Special Screenings

If you haven't heard about Screen Door Film, you've been missing out. This organization has been giving Austin audiences a chance to see lesser-known shorts and features, especially locally made films, for several years. They've partnered with St. Edward's University in the past on screenings and discussions about Texas films.

Screen Door Films has just announced its 2010 Texas Cinema Series, and this time, they're teaming up with the Documentary Center at The University of Texas at Austin. The first two screenings are in February:

• Along Came Kinky ... Texas Jewboy for Governor on Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 7 pm. This documentary about Kinky Friedman played SXSW 2009. Read my interview from last March with director David Hartstein. That's Hartstein in the above photo with Friedman at the SXSW Q&A.
• The Eyes of Me on Wednesday Feb. 24 at 7 pm. Keith Maitland directed this documentary about the Texas School for the Blind, which played previously in Austin last year during SXSW and the Cinema Disability Touching Festival. Read Debbie Cerda's review.

Looking for a filmmaking opportunity? The Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin has issued a call for filmmakers to participate in its "Faces of Austin" multimedia program. Short Austin-centric films and video works will be selected for display at City Hall, as well as streamed online by Channel 6 video on-demand. The city previously picked films for this program in 2005 and 2006; it's good to see it again.

The full press release follows after the jump.

Friday night was the annual Butt-Numb-a-Thon (BNAT) pre-party, this year at the shiny new and oh so conveniently located Highball. Dozens of film geeks were there, greeting old friends and making some new ones prior to the 25+ hour movie marathon spectacle that is BNAT, now in its 11th year.

Among my first greetings was, "So I hear you're a virgin." What the.... Oh. BNAT virgin. Yeah. A little later, I hear, "I told her you were a virgin." and "Yeah, and I wanted to know how he knew, til I realized he meant BNAT." Thankfully, BNAT veterans welcome newbies with open arms.

I have several friends among those who have secured seats, and more trying for standby. But this isn't an exclusive crowd; they're very welcoming. People were very friendly and the advice is still flowing (apparently the hygiene comments are very appreciated). I met people at the party with guaranteed seats as well as some hoping to get in from the standby line. At least one person came as far as Atlanta without a guaranteed seat. People with seats have come from as far away as Sweden. 

The lineup for BNAT is never announced in advance, which was a great source for discussion for tonight's partygoers. So what's the buzz? What among the most anticipated upcoming releases will play BNAT1138?

Austin filmmaker Richard Linklater premiered his latest film Me and Orson Welles at the Paramount Theater on Monday. Linklater joined stars Christian McKay and Zac Efron at the event, as shown above. The screening was a benefit for the Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund, which Linklater started in 1996 to assist emerging Texas filmmakers, and which has awarded over $1 million since then.

Zac Efron's presence created quite a commotion at the premiere. Even more exciting news regarding Me and Orson Welles -- Christian McKay has been nominated for his portrayal of Orson Welles in the "Best Supporting Male" category of this year's Spirit Awards.

Two of Austin's most-loved theaters are showing their support for the community with special screenings during Edible Austin Eat Local Week. Kicking off December 5, this week provides opportunities for Central Texans to explore and celebrate the abundance of local food by eating out and shopping at participating area restaurants and markets. Money raised by participating businesses will go towards YouthLaunch's Urban Roots, a youth development program that uses sustainable agriculture to effect change for 14- to 18-year-olds, and to nourish East Austin residents who have limited access to healthy foods.

On Saturday, December 5, the Paramount Theatre presents a special screening of the powerful and inspiring food documentary Fresh, which has been compared to the eye-opening Food, Inc. Joel Salatin, who is featured in the film, will join Fresh director/producer Ana Sofia Joanes for an audience Q&A after the screening. Ticket prices are $15, $25 and $100. The limited $100 tickets include reserved seating and admission to a pre-screening reception with Joanes, Salatin and other featured guests in the State Theatre lobby. The reception will feature Austin's top chefs preparing locally sourced food tastings and local beverages. The event will also provide opportunities to meet and connect with many of Austin's local food nonprofit and support groups. Tickets are on sale now.

John Krasinski (Away We Go, The Office) will be in Austin this weekend to premiere his directorial debut of Brief Interviews with Hideous Men as part of the Celebrity Guests Signature Series at the Alamo Downtown. I spoke with John by phone before his arrival in Austin, and here's what he had to say.

Tell us about your film Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.

It's a book by David Foster Wallace that I had read in college. Without being overly sentimental, it's basically not only been my passion to get it made into a movie, but it was also the thing that made me want to be an actor. I had been acting in college just for fun with friends, and after being a part of this staged reading that we did, it made such an impact on me emotionally. In one of those big ways it had a huge impact by how provocative and honest it was. It was one of those things where I really wanted to give acting a shot after that.

Range Life and the Onion's AV Club are bringing a week's worth of special engagement screenings to Austin starting on the 14th.  All are independent comedies, with the first film, White on Rice, is screening as part of the Austin Asian American Film Festival at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. With the exception of White on Rice, all films are at 9:30pm at the Dobie.  Check out the list below, as three films will include Q&A, and one will be followed by a live band performance. 

• 11/14 2:00pm White On Rice  (Screens at Alamo Lamar as part of AAAFF)
• 11/16 9:30pm Visioneers
• 11/17 9:30pm On The Road With Judas (Director Q&A included)
• 11/18 9:30pm Box Elder (Director and Cast Q&A included)
• 11/19 9:30pm Last Cup: Road to the World Series of Beer Pong
• 11/20 9:30pm Assassination of a High School President (followed by a performance by Capybara)
• 11/21 9:30pm Impolex (Director Q&A included)

For more information about the Range Life Fall Tour '09, or to view trailers, go to their website. 

Here are a few of the Austin-related, movie-related news items that have been floating around recently:

• Nancy Schiesari's documentary Tattooed Under Fire (pictured at right) airs on KLRU on Tuesday, November 10 at 9 pm. Tattooed Under Fire is about the stories and secrets that Fort Hood soldiers share while getting tattoos. Schiesari is a professor in Radio-TV-Film at The University of Texas in Austin.
• I'll Come Running, directed by former UT Austin instructor Spencer Parsons, is now available to watch via IFC On Demand. The film played Austin Film Festival in 2008 and was shot in Austin and Denmark. Melonie Diaz stars as a young woman who befriends a Danish tourist and forms an unusually strong connection. Jette recommends it.
• Cine Las Americas will host its 2010 season kickoff and happy hour fundraiser on Tuesday, November 17 at Malverde. All proceeds benefit the 13th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, including 10 percent from diners at La Condesa after the happy hour. 

We held a couple of giveaways on Twitter last night and this morning for passes to a preview screening of The Men Who Stare at Goats on Thursday night, and had a great response. Thanks to everyone who helped retweet and promote the giveaways.

If your Twitter username is on the list of winners after the jump, contact me ASAP with your actual name, so I can put it on the list and avoid imposters. If you didn't win, the movie opens on Friday in Austin and we'll post a review on Slackerwood. We will also retweet the "secret password" for getting one of a limited number of reserved seats for the screening, so keep following Slackerwood on Twitter.

As I mentioned earlier, Slackerwood is sponsoring a preview screening of The Men Who Stare at Goats on Thursday night (Nov. 5) here in Austin. This comedy about secret U.S. psychic military operations stars George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey. I've seen it already and will post my review on Slackerwood on Friday. I won't spoil my review, but consider the fact that I've seen it twice, and draw your own conclusions.

We have some passes to give away for this screening. Each pass admits two people. Seating is first-come, first-served, which means that even if you have a pass, you'll need to get to the theater early because we give out more passes than there are seats. On our Twitter feed, we mentioned earlier today what you can do to try to "jump the line" and get one of the limited number of reserved seats. But if you're worried you won't be one of the few lucky people to score one of those seats, you'll need to get your hands on a pass.