AFF

Slamdance Film Festival has just released their list of competition features for the 2010 fest, and two titles popped out at me. These are both films that Slackerwood reviewed (and liked) during Austin Film Festival 2009, and both of them have Austin connections.

• Cummings Farm is a comedy about several couples planning an weekend orgy outing on a farm. Actor/screenwriter Ted Beck is from Austin, and actress Yasmine Kittles was also in the Austin-shot 2006 film Gretchen. In her review, Jenn Brown called Cummings Farm "raunchy and insightful" and was impressed with Beck's performance.
• I called The Scenesters a "noir-mumblecore-L.A. homage comedy" in my review. The film is about some would-be auteurs who are shooting crime scenes and stumble across what they think is a serial killer murder mystery. Actor/writer/director Todd Berger and actor Kevin Brennan are both former University of Texas at Austin film students.

One of the most anticipated films at Austin Film Festival this year was Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, a movie that is both a condemnation of "the system"and a tribute to the human spirit.

It's set in 1987, when the AIDS scare is in full swing, and an HIV diagnosis was a death sentence. The epidemic of teen pregancies is being treated with punitive action, and girls like Claireece "Precious" Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) are the epitome of failure of the system. Illiterate, raped, abused and tormented, Precious is a walking ghost with no hope other than a fantasy life where she's loved, and occasionally white, slender, and gorgeous. Precious has sailed through school despite never even doing homework or being able to read, and usually only noticed by bullies.  When she's told by her principal she's being expelled, it seems like that's it for her, but it's just the beginning.

The documentary feature Hockey Night in Texas follows two Austin teams through an entire season as they compete for the championship. The 400 members of this recreational adult hockey league come from all walks of life, from artists to chefs to doctors to execs at major corporations. From all skill and experience levels, what they share in common is the desire to play hockey and drink beer.

The film features footage of the B-Division in action along with behind-the-scenes encounters with the team captains. Also mixed in is commentary from hockey professionals from the Dallas Stars, including assistant coach Mark Lamb and play-by-play announcer Ralph Strangis. Strangis talks about both the beauty and the violence of the game, comparing it to the gladiators of Rome.

Austin filmmaker Tim McCanlies (Secondhand Lions, The Iron Giant) premiered his latest family-friendly film Alabama Moon during Austin Film Festival at the Paramount. Based on the coming-of-age novel by Watt Key, this film's plot tugs at the heartstrings, reminiscent of the Disney film Old Yeller and other family classics.

After the unexpected death of his survivalist father, 11-year-old Moon (Jimmy Bennett ), who was raised in the Alabama wilderness, must learn how to make his way in the modern world. Doing so isn't very easy, with a local law officer (Clint Howard) intent on making sure that Jimmy stays a ward of the state in a reform school. There Moon meets and interacts with other boys, including the bully Hal (Gabriel Basso) and sickly Kit (Uriah Shelton) who become his friends and cohorts on an escape.

Herpes Boy won the Austin Film Festival Audience Award in the Comedy Vanguard category, which should come as no surprise to anyone fortunate enough to catch either of the sold-out AFF screenings. The  filmmakers and stars -- including the charming Beth Grant who also co-produced the film -- chose to stand during both screenings so that more festival attendees could see their film. With such an endearing and supportive force, it's no wonder that heart and passion transfers to the screen in this funny and poignant film.

Herpes Boy was directed by Nathaniel Atcheson and is based on the Herpes Boy YouTube web series created by Byron Lane in 2007. In the screen adaptation Byron wrote, he plays the lead character Rudolph Murray, who hates his life and is a bit of a hypochondriac. He has a large purple birthmark on his upper lip and everyday he finds someone staring, pointing, or calling him names—like "Herpes Boy."

Rudolph makes videos for the Internet in which he rants about his quirky life and zany family, including his New Age mother played by Beth Grant (No Country For Old Men, Little Miss Sunshine, Donnie Darko), emotionally distant father played by Michael Chieffo (L.A. Confidential), and grumpy grandmother (Julianna McCarthy). When his "actress-slash-model-slash-dancer" cousin Christeee -- yes, with three e's -- played by Ahna O’Reilly (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) re-edits his videos, it attracts a huge new audience. Rudolph becomes an unwilling cyber-celebrity at the worst possible time in his life.

What happens when a financially strapped Church can't afford to continue? They make a horror movie, of course.  At least, that's the premise of Holy Hell, a well-named Austin film by Rafael Antonio Ruiz and co-writer L.B. Bartholomee.

Reverend Lane (Ken Edwards) as a humble man who lives the Bible, instead of forcing it down other's throats.  But his flock is dwindling, and his church doesn't have the money to keep the doors open.  The decision to make a film stirs up more controversy than they'd ever expect, especially as word gets out it's a horror film.  Suddenly they find themselves at odds with a superchurch, which sends an army of protesters to shut them down.

Everything changes, cities as well as relationships.  That theme is underscored in Erik Mauck's latest film, Straight to the Bone, which premiered at the Austin Film Festival.   Mauck's previous film, the Austin based documentary Zombie Girl: The Movie, played Fantastic Fest last year.

Living in Austin for any length of time eventually results in the lamentation of how much the city is changing, and as hard as change may be for some, growth is essential for every living organism or relationship.  No longer a student, Shannon wants something more meaningful in her life, but her boyfriend Jay is content with the status quo.  Happening upon an act of kindness makes it impossible for Shannon (River Gareth) to remain complacent.  Blake (Ryan Edgerly), a stranger, makes her realize just what she's missing. Jay (Matt Thornton) doesn't take well to the notion that good enough isn't enough anymore, and after a fight over his annoyance at her sense of responsibility, he takes off in a childish snit.

I knew Todd Berger as a filmmaker who'd grown up in New Orleans and made the 2007 documentary Don't Eat the Baby about post-Katrina Mardi Gras, a movie that I quite liked. But since that was the only film of his I'd seen, I always thought of him as a documentary kind of guy. I didn't know that he's a member of comedy troupe The Vacationeers -- I would never have imagined that he would write and direct a noir-mumblecore-L.A. homage comedy, The Scenesters.

The Scenesters opens with a fake trailer that spoofs "mumblecore" films mercilessly, then shifts to a jury trial, then flashes back to tell the main story of the film. The filmmakers behind the mumblecore movie are having financial troubles, and director Wallace Cotten (Todd Berger) is forced to take a job filming crime scenes for the LAPD. However, Wallace and his producer Roger (Jeff Grace) can't settle for straightforward work, and next thing we know, they're making a movie about what they've decided is a serial-killing spree. Their focus is Charlie (Blaise Miller), a guy who cleans up crime scenes, and who used to date news anchor Jewell Wright (Susanne May). Charlie has noticed that all the crime-scene victims are blonde hipster females.

When I moved to Austin in 1993, I was stunned by the overwhelming and fairly open marijuana use, especially amongst my fellow UT classmates. Apparently that hasn't changed much, as evidenced in UT graduate Michael Greene's first feature film about his college experiences in the indie comedy Stoner. Greene writes, directs, and acts in this film, which centers around the lead character Michael as he prepares for graduation. How he's managing to graduate is a mystery, since he's more of a "wake and bake" stoner with a dead-end job in a copy center, unable to get to work on time.

It's a little strange that I'm writing a review for Harmony and Me immediately after reviewing (Untitled) -- both movies are about music, and use music to explain their characters' state of mind. Harmony and Me is more subtle and uses music in a more personal, straightforward way -- the characters are the focus.

Harmony and Me is the latest film from Austin writer/director Bob Byington (RSO [Registered Sex Offender]). Many of us in Austin have been waiting to see this locally shot film since its premiere at New Films/New Directors in New York last April. Byington was unhappy with the projection quality at AFF, and I hope to see it again someday in a setting that the director feels does justice to his film. However, I was still able to enjoy the film.