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10 MPH at Alamo South

976507669_d9ebab4003.jpgCould there be a better emblem of corporate "zaniness" than the Segway? You know, the two-wheeled "personal transporter" device that, while marketed as a solution to traffic congestion, is in fact a really annoying adult toy that gets in everyone's way?

To filmmakers Hunter Weeks and Josh Caldwell, however, the Segway scooter embodies the American Dream. Or something like that, because they decided, after purchasing a Segway "on impulse" (note: the things cost 5 grand apiece), to just kick off the shackles of their corporate jobs and embark on a coast-to-coast Segway ride, filming everything along the way, "in an attempt to change their lives forever." Thus, their documentary 10 MPH was born, and you can catch the Seattle-to-Boston odyssey of cargo-clad mancalves this Sunday, for one night only, at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar.

Say, what is up with the rich and their myopic notions of "changing their lives" when making so much money gets to be a drag? In this case, the soul-searching move of buying a nerdy accessory and basing a publicity stunt around it apparently worked like gangbusters! Caldwell and Weeks are Filmmakers now, having escaped the soul-negating corporate world forever. (Except for their sweet sponsorships from Fender, Izze Sodas, Chipotle, and, um, Segway!)

10 MPH
Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
Sunday, August 26th
7pm, $8 / $6 Students
[More Info]
[10 MPH MySpace]

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Comments [rss]

  • guest

    I know a drama teacher who rides one of these things around.

  • guest

    This isn't art, and I'm betting it's not good film. Obviously, half the world could give a shit based solely on the premise, and there's no risk involved, unless you're afraid the check from Segway won't clear.



    And quit trying to dissemble the "rich" factor. $5k for a Segway is $5k of SPARE income, which even middle class slobs do not have. Plus, there's the blindingly obvious: Segway makes $5k Big Wheels for infantile assholes.



    Musicians suck. And cheesy traveling musicians are even worse. But please stop insulting them by equating them with two douchebags on Segways.



    They deserve to be mocked. Forever.

  • Scooby

    Wasn't this movie already done just a few years ago?



    Oh yeah, that was an old guy riding across Iowa on a lawnmower, not a young douchebag riding across the whole country on a nerdmobile. Sorry.



    Was David Lynch's "The Straight Story" an advert for John Deere?

  • guest

    Thanks for the perspective, heyzeus. It's not like I'm planning to see this movie anyway.

  • heyzeus

    who fucking cares.

  • guest

    I love rich people, I just don't see any evidence that these guys are rich. At least, not J Lo/Bill Gates/Michael Vick rich.

  • guest

    No, you have to have $5k in savings, a road map, and a plan on how you will eat for free.



    Sounds like every band to me.

  • guest

    And if you're starting a business, I could give a rat's ass less where you got your money from. I don't understand why you're defending these guys. They made a 1.5 hour Segway commercial and you're for some reason trying to defend their commoness? Why? Why are you so offended that these guys are called rich? What's your deal against rich people?

  • guest

    But, hey - dummy, you do HAVE to be rich to quit your job, drop 5k on a dumbass Segway, and embark on a tour of the country. I don't get why you don't get it. You HAVE to be rich to do that. It's fucking BASIC COMMON SENSE.

  • guest

    And, I'm not trying to defend the actual creators of THIS movie, since it may just be a really big commercial paid for by corporate sponsors... but it's a more general thing about how spending $5k to follow an impulse doesn't inherently make one rich.



    And, if these guys DID come up with the idea on their own and spent $5k and then said "Hey, maybe we can get some corporate sponsorship from Segway to pay the bills along the way", all the more power to them. I wish I had thought of the idea of having Corona pay for my last vacation to Mexico.

  • guest

    Plenty of people start businesses without EVER taking out a loan. They work their day jobs for years, save their money until they have $X in the bank, and QUIT to start their own business.



    Or write a book.



    Or write a song.



    Or form a band.



    Or film a movie.



    Or drive around the country.



    Or hike the Appalachian trail.



    Or drink margaritas on the beach.



    And when whatever they tried to do with their savings doesn't work out, they figure out something new. Or, in the case of MANY smart people, the business or music or writing or whatever their impulse was works out just fine and they don't have to go back for working for the man.



    And if you think that's all a load of crap, go to a meeting of Bootstrap Austin and some of the other groups around town. You'll be pleasantly shocked to find out that plenty of businesses don't get venture capital or bank loans to get going on their dreams.

  • guest

    I understand it. See - when people get the creative impulse, they usually have to satisfy that urge after they get off of work. They keep a job to pay their bills even if they're in a band or writing a book or covering their body in paint and hurtling themselves against a canvas because housing, food, and utilities are not free unless you know someone that takes care of all that mundane shit for you. When you open a buisness, like Beerland, that's different because you're taking a risk and taking out a loan. It's not like you're living off of your savings account to toot around the country advertising Segways. Just like - when people write a song or a book or paint a picture, it's rarely to say, "Hey! I love Snuggle Fabric Softner! That bear really gets my blood churning! MMM! Snuggle FRESH!"

  • guest

    This is no less indulgent (or more expensive) than forming a band and getting in a van and spending your time driving around the country for a year. That easily totals $5k for a band on their first year on the road when you count in gear, a van, etc.



    What about the documentary about the guy who drove a ride-on lawn mower cross country? Or the guy who spent ever summer living with grizzly bears (and subsequently got eaten)?



    Or authors who weren't authors before their first book, but quit their job because they had an idea, bought a laptop, and wrote for a year or two? Same with playwrights or people who open their own business...



    Are the people who opened Beerland rich because they took their money and followed an impulse instead of working at a law firm?



    I don't see how spending $5k and quitting ones job makes someone rich.

  • guest informant

    Hey, I bought a $10 Metro card and can get from the Travis County Correctional Complex to Anderson Mill in less than a day. Anyone care to make a movie about my zany travels and encounters?

  • guest

    Dur! Me so stupid! Me think 1 thing about Duhmericans! Me think ppl unhappy & bitter cuz day poor but really - me da 1 unhappy and bitter! yes sur! Me name is #11 and I be a asshole.

  • guest

    ahhhh, nice to hear from all you unhappy and bitter sheep, shackled to your typical american lives.

  • guest

    $5k is 4 months of my work.

  • guest

    $5k is 3+ months of my f-ing mortgage.

  • guest

    Maybe because anyone who can buy something for $5k on impulse and quit their jobs to go segway around the country has to be rich 4?



    If you have $5k to kick around for impulse buys, I could sure use it.

  • guest

    Definitely a commercial. If it wasn't, then I bet the Drafthouse would actually be sponsoring this event. But their website says that this is a room booking....I wonder who signed the check.

  • guest

    Besides, it's not a movie-- it's a commercial.

  • guest

    Hi, numbers 1, 3-4. I didn't really need Molly (or Seth) to explain that this movie is probably an artless turd, and, most likely, about as significant a contribution to this world as the Segway itself. Sometimes I'm in the mood to buckle in for a piece of shit movie, and appreciate having them brought to my attention.

  • guest

    Why do people think spending $5k on something means someone is rich?

  • guest

    Critical analysis? Above? Really?

  • seth

    At SXSW you see a lot of films where people had more money than ideas / inspiration. A good rule of thumb is that the best art comes from struggle. Molly is probably trying to warn potential viewers that the Segway film falls into this category of filmmaking. When you're asked to drop $8.00 on seeing a first-time film effort, I appreciate critical analysis such as that provided above. No theatrical experience sucks more than getting 20 minutes into a film to find that the filmmakers never asked themselves, "Why should the audience care about this / us / our story?"



    Seth

  • guest

    Are you paid to promote these events, or do you think it somehow does your audience a service to simultaneously tell us about, and piss all over, a film screening? If you're too hip for the premise of the film, why bother writing about it?

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