Celebrity Sightings

If you're wondering why I'm posting a photo from last year of the (500) Days of Summer director at the Paramount in Austin, you haven't heard the latest news: Marc Webb has just been signed to direct the next Spider-Man film. That's right, he's going from a quirky romantic comedy to a big-ass Hollywood comic-book action movie. Will we see him in Austin again anytime soon? Well, Sam Raimi (who directed the previous three Spider-Man movies) was at SXSW last year with Drag Me to Hell, so it's possible.

Now if you really want to be amused, imagine the people in the photo after the jump -- also from SXSW 2009 -- as Peter and Mary Jane. It could happen! And check out my SXSW 2009 Flickr set for more photos from the closing-night (500) Days of Summer event, including a nice picture of Webb with SXSW Film Director Janet Pierson.

Before I get into the meat of my personal best and worst of 2009, I'd like to reflect on my Slackerwood experiences with a slight tangent. Through my experiences as both an attendee and volunteer at South by Southwest over the years, I've come to appreciate "defining moments" -- an awareness of a synchronicity that represents that event. For SXSW Film Festival, one of these defining moments was my encounter with Jim Jarmusch (pictured after the jump), which I later conveyed in my "first" Slackerwood contribution for the Alamo Downtown Blog-a-thon. Other moments included a conversation with Penelope Spheeris in the ladies room at local bar, or the ultimate -- Louis Black introducing me to Jonathan Demme.

As a film geek, I'm grateful that Slackerwood founder/editor Jette Kernion brought me on in June to share the cool and interesting film happenings and my personal opinions of films. I'm especially grateful to the Slackerwood audience, for supporting us in our love for film, and for allowing me to share my Slackerwood defining moments. There are moments during a conversation with a filmmaker there's a self-awareness -- I'm getting some intimate filmmaking insight that I get to share!

Enough sentiment, on to my personal list:

I'm sick to death of studio fanboy marketing. It pisses me off when some studio jerks throw out clips -- or, even worse, a first reel --  of some upcoming movie. We're supposed to get all excited and spread good word of mouth to build marketing demand for their film. And then -- the coup de grâce of this sucker play -- we get to pay full admission to see the entire film once it's released.

No thanks.

One of my favorite studio marketing ploys happened a couple years ago, when the first season of Star Trek was remastered with new optical effects and released on high-def video. To promote the box set, the studio did limited theatrical showings of "The Menagerie," the two-part episode that recycled footage from the unaired (and Kirk-less) Star Trek pilot. Sure, it was a marketing event to support the boxed-set release, but it was well worth the price of admission to see old Trek on the big screen.

That's why, when Alamo Drafthouse announced a special screening of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan early in 2009,  I was all excited. I own the DVD, but I'd love to see the movie again on the big screen -- especially the ground-breaking "Genesis Device" sequence. Also, the Star Trek reboot movie was scheduled for release that summer, which I was eagerly awaiting. This seemed like a great lead-in for the new Star Trek movie.

As 2009 draws to a close, we at Slackerwood decided to do the same damn thing every single other website and publication does, and write some retrospective entries. We've got lists on the horizon; you've been warned. But we're having some fun with the lists and with our "2009 in Review" series, so I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I'm going to kick things off with a photo essay of my favorite photos that I took in 2009. I could probably do another essay of other people's photos (and who knows, I just might), but it was difficult enough to pick a manageable selection of my own. Some of these are good photos, some are not great but I like 'em anyway for various reasons. I'm not including a lot of text because this is a photo essay, not a novella.

The latest comedy from Austin filmmaker Mike Judge, Extract, is out on DVD today. Just in time for Christmas, you can sit with your family and watch a movie about insurance fraud, adultery, sexy con artists, dopey gigolos, drug-pushing bartenders ... hmm, I may have to get my hands on a copy. As you can see from my review, I got a kick out of the movie, although it may not be as repeatedly watchable as Office Space or Idiocracy. Jenn Brown also reviewed the film.

The DVD release gives me an excuse to share a few more photos from the local Extract premiere at the Paramount in August. As I noted in my article, everyone was sweating like crazy, although you're supposed to call it "glow" when actors do it. Still, the folks on the red carpet that evening were good-natured about it. Debbie Cerda was also there and got some great quotes from Judge as well as Houston actress Lidia Porto, who plays one of the factory workers in the film, sidekick to Beth Grant's chronic complainer. Although Grant wasn't at the Extract red carpet, we chatted with her a bit at Austin Film Festival and should be posting some of that material soon.

After the jump, I've got a photo of Lidia Porto, another of Jason Bateman, and one more of Mike Judge, my favorite from the evening.

Beatdown is filming in the Austin area, and Paul Gandersman, who is working on set, snapped a picture of film stars Rudy Youngblood (Apocalypto), Danny Trejo (Desperado, Machete).  The Mike Gunther directed action/martial arts film also stars Eric Balfour (Hellride), and MMA fighter Michael Bisping.

[Photo Credit:  Paul Gandersman]

This year's closing-night film at Austin Film Festival was Up in the Air, the latest from director Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking, Juno). Up in the Air, which hits Austin theaters on Friday, stars George Clooney as a guy who's continually traveling for his job -- firing people -- from city to city around the country. He mentors young Anna Kendrick, and also has some entanglements with another frequent traveler, played by Vera Farmiga. It's a very entertaining movie -- and just received six Golden Globe nominations, as well as winning various critics groups' awards -- but I'll let Jenn Brown tell you all about it when her review appears on Slackerwood in the next day or two.

The AFF screening was at night -- the photo above is from the red carpet beforehand. Up in the Air cinematographer Eric Steelberg (who also shot Bandslam here in Austin) is on the left next to Reitman. Earlier in the day I got the chance to chat with Reitman for a few minutes about his film and other related matters. You can read that interview on Cinematical -- and I hope you do, since it was a very enjoyable and funny discussion for me.

That article doesn't include the last question I asked him, however. It was almost an off-handed question, I didn't expect much, and was amazed at that passion of his response. It was about Austin, and I'm so pleased to be able to share this with you (after the jump).

Austin filmmaker Richard Linklater and actor Christian McKay were recently in town for the regional premiere of Me and Orson Welles. This is McKay's first major film role -- he plays Welles, staging his now-famous version of Julius Caesar in 1937. Zac Efron plays a teenager who is pulled into the whirlwind of the stage production.

I managed to catch up with Linklater and McKay before the red carpet and talk about the film. Here's what they had to say.

Christian, you've done Orson Welles on stage, and now on film -- how do the two feel to you?

Christian McKay: They are completely different characters. On stage, I played him up to the age of 70  with a fat suit -- my dad used to say you don't need that -- and the stick-on beard. To play him right at the beginning of his career, at 22 starting out with the Mercury Theatre -- it's extraordinary, it's a brave time. To make such an astonishing success of it, that it is still considered one of the greatest Shakespearean performances in North American theatre history. It's just amazing and this is of course before War of the Worlds and Kane, to do all that by the time you are 26.

It's Monday morning, so let's see what's been in the news recently for Austin filmmaking and movie events.

• Austin filmmaker Kat Candler's short Love Bug just won the audience award at the Little Ripper Film Festival for short films, in Melbourne, Australia. The film has played a number of Texas film fests this fall, including Austin Film Festival, where it won the Narrative Short Audience Award.
• Save the date: Looks like Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek will be holding an Evil Dead trilogy movie marathon on March 26, 2010. Groovy. We'll post more info as it's available.
• Texas Archive of the Moving Image is holding an open house on Wednesday, December 9, at 501 Studios from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. I don't know much of anything about this organization so I'm hoping to stop by and find out more. They promise refreshments and some screenings of films from their collection.

Austin filmmaker Richard Linklater premiered his latest film Me and Orson Welles at the Paramount Theater on Monday. Linklater joined stars Christian McKay and Zac Efron at the event, as shown above. The screening was a benefit for the Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund, which Linklater started in 1996 to assist emerging Texas filmmakers, and which has awarded over $1 million since then.

Zac Efron's presence created quite a commotion at the premiere. Even more exciting news regarding Me and Orson Welles -- Christian McKay has been nominated for his portrayal of Orson Welles in the "Best Supporting Male" category of this year's Spirit Awards.