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Slackery News Tidbits: August 26, 2013

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Here's the latest Austin and Texas film news.

  • Fantastic Fest's international co-production market for genre films called Fantastic Market/Mercado Fantastico, which aims to connect international genre film projects with potential production partners, sales agents and distributors, has announced 16 projects for its inaugural edition. Selected films includes The Wrong Place by director Alejandro Brugues, whose film Juan of the Dead, which marked Cuba's first entry into Fantastic Fest, screened at the festival in 2011. The market will premiere in conjunction with this year's Fantastic Fest from Sept. 19-21. Austinite Robert Rodriguez's El Rey network will collaborate with Mexican production and distribution outlet Canana Films to produce the Fantastic Market.
  • In more festival news, Cine Las Americas will hold a season launch party on Wednesday, Sept. 4 from 6-10 pm at Malverde (400-B, W. 2nd St.) to celebrate the festival, which is in its 17th year, and hear announcements about its 2014 season. There will be complimentary beverages for members and donors.
  • Austinites and University of Texas alums Jason Cortlund's and Julia Halperin's film Now, Forager (Jordan's interview) will be released on iTunes Tuesday, with releases on other digital platforms slated for next month. The ode to food and fungi was a 2013 Texas Independent Film Network Selection, having previously been recipients of the Austin Film Society Grant (formerly called the Texas Filmmakers Production Fund).

Review: You're Next

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Family dinners can be hell. Just ask the Davisons, or what's left of them, in the horror flick You're Next, opening Friday. During a rare family dinner to celebrate the wedding anniversary of Aubrey (Barbara Crampton) and Paul (Rob Moran), a mysterious gang of masked murderers invades the Davisons' grand backwoods vacation home, only to find out that one of the victims harbors a deadly secret themselves.

Director Adam Wingard may be best known for his low-budget horror films A Horrible Way to Die (which also co-stars AJ Bowen) and V/H/S, and it's this keen sensibility to make something visually grand out of nothing that puts You're Next ahead of other recent horror and suspense films. But that's not saying much.

The blood-splattered "You're Next" on walls and glass is a schtick that's been done to death and that the movie could have done without (and would've been better if it had). I'm pretty sure the film's cast, which also includes filmmaker Joe Swanberg, Texas native and filmmaker Amy Seimetz, Nicholas Tucci and Sharni Vinson (Step Up 3D), didn't need a set cue to begin screaming or appearing to be really distressed. That's what Swanberg's character was there for.

'You're Next' Cast at Alamo Slaughter

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The Dwight Tilley Band's 1977 single "Looking For The Magic" played on repeat in my mind after last Monday's preview screening at Alamo Drafthouse Slaughter of the horror flick You're Next, which first screened locally at Fantastic Fest 2011. It was life imitating art because the song played repeatedly throughout the movie. I even felt kind of bad that I was jammin' out to the song in my head while characters were being slaughtered left and right on screen.

I had to work to shake myself out of the power-pop stupor when two of the film's leads, Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator) and A.J. Bowen (A Horrible Way to Die and Austinite Emily Hagins' Grow Up, Tony Phillips) appeared on stage after the movie to discuss experiences on set and their feelings about each other, whiskey (thanks A.J. for sharing) and the film's Aug. 23 theatrical release. Some members of the large audience were wearing fox, tiger and lamb masks freakishly similar to those worn by the film's murderers.

Slackery News Tidbits: August 19, 2013

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Here's the latest Austin film news.

  • Alamo Drafthouse CEO Tim League is looking to hire an apprentice, reports The Austin Chronicle. If you think you have what it takes to join the "big leagues," review the job's description via League's Facebook post and apply. 
  • In more Drafthouse news, Austin-based screenwriter and Alamo programmer Owen Egerton directed the music video for Austin-based musician Bob Schneider's latest single, "Wish the Wind Would Blow Me," on location at The Highball. The Drafthouse-owned bar and event venue is being renovated next to the theater chain's South Lamar location. 
  • The Drafthouse news continues with the announcement of this year's Fantastic Fest Bumper Contest, which invites the public to create the most outrageous and entertaining 15-45 second video possible that represents the festival and its current theme, "Intergalactic Fantastic." Deadline to submit entries is 11:59 pm on Tuesday, Sept. 10. The selected bumpers will play before Fantastic Fest screenings. Find out more here about how you can get involved. 
  • Butcher Boys, originally titled Boneboys, which was filmed in Austin and Taylor, is scheduled for a limited theatrical release on Sept. 6, followed by a VOD and DVD release beginning Oct. 8, according to JoBlo. Writer/producer Kim Henkel, who co-wrote the 1974 horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, teamed up with two former Texas A&M University- Kingsville students, co-directors Duane Graves and Justin Meeks, on the low-budget horror comedy about a family of cannibals. The film previously screened here during Austin Film Festival 2012.

Slackery News Tidbits: August 12, 2013

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Here's the latest Austin and Texas film news.

  • The Austin Film Society announced the three jurors who will determine the recipients of this year's $116,000 AFS Grant, formerly the Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund. Jacqueline Lyanga, director of the L.A.-based American Film Institute Fest; filmmaker Ry Russo-Young, whose latest feature Nobody Walks won a special grand jury prize at last year's Sundance Film Festival; and 2010 Guggenheim Fellow Matt Wolf, who was named one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker Magazine, will be in charge of selecting the recipients of the funds, which can be used toward production, post-production and distribution of independent films. 
  • Renaissance man Ron Deutsch announced that he will teach his 20th Chef du Cinema class on Saturday, Sept. 14 at Central Market North. Students will learn to prepare a three-course menu inspired by the Oscar-nominated film, O, Brother, Where Art Thou? The adventure-comedy will be screened -- and food will be eaten- -- after the demonstration, which includes jailbird barbeque, Pappy O'Daniel's buttermilk biscuits and honey butter, and strawberry-rhubarb pie.
  • Alamo Drafthouse CEO and founder Tim League may be entering the ring during this year's Fantastic Fest Debates, oral arguments that lead to physical boxing with gloves and headgear, Austin Movie Blog reports. This is all in the name of defending the movie-theater protocol that has made the Drafthouse famous (talk, text and social media-free), which recently came under fire with website The Wrap's article and blogger Hunter Walk's post suggesting that it's time to reinvent the moviegoing experience. Last week, Austinite David Delgado tweeted that League should consider fighting Walk in one of the festival's annual debates. League's response came in the form of a tweet to Slackerwood contributor J.C. DeLeon, where he accepted the challenge. 

Slackery News Tidbits: August 5, 2013

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Here's the latest Austin and Texas film news.

  • A bevy of movies about Austin cyclist Lance Armstrong are slated for theatrical releases in the next year or so, Austin Business Journal reports. Paramount Pictures has hired J.J. Abrams to direct a Bradley Cooper-fronted flick, while Warner Bros. is moving ahead with a project from the perspective of Armstrong's former teammate Tyler Hamilton. Stephen Frears (High Fidelity) is also set to direct a biopic starring Ben Foster, with a documentary by Sony Pictures Classics rounding out the front.
  • The full soundtrack for SXSW 2013 feature Prince Avalanche (Elizabeth's review) is available online, according to Entertainment Weekly. Post-rockers Explosions in the Sky teamed up with fellow Austinite David Wingo to score the Bastrop-shot film, written and directed by Austinite David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express). The Prince Avalanche soundtrack will be available for purchase Tuesday, in anticipation of the movie's theatrical release this Friday. 
  • Film producer and Houston native Ryan A. Brooks was profiled in Your Houston News. The UT baseball alum went on to produce his first independent film, Happy Hour, a 2002 Austin Film Festival selection. After moving to L.A., Brooks established his production company, Gold Gloves Productions, which distributed the SXSW 2004 Audience Choice Award-winner Slam Planet. His film Inocente, about a young, homeless artist in San Diego, won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short this year. 
  • Fellow SXSW alum Rewind This! (Mike's review), which traces the cultural and historical impact of VHS, will be released on iTunes Aug. 27, with pre-orders being taken now. Beginning Sept. 10, the Austin-made documentary will also be available on other VOD/streaming platforms including Amazon Instant Video, YouTube, Xbox, Playstation, Cinemanow and Vudu. 

Slackery News Tidbits: July 29, 2013

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Here's the latest Austin film news. 

  • Investors are suing Central Texas filmmaker Terrence Malick's Sycamore Pictures over disputes on a contract to produce two 45-minute IMAX films and a 90-150-minute feature film titled Voyage of Time, about the history of the universe, Austin Business Journal reports. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in New York, alleges that Malick didn't devote the time needed to complete the films and says his production company has spent $3.3 million of funds from investor Seven Seas Partnerships Ltd. The filmmaker hasn't commented on the lawsuit, but according to reports, a Sycamore Pictures representative says the investor's claims are groundless. 
  • In festival news, many films with Austin ties will screen at both the Venice International Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival, according to Austin Movie Blog. The movies include Alex Gibney's documentary The Armstrong Lie, which follows the Austin cyclist as he trains for his eighth Tour de France; the JFK assassination drama Parkland; the Matthew McConaughey-fronted Dallas Buyers Club; Austinite David Gordon Green's Joe, about an ex-con, played by Nicolas Cage, and his relationship with a 15-year-old boy; and the astronaut drama Gravity, starring sometimes-Austinite Sandra Bullock
  • Fantastic Fest news continues with the announcement of its first films, which includes the Keanu Reeves-fronted and directorial debut Man of Tai Chi, which tells the story of young martial artist whose skills land him in a lucrative underground fight club. Reeves is scheduled to make an in-person appearance.
  • Fantastic Fest Audience Award-winner I Declare War, about a deadly summer game among neighborhood kids, will open in select theaters Aug. 30. The film is currently available on VOD, iTunes and digital download.

Interview: Emily Hagins and the Producers of 'Grow Up, Tony Phillips'

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The last time Austin-based filmmaker Emily Hagins went trick-or-treating was her senior year of high school, when her friends wanted to show a French foreign exchange student what the holiday was like in America.

That was two years ago. 

"(I)t was really, really weird because we were getting weird looks, but the (French) girl was having a blast," Hagins said. "She had no idea that we were too old to be doing this."

The idea that certain childhood passions have no expiration date is explored in Hagins' fourth feature film Grow Up, Tony Phillips (Elizabeth's review). Because age, after all, is just a number. The movie is scheduled to hit VOD platforms this Halloween and later home video through Rogue Arts, an indie distributor that first approached the film's creators after its SXSW Film Festival premiere this year. 

Despite setbacks, which included the casting loss of Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator) due to scheduling conflicts, the film raised $80,001 through its Kickstarter campaign. 

'The School of Rock' 10-Year Reunion with Richard Linklater, Jack Black and Mike White in Attendance

I was 12 years old when I first saw The School of Rock, about a cash-strapped, wannabe rock star who poses as a substitute teacher at a prep school. I saw it with a few of my cousins who are of similar age, and the Jack Black-fronted comedy inspired us to start our own short-lived Partridge Family-esque rock band. Those four years of piano lessons and my desire to be the next Stevie Nicks (the Fleetwood Mac years, before she started sounding like a goat) proved to be beneficial in both delighting and annoying my family members during holiday get togethers. This is the reason I'm now a writer. (Being a traveling musician would have worn too much on my mother's conscience, anyway.)

So, imagine my surprise when I heard about the AFS and Cirrus Logic-sponsored 10-year reunion of The School of Rock, which takes place at 7pm on Aug. 29 at the Paramount Theatre. Besides feeling really old, I'm debating whether or not I should dust off those ivories and re-think my career choice. (I knew I should have taken that college radio DJ up on his offer to play tambourine for an obscure traveling rock band instead of graduating with degrees in English and mass communication this May.) Maybe I should ask Jack Black what he'd do in my situation, since he's scheduled to be in attendance at the reunion along with the film's Austin-based director Richard Linklater, writer/co-star Mike White and some of the cast members who made up the fictional band. 

Slackery News Tidbits: July 22, 2013

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Here's the latest Austin and Texas film news.

  • More Machete film incentives news: Austin director Robert Rodriguez says he doesn't support the lawsuit filed by producers of his 2010 film against the Texas Film Commission, Joe M. O'Connell's blog reports. Rodriguez appears in the recent commercial Gov. Rick Perry is promoting that urges businesses to move to Texas. Perry signed film-incentive legislation at Rodriguez's Troublemaker Studios in 2009. Incentives potentially would have provided the action/thriller with $8 million to produce the movie in Texas, but incentives were denied in late 2010 (Jette's recap) after the commission determined that the Austin-shot film contained "inappropriate" content that disqualified it from the funds. 
  • Do you have no game? Neither does Scott, the overweight and overbearing fantasy role-playing gamer in the Austin-shot movie Zero Charisma (Jette's review), starring Sam Eidson (Mike's interview) as the titular character. At San Diego Comic Con last week, Tribeca Film and Nerdist Industries announced they will distribute the comedy from filmmakers Katie Graham and Andrew Matthews Zero Charisma, which made its world premiere at this year's SXSW Film Festival, will be released Oct. 8 on cable and satellite VOD platforms and most major online streaming outlets, followed by a theatrical release on Oct. 11 theatrical release. 
  • In production news, HBO has ordered a new half-hour comedy series from former Austinites Jay and Mark Duplass, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The filmmakers will write, direct and executive produce Togetherness, their first small-screen writing gig, with former Austinite Steve Zissis. Zissis will co-star, write and serve as consulting producer. The actor has appeared in a number of the Duplass brothers' films, including Baghead and Jeff, Who Lives at Home. Production on Togetherness, about a woman who's considering moving to L.A. from Houston to be closer to her sister and an aging aspiring actor (Zissis) who has recently been left homeless, is scheduled to begin early next year. 
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