SXSW Will Kick-Ass on Opening Night
SXSW Film has just announced its 2010 opening-night film: Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass. The movie had a sneak preview at Butt-Numb-a-Thon in Austin in December. Jenn Brown described it as "far and away the crowd pleaser of BNAT." It's interesting to note that the SXSW 2009 opening-night film, I Love You, Man, had previewed at BNAT in 2008.
SXSW also released several other titles that will play the film festival from March 12-21 this year, and I've listed them after the jump. Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing Aaron Katz's next film, Cold Weather. But first, here's Jenn's mini-review of Kick-Ass from her BNAT article:
"It's a great non-superhero hero movie, with an average teen (Aaron Johnson) suddenly becoming a vigilante, only to find he's not the only one out there. Christopher Mintz-Plasse has a great non-McLovin type role that still has his dorky charm signature as the son of a gangster. Bad Lieutentant: Port of Call New Orleans fans will flip over Nicolas Cage's performance. But the scene stealer was Chloe Moretz as Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl; this pint-sized, sewer mouth martial art moppet. Audience members were demanding more information on her costume.
"Without doing a full review on Kick-Ass, the only way to sum it up is 'the superhero fangeek's fantasy one night stand of kick-assery'."
Other films announced include:
- Cold Weather, the latest film from Aaron Katz, who directed the lovely Quiet City and Dance Party USA (my DVD review). The feature is about a would-be detective in Portland.
- The world premiere of Elektra Luxx, the sequel to Women in Trouble, which premiered at SXSW last year. Carla Gugino plays the title character, a sexy yet sensible porn star who learned in the previous film that she is pregnant and now is having to deal with subsequent lifestyle changes. I reviewed Women in Trouble for Cinematical last year and thought it was fun, but was trying too hard to be a cult/exploitation film.
- No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson, the latest film from documentary filmmaker Steve James (Hoop Dreams). The documentary focuses on the events in Virginia in 1983 that ended with high-school basketball star Iverson going to jail.
- Lemmy, a documentary about musician Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead. Slash, Alice Cooper and Dave Grohl appear in the film.
- Saturday Night, a documentary about Saturday Night Live directed by James Franco. Yes, the actor James Franco has made this movie that shows us the work behind a single SNL episode.
- Hubble 3D, an IMAX film about space and the Hubble Space Telescope, screening at the Bob Bullock theater. The filmmaker, director of photography, and one of the astronauts who helped shoot the documentary will be in attendance.