Local Cast and Crew

It's a Disaster is the funniest movie I've seen this year.

This isn't hyperbole. As a longtime fan of film comedy -- it's my second-favorite genre, after documentaries that make me hate America -- I don't bestow such lofty praise lightly. And I'm no fan of what usually passes for humor in mainstream American film "comedies," most of which cater to people who think it's funny when Adam Sandler farts. So when I label a film the funniest movie I've seen this year, rest assured that it's damned hilarious -- and damned smart.

If great things come from small beginnings, so it is that great laughs can come from small films. And they don't get much smaller than It's a Disaster, which happens entirely in one Los Angeles house, where eight characters are trapped when a civil emergency forces them to stay indoors. The four young couples gather for what is supposed to be a pleasant Sunday brunch, but the party goes awry almost immediately. The conversations turn awkward and the arguments turn heated even before everyone discovers they've lost Internet, cable and -- the horror! -- cell phone service.

Things only get worse from there, as the couples -- who know little about what's going on -- make farcical attempts to deal with the situation. While waiting to see what happens next, they engage in the sort of fatalistic and bizarre are we all gonna die? conversations and behaviors we would expect in what may (or may not) be their final hours.

I won't describe what traps everyone in the house, but not just to avoid spoilers. I'll skip the details mostly because they aren't really important. What matters is that eight people, most of them longtime friends, are forced to confront not only what's happening in the world outside, but also what's happening in their lives, marriages, relationships and friendships. Above all, they must confront their own mortality. It's a Disaster is an apt and perfect title; it applies to disasters civil and personal, possibly global and entirely intimate.

Stopping at Austin Film Festival on a festival circuit, Only the Young is a look at a relationship between three evangelical teens in suburban Southern California: two skaters who are best pals and their female friend (sometime girlfriend of one of the guys). Austinite Elizabeth Mims is one of the directors of this documentary, and answered a few questions I had before watching the film.

Slackerwood: What is your connection to Austin?

Elizabeth Mims: I grew up in Austin and my family lives here. I even went to Austin High. I adore this town and I'm thrilled the film is playing here.

You co-directed Only the Young with Jason Tippet. How did the two of you meet?

Mims: Jason and I met while going to CalArts. After showing our work to the class it was clear we shared some stylistic choices. Together at CalArts we developed a style first by making a short documentary, Thompson. When embarking on the feature we already had an understanding of what worked from the short.

How did you decide that these Christian skater kids would be good documentary subjects? How much time was spent following these teens?

Mims: We decided that Garrison and Kevin would be good documentary subjects from the moment we met them. While checking out the new skatepark the kids approached us asking if we had lost keys to a Jag. These punk looking kids were making an effort to find the owner rather than just hunting for the car themselves in the parking lot... or throwing the keys over a fence as many of my high school peers would have attempted. It was also clear that Kevin and Garrison had been friends for a long time, speaking to each other in confident unconcerned tones that only come with years of friendship.

Was there ever a period of time when the kids got upset or uncomfortable with you filming them, or were they easygoing throughout the process?

Chances are if you're reading this, it's because you love film. Whether it's Texas-centric films, or the occassional Hollywood blockbuster that you enjoy reading a review about, it doesn't matter. Either way, you're here and you're here because you love movies. The Rep understands that love, and the documentary focuses on three people who were willing to risk their livelihood to share that love with the people in their hometown in Canada. Alex Woodside, Charlie Lawton, and Nigel Agnew are the proprietors of the Toronto Underground Cinema, a single-screen repertory theater that caters to the film nerd community who crave seeing films the way they were meant to be seen.

Backed by a single investor, in a theater hidden underneath a giant condo building, the underground cinema sits away from the hustle and bustle of the busy streets, visible to no one. That didn't stop the three cinephiles from trying to make their dream a reality, to run their own cinema that plays the films they love on the big screen.

The Rep starts out with interviews that include a few prominent names, such as  Kevin Smith, George Romero, and folks who represent other repertory cinemas. Austin's very own Lars Nilsen of Alamo Drafthouse shares more than a few poignant views on the joys and difficulties of running a repertory cinema, or "rep house" as their affectionally called in the film.

The Rep is put together in a really great way. As the Toronto Underground Cinema launches with much fanfare at a free screening, it seems as if this risky venture wouldn't be so risky. But the passionate trio quickly learn that if you build it, they don't always come. Despite the apparent lack of initial success, there are still moments that would make anyone realize the true power of cinema and how much it can really affect someone. Andrew Parker, a local film critic in Toronto, was literally on the verge of suicide until he happened upon the Toronto Underground Cinema. Even though the theater was in desperate need of every dollar they could get their hands on, Charlie gave him some free passes to help cheer him up on what he thought was just a movie fan having a bad day. He wrote a blog post about this experience, which you can read here.

Informant, an intense documentary which focuses on Austinite Brandon Darby, is documentarian Jamie Meltzer's latest film.  The movie is made up of interviews with Darby, a former anarchist who informed on two young men during the 2008 RNC, and his (former) friends and co-workers.

Meltzer is currently an assistant professor in the MFA program in Documentary Film and Video at Stanford, and his previous films include Off the Charts: The Song-Poem Story, Welcome to Nollywood and the short La Caminata.  His Informant will show as part of Austin Film Festival on Sunday 10/21 and Wednesday 10/24.

Before the fest kicked off, Meltzer answered some questions I had via email.

Slackerwood: Why did you decide to make a film about Brandon Darby? Did you know him before you started working on the movie?

Jamie Meltzer: I first discovered this story when Brandon posted his "open letter" declaring he was an informant, which The New York Times picked up on. I immediately emailed him and began the (long) process of getting him to agree to an interview (it took six months to do the first interview and another year before he agreed to allow me to use the interview in the film).

Kit Pongetti is a grad of the RTF program at The University of Texas in Austin who now resides in Los Angeles. Her directorial debut, Stakeout, will premiere at Austin Film Festival as part of Shorts Program 9 - The View from Outside (Friday 10/19 at 3:30 pm and Thurs, Oct. 25 at 4 pm at The Hideout). The comic short depicts two 1980s-era teenage gals who sit in their car and watch their peers at parties.

I asked Pongetti a few questions over email to find out about her first directing experience.

Slackerwood:  What is your connection to Austin?

Kit Pongetti: I completely romanticize Austin. Or is it just kind of romantic already? I grew up in the Houston suburbs and fell in love with Austin after a trip there my senior year of high school. I ended up going to UT for five years. Can't just stop at four.

I did a bunch of firsts there, too... first freedom, first love, first band, first road trip. I was in a band called Those Who Dig and we played all over town for four years back in the 90s. The hills, the water, the music, the bbq ... My relationship with Austin is ongoing and starry-eyed.

"When you are scared, you are most alive. People need that -- they need to feel alive." -- Victor Bariteau, The American Scream

Before sharing my views of the haunted house documentary The American Scream, I must provide two disclaimers. First of all, I've known producer Zack Carlson for several years through his roles at Alamo Drafthouse, which we discussed in a recent interview. Second, I've been involved in a local haunt SCARE for A CURE for several years, although not this year. As a haunter, I am more aware of the inner workings of a haunted house and was fortunate enough to have grown up during an era where haunted houses were as common as Christmas decorations in our community. We knew which houses had the scariest scenes and the best candy selection as we did our Halloween night lap around the neighborhood. 

If it appears that I can't be objective about The American Scream, I must actually admit to being more critical and even skeptical than usual -- my moviegoing tastes often are quite different from Carlson's, but I can appreciate his passion for certain subgenres. However, I often used the film Darkon as a gauge for personal story documentaries and so my expectations were set quite high. My prognosis is that the filmmakers behind The American Scream wholeheartedly captures the soul of those folks who dedicate blood, sweat, tears and energy often year-round for one special night.

Director Michael Stephenson (Best Worst Movie) and the rest of his crew scoured the U.S. for the best home haunts to feature in their documentary, and it would be hard to believe they could have found a better mix than in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Deprived of Halloween celebrations as a child by his parents' religious beliefs, Victor Bariteau compensates by making his home haunt a year-round obsession for his family. His eldest daughter is thoroughly immersed and helpful, and his supportive wife Tina states, "Not too many people know what their dream is -- they might think they do, but if they have a chance would they take it?"

The full lineup for Austin Film Festival 2012 has now been released. Among the big-budget films, Dustin Hoffman's directiorial debut, indie movies and documentaries are flicks with ties to Austin (and/or Texas in general). Among the better-known movies, The Sessions has a slight local connection in one of its stars -- former (but not forgotten) Austinite John Hawkes.

Here are some of the feature-length films made in Austin or with Austin filmmakers. If we missed anything, please let us know. Also, if you're one of the filmmakers on this list, please drop us a line, because we'd love to cover your movie.

• Ann Richards' Texas, a documentary by Houstonians Jack Lofton and Keith Patterson, is among the Marquee Screenings at the fest. This one looks like a must-see for those of us interested in Texas politics and/or our former state governor (trailer below).  [official site]

Of all the film experiences Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas has to offer, the most consistent and long-running are the weekly series Music Monday, Terror Tuesday, and Weird Wednesday. Zack Carlson and Lars Nilsen are the Alamo Drafthouse's "Cult and Culture" programmers behind the latter two, scouring the earth -- sometimes literally -- for unique and seldom seen 35mm prints to screen. These films could never be described as highbrow art, but have an appeal to film enthusiasts who want to see films that challenge the norm and are outside the comfort zone for mass appeal. I'll never forget the first time I saw Carnival Magic, nor the story about how Carlson secured a copy of a print. Watching that surreal movie with a Weird Wednesday audience is a memorable adventure worth experiencing.

Zack Carlson is more than just a film programmer, with many creative collaborative projects not just in movies but across multiple mediums including books and cartoons. He's written, acted in and produced film projects. This year at Fantastic Fest, attendees can see the premiere of the documentary he produced, The American Scream. Directed by Michael Stephenson (Best Worst Movie), this film follows three households in sleepy Fairhaven, Massachusetts as they dedicate thousands of hours along with a seemingly infinite amount of creative energy to capture the Halloween spirit in their haunts.

I recently spoke with Carlson at his Halloween-themed home about The American Scream, as well as about other projects he's involved with including the American Genre Film Archive and Fantastic Fest.

As we watch footage of Lubbock teenagers hanging out in a parking lot at the start of The Education of Shelby Knox, we also see some startling statistics: Lubbock's teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease rates are among the highest in the nation. One in 14 girls gets pregnant every year, and the teen gonorrhea rates are twice the national average.

Let's hope this situation has improved since The Education of Shelby Knox was released in 2005. But if this intriguing documentary about one girl's fight to bring sex education to her school is any indication, change comes slowly to places like Lubbock.

The movie follows Lubbock high schooler Shelby Knox's somewhat quixotic crusade to replace the Lubbock school district's abstinence-only sex education policy with a comprehensive sex-ed curriculum based on biology rather than ideology. Along with her fellow Lubbock Youth Commission members, Knox launches a well organized and impressively sophisticated campaign. The media-savvy group lobbies Lubbock residents and public officials, hoping to garner enough support to change the archaic policy. Later, Knox also gets involved in a gay student group's campaign for official recognition by the school district.

A study in contradictions, Knox is an ideal documentary subject. An evangelical Christian, she's devout in her faith and unfailingly respectful of conservative clergy. She's taken the True Love Waits pledge of sexual purity until marriage. But she's also progressive in her political and social views, a nascent liberal in Lubbock's sea of extremely conservative Republicans. A straight-A student, she's also a strong-willed teen who isn't shy about speaking truth to power. As self confident as she is, she sometimes can't hide her fears, one of which is that she'll anger her parents.

But Knox's parents -- evangelical Republicans with occasionally moderate views -- are surprisingly (and admirably) supportive of their daughter's crusade. They agree with her stance on sex ed, but are fully aware of the repercussions that await the family as Knox takes on the school board, the church and Lubbock's Bible-thumping citizenry. To their enormous credit, Knox's parents are more concerned about her welfare than their own. Never mind the price they may pay in their business and social circles; what matters most to them are their daughter's happiness and future.

Film on Tap is a column about the many ways that beer (or sometimes booze) and cinema intersect in Austin.

Growth of the Texas craft beer industry continues this summer with more breweries and brewpubs coming online or in the planning stage. The Texas Craft Brewers Guild recently released the 2012 annual update of the "Economic Impact of the Texas Craft Brewing Industry." Commissioned by the guild, this study estimates "the size and economic impact of locally owned breweries operating within the state of Texas, specifically focusing on current and potential output, job generation, and wages." The 78 actively licensed small manufacturers of craft beer in Texas -- up from 52 in 2010 -- are estimated to have had an economic impact of $608 million on the state in 2011. The study projects that the industry’s economic impact "could reach $5.6 billion annually in less than a decade should its development resemble that of the Texas wine industry."

As reported early this year in January's Film on Tap, this boom in the Texas craft industry has caught the attention of several documentary film projects including Crafting A Nation and Brewed in Austin - The Zymurgence of Craft Beer in Central Texas. Produced and directed by Chris Erlon of sound post-production studio Digital Domain of Austin (Friday Night Lights), Brewed in Austin tells the story of the boom and bust of Austin craft brewpubs and brewpubs in the 90s, as well as the recent emergence of new local breweries and the impact of recent legal action and legislative efforts on the industry. Rather than use narration, Erlon is relying on several brewers and key players in the local craft beer industry including Diane and Forrest Rogness of Rogness Brewing (pictured above), Chip McElroy of Live Oak Brewing Company, and Christine Celis, who recently gained back the intellectual property and rights to her father and brewmaster Pierre Celis' legacy of Celis Brewing.

Find out more about Brewed in Austin - The Zymurgence of Craft Beer as well as other boozy movie news after the jump: