In your mouth you have these things called taste buds. The amazing thing is that everyone’s buds are different--even people who came out of the same birth canal. For example, we lurv broccoli and begged for it as a child. But our siblings, and this guy, hate it. Taste buds don’t make sense. Tastes buds are kinda like humor receptors; everyone’s sense of what is good is different, and thankfully no one can tell us......

It's hard to believe, but even our most talented artists, actors, musicians and filmmakers all had to start somewhere. You know "the journey of a thousand miles" and all that crap? It's totally true--whether those first attempts are timid baby steps or long, confident strides. This Thursday, the Austin Film Festival will pay tribute to a whole pile of tenacious Austin filmmakers--including Mike Akel, Steve Collins, Scott Rice, Jeffrey Travis and The Zellner Brothers--by screening......

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......

We're just about to head to the grocery store to stock up on champagne and salty snacks for this weekend's award show marathon, but for those of you who like to venture beyond the comfort of your living rooms for these kinds of events, here are some party options: Tomorrow, you can join the Austin Film Society at Ringer's Sports Lounge where they'll be hosting a viewing party for the Independent's Spirit Awards. Two Austinites......

At one time or another, in a fit of nostalgia for our high school years, we have had the delusion of grandeur warm and fuzzy feeling that we could be a teacher. Yeah, and a really good one, too! Then we remember that one freshman civics teacher, whose name we can’t remember, but whose story became urban legend. Bit by bit – like a water torture technique – he lost control of the students under......