Special Screening

Jenn Brown and I caught the premiere of locally made film The Happy Poet at SXSW this year, and had a great time. It's a charming low-key comedy about a guy who decides to open a food cart at Auditorium Shores that will sell vegetarian and organic sandwiches and treats. He's battling a limited budget, a hot-dog-loving clientele and a delivery man with occasional shady habits. Writer-director Paul Gordon also plays the lead character, and the cast includes Chris Doubek, Liz Fisher and Jonny Mars. Read Jenn's review for more details.

The Happy Poet is scheduled to play in New York in late June, and Gordon and his producers are in need of some travel funds so they can attend their own NYC premiere (at Rooftop Films Summer Series, very cool). Therefore, they're showing the movie in Austin again as a fundraiser. Admission is $10. Cast and crew will be in attendance, new "sexy" (!) t-shirts will be unveiled, and the event's hosts promise giveaways and other surprises. A cash bar will be available, too.

This is such an Austin-ish comedy that I want to urge all of you to check it out. I wish The Marchesa (which some of us may remember as once housing Lincoln Theaters) was near a food cart where you could buy eggless egg sandwiches to get yourself in the mood for The Happy Poet, but you're on your own for pre-screening comestibles. (I will say that I visited The Jalopy trailer the other day and the guy in charge convinced me to buy veggie chips and gave me a free vegetarian sandwich, which made me pause and look around for Gordon, Mars and Doubek.)

Instant cult film Birdemic is back at Alamo.

Local filmmaker Bob Ray is premiering his latest film, Total Badass, on Wednesday night at Alamo Ritz. Ray, whom you might remember from his previous films Hell on Wheels (the rollerderby doc that played SXSW 2007) and Rock Opera, recently finished work on this feature-length documentary about Chad Holt, who is also scheduled to attend the screening.

I think I should let Ray describe the film in his own words:

"Total Badass blazes the true Texas tale of a hilarious, crazy-ass writer/publisher/singer/weed-dealer/sex addict/Guinea pig enthusiast/dad/pirate radio host/raconteur and general man-about-town as he rides out the last six months of felony probation and subsequently must change his ways when a financial crisis befalls his estranged family.

"Fascinating in its deep access to unbelievable scenes of outlandish self-expression, Total Badass reveals an unsettled soul, fettered by a felony conviction and relegated to the underground arts scene. Will a happenstance family of his own finally ground this roustabout? Does Chad just need to grow up, relinquish his aspirations and get practical?"

If these screenings sell out, Ray hopes to persuade Alamo to show the film some more .

Austin Film Festival brings back one of its popular movies from 2009, Simmons on Vinyl, to Alamo Lake Creek. (I had to fight my way into a sold-out screening last year.) Read my review for more details about this indie comedy.

Mark Potts, Cole Selix and Brand Rackley -- who between them wrote, directed and had the three main roles in the film -- will be at the screening, and will preview their new film beforehand, S&M Lawn Care. They run a pretty funny Q&A, so you really don't want to miss this. Admission is free for AFF members and $4 for everyone else.

In the summer of 1996, I spent several weeks conducting field research in Costa Rica on the Osa Peninsula. Historically, the dense forests and rocky terrain of the Osa Peninsula have shielded it from the outside world, accessible only by rugged roads and boats in some areas. However, expanding development threatens the peninsula and lands are being cleared for logging and agriculture at a higher rate than anywhere else in Costa Rica. According to The Nature Conservancy, illegal logging, poaching and ill-conceived land-use activities further threaten the region.

I'll never forget my experiences there, particularly a woman who had been raised in Sierpe but lived in San Jose for years. Hours after her arrival, she still wept for the loss of forestland converted to banana crops she'd seen on her drive from the capital city. Thanks to the deforestation and Hurricane Cesar-Douglas, I barely made it out of Costa Rica myself. Clearcutting of forests was blamed for the massive mudslides that took out areas of road along with dozen of bridges along the Pan-American Highway, making travel by vehicle impossible.

So what's the connection between rainforests and Austin film? Quite a bit, thanks to local nonprofit organization Rainforest Partnership, which creates mechanisms for conservation and sustainable use of rainforests in Central and South America that are threatened with deforestation. Rainforest Partnership hosted a M.A.F.I.A. event in April, and filmmakers had one week to make a short film with the theme "The Tree and I." Filmmakers submitted their films to one of three categories, including PSA, documentary and narrative.

AIGA is sponsoring this screening of the 2008 documentary Proceed and Be Bold, about letterpress printer Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.

aGLIFF is hosting this screening of the classic (in its way) 1972 John Waters film Pink Flamingos. Actress Mink Stole, who has appeared in this and many other John Waters movies, will be in attendance.

Alamo is hosting the local premiere of the mock exploitation/comedy film All About Evil, starring Natasha Lyonne, Cassandra Peterson and Mink Stole. Peterson, Stole and filmmaker Peaches Christ will be in attendance.

Alamo is hosting the local premiere of the mock exploitation/comedy film All About Evil, starring Natasha Lyonne, Cassandra Peterson and Mink Stole. Peterson, Stole and filmmaker Peaches Christ will be in attendance.

The Reeder Sanders Ciccarelo Scholarship Foundation is hosting a special benefit screening of local filmmaker Turk Pipkin's latest documentary, One Peace at a Time.