Results tagged “sxswfilm”

Thanks to yelpers, rotten tomato throwers and a veritable uprising of basement bloggers, the old saying has become truer than ever before: Everyone’s a Critic. Exploring this modern trend (and taking the time to remind us of pre-blog America) is the 2009 SXSW Documentary Feature For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism, which calls movie reviewing a “profession under siege.”

Billed as an “unromantic comedy,” Sorry, Thanks is a contemplative and heartfelt detour from standard romcom fare, a skillfully made ensemble piece that makes no excuses for screw-ups, but tells you it’s okay to love them anyway.

For those viewers few and far between who found Slumdog Millionaire infuriatingly glib about poverty instead of heartwarming, we recommend Garbage Dreams, a documentary about the Zaballeen, a group of impoverished Egyptians living in Cairo who survive off of the money they make from recycling the trash of others.

Bugs! Gross or amazing? According to the premise of Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, a documentary directed by Jessica Oreck, our aversion to the insect and arachnid kingdoms may be culturally conditioned, rather than innate.

Winter and snow offer a sort of pay to play combination. There are the sunburns in January from hitting the slopes, or the fact that playing the world's most glorious game requires that you endure frigid temperatures and fasten knife-like blades on a surface as hard as concrete. "Snowblindness" is a condition that occurs when you essentially become blinded by light in the middle of the dark winter, but this is a documentary about a more serious variety.

Clark Lyda and Jesse Lyda are first-time filmmakers based out of Austin and New York City. The documentary they produced and directed about the T. Don Hutto family detention center in Taylor, The Least of These, is having its world premiere Monday as part of the SxSW Film Festival.

In We Live in Public, acclaimed director Ondi Timoner pieces together footage from two of Harris' past projects, one of which was "Quiet", a chronicle of 100 people living in an underground bunker in Manhattan for 30 days, their every movement recorded (voluntarily) and broadcast online by Harris, until the cops shut it down. Maybe it was the indoor shooting range that did it? Following that experiment, Harris and his girlfriend decided to broadcast their lives 24/7 online for six months—until she had enough and moved out. This from a man who began one of the first online television networks and made millions through web consulting. Harris, "the greatest Internet pioneer you've never heard of," lived in public, and eventually lost his sense of self and his mind. And we could watch it all online.

In Observe and Report, Rogen plays a mall cop obsessed with Brandi (Anna Faris, the House Bunny herself!). When Brandi gets flashed by a…well, a flasher, he takes advantage of the situation, warning her that the perv might return to kill her and telling her that she needs protection. Hey, it’s a smooth move if you’re a lonely mall cop with nothing to lose. But with Rogen’s ne’er do well energy (and the fact that he’s a friggin' Mall Cop), we feel it's safe to assume he’s probably fighting a comically uphill battle.

Burma VJ, a documentary by Anders Østergaard, pieces together this undercover footage—which might seem a bit shaky at times, since some of the videographers were carrying their cameras hidden in bags—taken by the Burmese reporters as they put their lives on the line to make sure that the world knew about the plight of their people. The film is likely to show more of the real story than we ever saw on our television.

The plot of A Film With Me In It centers on a struggling actor who finds himself surrounded by people that are dying in suspicious ways; ways that aren’t easily explained as simple coincidences. As he and his friend try to figure out the best way to explain their presence at all these random deaths (that look like murders), things get quite complicated.

In part a genre history of 50's era sci-fi movies, Monsters from the ID promises footage of rickety-looking pre-CGI robots and aliens, along with reels of scenes in which scientists make love to women in high heels and round-collared dresses. For kitsch-seekers, the 50's flashbacks will deliver. However, director David Gargani, has bigger fish to fry, as the movie makes clear when it transitions from a meditation on the cultural factors which influenced the resurgence of sci-fi during this decade into a polemic on the need for Americans to reclaim their past love affair with science and technology—before the rest of the world passes us by.

After data entry drone Dory is fired for freaking out on an annoying coworker, he finds work as a nighttime janitor in a boring Seattle office building. Alone in this low-pile carpet universe, Dory and his crew drink, smoke, and party down in the empty cubefarm. But what they don't realize is that they've become the subject of an off-the-record corporate experiment involving a bio-engineered food additive that produces some, er, bizarre side-affects, including hallucinations, stomach cramps, and asexual reproduction. Sort of.

Andrew Bujalski's third feature, Beeswax (as in "none of your,” though we haven’t seen it so we’d hate to suppose) is being billed as “something like a legal thriller for anyone who finds ‘legal thriller’ to be an oxymoron.”

Whatever the reason for its initial failure, Troll 2 (once regarded as the "Worst Movie Ever Made") has gone on to become a bona fide cult phenomenon, riding a wave of grassroots word-of-mouth popularity that most Hollywood marketers would trade a kidney for. In Best Worst Movie, actor/filmmaker Michael Paul Stephenson (along with actor-turned-dentist George Hardy) revisits the cast and crew of Troll 2, chronicling their varied reactions to the film’s newfound success. Recommended.

Sibling rivalry, the search for one’s true parents, coming home for Christmas and, of course, road trips all signal that the audience could be in for quite a ride. SXSW Narrative Feature The Overbrook Brothers manages to weave together all of these elements, which, by our calculations, should result in a very satisfying journey indeed.

The Integrated Media Community, a "collective group of Austin-based film, music, interactive and arts professionals working to create a sustainable media economy in Austin, Texas," is throwing their second annual ATX Emerge party, which combine the talents of local filmmakers, artists and musicians. Tomorrow evening's party at the Mohawk features Belaire, Brazos, Foot Patrol, Freshmillions, Harlem, Sunset, The White White Lights, Ume, Zeale, and DJ Blissom. They'll also have a media room set up where you can see new video game and film work being presented. The event is free, but an RSVP (see box) is required.

The 2 Bobs was written and directed by Austinite Tim McCanlies, writer of Iron Giant and director of Secondhand Lions (speaking of which, someone ought to check in on that Haley Joel Osment, we haven’t heard from HIM in a while). It was also shot right here in Austin (support local film!).

We've heard this film has THE soundtrack of the year. But we also heard that about Juno, and then we barfed up our Sunny D, so who knows? 500 Days of Summer stars a couple of cuties named Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. We'd show up to the screening based on that information alone, given the adorableness of Deschanel and the awesomeness that Gordon-Levitt has given us in recent years (Brick, anyone?).

Starting today, opening day of SXSW Film, B-Side will acquire, market and distribute 10 films in 2009, the first offering being the feature documentary RiP: A Remix Manifesto, which "explores issues of copyright in the information age, mashing up the media landscape of the 20th century and shattering the wall between users and producers." As you might notice, B-Side and RiP seem to be sharing a theme, and it's one that we, as consumers, are very excited about.

Calling E.T., an intriguing documentary, made in the Netherlands, focuses on SETI, the search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence and the people from all over the world who are obsessed with it.

"It takes a lot more to gain respect with just lyrics," one of the female MCs states in Say My Name, a SXSW World Premier documentary feature. First-time director Nirit Peled focuses on the growing female presence in the realm of rap and hip-hop, with stops in the Bronx, London, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, LA and Detroit.

Pontypool (adapted from the novel "Pontypool Changes Everything" by Tony Burgess) is a quasi-zombie flick set in a rural Ontario town, where a strange virus is causing outbursts of violent behavior among the locals. If director Bruce McDonald's horror flicks are half as good as his cerebral dramas, Pontypool could well be one of the best Midnight flicks at SX this year.

Sci-fi thriller with interesting premise. Excellent actor with the great crazy eyes. Hot new director. In space. You in line yet?

Best friends Cam (Jade Healy) and Annie (Swanberg) are backpacking through the lush, tropical land of Costa Rica, no doubt soaking in all the sights and smells and textures that such a thing entails, but all the while one of them is left reeling from lost love. Navigating through the rough waters that come with such an emotional landscape could prove troublesome for the duo, and Swanberg's intention appears to be an exploration of the intricacies of an intimate female friendship.

SXSW and Fantastic Fest have teamed up to offer a special sneak peek at footage from BRÜNO, the latest film by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat, Da Ali G Show). The comedy follows the exploits of the flamboyantly gay title character, a self-described Fashion Polizei, as he goes about interviewing unsuspecting subjects and crashing Prop 8 rallies. The screening is free with no badges needed, but strictly first-come first-serve. 11 p.m., Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, this Sunday.

The film starts typically enough—a lot of fanatical D&D gamers at a convention full of dwarves, elves, wizards, and the occasional stormtrooper (btw, wtf?)—but soon Dungeon Masters takes us into an alternate dimension. Not the one with enchanted forests and nefarious mages, but these surprisingly open people's actual lives. By meeting their significant others, seeing them with their kids, hearing about their own childhoods, and watching their day-to-day struggles, it’s hard not to think that the obstacles they have had to overcome are the same ones that drive some people to become an alcoholic or a gang banger. They just handled it a bit…differently.

All week long, Austinist is giving away tickets and guestlist spots to some of the hottest private, unofficial parties taking place during the annual SXSW Festival. Contests will be posted throughout the day and run for a few hours apiece, so check back frequently for your best chance to win.

Director of 2007's breakout teen hit Superbad, Greg Mottola has tapped into his past to bring you Adventureland. Set in 1987, recent college grad James (The Squid and the Whale's Jesse Eisenberg) takes a dead-end job at his local amusement park, only to find himself, life lessons, and yeah, a lady (Kristin Stewart—that's the lady kissing Robert Pattinson for all you Twilight geeks). Sounds like any ole coming of age story, but, you know, with a theme park and the '80s.

Ex-Terminators, starring Heather Graham, is “a dark comedy in the current hot genre of women-power” about a ragtag bunch of rage-aholics who meet at a group therapy session and end up assassinating exes for cash, also stars Jennifer Coolidge and current “it girl” Amber Heard as Graham’s morally lax accomplices and Joey Lauren Adams as a friend in need. That’s a lot of females to empower!

MINE: Taken by Katrina, a 2009 SXSW Documentary Feature, explores issues of animal welfare against the backdrop of Hurricane Katrina. Lives were turned upside down when the storm blew through, and in the wake of the hurricane pets, as well as people, found themselves displaced and disoriented. Many lost animals ended up being taken in by caring folks around the country, but when the original guardians wanted their pets back, ugly custody battles often ensued.