Dallas IFF 2012 Dispatch: Animal Style Friday

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In n Out Burger

Day 2 of my Dallas International Film Festival experience started on an interesting note. I'm used to waking up really early to begin my day, and when I realized that I didn't have to set an alarm because the first movie didn't start until 4 pm, I woke up sans alarm clock and it was glorious.

I woke up with enough time to get some work done and even partook in my first ever In-N-Out Burger. I sought advice from everyone who's ever been there before and was advised to get a neapolitan milkshake and my fries "animal style." My friends are all smart people and they did not steer me wrong. I'm not a foodie who normally takes pictures of his food, mainly because I don't eat all that healthy, but that's what my meal looked like in the photo at the top.

My first film of the day was Tonight You're Mine, a UK romantic comedy set in a music festival where two arguing musicians are handcuffed together by a peace-loving security guard. At first they hate each other, but eventually ... well, it's a romantic comedy, it's not hard to figure out what comes next. Fans of Attack the Block get to see Luke Treadaway in a lead role here and he does a really fantastic job in this film.

A few drinks and snacks later I sat down for Liberal Arts, the new film from Josh Radnor. It's a highly enjoyable and really funny movie about life from the perspective of different personalities from a liberal arts college in Ohio. Elizabeth Olsen is just perfect in her role, and Zac Efron even manages to show off some really good comedic chops.

I finally took in the film Girls! Girls! Girls! This movie was an anthology project where $1,000 was awarded to six filmmakers with one caveat: The film had to be shot, written, directed, and produced by women. Each film had to be about what female strength means to each filmmaker. It was an interesting film and starred some great actresses like Octavia Spencer. The filmmakers included University of Texas at Austin alum Tracie Laymon (whose short Inside played Fantastic Fest 2009; Debbie's interview) and actress Beth Grant, who's appeared in a number of Austin-connected films including Extract and No Country for Old Men.