Whether you're planning on attending or entering the Austin Film Festival this year, deadlines are looming. The festival won't take place until October, but early registration ends tomorrow, late screenplay and teleplay entries are due June 1st (that's Friday!), and early film entries are due June 5th. All entry "due" dates are postmark dates.

Confirmed panelists for the festival include Scott Alexander (writer 1408, Ed Wood, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Agent Cody Banks), Thomas Schlamme (Studio 60, The West Wing, Jack and Bobby, Sports Night), Larry Wilmore (The Office, The Bernie Mac Show, The PJs, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, In Living Color), and more.

We don't want to sound discouraging, but you probably can't complete a quality film (or screenplay) in the next few days--unless maybe you're Quentin Tarantino (and even then, we have our doubts). If you've got a completed project and just need to fill out the paperwork, you'd still better get bustling: all of these deadlines might as well be tomorrow. Download those entry forms and fill 'em out now for a chance to be featured in the festival!

For all of you ultra-procrastinators, the late film entry deadline is July 5th (note that the entry fee increases for dawdlers), so you've still got a bit of a chance. Fire up Final Cut Pro and start polishing up your masterpiece!

Austin Film Festival
October 11th-18th 2007
Early Registration Deadline: May 31st
Screenplay and Teleplay Entries Deadline: June 1st
Film Entries Deadline: June 5th

Austin's own Pink (a bicycle "love courier" service we profiled back in December) was recently nominated for "Best Independent Project of the Year" by the Austin Critics Table. To celebrate, they're taking their special brand of two-wheeled viral love-spreading to Portland, just in time for that bike-smitten city's Pedalpalooza fest. But first, they invite you to join them for a bike-in double feature tonight at Café Mundi, where you can take in both Pee Wee's Big Adventure and Pretty In Pink, perfectly befitting an event dedicated to the intersection of bikes and the color pink. Before and after the double feature, Krissy Mahan and Molly Sullivan will screen their new documentary short about the Pink project, taking you deep inside Pink's "love factory" full of jumpsuit-clad workers stuffing romantic epistles into bitty bottles.

In addition to enjoying the Pink doc and career-defining performances from Paul Reubens and Molly Ringwald, audience members may also bid in a live auction to win goods and services from local businesses such as Eastside Pedal Pushers, Cru Wine Bar, Viva Day Spa, Factory People, Pink Salon, Whole Earth Provision Company and more. Proceeds from the auction will help Pink roll into Portland and safely back again, so that they may once again cross-pollinate our city with teeny pink mash notes.

Pink Presents Pee-Wee's Big Adventure and Pretty in Pink
7:30pm
Café Mundi
$5 suggested donation

Pink Myspace

"The cure for the common film fest," Austin Underground Film Fest is the way to go if you're beginning to tire of the latest blockbusters. Rest assured Delta Farce, The Ex, Knocked Up, and their ilk won't be on the program June 9, when you'll begin to feel what the weather is like underground.

The 2007 lineup for the underground festival features several shorts, including Ghetto Big Mac, A Girl Like Me, Drawing Between the Lines, and more. You'll laugh, cry, wince, cheer, and possibly even vomit as you learn to "remix" McDonald's food, contemplate racist beauty standards, view a "comical" autobiography, appreciate music video mockery of teenage tradition, and more. Register at B Side for access to more film details as they become available, and don't be afraid to get down and dirty with the Austin Underground Film Fest.

Austin Underground Film Fest
Saturday, June 9
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown
3:00 p.m.
[Tickets]

As part of the "Last Month at the Original Alamo" festivities, Ain't It Cool News and Fantastic Fest have just announced a special sneak screening of Eli Roth's highly anticipated new horror film Hostel Part 2 this coming Sunday night. A longtime friend of the Alamo, Roth will be in attendance to introduce the film, and the AICN announcement suggests that there'll be some other fun surprises as well. Though we have no idea what kind of fun.

The screening is free, but you can reserve a seat by pre-purchasing a food and drink voucher (are you really going to eat during this thing? What's wrong with you?). And once again, being a Fantastic Fest badgeholder pays off—FF registrants and Heroes of the Alamo can reserve seats starting at noon today (May 28th), while remaining tickets will become available to the general public on Wednesday (May 30th) at noon.

If we didn't see you in line at the Alamo box office yesterday morning, chances are you didn't get a triple-feature ticket for the final night celebration on June 27th. But there are still some double-feature tickets available though the Alamo website. They ain't cheap, but it's sure to be a ridiculously fun night.

In one last bit of Alamo news, Jette Kernion (Cinematical contributor and proprietress of the fantastic Austin film blog Slackerwoo­d) and Blake Ethridge (of the similarly awesome Cinema Strikes Back blog) have recently announced the Alamo Downtown Blog-a-Tho­n, which will take place on Monday, June 25th. Basically, folks can share stories about their favorite experiences at the Alamo Downtown, and they'll all get compiled into one huge list for your reading pleasure. So if you've got a favorite Alamo memory, start typing it up! More details can be found here.

Hostel Part 2 w/ Eli Roth Live
Sunday, June 3rd
Midnight, Free
[Reserve Seats]

Final Night at the Alamo Double Feature
Wednesday, June 27th
9:45pm, $85 / $70 Fantastic Fest, Heroes of the Alamo
[Tickets]

Alamo Downtown Blog-a-Thon
Monday, June 25th
[More Info]

If musical history has taught us anything, it's that you simply do NOT stand between a child prodigy and her chance to shine. Do not do this! Once that intense prodigal drive is thwarted, it's guaranteed to metastasize into something ugly that will come back to haunt you. (Um, Antonio Salieri much?)

In the first scenes of Denis Dercourt's French thriller The Page Turner, famous concert pianist Ariane Fouchécourt (Catherine Frot) thoughtlessly signs an autograph while judging ten-year-old Mélanie's piano conservatory entrance exam. Distracted by the interruption, Mélanie fails the conservatory test after a life of preparation. As a steely Mélanie solemnly packs away her Beethoven bust post-exam without shedding so much as one tear, you just know that bitch pianist is gonna catch some serious wrath for what she did.

Ten years later, Mélanie (Déborah Francois, L'Enfant) is grown and sexy, and she's interning for Ariane's loaded lawyer husband, Jean (Pascal Greggory). Her good work at the office leads to a gig caring for Jean and Ariane's son, Tristan. Since their palatial mansion is way out in the 'burbs, Mélanie moves in with the family, and the simmering ladytension is instantly palpable. As it turns out, Ariane happens to be struggling with "fragility" after a traumatic accident, and her virtuosic gift for the piano is threatened by all-consuming stage fright. When Mélanie becomes her page turner--flipping Ariane's sheet music during complicated Shostakovich turns--Ariane soon depends on her impassive young au pair for more than just musical support.

We heard a lot of buzz around Robinson Devor's dramatic bestiality documentary Zoo at South by Southwest this year, but we just couldn't fit any of the screenings into our already-packed SXSW schedule. So when Zoo showed up on the schedule at Toronto's HotDocs festival last month, we jumped at the chance to see it.

Here's the thing about Zoo: it's about dudes having sex with horses. Or rather, horses having sex with dudes, if you know what we mean. Specifically, it's the story of "Mr. Hands", a Seattle man who died of internal injuries after a sexual encounter with a full-sized stallion at a farm near Enumclaw, Washington in 2005. And while that might sound like an exploitive, sensational subject for a documentary, Devor's gorgeous visuals and sober, compassionate tone almost trick you into thinking that it isn't.

Just in case you're wondering (and we know you are), there is no explicit stallion sex in the film--though there's some squirm-inducing talk of horse genitalia, and a scene with very brief snippets of a horseytime home video. Most of the film, however, is made up of slick, stylized dramatic recreations, with narration provided by some of the other zoophiles involved in the infamous incident (not all agreed to participate in the film). It's an unusual format for a documentary, and it probably makes the film infinitely more watchable than if it were the usual talking heads and still photos.

Unlike the recently discussed Westlake mothers driving with one hand and sipping wine with the other, the Austin Wine Festival is making it possible for you to combine the thrill of Texas roads with the taste of wine, all in a safely automobile-free environment.

This Sunday night, watch The Wine Roads of Texas, a documentary from KLRU and Wes Marshall that tells the story of Texas wineries in an engaging and informative manner. Beginning in Austin’s neighboring Hill Country, The Wine Roads then travels to the High Plains, West Texas, the Gulf of Texas, and North Texas. We’re in a big state, and that means big wine production. There’s no shortage of wonderful wineries to visit in the film—and in real life.

Wine personalities and places featured in the film include Alphonse Dotson (a former football player), Café 909 in Marble Falls (a food personality if ever there was one), Maiya’s Restaurant in Marfa, and Stephen Pyle’s Restaurant in Dallas. The film emphasizes the intimate relationship between food and wine, and educates viewers about the grape varietals of different Texas regions.

Wes Marshall will introduce the film, so arrive early to hear his insights on the process of making a movie about everybody’s favorite adult beverage: wine.

The Wine Roads of Texas
Admission free for Texas Wine Festival Attendees
Sunday, May 27
Republic Square Park (422 Guadalupe St, Austin, TX 78701)
9:15pm
[Movie Info]
[Wine Festival Tickets]

Yesterday, we told you a little bit about the films of gore wizard Herschell Gordon Lewis. But what we didn't tell you is that since his days in the movie business, Lewis has become one of the world's foremost experts on direct marketing. A prolific author, columnist, and all around brilliant guy, Lewis recently took time out of his busy schedule to chat with us about movies, showmanship, and the current state of advertising.

Firstly, I apologize for [phoning at the wrong time] yesterday. I assumed you still lived in Chicago.

Well, somebody has to, but I gave that up years ago.

So with all that time spent making movies in Florida, you developed an affection for the place?

I developed an affection for decent weather. You see, wintertime in Sydney or Melbourne is not the same as wintertime in Chicago.

Though Chicago has a few good months a year. It’s a great city in the summertime.

It’s a good business town. That’s about all I can say for it. I grant you that it has cultural advantages that South Florida doesn’t have. But I threw away my heavy overcoat. Of course, I still need a coat—we spent Christmas and New Year this year at the Ice Hotel in the Northern end of Sweden. So that reminded me why I moved to Florida.

I wanted to talk to you about these two movies—Bloodfeast and 2000 Maniacs!—that are screening here in Austin on the weekend. They’ll be screening at an actual ghost town, which I would think is the kind of thing you’d find very agreeable. Do you miss that kind of “showman” marketing? Because it doesn’t seem to happen much any more.

It doesn’t. Showmanship seems to have vanished, because everything now is done on a bulk level, and things are all built around huge television campaigns. It’s like political candidates—I think it’s rather parallel, because here we are, there’s an election in 2008, and candidates are already withdrawing from the Iowa primary because they don’t have enough money to compete on TV. And I thought, gee, that really parallels the movie business in which the hype causes… I mean, look at that Spider-Man movie. With all that hype, it opens gigantically, and then in the second and third week it fell apart. Which is no surprise, by the way. The difference with the kind of movies we talk about is that they gradually build instead of opening like a rocket flare and then suddenly disappearing.

A gagillion cities have performance spaces named The Paramount Theatre: Oakland, Charlottesville, Seattle, hell, even Shreveport had a theatre named the Paramount at one point. But ours is the only one that is hosting its first EVER Poster Sale and Silent Auction this Saturday! Harumph!

After its renovation in the mid 70’s, the Paramount began squirreling away classic movie and theatre posters—as well as signed memorabilia from performers such as BB King, Ravi Shankar, and Kathy Griffin—like small woodland creatures preparing for an epic blizzard. Well, the spring thaw has arrived, and who knows? Maybe you’ll unearth a Greater Tuna poster signed by Joe Sears and Jaston Williams from the play’s raucous 1982 debut. Perhaps you’ll complete your Burt Reynolds shrine with that pristine print from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas World Premier that you have been lusting after. The possibilities are endless! We are personally going to be digging for a commemorative 50th anniversary Casablanca poster, as the Paramount is one of the few theatres still standing that originally screened the film back in 1942.

Cash those paychecks, hit up the ATM and ask your roommate for that fifty bucks that they still owe you, then head on down to Congress Avenue Saturday morning and get while the gettin’s good. The sale and auction will kick off the 2007 Summer Classic Film Series, which will commence directly following the event with some hot Star Trek action. Also, since the Paramount is a non-profit venue, your dollars will go straight to the theatre's operating budget, meaning that your wallet will help keep the lights on and the doors open at one of Austin's most legendary entertainment venues.

The Paramount Theatre Poster Sale and Silent Auction
Saturday, May 26th
The State Theatre Lobby
9am-1:30pm
[Map]
[Info]

Herschell Gordon Lewis is a living legend. With several gallons of red-tinted Kaopectate, a bag of butcher shop leftovers, and a knack for circus-style hucksterism, Lewis literally invented the North American gore film in the early 60s, turning the exploitation genre (and arguably cinema itself) on its ear.

In the years before the MPAA had instituted its now ubiquitous rating system, Lewis' gore-filled 1963 classic Bloodfeast caught the censor boards off-guard—up until then, there were no rules governing gore, because it simply didn't exist yet. So while Hitchcock was making "horror" films that merely suggested horrible violence off-screen, Lewis' films were jam-packed with explicit, stomach-churning bloodshed. As part of the marketing campaign for Bloodfeast, Lewis even handed out barfbags to theatergoers and stationed ambulances outside cinemas (should anyone become physically ill from the sheer depravity. Wink). Bloodfeast was a raw, campy, virtually plotless celebration of carnage. And audiences loved every second of it.

While the profits from Bloodfeast began to roll in, the censor boards rushed to create rules governing blood-n-guts. But Lewis and his partner David Friedman were already busy making their second gore-sploitation feature (now recognized as a cult classic) 2000 Maniacs!. Shot quickly and cheaply (though with a much bigger budget than Bloodfeast), 2000 Maniacs! is the story of a creepy southern town whose long-dead civil war era inhabitants return to life to exact revenge on a gang of yankee tourists. And much like its predecessor, it's full of gleefully messy murders (it's hard to pick an absolute best scene, but one of our favorites has a woman being flattened by huge rocks).

Both Bloodfeast and 2000 Maniacs! are horror classics, to say the least. And this Saturday, in the spirit of old-fashioned drive-in fun, the Alamo's Rolling Roadshow series will be screening them as a double-feature at a real-life ghost town near Dripping Springs! With Herschell Gordon Lewis himself in attendance to introduce the screenings!

This event is sure to be a hell of a lot of fun, and we'd like to send you there for free.
Fill out the form to win!

The contest is now closed. Thanks to all who enetered!

For those of you who saw Teen Wolf Too, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights or Ocean’s Twelve, you are apparently not averse to watching extremely bad sequels. We aren’t either, as long as they are accompanied by oversized pints of booze, but “bad” is not what the Alamo Drafthouse and the Fantastic Fest had in mind when they announced their Unnecessary Sequels contest last month. Tonight and tomorrow night, the rotten eggs will finally hatch and you will be barraged with trailers for movies that are so superfluous that not even the people behind Speed 2: Cruise Control would touch them with a ten foot pole made of Sandra Bullock’s hair.

Preposterous is the only word that we could think of when reviewing some of the titles that have been tackled in this contest, mostly because the original story was decidedly finished in the first edition: Titanic 2, Se8en, Apollo 14, A Clockwork Banana, Schindler’s Lists, Annie 2: Little Orphan Trannie (our personal favorite), yet we almost can’t wait to see the sequel to The Wizard (who doesn’t love the NES Power Glove?)

After the screenings, one movie will be picked as the best Unnecessary Sequel trailer by a panel of local film scene celebrities and the victors will claim $1,000 cash money as well as a fancy new AMD Athlon Dual Core-powered super multimedia PC from Dell. The winning team will also receive a special VIP pass to the Alamo that’s good for every sequel of 2007, with reserved seating at all the premieres! Second Place and Audience Choice winners will receive $750 and $250 respectively, as well as shiny trophies at the awards ceremony scheduled for Tuesday, May 29.

A part of the proceeds from the Unnecessary Sequels contest will go to benefit that Austin Area Urban League, which is most definitely a necessary cause, so get your tickets and prepare to be dazzled and dumbfounded by some (thankfully) fake movies.

The Unnecessary Sequels Contest
Screenings: Tuesday, May 22nd and Wednesday, May 23rd
Awards Ceremony: Tuesday, May 29th
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown
9:45pm - All Shows
[Tickets]

Austin's independent film distribution website B-Side is relaunching today, and as part of that, is offering the documentary "Pirate Radio USA" as a DRM-free download.

The doc, which was an audience favorite at last year's Austin Film Festival, is a riotous tour of the free radio underground (no Christian Slater or Samantha Mathis, but this is way cooler, we promise). B-Side chose "Pirate Radio" solely as a result of positive audience feedback—a concept which is pretty pirate, in and of itself.

B-Side's website has been redesigned to serve as a portal for grassroots distribution of movies like this one—the best products of independent film festivals around the world. This way, film freaks can see the new stuff which sometimes would have slipped through the cracks (er, walked the plank?) without this kind of distribution model. Long live the Internet!

Image from www.pirateradiousa.com.

Hot on the heels of the Austin City Council rolling out the incentive red carpet to keep Friday Night Lights turned on, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1634 this weekend, also known as the Texas Film Incentive Program.

The bill, authored by Rep. Dawnna Dukes (Austin, represent!) and spearheaded by Sen. Bob Deuell (R-Greenville) along side our very own Governor Rick Perry, will set aside $20 million worth of incentives to entice future productions to come to Texas. There is some interesting language in the bill about portraying the state in only the most positive light (I guess there will be no documentaries funded regarding the TYC debacle) but nonetheless, the bill is at least the first step in regaining some of the financial windfall that has been lost recently to neighbors like Louisiana and New Mexico, who have already put heavy incentive plans in place.

HB 1634 enacts a rebate policy for any film project that drops more than $1 million in Texas on expenses such as wages, equipment, and more importantly, craft services (mmmm, snacks.) Any project completed after September 1st would be eligible to recoup up to 5% of their costs, with a maximum reimbursement of $2 million. Even greater incentives will be allotted to projects that are completed in some godforsaken place like Nacogdoches or College Station, also known as “underserved areas,” or alternately, “not Dallas or Austin.” We think they deserve the extra 1.5% refund. We would actually go so far as to propose that even the productions in Dallas should get a little something extra for their pain, suffering and what is sure to be an astronomical designer hairspray tab.

Pretty much the only step left in the process of getting the cash flowing out of the capitol doors and into the hands of the Hollywood machine is for Gov. Perry to sign on the dotted line. Ink it up, Gov. and let’s bring the Movies and their economy boosting Benjamin's back to Tejas.

The AFS retrospective of Michael Haneke's films concludes tonight with Caché (Hidden), a film which was lauded by critics yet went largely unseen during a national release just over a year ago. Haneke's insistence on audience discomfort probably has a lot to do with this, as he calls into question everything from Western abuse of wealth (by the French) to the inherent goodness of children.

The film begins with a videotape of a Parisian townhouse, which we find out has been made by a stalker. As the harassment grows on the decidedly rich and pampered family, the sheen of their marriage and sanity begins to tarnish amidst lies, omissions, and failure to take responsibility for both past decisions and one's responsibility to trust their significant others. There are racial and political allusions in play here, and they cut both ways. Haneke shows that guilt is oppressed in many ways by the world's most fortunate, and uses his tale to show glimpses of why others in the world can hate as they sometimes do.

He also poses the grandest of questions: does making a selfish or bad decision at another's expense forever make you a bad person? Haneke isn't afraid to ask a lot of his viewers, and while the results are tough to stomach, they are also inarguably powerful and thought-provoking.

[Rent Caché at Netflix]

Caché (Hidden)
Tuesday, May 22nd
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown [Map]
7pm
$4 / Free for AFS members [Tickets]

Image via Sony Pictures Classics.

Seven months after a sold-out Texas debut at the Austin Film Festival, the indie mockumentary Chalk returned to Austin Friday as part of a national platformed release. Shot for a mere $10,000 with the aid of friends and students, the work is a collaboration of Austinite ex-teachers and co-writers Mike Akel (who also directed) and Chris Mass. Chalk uses a faux-documentary style in the same manner as Spinal Tap or The Office, exposing the depressing and spirit-sucking lives of high school teachers in a manner that makes audiences laugh and cringe all at once. After a litany of successful festival screenings in 2006, the film was acquired by a new distribution company headed by Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me fame. Last week, Austinist spoke with Mike Akel about the pitfalls of teaching, battling Shrek and Johnny Depp, and the glut of terrible 'inspirational' teacher movies.

What do you think the biggest false myth about the teaching profession is?

"Hey, I'm a good uncle and a halfway decent camp counselor - I'd be a good teacher!" Untrue! Also, just because you're good at math or engineering does not mean you're called to teach. Teaching is a profession, so respect it as such!

As someone married to a high school English teacher, we understand that high schools are a pressure cooker environment to work in. Did the drama and comedy of your job inspire the film, or was it simply a convenient subject since you were teaching?

Chris and I always say that teaching in public school is like flipping through cable TV. One day the kids, your fellow teachers, and the administration are like watching "The Boring Network." Then five minutes later, you change the channel and an assistant principal is running down the hall with walkie-talkie in hand and you realize you're watching COPS on Fox. So, yes, the comedy and drama in the film come from our experiences and our fellow teacher's stories.

Long held as a classic of independent cinema, and one of the most difficult to actually watch, Charles Burnett's Killer Of Sheep chronicles a day in the life of a hopelessly frustrated slaughterhouse laborer, Stan (Henry G. Sanders), and his family. Stan spends his working day feeling as helpless and resigned as the animals he processes. He buys a car engine to resell, but it falls out of a friend’s pickup and is smashed. His wife (Kaycee Moore) tries to seduce him, but to no avail. The kids are mostly left on their own to pick through the debris in their working-class Watts neighborhood. It sounds like a complete downer, but Killer Of Sheep is one of those few, exhilarating movies that captures a life from every possible angle while creating a visual poetry all its own. The scene with Stan’s young daughter playing among the rubble in a Droopy Dog mask is one of the weirdest, most heartbreaking things you will ever see.

The Paramount is celebrating their 32nd year of showing classic movies in the summer. What better way is there to beat the sticky summer heat of Austin but by escaping into the cool theatre and the world of classic film? The films will start next Thursday May 24th and show through September.

We've put together some handsome printable schedules for May and June (you can hang them on your fridge!), and following is a list of some of our recommendations for the series.

2007 Summer Classic Film Series
May - September 2007
Paramount Theatre, 713 Congress Ave.
$7 adults - $5 Children Under 12/Students with ID/Seniors 65+
For double features, one ticket gets you in to see two films.
[Complete Summer Film Series Schedule at the Paramount Website]

AUSTINIST RECOMMENDS:

The Man Who Knew Too Much, Tuesday, May 29 @ 7pm and Wednesday, May 30 @ 9:10pm: Doris Day does drama, sings "Que Sera Sera" in a suspenseful scene, and she and Jimmy Stewart try to save their son in this Morocco-based Hitchcock film.

Spellbound, Thursday, May 31 @ 9:20pm and Sunday, June 3 @ 4:20pm: Psychiatrist Ingrid Bergman tries to help a gorgeous Gregory Peck recover his memory. If the chemistry between the two actors isn't enough to draw you in, the film is still worth seeing for a trippy dream sequence designed by Salvador Dali.

The Fantasticks, Sunday, June 10 @ 1:10 & 4:30pm: A film version of the famous musical. The original film was not received well, but the version the Paramount is showing is an updated version edited by Francis Ford Coppolla. The film stars Joseph (Joey) McIntire, of NKOTB fame.

The Thin Man, Tuesday, June 12 @ 7pm and Wednesday, June 13 @ 9:20pm: No matter how many times we see this film, we are always entertained by the witty banter between Nick and Nora (William Powell and the fabulous Myrna Loy), the borderline-cheesy melodrama of the suspects, and the great acting by Asta the dog. Stay later on Tuesday to catch the first sequel, After the Thin Man (Tuesday, June 12 @ 9:10pm and Wednesday, June 13 @ 7pm), which features a very young Jimmy Stewart playing against type.

We love a good cry, and we are expecting a Niagra Falls worthy Wednesday night, as Austin Film Festival brings us Away From Her, the directorial/screenwriting debut of Canadian powerhouse Sarah Polley. You may remember Polley from Dawn of the Dead, My Life Without Me and of course, the Road to Avonlea series. (Come on, we know you have the entire Anne of Green Gables spinoff on VHS right next to your NKOTB action figures.)

Polley adapted her screenplay from the short story The Bear Came Over the Mountain by Alice Munro, a tale of an aging couple, slipping into the twighlight of their years down the slope of Alzheimer’s. Grant, a past and future philanderer, must check his cognitively deteriorating wife Fiona into a nursing home after she begins to put freshly washed frying pans in the freezer. Soon Grant is but a persistent visitor, a recognizable face, but no longer a touchstone in Fiona’s reality. With the absence of memory comes the dawning of a new life, a life that excludes not only the past of the afflicted, but abandons a future with those left behind.

Featuring Academy Award winners Julie Christie (whom Polley had to stalk for eight months to sign onto the project) and Olympia Dukakis, as well as another north of the border treasure, Gordon Pinsent, Away From Her is sure to leave you misty and mournful for a love so tender and true that you would risk having it slips through your fingers just to have and hold it for a moment. As added warning, the trailer features the song Be Here Now by master of melancholy Ray LaMontagne, a harbinger of the impending weepfest.

Austin Film Festival Presents Away From Her
Co-presented by the Alzheimer's Association, Capitol of Texas Chapter
Wednesday, May 16th
Regal Arbor Cinema
7:30pm
[Info]
[Map]

Overused and misspelling-encouraging pun aside, the newest installment of Filming Austin’s Lives is a great opportunity for you to show love for a favorite "Austin-tatious" landmark—person, place, event, or otherwise. Capture a story about a special landmark on film and it could be seen by all of Austin this fall!

Filming Austin’s Lives is a community film project brought to you by KLRU, News 8 Austin, the UT Humanities Institute, and the Austin History Center. The project is designed to give Austinites voice to tell their own stories through film. KLRU has also sponsored "Writing Austin’s Lives", a project that culminated in the publication of Writing Austin’s Lives: A community portrait.. Participating in this project is a great way to display some Austin spirit and get even closer to your favorite part of the city.

Whether you’ve always wanted to be on TV, are an aspiring filmmaker, or just want to recognize a part of Austin that’s been important to you, start filming today! Entries are due October 1, which sounds far away—but it’s only four months, barely enough time to get your thoughts together, much less make a fine film. Fortunately, entries need only be three minutes long—that’s less than a minute per month. Begin the drafting process now so you can perfect your entry over time. Select entries will be aired on KLRU in the fall.

Entries should be submitted on video (really? does anyone use that anymore?) or DVD, and will be judged by KLRU, News 8 Austin, and the UT Humanities Institute. All entries will be archived with the Austin History Center. Check out the Filming Austin’s Lives website for full details.

Okay, okay—so it's not that big a deal that the Alamo Downtown is relocating. All it really means is that we have to walk a few extra blocks to get there, which, quite frankly, will be good for our waistline. Plus, there'll be more seating and bigger screens, so we guess we'll learn to cope. But we're definitely sad to see the old theatre go; we've spent a lot of nights eating, drinking, laughing, cheering and sometimes even sleeping in that strange little space. *single tear*

Anyway, as the final day at the Colorado Street location (June 27th) creeps up, the folks at the Alamo have been announcing some exciting events, including a fun-filled closing night triple feature. Here are the details:

BIG NIGHT FEAST, 7 PM
First up is Big Night, Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott's film about two Italian immigrants who try to save their failing restaurant by preparing the "feast of a lifetime" for all of their favorite customers. And though the Alamo isn't going out of business, this still seems like the perfect film to kick off the evening's celebration.

We don't have word on the menu yet, but we're guessing that it'll include Big Night's famed "timpano" dish. Oh, and ridiculous amounts of wine.

The Alamo folks are actually referring to Big Night as "hands down [the] best food-film movie of all time", so expect the themed feast to be wicked good.

[Trailer Here]

The Alamo has Music Mondays, so it seems only fitting that a bar-slash-music-venue should host a few films. Beauty Bar and I Luv Video are teaming up to bring you Movie Mondays, a celebration of film in a bad-ass bar setting.

This month's Movie Monday theme is hip-hop, and tonight the projectors will be rolling Style Wars, a classic eighties celebration of graffiti, breakdancing, and rapping. So slip on your Chucks, grab a can of spray paint, and slide on over to Beauty Bar to watch a battle between good and evil as NYC mayor Ed Koch fights to control the creative spirit of graffiti artists like Kase 2, Skeme, Cap, Dondi, Seen, Shy 147, and more.

DJs will spin after the film, so you can (try to) emulate the breakdancing moves displayed by Crazy Legs and other breakers in the movie. Just don't come crying to us if you get hurt.

Movie Mondays: Style Wars
Beauty Bar Austin
9:30 p.m.
[Beauty Bar on MySpace]

Still not sure what to do for Mom for Mother's Day? No worries—there are plenty of filmtastic options. First, the Alamo Drafthouse is coming to your rescue with a Sabrina Mother’s Day Feast! The classic film starring Hepburn and Bogart (not the remake with Harrison Ford) is sure to be one of your mom’s faves, and even if it’s not, it will be soon—thanks to romantic tale and the delicious food set to accompany it! From arugula vichyssoise with asparagus timbale to salad nicoise with smoked ahi to espresso rubbed pheasant with thyme glace, the Alamo chefs will be doing their damnedest to bring you delicious courses that are hard to spell but easy to enjoy. Make this Mother’s Day memorable—spend it at the Alamo with mom, Audrey, Humphrey, and a tasty assortment of food! For more movie options on Mother's Day, read on:

If Sabrina doesn’t float your boat, or reminds you too much of the teenage witch, you might want to check out It Happened One Night at the Alamo South Lamar. Filmed 20 years before Sabrina, It Happened One Night features Clark Gable in the role that made him a star—even though he seemed to try his hardest to reject the film at first, showing up drunk for his audition and not even reading for the part. Claudette Colbert responds to his eloquent but devilish swagger with appropriate flirtatiousness and strength. And the menu for this film is just as attractive as the actors: each course follows the geographic progression of the movie, from Miami's marlin in mojo with malanga fritas to New York's peppercorn seared strip steak with mushrooms and Waldorf Salad.

If you’d rather bypass the Alamo, try MovieWithMom.com to learn more about getting access to select showings of Waitress, or visit TheStoryOfTexas.com to get an IMAX ticket for mom free when you buy one for yourself. (You might consider going to see Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs with your own "mummy.")

Sabrina Mother’s Day Feast
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown
Sunday, May 13
7 p.m.
Tickets

It Happened One Night Mother's Day Feast
Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
Sunday, May 13
7 p.m.
Tickets

Easy as Pie Movie with Mom: Waitress
Arbor Cinema @ Great Hills
Sunday, May 13
Various showings
Tickets

Mother's Day at the IMAX
Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum
Sunday, May 13
Various films
Showtimes

Your magnum opus is in the can, but now what? Will your breakthrough film ever see the light of a projection bulb, or will is sadly succumb to the fate of so many indie films, tossed aside like an amateur home video of your sister doing that silly flaming hula hoop trick? Well, we encourage you to rage against the dying of the light!

Tomorrow, the SouthWest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP) presents Distribution for Independent Film, a one day workshop for people just like you, led by Mark Steven Bosko. Bosko has more than 14 years of experience working as a distribution representative and will teach you how to master the art of securing distribution, finding alternative routes to audiences and selling your work.

Bosko will also kindly review your planned, in-progress or finished films, just be sure to bring a screening copy or description of your project. This is a great opportunity to get real-world street-savvy advice from someone whose distribution work has helped several independent features achieve cult classic status.

One catch: SWAMP is located in Houston, but look at it this way: the three hour drive will give you and your fellow filmmakers plenty of time to formulate your next big cinematic treasure. Just tell the gas station attendant to fill ‘er up.

Distribution for Independent Films
Saturday, May 12, 2007
10:00am-5:00pm
$65 SWAMP memebers/$75 non-members
SouthWest Alternate Media Project
1519 W. Main
Houston, TX 77006
[Register]
[Map]

You look like you need a cupcake, and that is just what you will get tonight when the Austin Parks Foundation and the Alamo Drafthouse bring you Election, the second installment in the spring Movies in the Park series. However, that cupcake will be laced with arsenic icing and a heavy dose of satire extract.

When we first saw Election back in the late 90’s, high school was still fresh enough in our minds that we could identify each corresponding character from our personal experience: the overachieving, hyper-driven perfectoid, the meat-headed philoso-jock, the girl that we used to play unicorns with in elementary school who was suddenly a lesbian, and the awe-inspiring, universally respected teacher. (Wait, did we just admit to playing “unicorns?” Let’s move on….) What’s so fantastic about Election is that we, the voyeurs, get to crack the pristine shell of these archetypes and feast on the ooey-gooey center of their delicious flaws, while the poor souls in the film are left famished with an emaciated view of each other’s reality. Tom Perrotta, who wrote the novel that Election is adapted from, loves this guise. See also Little Children.

Speaking of famished, you should come to Republic Square Park hungry, because refreshments will be available for purchase from Dog Almighty (tasty meat and veggie dogs, chili, popcorn and bevies), Maine Root (locally brewed root beer) and Lifeworks Ben and Jerry's (ice cream with a cause!). You can also bring your canines (and requisite plastic bags, wink, wink), pic-a-nic baskets, and lawn chairs. Alcoholic beverages are not permitted in the park, but we think we can lay off the sauce long enough to enjoy this little semi-family-friendly event (i.e. no munchkins under the age of 6 allowed; if you are over 6 but under 18, you must be accompanied by an adult.) Parents, if you do bring the curtain-climbers, be ready with your earmuffs and your eye blinders, as there is definitely some “adult” content in this one.

Oh! One more thing. For the pre-show shenanigans, be prepared to dazzle the student body with your class president campaign speech! Seriously. Sharpen those no. 2 pencils and get scribblin’. Be sure to promise everyone that you will make their wildest dreams come true and that you will get new vending machines for the quad.

Movies in the Park Presents: Election
Thursday, May 10th, (raindate May 17)
Republic Square Park [map]
7:30pm, Movie Begins at Dusk
Free!

Photo Courtesy of the Austin Parks Foundation website

As part of the AFS Essentials series on the films of superhuman director Michel Haneke, the Alamo Downtown will be running The Piano Teacher (or "La Pianiste", if you want to impress somebody impressionable) tonight. Do not let this film still of a scene of passion in a public restroom deceive you; this movie will not inspire you to do the popcorn trick on anybody, but rather to rush out and invest in a chastity belt. But - in a good way!

This bleak and wrenching film about a washed-up and repressed piano teacher who kindles a sorta-romance with a cocky young student stars the equally superhuman actress Isabelle Huppert, who's in a couple of Haneke's other movies (don't miss her as the fierce mother in the post-apocalyptic Time of the Wolf - but be sure and Netflix the Haneke one, not the other one with Jason Priestley in it). There are scenes involving dirty hockey equipment, door-barricading with wardrobes, metaphysical discussions of the madness of Schumann, and a pocket full of maliciously broken glass. This is not The Mary Kay LeTourneau Story, and thank God for that.

AFS Essentials: The Piano Teacher
Tuesday, May 8th
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown
7pm, $4 / Free to AFS Members
[Tickets]

Tonight, Alamo Music Mondays presents the US Premiere of We Were Never Here, a film about the German avant-rock band Mutter.

Though the band has been around since the 80s, we have to admit that we don't know much about them—and though the Google-translated version of their Wikipedia page is hilarious, it isn't entirely informative. (Representative sentence: "Then with in the same year the published album main thing music disappointed the most incalculable all Diskurspop volume all those, which saw a kind left Rammstein in it, the album consisted nearly completely of folkigen Balladen, halfacoustically and technically experienced brought in". Got that?)

What we can tell you is that band members Max Muller and Florian Koerner Von Gustorf worked with controversial German director Jorg Buttgereit on his 1993 film Schramm—and that's probably a pretty good indicator of the band's righteousness.

In case you missed last week's packed-to-the-rafters Music Monday, we should also let you know that Music Mondays screenings will now regularly feature local bands and DJs performing before the film. At tonight's screening, local rockers Diagonals will be performing, and according to band member Wiley Wiggins' blog, this may be one of the band's last local shows for a while, so get there early to catch them.

[Diagonals on MySpace]

Music Mondays Presents We Were Never Here
Monday, May 7th
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown
9:45pm, $2 / $1 Student, AFS
[Tickets]

The weather's been turning your face into Crisco. Gas prices are exorbitant. Truly, there is no better time than the present to sit inside a cool, darkened theater and watch James Taylor (famous '70s male chanteuse!) and Dennis Wilson (the less-famous Beach Boy!) chase Warren Oates (not the dude from Hall & Oates!) across dusty stretches of highway at 140 mph in life-sized Hot Wheels.

In Monte Hellman's Two-Lane Blacktop (1971), Taylor and Wilson portray nameless drifters who eke out a hardscrabble living full of mantimacy and drag-racing in their 1955 Chevy. Driving east from California on Route 66, they pick up a hot, listless hitchhiker; in New Mexico, they pick up a rival: an older drag racer in a 1970 Pontiac GTO (played by Oates, one of the era's baddest character actors). When they challenge him to a cross-country race, the ultimate bro-down caper ensues.

Quentin Tarantino has long been a fan of director Monte Hellman (who was also executive producer of Reservoir Dogs), so it's probably safe to assume that much of his recent effort Death Proof was inspired by the salty, '70s roadhog vibe that permeates Blacktop. Meanwhile, fans of greasy diners and history alike can revel in non-stop footage (in "a lovingly restored 35mm print", no less) of a much sexier, pre-Interstate Route 66. Perhaps best of all, this screening is free, thanks to your buds at Austin Cinematheque.

Austin Cinematheque Presents Two-Lane Blacktop
Monday, May 7
Texas Union Theater
7:30pm, FREE
[Austin Cinematheque]

When news broke in January that Austin's preeminent team of professional movie hecklers, The Sinus Show, had called it quits, it was a dark day for fans of live comedy juxtaposed with bad movies. Fortunately, Sinus veteran John Erler and Sinus pinch hitter Joe Parsons are carrying the torch of hilaritude with Master Pancake Theater.

Since we first talked to them in February, they've been busy lambasting such gems as Titanic and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Now they're giving the Pancake treatment to Pretty Woman--the foremost feel-good prostitution romp of our time--and they're bringing noted funnylady and former Austinite Martha Kelly on board as this month's "guest heckler."

We recently called John, Joe and Martha during an apocalyptic thunderstorm (they assured us they were "snuggled up together") to talk a little about gender constructs, C + C Music Factory, and the transformative power of Julia Roberts.

So The Sinus Show has tackled both Crossroads and Showgirls. Now, Master Pancake Theater is taking on Pretty Woman. Have you guys been auditing Women's Studies classes?

John: (laughs) We've been studying Showgirls in Female Studies...We here at Sinus/Master Pancake have always fancied ourselves proto-feminists. But after six and a half years of not having any women on stage with us, we decided to put our money where our mouth was and break through that glass ceiling. So we decided to bring on an actual woman, in the form of Martha Kelley, and tackle a woman's movie. And what more womanly movie is there, I think, than Pretty Woman? Besides, you know, Crossroads and Showgirls.

Celebrate the end of the spring semester with the Austin Independent School District, which is commemorating 125 years of existence. That's a whole lot of spitballs dodged, times tables taught, and citizens molded.

The AISD is putting on an IMAX showing of a documentary called Teaching Austin: 125 Years of Public School Education, on Sunday at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum (you know, the building with the giant star that almost looks Soviet?). And much like public education, it's free.

Stay tuned, as we'll be posting images from the documentary later this afternoon.

Teaching Austin: 125 Years of Public School Education
Sunday, May 6, 2007
7:45 pm
Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum IMAX Theatre
1800 N. Congress Avenue
Tickets are free, but you must reserve. Visit this site to find out how.

We’ve had a soft spot for Jamie Kennedy ever since his performance as mega film geek Randy Meeks in Wes Craven’s Scream. And we’ve also spent a lot of time watching his short-lived but very funny hidden-camera show, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment (which for our money was much more daring and inventive than that lame-ass Punk’d. For example…).

At the tail end of South by Southwest this year, we got a chance to chat with Jamie about his new breakdance comedy Kickin’ It Old Skool, his forthcoming documentary Heckler, and what it’s like to be a standup comedian in a post-Kramer world.

How did [Kickin’ It Old Skool] get started? I’ve heard that it originally started as an idea for a music video.

Not really. Well, Harvey [Glazer] is a music video director. His most famous one is probably that Shaggy video, Mr. Lover. I really liked that video, and I knew he was shooting a video in Vancouver, and I met him and he was like, “yeah, come in and shoot this movie”. He’s a big breakdance enthusiast, and rap enthusiast, and he liked the script.

You were a teenager in the 80s, right? So I imagine this movie is pretty close to home for you.

Yeah. I just love the 80s. If it were up to me, we’d never leave that era. Everything from wrestling to MTV. You know—Nina Blackwood, Van Halen, Vans sneakers, BMX, Run DMC, Cabbage Patch Kids…

Were you actually into breakdancing when you were that age?

I loved it. I wasn’t really a breakdancer, but I wore parachute pants and mesh shirts and stuff. And I might do the worm every once in a while.

Yeah, everybody could do the worm. It’s a pretty standard move.

I particularly loved ‘82 to ‘87. From right around when Fat Boys came out to when Less Than Zero came out. That was the pivotal period of the 80s for me.

Tonight, as the fifth installment in their Spaces Between Realities: the Films of Michael Haneke series, the Austin Film Society presents Code: Unknown – Incomplete Tales of Several Journeys, starring Juliette Binoche.

Code: Unknown begins with a group of hearing impaired children playing a seemingly commonplace game of charades, and what is immediately apparent is that these bright young things cannot identify the emotional state that is being acted out in front of them; a little girl is trying to communicate, but the other participants are unable or unwilling to understand. And as is the M.O. of Haneke’s filmmaking, the answer of what she is acting out is never given, leaving you to form your own interpretation of her actions. This initial scene sets the stage for an assortment of miscommunications and assumptions brought on by the characters' attempts to interpret their world through the foggy microscope of an incomplete reality.

Following the first quiet shot is the initial flap of the proverbial butterfly’s wing: Jean, a teenage Parisian boy cruelly throws a piece of trash into the lap of a panhandling woman, provoking the anger of Amadou, a young Franco-African man, who asks Jean to apologize. When Jean brushes Amadou’s anger aside, the two get into a shoving match which results in both Jean and Amadou being taken downtown and the panhandler being deported. This initial confrontation influences not only the journey that each of these individuals will experience, but also their perceptions of the class/race/gender/etc. that all of the other characters belong to.

AFS Presents Code: Unknown
Tuesday, May 1st
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown
7pm, $4 / Free to AFS Members
[Tickets]

9000 miles. 28 days. 11 different locales. 16 cinematic gems. That’s right folks, come July 18th it will be time to break out the adult diapers and the no-doze as you and your cinephiliac friends embark on an epic quest to obtain your next celluloid injection in the form of the Alamo Drafthouse’s third annual Rolling Roadshow Tour. Never mind that at today’s prices the entire circuit will set you back just under twenty five thousand ducats in petrol; it’s a small price to pay for the love of film and the chance to witness the projectile vomiting of blueberry pie. At past Rolling Roadshow events, we’ve spent the night in Cell Block D at Alcatraz, we’ve carved alien-inspired mountains out of mashed potatoes and we’ve run the bases at the field of dreams. What could the lively Leagues & Co. have in store for us this summer? Read on for a complete rundown!