Made In Texas Series Update: 'True Stories' on July 8

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True Stories one sheet[Ed. Note: Please welcome Slackerwood's newest contributor, Debbie Cerda.]

When Jette blogged in late March about the Austin Film Festival (AFF) "Made in Texas Film Series," the July 8 screening had yet to be set. I am quite pleased to see it's been announced and is one of my favorite films made in Texas, True Stories.

There are many reasons to appreciate this gem of a film beyond the fact it is set in Texas, beginning with the director and co-writer, David Byrne of the Talking Heads. Mr. Byrne brings the quirkiness of Texas urban legends to the screen, set to a well-blended soundtrack by the Talking Heads. When he was scouting locations for his film in 1985, he enlisted the assistance of a Dallas real-estate agent to find several pink houses for potential locations. This real-estate agent was the mother of a friend of mine who was quite happy to help his mom show David Byrne around Dallas, including a viewing of Mary Kay Ash's pink palace.

True Stories features a strong cast, including John Goodman, Swoosie Kurtz and the late Spalding Gray. Goodman's performance as Louis Fyne is both genuine and endearing. In my list of "Who Should Star in This Film?" I would wholeheartedly support Mr. Goodman if he were to star in the role of the late Don Walser, "the Pavarotti of the Plains." The droll but ever-amusing Spalding Gray delivers as well. Who knew that you could use food to represent modernization and industrialization?

If you've not seen this movie yet or it's just been awhile, you can catch True Stories at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum (TSHM) on Wednesday, July 8 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are free for AFF or TSHM members, and only $5 for the general public.

An Austin factoid from this film: Jo Harvey Allen ("I was born with a tail") may be a familiar face to many due to her character roles in films such as Fried Green Tomatoes and Secondhand Lions (also made in Texas ... see Jenn's review). She's the mother of Austin musician Bukka Allen and wife of country singer-songwriter Terry Allen, who collaborated on the True Stories soundtrack with David Byrne.