So, we know that there is some other film awards show going on this weekend that involves statues and crimson carpets and such, but how many nominees can claim Austin as their hometown? None that we can think of, which is what makes the Film Independent's Spirit Awards a bazillion times more interesting to us than the stodgy old Oscars!...

Okay, maybe we're not the kind of friend you'd invite to your wedding, or ask to hide a gun for you until the heat dies down. But we do try our best to keep you informed about awesome new films and film-related events—which is something your regular, non-blogger friends probably almost never do. Now that we think of it, why do you even hang out with them? Anyway, this Tuesday April 10th you'll get a......

Michael Tully came of age at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he made friends with such latter-day indie stars as director David Gordon Green and songwriter Dave Berman. His documentary, Silver Jew, about Berman's band The Silver Jews and their recent tour in Israel, is set to screen during SXSW. We caught up with him via email to ask the tough questions: So the documentary is only 51 minutes long. Does......

Three and a half minutes in, a middle-aged, slightly overweight man leans casually against the pedestrian barrier of the Golden Gate Bridge and, without hesitation, climbs over the boundary. And then he leaps. Only after the zoom lens has captured his face-first plummet and recorded the powerful splash as body collides against water do the opening credits roll, and only after that does the viewer fully appreciate that what they've just witnessed on screen wasn't......

Several of the movies screened at the Austin Film Festival made a big splash when Film Independent announced its 2007 Spirit Awards Nominees yesterday in Los Angeles. Festival hit and winner of both the Jury and Audience awards, Chalk, was nominated for the John Cassevetes Award. The highly-improvised mockumentary about high school teachers was filmed here in Austin and its recognition is another feather in the cap of the local film scene. Raymond J.......

Thanksgiving: a time for celebrating family, eating food, and of course, watching TV. Well, we're here to recommend some options: The given: "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade", 9am, NBC/KXAN. The random: Twelve hours of Doris Day films on TCM, starting at 5am. Pigs at Thanksgiving?: Babe on NBC/KXAN, 2pm. Katie pre-TomKat: One of our favorite Thanksgiving films, Pieces of April, is on IFC at 4:15pm. What Not to Wear on Thanksgiving: What Not to Wear......

We know a good movie title when we read one. Just knowing that I Am A Sex Addict is meant in the driest, deadliest-of-deadpan, classic-Woody-Allen humor in every respect makes the draw that much more irresistible. Almost an. . .addiction, we might say. In a wonderfully original approach to autobiography, Caveh Zahedi's film weaves documentary, re-enactment narrative, behind-the-scenes glimpses and animation to create an unflinching look at his penchant for sex with prostitutes and his......

It's a mad, mad workd out there, folks. And here's the proof... SFist commenters pose for before and aftershocks when the mayor commemorates a 1906 earthquake...at 4:30 in the morning. A hot tip on the Chronicle vending machines comes in and the SFist war correspondent risks life and limb to post this dispatch from the frontlines. Houstonist announces their new Cops spinoff "World's Funniest Tazer Videos" and the possible cancellation of their pervs' "World's Grossest......

Austinist is running around town (just like you) catching as much South By action as is possible this week. The following are our thoughts on the first three films we caught on Friday and Saturday: The Last Western (Documentary) - This short feature (65 minutes) tells stories from Pioneertown, CA, a small outpost built in the 1940's to film western movies. An oddball mix of drifters, eccentrics, and Roy Rogers fans have made the......