Slackery News Tidbits, May 18

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.
  • Fantastic Fest 2009 award winner Mandrill has just been picked up for worldwide distribution by Magnet Releasing (which is part of Magnolia). No word on release dates, but I have heard persistent rumors that we may be seeing some Austin screenings.
  • The film Waco will start filming soon in Louisiana. Whether you think this is news depends on whether you agree with Moises Chiullan at Hollywood Elsewhere, who believes that last year's kerfuffle with the Texas Film Commission was manufactured controversy.
  • Machete has a new adversary: local conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Lately, Jones's website Prison Planet has published multiple screeds about Robert Rodriguez's latest film -- complaining that it is receiving Texas film incentives while Waco did not (see Moises's column above for the facts on that one), calling it an "incendiary race film" and getting especially angry about the trailer posted on Ain't It Cool News for Cinco de Mayo that referenced Arizona immigration laws. I'm not going to link to the specific articles -- they're easy to find if you want -- but Cinematical has a round-up of Alex Jones's rants about the film, including a video that "predicts" Machete will incite riots, racially motivated killings, dogs and cats living together and other disasters.