Gay people and good theatre go hand-in-hand, see: ancient Greece and Tennessee Williams. Conversely, good gay-themed theatre can be hard to come by. How many tired ensemble pieces populated with predictable muscle marys, self-important disco queens, wilting PLWA s, stoic bears and bubbly twink ingenues (each grappling with their place in the world) can one art form support?...

The producers of Brokeback Mountain are auctioning off the film's entire wardrobe to raise money for the Human Rights Campaign, a nonprof working to promote equality for GLBT citizens. From now through October 20th, you can bid on tons of bonafide outfits, each sweated upon by your favorite Brokeback cowboys! [Brokeback Mountain Auction on Ebay]......

Beyond screening over 100 excellent films, the Austin Film Festival also offers over 60 panels and roundtable discussions, led by more than 100 industry professionals. This year the panels will focus on ‘telling your story by any means necessary.' The panelists will give an informative look into how they sold their scripts, got distribution deals, had their pilots picked up, etc. If you are (or want to be) a writer, producer or director, you......

Over the past year, the students and faculty of St. Andrew’s high school , located on Southwest Parkway, have seen their campus divided over the content of the English Department’s reading list. This is part 1,208 in our nationwide series entitled “Ignorance & Self-Righteousness, or, America: The Great Leap Backward.” Last fall, Cary McNair – affluent film producer and son of millionaire oilman/Houston Texans owner Robert McNair – pulled his kids and his money......

Slim pickin's today, friends. You can either choose a movie starring Oscar winners/nominees (which of course doesn't guarantee anything), or you can go with movies that cater to the lowest common denominator. Which is apparently pretty damn low these days. *Inside Man Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster. Kudos, Spike Lee, for making a movie with one fine-lookin’ cast. (*Ed. Note: We saw a sneak preview of this movie and really enjoyed the nuances......

Just a quick one today, kids. Hang in there, SXSW is almost over. *V for Vendetta Yes, it screened at SXSW two whole days ago, and now it’s out in theatres for all the little people to see. Despite her uncanny resemblance to a 12-year-old boy, Nat Portman is the shit. (link may be NSFW) *Neil Young: Heart of Gold Jonathan Demme’s documentaryish thing chronicling two days of Neil Young’s concerts at the famous......

Yeah, yeah, SXSW Film kicks off this weekend, so you’re all like, “Say whaa? There are regular movies in theatres? How plebeian!” But for those of you who would rather forgo the madness of that festival, here’s what Hollywood has in store: Failure to Launch The words “to Launch” in this title seem superfluous. Much like Sarah Jessica Parker’s career without Sex and the City. The Hills Have Eyes Have you SEEN the creepy......

We're sure you've got all of this Sunday reserved for the Oscars (pre-party coverage starts at like noon, people!), so maybe this weekend you should catch up on all your Oscar-nominated movie watching. But just in case you're in the mood for some flicks that will most likely never win Oscars, here are this week's new movie releases, in no particular order. 16 Blocks The release of this film makes us imagine that somewhere......

You might feel lost and confused and out of place in this conservative, W voting, war loving society (well, half of it), but just remember this next time you are thinking about a one way ticket to Canada: Jon Stewart is hosting the Oscars! Y'all, did you hear us? Jon Stewart! Something has to be right in the world. We don't pretend to be experts, but our predictions are: Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman......

The critical and Oscar success of 'Brokeback Mountain', 'Capote', and 'Transamerica' gives Austinist hope for gay-themed films reaching mass audiences. In the midst of this great run comes 'Imagine Me And You', a rather transparent attempt to try the Hugh Grant London-style romantic comedy with a surprising gay twist. Suffice to say that writer/director Ol Parker has seriously misfired with this one. While any romantic comedy features its share of stock characters, silly miscommunications,......

This week at the movies there’s a little bit of everything. You got your Disney, your international, your race relations, and your Other. And by Other, we mean crap. Eight Below Man, Disney just keeps trudging along. Stories about cute animals overcoming immeasurable odds always work. Do what you know. Be sure to hire Paul Walker, because apparently he’ll take anything. *Cache A French mystery-thriller with political overtones about a man who receives anonymous......

Austin-based online music/film/literature magazine Urban Pollution launched today, and they're already in top form: the sharply-designed indie upstart - a clear contender for the Pitchfork/PopMatters set - unveiled a bevy of nifty content, with reviews ranging from albums (The Mendoza Line, Test Icicles, Cat Power) to films ("Match Point," "Brokeback Mountain," "Shop Girl") to books (Salvador Plascencia's The People of Paper). Of the last section, we were especially pleased to see a review of Michael......

To do this weekend: save the bank (and, consequently, family) from the bad guys, take pet monkey to the vet, mourn the state of Steve Martin’s career, have mild lesbian encounter, be appalled by people’s ignorance. Firewall A man is forced to break into the very bank his security program protects, or else suffer the loss of his much-younger wife and children at the hands of super (and super adorable!) villain Paul Bettany. In......

Austin is Taradise! And Lance and Sheryl split Congrats to Adlai McMahon, winner of our giveaway contest for Bloc Party's documentary/concert DVD, God Bless Bloc Party! The SXSW Music Festival roster expanded to over 1,100 this week, including such esteemed acts as Morrissey and The Flaming Lips Austinist photographer Matt Wright captures yet another amazing night shot in Austin, as well as some sexy shots of last week's Box Magazine issue release party. The......

What do we want? MOVIES! When do we want them? NOW! *Before the Fall An interesting film set in 1942 Berlin about an elite school where the country’s brightest young men were trained to be future members of the Nazi regime. Yeahhh, there’s just nothing funny about that. A Good Woman Holy crap, Scarlett Johansson and her breasts are everywhere, it seems. At least this movie finally answers the question, “What ever happened to......

Ahhh, it’s that time of year again – can you smell the celebrity sweat in the air? Oscar time, baby! The 78th annual Academy Awards will air March 5 on ABC. Plan your party now: gather your friends together, don your Oscar de la Renta (that was kind of a pun, see?), break out the Dom Perignon Andre and the brie, place your bets and watch the magic unfold. The absolute best part about......

Another week, another steaming batch of new movie releases. What’ll it be, folks? Big Momma’s House 2 Martin Lawrence, your pigeonhole is waiting for you. *Nanny McPhee The new Mary Poppins - only uglier, and with more children. Starring Emma Thompson and brooding hottie Colin Firth. Supposedly this movie is doing very well in the UK. We could make a joke about unattractive British people here, but we’re far too classy for that. Annapolis......

F R I D A Y [ 2 0 ] [music] Attack Formation at The Parlor [music] Faceless Werewolves, For Those Who Know, The Ugly Beats, Tran Tram play the Benefit for Austin GI Rights at Emo's [music] Just Guns CD release show with northKorean, Stories From the Frontier, Sad Accordions, and Infant of Prague at Beerland (7pm) [theatre] "Two Into War" at the Play! Theatre ($5-$20, 8pm) (link) [theatre] "House and Garden" at Austin......

Hurrah, it’s Friday! There’s plenty of stuff going on around town this weekend, but perhaps you can find the time to slip into a cool, dark theatre and enjoy one of this week’s new movie releases. *The New World Another take on the story of Pocahontas, this time by director Terrence Malick. Colin Farrell, Christopher Plummer, and our future husband, Christian Bale, star in a film certain to at least be more historically authentic......

Steve Carrell was funny. Geena Davis was actually pretty damn funny. Chris Rock was funny. Our comments while watching the Globes were funny. Dennis Quaid was not! The notorious (alleged) coke-head and booze-hound had the opportunity to present the vignette nominating Brokeback Mountain as best picture. Instead of being simple and to-the-point, Quaid decided he'd try a little shtick. After honoring the film, the seemingly drunk (or at least very nervous) Quaid said that......

Huh? Whaaa? Where the hell have we been? What day is it? It’s Friday already? It’s 2006 already??? Holy crap. Well, hopefully everyone had a happy holiday and a booze-infused (but responsible) New Year’s. Been to the local Cineplex lately? Maybe you saw Wolf Creek, or Hostel, or Bloodrayne. If so, we hope your friends adequately made fun of you. Perhaps you’ve seen Casanova? Heath Ledger’s career is back on track, baby! Just like......

F R I D A Y [16] [theatre] Rude Mechs present Pale Idiot by Kirk Lynn at The Off Centre (Through Sat, $12, 8pm) [Austinist Review] [theatre] Langston Hughes' "Black Nativity" at Austin Playhouse on Penn Field (Through Sat, $20, 7:30pm) [theatre] "When Pigs Fly" at Arts on Real (8pm) [theatre] Shrewd Productions presents "Xmas Unwrapped! A Holiday Burlesque" at Hyde Park Theatre (Through Sat, 10pm) [theatre] "A Christmas Carol" at The State Theatre......

Countdown to the holidays, people. With all the cold weather we’ll be having, it’s a great time to take a break from mall-madness and catch a movie. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re already aware that Peter Jackson’s monster LOTR follow-up, *King Kong, hit theatres on Wednesday, and it’s getting rave reviews. Why shouldn’t it? Giant gorillas are sooooo cute. The Family Stone We swear, this movie comes out in some form......

Along with millions of other people, we’ve been anticipating Brokeback Mountain for quite some time. A gay cowboy movie starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal? Um, yes please, sign us UP. People of all sexualities have been in a tizzy about it: Are they gonna make out? Are they gonna show anything really juicy onscreen? Are they gonna dress in drag and do the can-can with a chorus line while singing “It’s Raining Men”?......

For what it's worth, the Golden Globe nominations were announced this morning. We like watching the Golden Globes; they are so laid-back and relaxed in comparison to the pretentious Academy Awards. Of course, they don't always choose the same winners . . . Babe won the Golden Globe for best musical/comedy the year it was nominated, after all. And while Jennifer Garner has won a Golden Globe, she has yet to win an Emmy......

Because we love our readers, we'll let you know about an upcoming advance screening of Brokeback Mountain (although if you're an AFS member, you already know about it). Based on Annie Proulx's short story, Brokeback Mountain tells the story of two cowboys (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) who hold a slowburning torch for each other throughout the years. Screenwriters Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana will be in attendance at this advance screening in our......