Austin Film Festival Preview: Marquee Screenings [#aff10]
There are over 30 films in the Marquee category at this year's Austin Film Festival, so it won't be possible to see all of them...but we're going to try to see as many as possible! Here are our picks (in no certain order) from the bunch.
Main Street, with Patricia Clarkson and Colin Firth among an ensemble cast, is based on Horton Foote's last-produced screenplay. Citizens of a small North Carolina town must deal with the change a visitor brings. The film also features Amber Tamblyn, Orlando Bloom and Ellen Burstyn, led by acclaimed theatre director John Doyle. [9:30pm, Thurs, Oct. 21 at the Paramount]
In her documentary Waste Land, director Lucy Walker follows Brooklyn artist Vik Muniz to the world's largest landfill: Jardim Gramacho in Brazil. Here Muniz comes to know the people who live amongst the garbage as they all work to create art. [7:15pm, Thurs, Oct. 21 at the Texas Spirit Theater & Weds, Oct. 27 at Rollins Theatre]
Director Travis Fine's The Space Between focuses on September 11th, 2001 as flight attendant Montine (Oscar nominee Melissa Leo) meets a ten-year-old Pakistani-American boy. When she finds out his connection to the World Trade Center, she decides to drive him from Longview (where they are grounded) to New York City. Fine, who wrote and directed the film, is also a pilot. [7:45pm, Fri, Oct. 22 at the Texas Spirit Theater & 7pm, Tues, Oct. 26 at Rollins Theatre]
The movie screening at AFF that seems to be getting the most buzz is Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, which seems like a mix between The Red Shoes, Single White Female and something else entirely. Nina (Natalie Portman) is moving up the ranks in her NYC ballet company, but soon faces competition from Lily (Mila Kunis). She's under pressure from her mom (Barbara Hershey) and the company's artistic director (Vincent Cassel). Oh, and she might be growing feathers. [7pm, Weds, Oct. 27 at the Paramount]
The new film by Danny Boyle, starring James Franco as mountain climber Aron Ralston, will also show at the festival. Based on a true story, 127 Hours is how long Ralston spent trapped in a Utah canyon after his arm was pinned by a boulder in 2003. This film may not be for the squeamish; a certain scene in the film made three people faint when it screened in Toronto. [7pm, Tues, Oct. 26 at the Paramount, trailer]
Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams star in Blue Valentine, a drama about a marriage falling apart. Gosling and Williams play a young couple going through the motions, raising a child, and making one last attempt to save their marriage. The MPAA recently gifted the film with an NC-17 rating (Deadline calls this move "an absolute head-scratcher"), so if the Weinstein Company can't get it appealed, this might be your only chance to see this film on the big screen in its original cut! [9:30pm, Fri, Oct. 22 at the Paramount, trailer]
Somewhat lighter fare (or so the trailer makes us think), Made in Dagenham is a British dramatization of true events. The movie takes place in 1968 when the female workers of the Dagenham Ford factory strike for equal pay for equal work. Sally Hawkins plays the Norma Rae-ish lead; Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson, Rupert Graves and Rosamund Pike also star. [9:30pm, Weds, Oct. 27 at the Paramount]
Director Barry Blaustein will attend the screening of his film Peep World at the fest. The film focuses on the lives of an upper-crust Jewish family as they prepare for their father's 70th birthday. The ensemble cast includes Judy Greer, Sarah Silverman, Michael C. Hall, Rainn Wilson, and Texan character actor Stephen Tobolowsky among the players. [7pm, Fri, Oct. 22 at the Paramount]
Dark comedy I Love You, Phillip Morris, starring Jim Carrey as Houston con man/prison escapee Stephen Russell and Ewan McGregor as his jailbird love interest, will be screened at the festival. This 2009 film has faced many roadblocks, but will finally receive wide release in December. If you can't wait until then, here's your chance! [7:30pm, Fri, Oct. 22 at the Arbor, trailer]
Austinist is a proud returning media sponsor of Austin Film Festival 2010. You can check out all of our festival coverage with the tag "aff2010". If you're a filmmaker, actor, screenwriter or otherwise involved in something screening at the festival, we invite you to get in touch with us at film@austinist.com.
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