuss-puss this year and went home to bed. In fact, the first weekend of SXSW, I was downtown by 8:30 one day and 9 am another day. At least I got really good free parking. If only I could have found a place to take a nap (not a theater).

Biggest missed opportunity (not mine): Alamo Drafthouse didn't have any SXSW-themed food or drink specials this year. Last year I really liked the Slammin' Salmon salad and the Artois the Goat cheese plate. They did have some very good specials themed on current movies in theaters, but I missed the SXSW-isms.

Biggest unpleasant surprise: The rescheduled Zilker Kite Festival, which I had no idea was going on, made it impossible for me to get from downtown to Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar in any decent time on Sunday afternoon. I ended up giving up and going home, in the other direction. Believe me, Slackerwood will be keeping an eye on events like this next year and will include them in our guides so none of us will be taken unprepared.

Second biggest annoying surprise: Could not find a parking space downtown for love or money on Friday afternoon and missed Thunder Soul, one of the movies I'd been most eager to see this year. Jenn's review showed me I really did miss something special. I need to remember next year that if I want to go downtown in the afternoon, I need to allow for tons of time to find parking. Or better yet, stick to Alamo South on those days.

Best meal: An early dinner on opening-night at Parkside with Jenn Brown. We are now Parkside groupies.

Worst meal: Cocoa and a biscotti grabbed quickly from The Hideout between movies at the Paramount on Saturday night. Very tasty, but not exactly a healthful dinner. That was the day I broke every guideline and recommendation in Jenn Brown's SXSW Survival Guide, and boy did I suffer.

Best outfit: Geoff Marslett in the Mars spacesuit, shown at right. Although I also really liked the dress filmmaker Lena Dunham wore for the Tiny Furniture premiere -- she's the third person from the left in the photo at the top.

Most fun "celebrity" sighting: Steph Beasley and I stood in the Tiny Furniture line and spotted an incredible number of Austin filmmakers and actors, even more than at The Happy Poet. "Zellners." "One or both?" "Both. I think." "Byington over there." "That's Ti West walking by." "There goes Bryan Poyser, the Lovers of Hate screening must have let out." "Karpovsky." "Well, yeah, he's in the movie." "Is that Lena Dunham?" "I don't know what she looks like." It was bizarre, but a great way to pass the time.

Second most fun "celebrity" sightings: Jenn Brown and I kept seeing guys who looked like Jason Reitman, and then turned out to be Jason Reitman. Which was cool until everyone started seeing him everywhere. Also, it was nice to spot Austin City Councilmember Laura Morrison at a number of screenings -- she is a serious SXSW film-festgoer -- although I was never close enough to say hello.

Best person to stand in line with: Rebecca Campbell, Executive Director of Austin Film Society. Not only is she enjoyable to chat with, but everyone knows her, everyone comes over to say hi, and I got to meet a bunch of Austin filmmakers and crew. Here's her picture; memorize it and encourage her to crash the line next to you when you see her at SXSW next year.

Favorite swag: The wooden key chains for The Happy Poet, which had the film's logo on one side and "SXSW 2010" on the other. Really lovely, and appropriate for the film. Now I just have to find a way to pin it to my lampshade full of buttons and other small swag.