Slackery News Tidbits

Roger Ebert has said that it is unprofessional for film critics to have their photos taken with celebrities. I've decided this means "human celebrities" and not Muppets, so I caved in and posed with Elmo (and Kevin Clash) after the first SXSW screening of Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey. See the movie if you like Muppets, it's very nice. (And if you miss it at SXSW, it's just been announced that Being Elmo is the opening-night film at next month's Dallas International Film Festival.)

Anyway, here are some of my observations from the fest so far, as well as bits of news.

• SXSW has now become a fest where distribution deals are made. So far, several deals have been announced: Conan O'Brien Can't Stop in a multi-platform release deal involving AT&T; food doc A Matter of Taste to HBO; and Kill List (from the Down Terrace director) to IFC Midnighters. No word yet on any Austin films, but we'll keep you posted.
• Parking in pay garages was no problem for me on the weekend, but I heard yesterday that once afternoon started, it was challenging even to find a pay lot or garage that wasn't full. (I was at Alamo Lamar on Monday and can't say for myself.) Anyone have any info on this? I'm heading down there early today and hope that won't be an issue.
• I caught Wuss at Westgate on Sunday, and enjoyed it very much. Westgate is a nice SXSW venue if you have a car. Plenty of parking, and the theater is quite spacious, with comfy stadium seating. The projection and sound quality were both good.

Here's the latest Austin movie-related news for your enjoyment.

• The Texas Film Hall of Fame has announced even more special guests and award nominees for the March 10 event. John Hawkes, nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role in Winter's Bone, will receive the Rising Star Award. The Austin band Spoon will receive the Soundtrack Award, presented to them by local filmmaker Jeff Nichols. And journalist Liz Smith will be presenting Renee Zellweger with her award. I suspect we haven't heard the last talent announcement from them yet, so stay tuned.
• Over at YNN (formerly known as News 8 Austin), Victor Diaz profiles the Austin-shot film Lovers of Hate (my review) and its filmmakers, who are preparing for the upcoming Independent Spirit Award ceremony. The movie is up for the John Cassavetes Award, for indie films with a budget of less than $500K.
• Last year, Austin filmmaker Bob Ray took a road trip around the country to show his documentaries Hell on Wheels (my review) and Total Badass. Now he's decided that the U.S. is not enough. He's got a Kickstarter campaign going to fund a tour of Europe with the pair of documentaries. And as part of that campaign, he created a pretty damn funny video you don't want to miss. (The pledge incentives are amusing too ... not just stickers or DVDs but Indian leg wrestling and one of Bob's spare USB cables.) (And I just realized the Cinematical quote from the Hell on Wheels trailer is mine. Cool!)

It's been a very busy, newsworthy week for Austin film. Here are a few of the highlights:

• My favorite news of the week: Alamo Drafthouse programmer Zack Carlson is going into the moviemaking business himself. Carlson and Brian Connolly, who co-wrote the book Destroy All Movies: The Complete Guide to Punk Film, have also worked on a feature film script called Destroy, about vampire hunters in a world where vampires don't exist. The movie will be directed by Michael Paul Stephenson, who brought us Best Worst Movie, the documentary about Troll 2 fandom that was partially shot in Austin and has screened here many times. Can't wait to see the finished film.
• The Texas Film Hall of Fame has announced their first 2011 award recipients: Rip Torn (a UT Austin alum) and Renee Zellweger (from Katy). The Star of Texas ensemble award will go to the TV show Friday Night Lights. And this year's emcee will be Wyatt Cenac. You may know Cenac from The Daily Show (or the amazing SXSW 2008 film Medicine for Melancholy), but he also has Texas ties: he's from Dallas and used to write for King of the Hill. Other special guests include Catherine Hardwicke, Luke Wilson, Richard Linklater and previous emcee Thomas Haden Church. Yes, of course we will be there with cameras.
• SXSW Film Festival posted its 2011 conference and film schedules this week. So start planning now. The fest also announced some key panelists for the Film Conference, including Paul Reubens, Ellen Page, Jake Gyllenhaal, Rainn Wilson, and filmmakers Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) and Todd Phillips (The Hangover).
• More from SXSW Film: Two videos are available to help you with your festgoing choices. About SXSW: 2011 SXSW Film Access explains the differences between badge, pass and ticket and offers advice on all options. It looks like the SXXpress tickets for badgeholders will be available again this year, if that's your cup of tea (I never seem to be able to make it to the box office at the right time for them myself). The second video, About SXSW: SXSW 2011 Film Venues and Shuttle Buses, is an excellent guide to getting around the fest. The video makes it sound like the shuttle will run every day of the film festival, which if true is wonderful news. The shuttle will also include Rollins this year (a new venue for SXSW that is part of the Long Center), but not Westgate or Arbor, which are essentially "satellite venues" meant to draw Austin filmgoers. Keep an eye out for our own Venue Guide in the next couple of weeks, which includes theater seat counts, bus routes and nearby dining options.

Here's the latest update on Austin movie news and upcoming special screenings:

• I can't get through this list without noting one final time that tonight's the night I will be on a panel of film critics as part of an AFS-hosted special screening of Gerald Peary's documentary For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism. Tickets are still available, you know.
• I really enjoyed the short film Quadrangle at SXSW last year, where it won Best Documentary Short. Austin filmmaker Amy Grappell interviewed her parents and used old photos to piece together the story of the relationship her mom and dad had with the couple next door, when Amy was a child. HBO2 will be showing this doc several times, starting next Wednesday, Feb. 16. If you can't get to a TV with HBO2, Aurora Picture Show in Houston is screening the film as part of their "Love is a Many Splintered Thing" shorts compilation on Sunday night at Alamo Drafthouse West Oaks.
• Houston documentary Thunder Soul (Jenn's review), which I still regret missing at SXSW (stupid parking), has found a new champion: Jamie Foxx. Foxx is now an executive producer and will help promote the film, which Roadside Attractions will start releasing in theaters in September.

Here's the latest Austin movie news. If you make it through the whole list, there's a little reward at the end.

• According to MTV (and Justin Bieber, oddly enough), Mike Judge's latest project is a return to TV and in fact to the MTV characters that launched his career in animation and filmmaking. That's right, Beavis and Butthead are back.
• What are you doing Friday night? Don't you want to celebrate the joys of videotape? Of course you do, so head to Rio Rita Cafe for the opening of the "Rewind This! The Art of VHS" exhibit. The exhibit runs through February and includes paintings, illustrations, photos, poster art and sculpture you can enjoy ... and even buy. You can also purchase t-shirts and other apparel proclaiming your VHS love. This is a fundraiser for the locally made film-in-progress Rewind This!, a documentary about VHS and the people who still watch, collect and appreciate it. 
• Over at the Austin Chronicle, Richard Whittaker provides clear and complete background on Texas film incentives and what could happen to them during the current state legislative session. 
• A look behind the scenes at Alamo Drafthouse: Weird Wednesday programmer Lars Nilsen shares a print inspection report with us.

Here's the latest Austin movie news:

• Freestyle Releasing has announced that the SXSW 2010 movie Skateland will hit theaters in Austin, Houston and Dallas on April 1. The movie is set in a small Texas town in the 1980s, and although shot in Louisiana, the director, writers and producer all have Austin ties. Read Debbie's SXSW review or check out her photos from the fest of the movie's star, Ashley Greene.
• Joe O'Connell has news about an adaptation of Turk Pipkin's story When Angels Sing, which will start filming in Bastrop shortly. The movie is being directed by Tim McCanlies with Elizabeth Avellan producing, and stars a variety of local and national well-known faces -- nearly all musicians, it seems. It looks like it could be one of those warm-hearted holiday films, but hopefully the excellent local production team will steer it away from potential treacle and sap.
• The Long Center is screening the 1920 Douglas Fairbanks silent film The Mark of Zorro on Sunday at 4 pm in the big Dell Hall, with musical accompaniment by Rick Benjamin's Paragon Orchestra. I noticed on Twitter yesterday that if you enter the code "AFF" when buying your tickets, the tickets are discounted to $20 and $5 of that cost will benefit Austin Film Festival.
• When Jenn and I wrote about Lovers of Hate for 2010 in Review, we both lamented the fact that Bryan Poyser's Austin-shot film was currently unavailable to watch. But we've just learned that you can rent the dark comedy from SundanceNow. Check out my SXSW review of the film to learn more about it.

Well, we may not be at Sundance in Park City, but it's a beautiful sunny day with lots of Austin film news. Here's the latest:

• Over at Austin Movie Blog, Charles Ealy is keeping an eye on how the Texas Legislature has been addressing film incentives during the current session. The House and Senate budgets as they stand now have an extremely severe cut in the tax rebates, allowing only $10 million for two years total. In addition, the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute, headed by state Sen. Tommy Williams and Rep. Warren Chisum, would like to end the program that gives tax rebates to movies filming in Texas ("acceptable" movies, that is). 
• The University of Texas is hosting a collection of short animated films, curated by local filmmaker Geoff Marslett. The Visual Arts Center (aka the old Blanton building) will project the films onto its windows in the evenings, so they're visible from the outside, from Jan. 28 through March 12. Stop by at 8 pm on Friday, Jan. 28 for the opening of this exhibit. You can stop by any time at night to watch -- the gallery doesn't have to be open -- and it's free. The 42 films include shorts by Marslett, by some of his UT students, and by other filmmakers such as PJ Raval, Don Hertzfeldt and Emily Hubley.
• Filmmaker Kevin Smith announced at Sundance on Sunday night that he is self-distributing his latest movie, Red State. The Austin Film Society Advisory Board member said that he will take his horror film on a roadshow trip around the country starting next month, then the movie will go into wider release in October. Austin is one of the stops on the Red State tour, screening on March 28 at the Paramount with Smith and unspecified cast in attendance. Tickets go on sale to the public Friday through the Paramount website, ranging in price from $55-70 (pre-sale for donors   started today).

Here's the latest Austin film news -- yes, there certainly seems to be a lot of it lately. I blame SXSW.

• And let's start with SXSW, which has announced a special "Film Lounge" for SXSW Film badgeholders for this year's fest at The Hideout. I don't know whether the lounge will take up the entire two-story Hideout, just the theater area, or employ the upstairs rooms. It may mean that The Hideout is off-limits to film passholders and ordinary folks during the first part of the fest, and it may also mean that The Hideout won't be a venue this year for shorts collections put together by various groups, as has been traditional. We'll keep you posted as we get more information.
• Looks like one of the movies screening at SXSW this year will be a documentary about SXSW, commissioned by the fest for its 25th anniversary.
• Another film festival is going on this week: Sundance, in Park City. Austin filmmaker Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories) is there with his latest feature, Take Shelter. Before the film even plays the fest, its distribution rights have been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics. The movie stars Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain and Kathy Baker.
• Kobe Bryant is The Black Mamba? A Robert Rodriguez film? Matthew Odam has the scoop -- and the trailer -- over at Austin360.

Here's the latest Austin film news:

• Governor Rick Perry has just filmed a cameo for the movie Deep in the Heart, in which he plays himself circa 2006. The film is being shot in Austin and stars Jon Gries, still best known as the uncle in Napoleon Dynamite (although he directed Pickin and Grinnin', which played AFF in 2010). And yes, it does qualify to receive film incentives for shooting in Texas. Is this going to be a new way that filmmakers ensure they can actually get the tax rebates?
• Also at the Austin American-Statesman, Matthew Odam interviews Ryan Long, the new film programs manager at Austin Film Society. You may remember Long as a co-founder of Screen Door Films. Now he is working with AFS on their new Best of the Fests series. Long's also established the Texas Independent Film Network with Louis Black, in which they'll travel around the state screening notable movies from Texas.
• AFS has announced the latest film in its Doc Series: For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism, Gerald Peary's documentary about movie critics. You can see it on Feb. 10 at Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar. Peary will be in attendance. After the movie, UT professor Tom Schatz will moderate a Q&A with Peary and a panel of local critics. No word on which critics, but since Ain't It Cool's Harry Knowles is actually in the documentary, I'm sure he'll be there if it's feasible. The above photo is from the SXSW 2009 panel related to the film, which sparked a very lively discussion, especially about online film criticism and movie blogging. That's Peary with Austin Chronicle lead film critic Marjorie Baumgarten.

Austin film news has been cropping up all week, getting bigger and better as the week progresses. Here are the highlights:

• The biggest news: SXSW Film just announced a half-dozen more titles for this year's festival (two months away!) -- no Austin connections (update! see comments below) but certainly all interesting. Jodie Foster's movie The Beaver, starring Mel Gibson and scripted by Austinite Kyle Killen, will have its world premiere, as will Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, a documentary about the comedian's tour during his recent break from television; Ti West's latest movie, The Innkeepers, about amateur ghost hunters trying to prove a hotel is haunted; It's About You, a documentary on John Mellencamp; and Square Grouper, a movie set in the 1970s about pot smuggling in Miami. The latest movie from Greg Mottola (Adventureland) will also be shown at SXSW -- Paul, a movie about a hitchhiking alien, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. If those aren't enough details, visit the SXSW Film site for more.
• Austin Film Society has just announced the next film in their new, cool Best of the Fests series: local filmmaker Geoff Marslett's animated film Mars, which we mentioned in our 2010 in Review feature earlier this week. Jenn reviewed it after its debut at SXSW last year. Now you have a chance to catch this movie at Alamo Village on Feb. 16. Better still, it'll be shown along with Lucas Martell's delightful animated short Pigeon: Impossible, which you can watch online but looks even better in a theater.
• Speaking of Austin filmmaking: The City of Austin has issued a call for entries in its Faces of Austin multimedia program. Selected short films will be shown on the widescreen video displays in the City Hall atrium. The shorts will also be made available online, and some of them will screen at the opening of the city's People's Gallery exhibit on Feb. 18. The deadline for submitting your short film is January 28. You can watch the previous Faces of Austin selections on the City of Austin YouTube channel.