If SXSW Film Were a Superhero, It Would Be Kick-Ass

We'll try not to hype this up too much, but we are very-happy-head-exploding-excited to announce that the Opening Night Film for SXSW 2010 is the World Premiere of the filthy-mouthed, bloody-fisted, superhero re-imagining Kick-Ass, directed by Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake) and starring Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy, the upcoming John Lennon biopic).

About a month ago, local legend and Ain't It Cool News front man Harry Knowles hosted his annual birthday-party-cum-24-hour-film-barrage Butt-Numb-A-Thon, and during that 24 hour cycle we were monitoring a pretty continuous flow of updates from those in attendance via Twitter. No film, not even Avatar, received as much geek love as (at that time unfinished) Kick-Ass. In fact, the phrase "Kick-Ass broke my nuts," was used at least once. We're not sure if a film that can break your nuts is something that you are looking for in an opening nighter, but we hereby proclaim that, whether you like it or not, your nuts are going to be broken.

Based on the comic book series written by Mark Millar and illustrated by John Romita, Jr., Kick-Ass focuses on Dave Lizewski (Johnson), your run-of-the-mill high school dweeb who spends most of his time, well, reading comic books about superheroes, which sparks his brilliant plan to become one himself. After a brutal first outing that requires a hospital stay, Dave ventures out to fight crime once again, only to discover that his ability to sense pain has been somewhat muffled, which is good, since, while he kicks much ass, his is not spared retribution. He quickly becomes a YouTube sensation when someone captures him on their camera phone and his newfound celebrity allows him to discover an underground cadre of his own ilk: a daddy/daughter duo known as Big Daddy (Nic Cage!) and Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz, who is currently filming her role as the young vampiress Abby in the American remake of Let the Right One In) and their eventual nemesis Red Mist, played by the always adorable and squeaky Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin' goes rogue!).

We think you get the idea. It's a superhero movie, but one that doesn't deify its protagonist into some sort of mythical transhuman cyborg. These are just normal people, who sit around eating Cheetos and playing Xbox 360 like the rest of us, but they just happen to don stretchy outfits and fight villainy when needed. The opening night film of any festival has a tendency to set the mood for the remaining days, and we couldn't be more excited about this little firecracker exploding onto the screen March 12th. [Trailer]

Find more film program announcements and information about registering for the 2010 SXSW Film Conference and Festival after the jump!

In addition to the announcement of this opening night knock-out, SXSW has also released the names of five other films in the program:

Writer/director and SXSW Alum Aaron Katz's feature Cold Weather follows Doug (Cris Lankenau) a former forensic science major and avid reader of detective fiction, who, after making a mess of his life in Chicago, returns to his hometown of Portland, Oregon. There, he, his sister Gail (Trieste Kelly Dunn), and new friend Carlos (Raúl Castillo) become embroiled in something unexpected. We can't tell exactly what this one is going to be about just yet, but it looks atmospheric and tense. [Trailer]

In his follow up to the mind-bending SXSW 2009 offering Women In Trouble, writer/director Sebastian Gutierrez comes to the table with a more focused tale on one of the original ten troubled women, that being the titular Elektra Luxx (Carla Gugino), a porn-star-gone-pregnant. The film follows a hectic day in the life of the former adult film superstar as she tries to survive in the straight world. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Timothy Olyphant, Emmanuelle Chriqui and Malin Akerman are along for the ride..

In their first ever true IMAX offering, SXSW will present the first public screening of Hubble 3D at the Bob Bullock IMAX® Theater. Through the power of IMAX® 3D, Hubble 3D will enable movie-goers to journey through distant galaxies to explore the grandeur and mysteries of our celestial surroundings, and accompany space-walking astronauts as they attempt the most difficult and important tasks in NASA’s history. The film is directed and produced by Toni Myers. [Hubble 3D Site]

Lemmy, a documentary from first-time feature directors Greg Olliver and Wes Orshoski, chronicles the personal and public lives of heavy metal icon and Motörhead front man Lemmy Kilmister. What more do you need to know? You know that any front man of a band with an umlaut in their name is a bad ass. As Alice Cooper says, all of the guys in Motörhead are pirates and Lemmy is Captain Hook. [Lemmy the Movie site]

James Franco, besides starring in daytime television has also been busy creating the documentary Saturday Night, which looks at what it takes to create an episode of the legendary comedy show, Saturday Night Live. Follow behind the scenes as the actors, writers and producers go through one frenetic week of trials and tribulations as each volley to get sketches on air.

The SXSW Film Conference and Festival runs the entire span of March 12th - 20th. For more information and to register to attend, go here. Badges are only $375 through January 15th, at which point they go up to $425. Get yours now!

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By oh, steph in Arts & Entertainment on January 6, 2010 6:20 AM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

oh steph

Seth! I'm glad to see you commenting on festival news again. As always, there is no doubt that attending festivals is a luxury, but not one that is totally out of reach. Sure, $375 is a lot of money, but the festival is not just movie screenings; it's 10 full days of fun. I have seen up to four films in one day at SXSW, and that was with a movie pass. Sure, you may not get into the huge name screenings if they are in small theaters, but you will always have other options. As with anything, people's money is their own and if they choose to spend $37.50 a day for non stop film panels, screenings and parties, that is their own prerogative. I still think it's a great value and always will.

seth

Badges are only $375 through January 15th

Wow. I wish I had Steph's job where my income would allow me to describe SXSW film badges as being "only $375."

Let me break the economics down for readers:

If you take off work / ditch class and go see three films a day during the 9-day festival, with a badge, you're likely to get into a lot of the films you're curious about. But you're paying 14 bucks to see each film. On top of that, it's pretty damn hard to fit 3 films a day into your schedule, so it's more likely you'll only see maybe 2 films a day, which does mean that you saw 18 films, but you paid $20 per film to see them. And I can assure you, there will be some stinkers in there.

The stuff that's worth seeing will get distribution and either arrive at theaters this year, or you can pick up on DVD.

Oh, and don't even think about a film pass. The good films are flooded with badge holders and you'll wait in a line an hour to see the theater filled without a single pass holder getting in.