Local Indies

Austin filmmaker Dano Johnson along with producers Jeffrey Travis and Seth Caplan are the inventors behind the animated family-friendly film Flatland 2: Sphereland. It's a follow-up to Flatland: The Movie -- both take kids on journeys into alternate dimensions with heroine Hex (Kristen Bell) and her trusty and mathematically inclined sidekick Puncto (voiced by Danny Pudi). Based on Edwin A. Abbott's Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, these movies tell the stories of dwellers who live in a two-dimensional world with no knowledge or interest in dimensions behond their own.

In Flatland 2: Sphereland, young scientist Hex encounters more mathematical mysteries as she and her sidekick race to save a mission into Flatland's "outer space" and discover the true shape of the universe. Because Flatland exists in a world where the only dimensions known are length and width, Hex's felllow inhabitants don't believe of the existence of a third dimension. However, it is Puncto who discovers an anomaly and seeks assistance from Hex, who is ostracized for her unorthodox ideas of another dimension.

The Revisionaries is yet another documentary I find difficult to review. Like last year's gripping Incendiary: The Willingham Case, The Revisionaries is so politically charged -- and so completely infuriating -- that it's hard to set aside my political beliefs and objectively review the film's cinematic qualities.

I'll do my best to be objective, but I'm sure my political views will sneak into this review at some point. Don't say I didn't warn you.

The Revisionaries takes a generally painful look at the Texas State Board of Education, long notorious as a haven for extremely conservative Christians whose mission is to rewrite textbooks to reflect their beliefs in creationism, America's Biblical origins, sexual abstinence, unregulated free enterprise and so on. A clever lot they are, hoping to win the culture wars over the long term by influencing what children learn in classrooms throughout Texas.

I admit I couldn't help but be excited about a movie that was primarily shot in my neighborhood, although you couldn't tell from watching Pictures of Superheroes. Much of the film takes place in a house where filmmaker Don Swaynos was living at the time, which is several blocks away from my own home. You wouldn't know it without his telling you, though.

I saw Pictures of Superheroes on Saturday at its world premiere, and afterward, emailed Swaynos a few questions about the movie. The answers are below. Don't worry, they're not spoilery. I liked the movie very much and encourage you all to see it at Austin Film Festival tonight at 7 pm at the Texas State Theater in the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum. Swaynos and probably some other cast/crew will be there and you too can ask him questions. Check out Debbie's review for more details.

Slackerwood: Can you give us the 25-word summary/pitch of the film?

Don Swaynos: Maybe. After being fired and broken-up with on the same day, Marie, a maid (Kerri Lendo), ends up being hired by an overworked businessman, Eric (Shannon McCormick), who is so busy he's forgotten he has a roommate, Joe (John Merriman). Things get weirder and weirder from there. It's not about superheroes.

Science fiction is an often under-represented genre in local film festivals, but this year's Austin Film Festival (AFF) has been quite the exception, especially with AFF Shorts Program 8 "The Future Now." This program boasts not only high quality filmmaking, but also features some heavy-hitting new filmmakers and recognizable cast members. I was amazed by the evocative nature of each film, whether the emotional reaction brought forth was laughter, awe or tears.

By far I was most impressed with HENRi, directed by Eli Sasich, which was funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2010 for which Sasich continues to provide updates to his backers. Set in the future, a derelict spaceship controlled by Hybrid Electronic/Neuron Responsive Intelligence -- HENRi for short -- and powered by a human brain, has begun to experience disjointed memories of its original owner. Find out more about this film that pays homage to sci-fi greats such as 2001: Space Odyssey and Isaac Asimov's "Laws of Robotics" after the jump, as well as both local and international short films featured in "The Future Now" program.

I saw Satellite of Love at Dallas International Film Festival earlier this year, and it was easily the loveliest movie I caught at the fest. It's set primarily in a vineyard, and the opening sequence takes place at a fair with some gorgeous shots on a Ferris wheel. In addition, the film is a poignant look at the complexity of intimate relationships, with excellent performances from Zachary Knighton and Nathan Phillips in particular. I reviewed the movie and wondered when we'd get to see it here in Austin.

Fortunately, Satellite of Love is in the Austin Film Festival lineup, and you have one more chance to see it -- tonight at 7 pm at the Rollins Theater at the Long Center. What were you planning to do tonight? Don't do that, see this movie instead. It really shines on a big screen, and director/co-writer Will James Moore will be there.

I interviewed Moore via email about the movie -- his responses are below.

Slackerwood: Can you give us the 25-word summary/pitch of the film?

Will Moore: Catherine is married to Blake, a restaurant-owning workaholic, and from the outset it is easy to see that there is a lack of passion in their relationship. Worldly musician Samuel, a former lover of Catherine and best friend to Blake, invites the couple to a vineyard for a week to make up for his absence at their wedding.

Much like Austin music, the local comedy scene has seen its ups and downs through the last couple of decades. Lately Austin comedians have received more recognition not just on stage but onscreen. Sometimes the writing and delivery of stand-up doesn't translate well to the silver screen. However, this year Austin Film Festival features Pictures of Superheroes, a local movie that not only showcases great comedic talent but congeals their multiple personalities in a humorous and insightful tale written and directed by Don Swaynos.

Pictures of Superheroes drops viewers into the humdrum life of maid-for-hire Marie played by Kerri Lendo (Sleep Study) as she deals with her insensitive boyfriend Phil (Byron Brown) and even sleazier boss Gil (Chris Doubek) who runs the French Maid "Cleaning" Service, which fronts as a prostitution store. After being fired from her job and breaking up with Phil, Marie is hired off the street by businessman Eric (Shannon McCormick) who lives alone but can't seem to keep his place clean. Turns out that Eric has forgotten that he does have a roommate, slacker and sometimes busboy Joe (John Merriman).

I only spent one day at aGLIFF Polari this year, due to whatever cruddy crud I contracted halfway through Fantastic Fest. (All I can say is that no germs better try attacking me during AFF.) Anyway, on the last day of the festival (last Sunday) I headed downtown to watch a web series and a documentary for my taste of aGLIFF. Polari. Eventually I'll get the name right.

Actually, aGLIFF Polari had at least one cute bumper showing before the movies to explain the name change. PJ Raval was in the bumper I saw on Sunday, thus confirming Don's theory that PJ Was Everywhere this year. Here's the embedded video if you want to watch it yourself.

What better way to wrap up Slackerwood's Fantastic Fest 2012 coverage than with a look at the two Austin-made shorts that screened during the festival, both of which I enjoyed? And what could be more fitting than to publish this article on the day that Fantastic Fest selection Sinister, written by an Austinite, opens in U.S. theaters? (I love it when I can find a reason that doesn't look like procrastination on my part.)

Dialogue is a very short short -- about one minute long -- from the Austin filmmakers pictured above. Christopher Palmer, Josh Johnson and Carolee Mitchell took a break from working on their upcoming documentary about VHS tapes, Rewind This, to shoot this unsettling conversation between a couple (Daniel Sergeant and Samantha Pitchel) about something unusual that's happening to one of them. The short film is set in a living room but it's not the setting that's creepy. It was a perfect fit for Fantastic Fest, is all I'm going to say. Johnson wrote and directed, Mitchell produced, and Palmer worked on post-production.

Kyle Henry's movie Fourplay was among the most anticipated films of aGLIFF Polari, and with good reason: It promised to be the sort of sex comedy that aGLIFF Polari audiences have adored in years past, and has strong hometown connections. One segment of the movie, Fourplay: San Francisco, screened at aGLIFF in 2010 as a short film.

Does Fourplay deliver on its promises? It played to a large and often wildly enthusiastic audience at the Paramount on Friday night; based on the audience's reaction, I'd say Fourplay does deliver, although I wasn't quite as impressed as many in the crowd were.

A compilation of four sexually oriented shorts set in four cities (Skokie, Austin, Tampa and San Francisco), Fourplay plays sexual intimacy mostly for laughs, although the movie does have some darker moments. The sexual encounters are as varied as the cities where they occur, from a woman's dogsitting adventure in Skokie to a public restroom orgy in Tampa. Fourplay is nothing if not sexually adventurous, which makes for a very interesting (if sometimes farfetched) examination of human sexuality.

This week, Fantastic Fest announced the final wave of its 2012 features and shorts programming. Many of the films were from other countries -- Fantastic Fest tends to have an international flavor, rather than a regional one. This is an elegant way of saying that you don't see a lot of Lone Star movies in the festival lineup. However, there are always one or two local gems to uncover at the fest.

Here are the Austin-connected films I've found (so far) that will screen during Fantastic Fest 2012. If I've missed something, please let me know in the comments. This list doesn't include bumpers -- the short shorts that screen before each movie at the fest -- but there are always a few memorable Austin-shot bumpers at the fest every year, so keep an eye out.

The Features:

• The ABCs of Death -- The official release date for this Drafthouse Films-produced horror anthology has been pushed back to 2013, but Fantastic Fest-goers still have the chance to see it soon. Austin-born filmmaker/actress Angela Bettis shot her segment in Austin with some local crew.
• The American Scream -- Alamo programmer Zack Carlson is one of the producers of this documentary from Michael Stephenson (Best Worst Movie). It's about homemade haunted houses in a small Massachusetts town and the families who stage them.