Last Week Around the -ISTs
Schieffer's Out of Gov Race
Sunday, October 4th
Alamo Ritz(320 E 6th St.)
$10, 1 p.m.
[info] | [tickets]
We think the "a" in aGLIFF actually stands for awesome. Not even a month after their 22nd film fest, the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival is hosting a screening of Bruce La Bruce's gay, artsy zombie film Otto; or, Up with Dead People this Sunday at the Alamo Ritz. This just so happens to be a brunch and, really, who doesn't love eating a breakfast/lunch hybrid while watching semi-civilized zombies disembowel rabbits and chew on cat tails?
A picture of Otto (Jey Crisfar) and the words "gay," "zombie," and "film" are probably all that's needed to get a packed room at the Ritz, but we'll go into a little more detail. We all should have seen queer zombies coming from forever hip, usually controversial director Bruce La Bruce since he already brought us Give Piece of Ass a Chance and I Know What It's Like to Be Dead. Mixing the literal interpretation of those two titles results in the gist of Otto.
Otto is an attractive, reflective wanderer of a gay zombie that stumbles around (a lot) and weaves in and out of the homosexual zombie community. In Otto's world, zombies are commonplace and the plague has evolved to include mostly—if not only—gay men. Most people could care less, but there are those that are filled with hatred and disgust at the sight of the listless, homosexual undead. This concept creates a background ripe for commentary on modern-day homophobia, gay culture/sexuality, and the various communities we develop or seek out. La Bruce can get a little overzealous and, therefore, lost in his own aesthetic; this makes it difficult to understand exactly what he's getting at beyond the painfully obvious (if he's "getting at" anything at all). Still, given the movie's mix of the political, the campy, and the sexy, there's more than enough fodder for a good post-show discussion. Not to mention, the timely subject matter remains an unfortunate constant: this week, Matthew Shepard's killer confessed that he felt no remorse for the actual murder in an interview for The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later; meanwhile, in our own city, Equality Texas dealt with some disheartening vandalism and anti-gay reggae is on its way to 6th Street.
Our hero zombie manages to find a group of rebellious filmmakers producing their own art house zombie flick. While filming, he realizes there is a wallet in his back pocket in which he is able to find literal proof of the life and love pre-zombiehood that he occasionally flashbacks to. Is this enough to inspire Otto to shake off some of that undeadness and be a bit more suitable for society? Is that what he wants? Will you even get the answers? All we can guarantee is that you will definitely find some new, creative uses for gaping stomach wounds. Off-putting and intriguing at the same time—that’s Bruce!
aGLIFF will also be presenting the nine-minute short I Am Not a Werewolf! by Austin local J. Anthony Hernandez.
Zombie Addendum:
Zombieland is opening this weekend! Still warmed from the whiskey we had at the incredibly fun Fantastic Fest premiere last week, we can officially tell everyone but our Grandpa that they will love this movie. You can get an action-packed film full of a variety of zombie kills before getting all art-oriented with Otto.
Let’s face it, when you live in a world where your car floor mat can accelerate you to the end of your life before you get a chance to read that there's a recall on that floor mat, it always helps to go see a movie where the circumstances surrounding a character's existence are exceedingly worse than your own. This works especially well when the film is hilarious with an amazing cast and multiple scenes involving this theme park ride. Trust us. [Showtimes]
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