Local Film Fests

Noir City Austin 2015: Sunday Dispatch

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There was a definite sadness on Sunday, the third day of Noir City Austin, as I made my way to the seat at Alamo Drafthouse Ritz that I had occupied all weekend. The film festival was coming to a close and my trip to Noir City was almost over. The crowd had shrunk, but those who remained were hungrier than ever for more Cornell Woolrich adaptations.

Night Has a Thousand Eyes

The first selection of the day featured another standout performance by Edward G. Robinson, an actor I always tend to typecast, yet am continuously surprised by his strong range and characterizations. In Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948), Robinson plays John Triton, a phony psychic who one day realizes he has developed actual powers. As his ability to predict accidents and deaths grows stronger, his newfound gift becomes a curse, which starts to eat away at him.

I'm always intrigued when I encounter a noir offering which plays with the supernatural a bit. In fact, two of last year's selections -- (Repeat Performance (1947) and Three Strangers (1946) -- balanced the two worlds perfectly and have since become two of my favorite noir selections. Night Has a Thousand Eyes fits perfectly into that mold by playing with ideas of chance, fate and whether ordinary beings have any say in such areas. There are no typical villains or dangerous women per se in this movie, which delves into the supernatural. Yet films such as Night Has a Thousand Eyes contain their own kind of special darkness, which is both menacing and fascinating all at once.

Noir City Austin 2015: Saturday Dispatch

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When the second day of Noir City Austin came around, I was more than excited to step into the world of Cornell Woolrich again. The first night had given me a taste with Street of Chance (1942), but now it was time to dive far into the mind of one of the great innovators of the film noir genre.

Before kicking things off, Film Noir Foundation President and festival host Eddie Muller once again thanked the audience for attending and stressed that although they were there for fun, their presence signified great steps toward restoring these rare films and and keeping them alive.

"Proceeds from these festivals go straight to film rescue and restoration," he said. "It's expensive to restore these films and we thank you for helping us preserve them as films."

With that said, the Woolrich journey began.

Noir City Austin 2015: Friday Dispatch

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Noir City got well underway Friday night at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz after too long of a wait since last year's inaugural festival. The three-day fest features a dizzying collection of film noir lost treasures, almost all of which are unavailable anywhere else. Friday's selections included Woman on the Run and Street of Chance.

Eddie Muller, president of the Film Noir Foundation (my interview), was on hand once again to kick off the festival, introduce each movie and praise both the Drafthouse and the attendees.

"I'm a huge supporter of the Alamo Drafthouse and what they do to keep the moviegoing experience alive," said Muller. "Movies are essential to what happens in the culture and our efforts to preserve these films are helped enormously by those of you who continue to come to the movies."

Beautifully Strange: OUTsider Festival 2015 Preview

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outsider fest

Austin has no shortage of arts festivals, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for one more -- especially one that brings a level of depth and differentness not captured by the others. In just a few days, the very first OUTsider Festival will begin, and based on the lineup and creative people involved, attendees can expect something refreshing, entertaining and enriching. 

We asked OUTsider Festival Artistic Director Curran Nault to give us an overview of the five-day LGBTQIA event, which will include several films along with panels, live performances, parties and more. OUTsider runs from Feb. 18-22 in a number of central Austin venues.

Slackerwood: In a few quick words, how would you describe OUTsider Festival and how did its existence come about?

Curran Nault: OUTsider is a queer multi-arts festival. OUTsider brings together artists, academics and audiences across their differences and disciplinary boundaries. OUTsider defies the limits of traditional festival models in order to create a sense of wonderment through new artistic experiences, collaborations and conversations. OUTsider makes room for the marginalized, the misfit, and the outcast. OUTsider values dialogue and community. 

Other Worlds Austin Interview: 'Apt 3D' Filmmakers/Stars

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Zack Imbrogno and Maxxe Sternbaum

The Other Worlds Austin SciFi Film Festival closed out its inaugural event with the world premiere of Apt 3D, a psychological thriller set in New York in the dead of winter. Newly transplanted couple Erin (Maxxe Sternbaum) and Ben (Zack Imbrogno) struggle with new confining environs, unsure of what is imaginary and what may be real -- and whether their neighbors are the source of the enigma.

Battling fears and their own concerns they might be imagining things, the couple's relationship starts to fracture. However, as they look further into what happened to Ben's sister, the apartment's previous resident, they begin to wonder if the other residents of this complex might have it out for them.

I met with the lead actors the day after the screening to talk about Apt 3D -- in addition to starring in this film, Imbrogno wrote and co-directed and Sternbaum edited. They spoke about the writing process as well as the challenges of making their first feature film, as well as how the film reflected their own time in New York City.

Other Worlds Austin Review: Time Lapse

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The next time I yell at my roommate for not washing the dishes I'll think of Time Lapse, which recently won the feature audience award at the inaugural Other Worlds Austin science-fiction movie festival. It made me realize that my roommate problems could be a whole lot worse.

The movie's about three twentysomethings with their heads in the clouds -- think The Real World meets a Tales From The Crypt version of Friends. There's Finn (my man Matt O'Leary), the sensitive painter; his doting would-be writer girlfriend Callie (Danielle Panabaker); and gambling addict bad boy Jasper (George Finn).

All appears to be well, at least stable, for our merry band of misfits, until the day Finn -- who's financially supporting himself as the apartment's manager -- goes to check on a mysterious elderly tenant and discovers a large, steampunk-esque camera pointed at his living-room window. He soon discovers that this machine takes Polaroids that show what will happen in the next 24 hours. The body of the tenant is found decomposing in his onsite storage unit.

Other Worlds Austin Interview: Andrew Olson, 'Blackout'

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 Andrew Olson

Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Austin-based filmmaker Andrew Olson's short movie Blackout made its world premiere at last weekend's inaugural Other Worlds Austin, the city's first dedicated science-fiction movie festival. The horror-thriller screened before the feature Apt 3D

An online cast and crew call for Blackout decribed the Austin-shot short as "Mad Max meets Pitch Black." It takes place in the future, where a survivor in the fight against the monstrous Reapers comes face-to-face with them. 

Olson, a University of Texas at Austin alumnus, said Blackout, still on the festival circuit, was created to help promote a future fundraising campaign for a "feature or episodic version" of the short.

Slackerwood: Did you initially consider Blackout to be science fiction?

Andrew Olson: Yes, I always considered Blackout science fiction and horror.

Other Worlds Austin: Fest Has Lift-Off!

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Other Worlds Austin CollageThe Other Worlds Austin science-fiction film festival blasted off to a great start last Thursday, with a pre-apocalyptic happy hour at The Tigress cocktail bar where several of us tried the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. I really appreciated that social events were scheduled around the screenings. Saturday morning's "2014: A Brunch Odyssey" was held at The Goodnight, and provided a great opportunity to network with other attendees including filmmakers.

Despite the fact that this was the first year for this film festival, which only spanned Thursday and Friday evenings and all day Saturday -- primarily at Galaxy Highland -- I was impressed by the number of filmmakers who traveled from as far as Los Angeles and New York to support their films. Just a few of the filmmakers in attendance included writer/director Cidney Hue (Odessa), director Bryan Costanich (Slumptown), and Apt 3D writer/director/actor Zack Imbrogno and editor/actress Maxxe Sternbaum.

Other Worlds Austin 2014: Science-Fiction Shorts

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In my book, short filmmakers (not judged by their height but the length of their movies) were the true guardians of the Galaxy -- Galaxy Highland 10 Theatres, that is. 

My attendance Friday at the inaugural Other Worlds Austin science-fiction movie festival will be saved in my mental hard drive; not only was this Austin's first dedicated science-fiction movie festival, but my first attendance at one. Oh, I've had many informal science-fiction movie fests on my couch in front of the TV (alone because none of my friends or family members enjoy science-fiction, they're more into rom-coms). 

The Other Worlds Austin Cthulhu-like logo sold me instantly. It brought back many memories, like when I first heard about H.P. Lovecraft, author of the short story "The Call of Cthulhu." I was in middle school, stuck at home sick and bored, so I dug around in a box of a family member's belongings and found a DVD of the first episode, Dreams in the Witch-House, of the now sadly defunct Showtime series Masters of Horror. This led to me scrounging my local public library for anything associated with Lovecraft, who, despite his sexism and racism, probably has the coolest last name. Ever. My anthropoid homie Cthulhu and I have been tight ever since. 

This "passage to the unknown" lines up well with the short movies I saw at OWA for its second shorts program (aptly titled "Passage to the Unknown"). One short even almost made me cry. 

Other Worlds Austin Review: The Well

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The Well still photoA recent New York Times article reports that droughts are intensifying across the United States western and southwestern regions, with California, Nevada and Oregon bearing the brunt. Texas is also experiencing drought across much of the state, and prolonged dry conditions put a considerably strain on water supplies for all uses. Many states are using innovative technologies -- aquifer storage and recovery, desalination, water "scalping" -- but are still forced into placing restrictions on water use, with fights over water rights ensuing between local government, landowners and consumers.

This contemporary scenario supports the premise of production designer Thomas Hammock's (The Guest, You're Next) writing and directorial debut The Well, a "science factual" post-apocalyptic film thattakes place in a barren Oregon valley ten years after the last rainfall. Seventeen-year-old Kendal (Haley Lu Richardson) hides away in the attic of The Wallace Farm for Wayward Youth caring for fellow orphan Dean (Booboo Stewart), venturing out to check on the few remaining neighbors while scavenging for resources including water from their well and a vital piece of equipment to power an abandoned Cessna. Kendal and Dean dream of escaping in the plane, but they are thwarted by Dean's ailments and both vagrants and hunters that roam the valley in search of any remaining water.

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