Local Cast and Crew

The DVD release of Twilight: New Moon was not on my radar last week until a couple of "Twihards" asked, "OMG -- did you get to meet Ashley Greene or Kristen Stewart at SXSW?!" As I showed you previously, I saw Stewart at The Runaways screening along with her co-star Dakota Fanning and rock star Cherie Currie. Indeed the red carpets were abuzz for the arrivals of both Twilight stars for their respective movies.

Ashley Greene, who plays Alice Cullen in the Twilight series, showed up in Austin during SXSW to promote Skateland. Skateland is set in the early 1980s and is centered around a 19-year-old skating rink manager who is forced to look in his life in a new way. However, it's the strength of the female characters and the women who portray them -- led by Greene -- that stands out in this film. Although most of the filming took place in Shreveport, Louisiana, the story is set in a small Texas town and many of the filmmakers graduated from The University of Texas at Austin, including producer Heath Freeman, who also plays Greene's character's brother.

I had a great interview with Earthling director Clay Liford. Only my dog ate it. Or rather, my Blackberry. So I don't have notes or the audio.

What you missed was hearing an unrepentant sci-fi geek talk about "R-Cubed" -- rockets, robots, and ray guns -- and how science fiction is far more than that. Liford's subtle science-fiction film Earthling harkens back to old-school science fiction. The Dallas filmmaker spoke at length about post-WWII science fiction and the power of that period in the genre's history. 

He also went on to talk about early science-fiction films, such as the 1951 classic The Day the Earth Stood Still, and his dislike for the recent remake.  And how he wanted to create an indie film with science fiction elements that didn't rely on R-Cubed. 

You'll also miss the admiration he has for his lead actress, Rebecca Spence, and not only how much she brought to the role of Judith, and how much she carries on her shoulders within the structure of the film. On top of all that, you don't get to hear how much respect she had for her director, who made a fundamental change in casting that switched gender of a character she had to interact with intimately. 

No one would argue that director, writer and producer Terrence Malick is a prolific filmmaker. Since directing his first feature, Badlands, in 1973, he has directed a mere three more. Four, if you count the upcoming The Tree of Life, which has been in production for two years. Malick is not one to be rushed. But what Malick's career lacks in quantity, it more than makes up for in quality. His first two films, Badlands and Days of Heaven, are considered classics; his third, The Thin Red Line, was a critical darling when released in 1998.

Given Malick's auteur reputation, it's no surprise that Days of Heaven has achieved an honor bestowed on a relative handful of films: It's now available on a stunning new Criterion Collection Blu-ray Disc, starting today. Released to wide acclaim in 1978, Malick's second feature is a fine example of his visually poetic, deliberately paced style.

Set in the Texas Panhandle at the dawn of World War I, Days of Heaven is the story of Bill (Richard Gere), a Chicago steelworker who, after killing his boss in a fight, flees to Texas with his girlfriend, Abby (Brooke Adams), and young sister Linda (Linda Manz). The three find work harvesting wheat in the fields of a stoic Panhandle farmer known only as The Farmer (Sam Shepard).

When the harvest ends, the farmer -- in love with Abby but unaware that she and Bill are a couple (they have been posing as brother and sister) -- invites them all to stay on at the farm. In quintessential Malick fashion, the story then becomes a study -- a thoroughly poetic one, of course -- of human nature's dark side. The love triangle turns from merely complicated to completely sinister, as Abby marries the farmer in a cynical scheme to inherit his assets. The scheme goes awry, and the characters' underlying tensions explode against a biblically disastrous backdrop of locusts, fire and death.

SXSW may have a lot of splashy marquee films from all around the globe, but some of us here in Austin want to see what our hometown is bringing to the film festival this year. I'd say it's a good year for Austin and Texas at SXSW but I say that every single year.

Here's the annual Slackerwood list of features playing SXSW 2010 that have Austin connections of one kind or another. The list begins with films shot in Austin, then moves onto other local ties. If we left your film off the list and it was shot here or includes local cast or crew, post a comment or drop us a line and we'll be happy to include it.

• Dance with the One -- This feature was produced by the University of Texas Film Institute (UTFI). Director Michael Dolan and many cast/crew members are from Austin. It's set in Texas, but I don't know yet if/how much it's set here in town.
• The Happy Poet -- I don't know much about this film by Paul Gordon, except that more than one filmmaker going to SXSW this year has told me to see it. But many of the film's stills (like the one pictured above) show recognizable local spots, and a movie about a poet who opens his own organic food trailer sounds very Austin-ish to me.

The SXSW 2010 Film Festival feature-film lineup was announced Wednesday night, and it's full of goodies. I am still sorting through them all with lots of "oooh!" noises. Some of these are films I wished I could have caught at Sundance (but I'm allergic to snow), some are films I've been hearing about for awhile, some are very cool-sounding surprises.

You can find the whole feature lineup over at the SXSW Film website -- the shorts haven't been announced yet -- but here are a few of the highlights:

• Headliners include the Duplass brothers' film Cyrus (I told you so); MacGruber, starring Val Kilmer, Jason Bateman and the underrated actress of 2009, Kristen Wiig; Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film Micmacs -- which played BNAT in 2009 along with Kick-Ass, the fest's opening-night film; Mr. Nice, which stars Rhys Ifans (and Christian McKay in a small role ... don't swoon, Debbie); and Sundance favorite The Runaways.
• Spotlight premieres include Audrey the Trainwreck (edited by St. Nick director David Lowery), Aaron Katz's Cold Weather, and Tim Blake Nelson's Leaves of Grass.

Local restaurant owner Sandra Bullock (Bess Bistro) scored an Oscar nomination this morning for her performance in the sports drama The Blind Side. Bullock has already won a Golden Globe, a Broadcast Film Critics Award, and several other critics' group awards for her performance as Leigh Anne Tuohy. The Austin Film Critics Association gave their Best Actress award to Melanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds), who is not nominated for an Oscar ... well, I suspect our demographic makeup is different than the Academy's. The Blind Side, written and directed by Longview native John Lee Hancock, also received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. I reviewed the movie for Cinematical last year.

Bullock isn't the only Austin representative in the Oscar nominees today. Local musician Ryan Bingham teamed up with T-Bone Burnett on the song "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart, which received a nomination for Best Original Song. I'm not seeing any other local connections but if I missed something, please let me know. ETA: Victor Diaz reminds me that Wes Anderson is a UT grad and Houston native, and his fantastic movie Fantastic Mr. Fox is up for Best Animated Feature. The Academy Award ceremony takes place on March 7.

I've been out of town for the past week, and the best way to catch up on Austin film news is to share it with everyone. Hopefully at least some of the following items are news to you, too.

• RIP to actress Brittany Murphy, who was not a Texan but played one on TV, very convincingly, for over a decade as the voice of Luanne Platter (a name I have always adored) on King of the Hill. Murphy also had a role in Robert Rodriguez's film Sin City. She died on Sunday; some news sources are reporting heart failure, others attributing her death to natural causes. She was 32.
• We've mentioned the search for the young female lead in the Coen brothers' remake of True Grit a couple of times. Looks like last month's Austin auditions didn't turn up that perfect actress, so Paramount is now holding an online casting call for teen girl hopefuls. The film will be shot at least partially in Central Texas in Spring 2010 -- Blanco County News reports the Old Blanco County Courthouse may be one location used next April or May. [via @tamarlovesu on Twitter]

At Fantastic Fest this year, I was pleased to see that one of the animated shorts was from a local filmmaker -- Lucas Martell's Pigeon: Impossible. I was even more pleased that it turned out to be one of the funniest shorts in the collection.

The film is about a secret agent with a briefcase and what happens during an encounter with, well, a pigeon. The street where the action takes place is supposed to be set in Washington, D.C., but I noticed some oddly familiar landmarks, like the Driskill and the Paramount. Look at the picture on the right to see what I mean.

Martell's short animated comedy also played Austin Film Festival this year. Pigeon: Impossible is now available online for everyone to enjoy. It's a little more than six minutes long, and just what you need to add some fun to your morning. Check it out after the jump or directly on YouTube.

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.

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.