Update: I've now heard that anyone is welcome to attend the meeting -- it's just that you have to be a paid TXMPA member if you want to vote on any of the meeting issues/elections.

I just received a press release about the Texas Motion Picture Alliance (TXMPA) meeting that's taking place tonight. This is a meeting of the TXMPA Central Region Caucus, and it will be held at Mother Egan's (on 715 6th Street) from 6:15 to 8 pm. Admission is for dues-paying TXMPA members only and tonight's agenda is focused on nominations and elections. If this interests you, visit the TXMPA website to join online. (They won't be able to take credit cards at the venue tonight.)

If you don't know why TXMPA is important right now, check out the cover story in this week's Austin Chronicle, about the dismal lack of film productions shooting in Texas these days. Or you can read last Sunday's Austin American-Statesman article about how Shreveport, Louisiana -- of all places -- is surpassing Austin in film production.

I've posted the rest of the press release after the jump. (Thanks to Janet Pierson for the heads-up on this.)

The Paramount's Summer Film Series begins tonight with, as is traditional at the Paramount, Casablanca. This year, the film is paired with Key Largo for a Bogie double-feature.

The summer film series' schedule runs through early September, with the usual Gone with the Wind on Labor Day weekend and Lawrence of Arabia the weekend after. Other perennial faves include Breakfast at Tiffany's (how all of you can get past that awful Mickey Rooney character is beyond me, but I know tons of people adore this film); 2001: A Space Odyssey, because it looks so cool on a big screen; and the 70mm visual extravaganza Baraka. Many of the films are paired with Warner Brothers cartoons this year, which I usually enjoy (and prefer to the live-action serials Paramount has sometimes included in the past).

The schedule has few surprises, but that's what the Paramount's summer films are all about. For cultural diversity, you go to Austin Film Society screenings. For edgy culty programming, you go to Alamo Drafthouse. If you want to see a beloved Hollywood film with an audience that loves that film as much as you do, you go to the Paramount.

[Editor's note: The Unforeseen, a documentary about development in Austin that focuses on Barton Springs, has been playing at Alamo Drafthouse (first at South Lamar, currently at Ritz) for a few weeks now and is apparently still popular enough to stick around. If you haven't seen it, now's the time -- the lovely cinematography makes the documentary worthwhile to see in theaters. To whet your interest in the film, here are some excerpts from director Laura Dunn and producer Robert Redford, who were in Austin in March to promote the film.]

Laura Dunn, director: "A little over 5 years ago now, a group of us who really love Austin came together and started working on this film. We saw it as being the story of the long-running battle over Barton Springs and specifically lensing it as a microcosm for what's going on everywhere in communities across the globe. As we grow, how do we protect our most precious natural resources, like Barton Springs?

"I worked on this film for over 5 years and interviewed hundreds of people ... everyone from real estate developers to environmentalists to lobbyists to politicians to swimmers to long-time Austinites to artists, scientists, you name it. It was pretty exhausting.

On Monday night, I headed over to Alamo on South Lamar for a sneak preview screening of Iron Man. (Thanks to Blake for letting me be his plus-one for the evening.) You know how it is at Alamo; they can't just show a movie and be done with it, there has to be a little something extra. The lagniappe for Iron Man was a guy in a jet pack dressed as Iron Man who soared above the crowds before we went into the theater for the movie. In addition, Alamo founder Tim League donned his own Iron Man costume and hosted a costume/trivia contest.

The above photo was taken by Mary Sledd [update: apparently Marc Savlov took it using Mary's extra camera ... sorry about that], and is part of an Alamo Drafthouse Flickr set from the event. Check out the whole set for some great photos by Mary and others. (I'm actually in the lower-left corner of this one, although it's not terribly flattering.)

If that's not enough excitement, Alamo Drafthouse videotaped the jet-pack flight for your viewing pleasure. At least if you're watching the video you won't need earplugs like we did at the actual event.

You'd think the movie would be anticlimactic after the live jet pack flight, but I enjoyed Iron Man very much and would certainly recommend seeing it. However, don't do what I did and leave before the credits are over -- apparently there's an amusing post-credits tease that I'm sorry I missed. On the bright side, that'll give me an excuse to see the movie again.

Alamo Drafthouse head honcho Tim League is pretty sure this is the first time this has ever happened: Austin will host the U.S. theatrical premiere of a non-Austin film, a week before it moves to New York and L.A. The film is Big Man Japan, an energetic and satirical take on Japan's beloved giant monster genre. Directed by the wildly popular Japanese televison comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto, Big Man Japan crafts a new mythology of giant warriors who defend Japan in times of crisis, and what happens when their legend falls out of favor -- and their numbers dwindle to just one.

The film has played a few festivals but releasing studio Magnolia Pictures was so impressed with the Alamo's enthusiasm for the film that they're opening the flick here. A strong performance could mean more premieres in Austin and/or a wider release for Big Man Japan, so if you're a film geek you owe it to yourself and to geek cinema to buy a ticket and plant your butt in a seat. Several times if necessary. Big Man Japan has a midnight show tonight and a week's worth of daytime and evening shows through May 1. See you there.

Matt Dentler just listed a bunch of cool film events (and concerts too) for the week of April 28 through May 5. Fabulous, and less work for me. Thanks, Matt! Wish you didn't have to go in June ...

Let's see what's going on in Austin theaters in the next week.

• I've reviewed two movies opening locally this weekend, over at the recently revived Celluloid Eyes: Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Young@Heart. Neither movie especially grabbed me, but would be fine for one of those weekend afternoons when you just want to go to a theater and see something mildly entertaining, and have no expectations.
• Movies currently playing that I haven't yet seen, but might like to watch, in order of preference (this is mostly meant as a handy checklist for my husband and I to use for one of those weekend afternoons etc.): The Counterfeiters, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? (which we ended up seeing today), Penelope (still at Cinemark in Round Rock!), The Unforeseen, In Bruges, Leatherheads, Run Fatboy Run, and maybe Zombie Strippers if we were in that kind of mood.
• Cine Las Americas started earlier this week, and the festival runs through April 24 at assorted venues.
• You can see Shine a Light, Martin Scorsese's documentary about the Rolling Stones, all week long at the IMAX theater.

Well, the electronic PDF version, anyway. You won't see the print edition for a few days but don't let that stop you from obsessively planning the next two months' worth of screening activities.

I haven't had a chance to really pore over it but a few things did catch my eye:

• The Sex and the City "Ladies' Nights" -- Ladies only, which means the managers, servers, etc will all be women. Cosmopolitans will be served (oh yeah, the Ritz has a full liquor license now) in souvenir stem glasses. (My wife argues that the servers should all be hot men but so far as I know she does not work for the Alamo programming team.)

• Live Jet Pack Guy at the Iron Man sneak preview!

• Seth Rogen, James Franco and more in attendance for Pineapple Express sneak preview.

• Summer Camp (free for kids) shows return, with My Neighbor Totoro and Batman the Movie topping my must-skip-work list.

• Plus the usual assortment of mind-bending strangeness that usually happens on Weird Wednesdays and Terror Thursdays.

See you at the Alamo! Download the PDF of the May/June 2008 Alamo Guide here.

indieWIRE reports this morning:

Janet Pierson has been named the new producer of the SXSW Film Festival and Conference, the organization has just announced. Matt Dentler, who has served as producer of the fest since 2004, has accepted a position in New York City to head the marketing and programming operations of Cinetic Media's new digital rights management unit, the festival said in an announcement.

Read the full indieWIRE report here.

Where I am this week: Moving Image Institute in Film Criticism and Feature Writing, in New York. No bluebonnets, but lots of bagels. I'll be back next week (really Tuesday night, not Wednesday, but I couldn't resist the stupid film joke). In the meantime, visit some of these fabulous sites for your Austin film news.