Local Cast and Crew

"Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't." 
--Mark Twain

This statement is a perfect metaphor for the documentary The Imposter, which screened at SXSW 2012 and returns to Austin theaters on Friday. The Imposter tells the story of Nicholas Barclay and Frederic Bourdin. Nicholas is a boy from San Antonio who disappeared one day in 1994 after playing basketball with friends. Frederic is a serial imposter who in 1997 managed to convince Barclay's family as well as authorities in Spain and the U.S. that he was Nicholas. This story would make an interesting piece of fiction if it were not true. It definitely makes for an interesting documentary.

The movie was directed by Bart Layton, who is known for creating the British TV series Locked Up Abroad. Layton's extensive experience making documentaries shows in this movie, his first feature. The Imposter uses a style similar to the one found in Locked Up Abroad (yes, I have seen a few). Extensive use of interviews as well as re-creations of events breathe life into Barclay and Bourdin's joint story.

Actor Thomas Haden Church traveled to Austin recently from his ranch in Bandera County for Austin Film Society's reception and special screening of the darkly provocative and often brutal film Killer Joe (my review). While in town, Church met with local press to talk about the Texas-set movie, adapted by Pulitzer and Tony Award winner Tracy Letts from his own play, and directed by Academy Award-winning director William Friedkin.

During our roundtable interview, AFS Executive Director Rebecca Campbell dropped in for a chat, thus the photo above. Never at a loss for words, Church -- who emceed the Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards in 2009 and 2010 -- expressed his support of Austin Studios and AFS as well as the Texas Film Commission. He also spoke at length about the Lone Star setting of the film, shooting in New Orleans (which pretended to be Dallas) and working with legendary filmmakers.

Slackerwood: What attracted you to the Killer Joe project?

Thomas Haden Church: Chiefly William Friedkin and then this script, which was based on the Tracy Letts play. Whenever Matthew McConaughey became involved, it all started to happen really quickly. I wanted to work with Billy [Friedkin], and I thought the screenplay was dark and violent and funny, and edgy. All the things that challenge an actor in a character.

Watching Logan's Run -- which, if I remember correctly, I last saw on VHS nearly a century ago -- brings to mind the following bit of wisdom: Those who cannot remember the Seventies are condemned to repeat them.

And on a related note: Those who cannot remember bad Seventies sci-fi movies are condemned to remake them. Alas, humanity has not learned this lesson, for a Logan's Run remake is in the works.

To be fair, there are far worse ways to kill a couple of hours than watching Logan's Run. Released in 1976, the Texas-made film is mostly schlock, a cheese-smothered exercise in ridiculous, clichéd sci-fi silliness. But in its better moments, it's highly entertaining silliness. And when viewed through the lens of cinematic history, Logan's Run serves as a great primer in the look and feel of Seventies sci-fi filmmaking, one that begs the question What were they thinking?

I recently had the chance to attend a sneak-peek screening of the East Texas-shot movie Christmas with the Dead, adapted from a novel by Joe R. Lansdale, who's also one of the film's producers. I've posted some stills from the film after the jump.

The Nacogdoches author might be best known to genre film fans for his association with the cult classic movie Bubba Ho-Tep, which was adapted from his novella. He's also written graphic novels, short stories and TV scripts. 

Directed by T. L. Lankford and adapted by Keith Lansdale (the author's son), Christmas with the Dead brings some new elements to the zombie genre, which at this point in cinematic history is a very important thing. Zombie films aren't separated by a very distinct line anymore, and it's great to see a film that challenges the norms we've all come to expect.

Here’s the official plot synopsis from the movie's website: "The Christmas spirit never dies. Even after people started becoming zombies, Calvin (Damian Maffei) is haunted by the memories of Christmases past. Years after the painful grief of losing his family and everyone he knows (made worse by the monotony of loneliness), Calvin decides he can't take any more of this existence … and that it's Christmas."

We survived the travails of the first day of San Diego Comic-Con -- read Part One and Part Two for the saga. After successfully avoiding dietary calamities, exhaustion and depletion of resources, we prepared for the final stretch of our journey. We headed bravely into the maelstrom. We headed into Friday and Saturday braving the realm of Hall H!

As you learned from our last journal entry, Hall H is where the biggest of the biggest panels of Comic-Con occur. Friday and Saturday are the two biggest days of Comic-Con and this is the time when the studios bring out the big guns.

Zombie Friday

Friday was a big day for me and my daughter Krysta. We got in line again around 7 am to secure a seat for the Walking Dead and Game of Thrones panels. Yes, we waited another 4+ hours in order to see an hour and a half of content. The beauty of this strategy is that you see things you would normally not while camped in Hall H. In my case, the Paranorman panel provided insights I had not expected. I was blown away when I learned that Paranorman was created using stop-motion animation. For months I have seen trailers, and could have sworn that the movie was a CG operation. Count me impressed! You will be blown away by Paranorman.

You were forewarned. San Diego Comic-Con is not for the uninitiated. In Part One, you learned just how perilous it can be just to make it to Comic-Con. This time, you will discover what it is like to survive but one day of Comic-Con.

Line, Lines, Everywhere a Line ...

After acquiring shelter, badges, treasure and finally nourishment, rest was mandatory. We would be storming the walls of the infamous HALL H at Breaking Dawn. Actually we wanted to see the panel for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 2, which required our weary band of travelers to be in line early to assure we'd get a seat. 

Doing a calculation on our portable abacus, we learned that the optimal time to be in line was probably 7 am for festivities starting around 11 am. Four hours early? Yes, four hours early. The lines for Hall H are epic and it is wise to arrive that early in order to acquire a decent seat. The Hall H madness reached a crescendo in 2008 when the panel for the first Twilight panel hit the con. Why would this middle-age traveller brave such a line? The wee one! This Comic-Con would be my 14-year-old daughter's first, and we would not be missing this for all the shiny vampire sprinkles in the world. 

By Gabriela A. Treviño

On Sunday, July 22, the Austin Film Festival hosted "A Conversation in Film with Elizabeth Avellán: Producing your Independent Feature Film" at the Harry Ransom Center on UT's campus. The event drew a large crowd of students, aspiring film industry professionals and those curious-minded folk who yearned for some insight into what exactly a movie producer does. With experience in producing both independent and blockbuster films such as Sin City, Grindhouse and Predators, Elizabeth Avellán was able to share her experiences from working in the biz and offer her advice to the crowd with wit and honesty.

Just about everyone has an idea about what screenwriters, directors, and editors do ... but what about producers? The ever-elusive role of a producer is difficult to understand, and there are quite a few items on a producer's to-do list other than raising funds for a film. Everything from casting to scripts to locations and music -- that's what a producer has to think about. 

With a repertoire like Avellán's, it was surprising to hear her humbly state, "I'm still learning [the business] as we speak."

Let this document serve as a warning to people attempting the journey to San Diego Comic-Con. The trail to Comic-Con is a perilous one for some and a life-changing event for others. We go to Comic-Con in search of enlightenment, fellowship, spiritual awakening, inspiration and in some cases acquisition of rare and unique treasures. Be warned this journey is not for the faint of heart or weak of soul. Let the journey begin ...

Preparation

Attending SDCC (as we veterans call it) requires preparation. The first step in your journey is the acquisition of the rarest of all items: the Comic-Con badge. Without a badge, you're nothing but a "normal," doomed to a life on the outside looking in. The location of "in" is the San Diego Convention Center, the Mecca of all that is geek.

My journey to the 2012 SDCC actually began in the pre-dawn hours of the 2011 SDCC. I waited with fellow travelers in hopes of scoring the ultimate of all SDCC badges, the "Golden Ticket" of Comic-Con, a full convention badge with preview night. Many hours later, after waiting with friends hailing from the far-off realms of Phoenix and Chicago, our weary band was ushered into the hall of tickets. We learned that badges were being rationed to two tickets per person. After my six-hour pilgrimage, the gods of tickets showed me favor and granted my wish: two Full Convention Passes with Preview Night! Acquisition unlocked .... Tickets acquired!

In an early scene in Dancer, Texas Pop. 81, an out-of-tune little band plays "Pomp and Circumstance" at a graduation ceremony. The band -- three kids playing their instruments gamely but very badly -- is a great metaphor for life in the dwindling West Texas hamlet of Dancer, a place as tiny as the band and in many ways just as hopeless.

Writer/director Tim McCanlies's 1998 film follows four of the town's new high-school graduates -- there are only five students in the graduating class -- as they spend their last day or two in Dancer before leaving town for new and hopefully far more exciting adventures in Los Angeles. Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 is in some ways a scaled-down, Permian Basin version of American Graffiti, a story of young people torn between the familiar but limiting comforts of their current lives and the uncertain but enticing possibilities of adulthood.

Founded by actor and director Robert Redford in 1981, the nonprofit organization Sundance Institute is not only recognized internationally for its annual film festival in Park City, Utah, but also for its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists. The organization has supported critically acclaimed film projects including Born into Brothels, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Angels in America and many more.

Eleven projects were selected for the Sundance Creative Producing Labs this year, held from July 30 - August 3. The selected producers receive creative and strategic support through the year as well as fellowships for direct funding of development and production. Two of the Fellows selected are in Austin, Texas -- producer Kelly Williams (Hellion, Cinema Six), former Austin Film Festival Program Director and Director of Programming of Forth Worth's Lone Star International Film Festival; and producer/director/cinematographer PJ Raval (Trouble the Water, Trinidad). Find out more after the jump.