Jette Kernion's blog

Quick Snaps: Zack Shows SXSW His 'Troll 2' Tattoo

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Zack at Best Worst Movie

I've got plenty of SXSW 2009 photos to share, but one of my favorites is from the Best Worst Movie screening on Friday night. Best Worst Movie is a documentary about the weird cult phenomenon of the film listed as the worst on IMDb, Troll 2. I should have known that the movie would have an Austin connection, namely Alamo Drafthouse. One of the Troll 2 events shown in the film took place at the old Alamo on Colorado. It was nice to see the old place again. In addition, Austin-turned-L.A. filmmaker Nick Robinson was interviewed at the Alamo screening, and Rolling Roadshow did a big event where Troll 2 was shot, so we also saw Tim League and Zack Carlson.

Zack was at the Q&A Friday night along with the Best Worst Movie filmmakers and some of the original Troll 2 cast. And in the documentary, you see that he is such a big fan of the film that he got a tattoo to commemorate it. So naturally, during the Q&A, everyone started chanting for him to take off his shirt and show off the tattoo. Thus, the above photo. But wait, there's more.

Check Out Encores of SXSW Movies at Alamo

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Updated 3/22: SXSW Film badgeholders get in free; anyone else should buy a ticket through Alamo.

If you haven't been able to watch any SXSW films this week, you've got a second chance. Alamo Ritz will show four SXSW films on Sunday as part of a "Taste of SXSW" series that I hope continues in upcoming weeks/months. Even if you've been at SXSW Film Festival, you may have missed one of these. These screenings aren't part of SXSW, so you need to buy tickets through Alamo Drafthouse.

  • Beeswax -- Plays at 1:45 pm. I can recommend this one, which I reviewed for Cinematical. Beeswax was shot in Austin and half the filmmakers in town have minor roles.
  • Anvil! The Story of Anvil -- Plays at 4:30 pm. I missed this movie last night because I was too chicken to deal with downtown parking. But on the Sunday after SXSW, parking shouldn't be a problem. It's a documentary about a heavy metal band that's been touring on and off for 30 years now.
  • Adventureland -- Plays at 7:30 pm. This is the latest film from the director of Superbad and stars Jesse Eisenberg and Kristin Stewart.
  • Ong Bak 2 -- Plays at 10:10 pm. Tony Jaa's martial-arts sequel played only at midnight during SXSW, so if you're a little more of an early bird, you can see this Sunday night.

Quick SXSW Snaps: 'The Overbrook Brothers' at Alamo

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SXSW 2009

I saw The Overbrook Brothers on Monday night (it was Monday, wasn't it? the days are starting to fuzz together). This is the first feature film from Austin filmmaker John Bryant. If you saw his short Momma's Boy, this film is actually an expansion.

The photo is from the Q&A afterwards. That's producer Chris Ohlson, John Bryant, and actors Nathan Harlan and Mark Reeb. The high point of the Q&A -- or low point, if you like your humor refined -- was a discussion about an intimate prosthetic that Reeb had to wear in one scene. Other cast members who weren't at the screening but might look familiar to you are Cyndi Williams (Room) and Steve Zissis (Baghead, Momma's Boy).

The Overbrook Brothers was funny and over the top, and it's playing once more during SXSW. You can catch it Saturday night at 10 pm at the Paramount.

Scattered SXSW Notes

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SXSW 2009

I've got about 20 minutes. Let's see what's been going on.

  • A funny moment on opening night: The red carpet for I Love You, Man was super-crowded, plus it was cold and raining and ... I thought a minute, then rushed from Paramount to ACC and caught The 2 Bobs instead. This is a fun movie if you live in Austin, because you can probably pick out every single locale. Plus, Turk Pipkin has an unbelievably freaky small role.
  • I just saw David Lowery's St. Nick and wow. Lovely. The kids are amazing.

Quick Snaps: Dennis Quaid on the Red Carpet

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Dennis Quaid

I'm still working on a write-up of the Texas Film Hall of Fame awards ceremony last night, but in the meantime, I will tantalize you with a photo or two. Here we have Dennis Quaid on the red carpet before the awards ceremony. I was very professional and didn't shout out anything like "Ohmygod, you're in one of my favorite movies of all time!" (Breaking Away), just like I didn't say, "We watch you every Christmas. You're a tradition!" to Billy Bob Thornton.

Quaid presented the Tom Mix Honorary Texan award to Billy Bob Thornton -- they co-starred in the movie The Alamo together. I've also got some fabulous photos of Larry Hagman and Linda Gray, Catherine Hardwicke, and Kinky Friedman, so keep an eye out.

Slackery SXSW Tidbits: The Sequel

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Jette at SXSW 2008 /Yes, that's me in the picture on the right, which was taken during SXSW. (Thanks to Melanie Addington for taking it and posting it to Facebook.) No points for guessing which movie I was about to see. I'll probably look just like that this year, except for the lei, so say hi if you see me.

Meanwhile, the SXSW announcements and excellent blog entries keep rolling in. Here are a few for today:

  • In case you hadn't heard yet, Fantastic Fest and SXSW are co-sponsoring a special screening of some clips from Sacha Baron Cohen's latest film, Bruno. The screening takes place on Sunday night, March 15, at 11 pm at Alamo South Lamar. You don't need a SXSW badge or pass to attend -- it's first come, first serve. (I'm planning to see the Sam Raimi movie instead -- it's impossible to see both without a chauffeur, sadly.)

SXSW Interview: David Hartstein, 'Along Came Kinky ...Texas Jewboy for Governor'

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Along Came Kinky

Love him or hate him, you have to admit Kinky Friedman is a genuine Texas Colorful Character, and it's fascinating to see what he's going to do next. (But not running for governor again. Please.) I started to tell you all my own little story about meeting Friedman when I worked as an Austin City Limits intern in 1994, but it went on too long. And I don't want to take the spotlight away from my e-mail interview with David Hartstein, director of the documentary Along Came Kinky ... Texas Jewboy for Governor. The film is having its world premiere at SXSW this year.

Along Came Kinky ... Texas Jewboy for Governor plays just once during SXSW: Thursday, March 19 at 7:30 pm at the Paramount. I bet it's going to be fun to watch with a big audience, especially if a lot of Texans are there. Here's what local filmmaker Hartstein had to say about the film.

SXSW Interview: Tommy Pallotta, 'American Prince'

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I emailed Tommy Pallotta a couple of weeks ago and asked him about doing an interview via email for his documentary American Prince, which is premiering at SXSW 2009. The former Austin resident is living in Amsterdam these days, so email seemed like the easiest way to communicate. Pallotta sent me what's essentially a very cool short article about the film. He told me to feel free to put it in interview format, but I love the story that this article tells and I don't want to break it up with questions and extra formatting.

American Prince is about Martin Scorsese's hard-to-find documentary American Boy and the man Scorsese profiled 30 years ago, Steven Prince. The two films will screen together during SXSW at Alamo South Lamar: on Saturday, March 14 at 7:30 pm, and again on Tuesday, March 17 at 11 am.

Check out some clips from the documentary and a very cool poster from the film over at Cinematical. And although this has nothing to do with American Prince per se, I recommend reading the Filmmaker Magazine interview with Pallotta about why he no longer uses Facebook or other social media.

Saucy and Slackery SXSW Tidbits

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SXSW FilmOnly a few days before SXSW Film starts, and I still am not entirely sure which movies I'm going to see. I always end up changing my schedule at the last minute, anyway.

Slackerwood still has interviews, helpful guides, and other SXSW-related info that will be appearing this week, so keep checking your RSS feed, or bookmark, or whatever you use. (We may even have non-SXSW news, amazingly.) Here are some bits of news and information that you surely want to know before Friday:

  • B-Side SXSW 2009 Festival Genius -- Have you tried this yet? It's lots of fun and also can be very useful. Check out B-Side's handy video overview and tutorial. You plug in the titles of the films you want to see at SXSW this year, and Festival Genius makes you a tidy little schedule with no overlaps. The only drawback is that Festival Genius doesn't care if you have to run back and forth three times from Alamo South to Paramount, but maybe you don't care either, if the films are good enough.
  • SXSW Advance Tickets -- If you're a SXSW Film badgeholder, watch the linked video for info about the new Advance Ticket system, which ensures you get into the movies you want to see most.

SXSW Interview: David Lowery, 'St. Nick'

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One of the most intriguing trailers I've seen for SXSW this year has been for St. Nick, the feature from writer-director David Lowery that will premiere at the festival. I've attached the trailer after the jump so you can see for yourself.

David has a great blog called Drifting: A Director's Log where he often writes about the projects he's working on. His short films have screened at Slamdance, SXSW, and Austin Film Festival.

I recently conducted the following email interview with Lowery about St. Nick. If you're a vegetarian, you especially want to read to the end of this interview (why? you'll find out). St. Nick is playing during SXSW three times, each time at Alamo Ritz: Sunday, March 15 at noon, Tuesday, March 17 at 2:30 pm, and Friday, March 20 at 12:30 pm.

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