Pump Up the Volume was so much more than a proto-Jock Jams house anthem by M/A/R/R/S. It was the youthful, telegenic angst of 1990, distilled and splashed against an awesome soundtrack. It was a young and (remember?) hot Christian Slater playing a high-school pirate radio DJ named Happy Harry Hard-On. It was Samantha Mathis playing a way ballsier and like, more articulate precursor to Angela Chase. And, like any teen dramedy worth its salt, it......

The Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival (aGLIFF) is all grown up in its 20th year and it shows in tonight’s kickoff festivities. Not only is the inaugural film—Call Me Troy—a world premiere, it is also the first documentary in the festival’s history to serve as an opening night film. The schedule continues to entice with another noteworthy first: the Sapphire MojitoMartini. You can down this “aGLIFF 20 Signature Cocktail” and chat up......

While lounging amongst hundreds of lesbians at HRC’s Dinah Lakeshore event two weekends ago, we noticed a few people emerge from the mass of tank tops in full-on Western-wear: they were there to spread the word about the Texas Gay Rodeo Association’s Capitol City Rodeo. Hopelessly hypnotized by the man’s Southern drawl and his ability to delve into the most fascinating details concerning the art of calf roping, we were already sold on the event......

Tomorrow night, Cine Las Americas presents Víctimas del Pecado (Victims of Sin), an over-the-top slice of Mexican melodrama from 1951 and the second installment in Cine's Sin, Scandal and Song series. There's sin aplenty here (and also really great outfits and hairstyles), courtesy of its setting in postwar Mexico City's red-light district (romanticized in lush black and white cinematography by the legendary Gabriel Figueroa). Amidst all the picturesque seaminess, beautiful cabaret dancer Violeta (Ninón Sevilla)......

Maybe it’s an aftereffect of the heat and shoulder-to-shoulder swaying at ACL, but we’re feeling particularly groovy today. The Austin Cinematheque understands, as it’s all peace, love, and Brigitte Bardot in tonight’s screening of Contempt at the Texas Union Theatre. Okay, so not so much with the peace. Director Jean-Luc Godard takes on the shady world of filmmaking and the lengths one must go through to see an artistic vision through to the bitter......

No plans for tonight? No need to call in for backup--the Austin Film Festival has you covered with a screening of revered cop documentary Sheriff at the Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek. Filmmaker Daniel Kraus gets up close and personal with Sheriff Ronald E. Hewett as he brings about justice in Brunswick County, North Carolina. Critics rave about the intimate portrait the film manages to capture in little over an hour; according to the event site,......

Donald Trump and The Apprentice have nothing on screenwriter Mateo Gil (Vanilla Sky, The Sea Inside). Gil zeroes in on the paranoia of office politics and brutal selection processes that force contestants to adhere to strict, snazzy dress codes in El Metodo, a critically acclaimed film that was released in Spain two years ago. The New York Times apparently labeled the movie as a comedy-laced suspense drama. For those of us that were not......

It’s time to channel the patio-dwelling, agua fresca-drinking short film lover inside of you, for Nueva Onda restaurant will be serving up some Purely Austin Shorts tomorrow night free of charge. All you have to do is show up, sit down, and stuff your face. The synopses of all four films sound promising and the line up is eclectic enough to suit a variety of tastes. The night begins with Room of Ghosts --......

Just a short time before George W. announced his intentions to run for King of Amurca, the New Haven-born hopeful bought a ranch in tiny Crawford, Texas. From this suitably folksy pulpit, he engineered that down-home, aw-shucks presidential campaign persona that captivated/divided the nation, and then there were those hanging chads and...well, you know the rest. Who Is Crawford Texas follows, through the eyes of the Crawford citizenry themselves, the crazy arc that accompanied two......

There’s a way to fundraise, that is. Established painter, photographer, and filmmaker William Wegman has a series of short works that will screen this Thursday, September 6th at The Design Center of Austin to benefit EmanciPET. It’s a collaboration made in doggy heaven, given that Wegman’s subjects are most often his own Weimaraners – a German breed of dogs known for their beautiful coats and haunting, gray eyes. On the subject of his medium-crossing......

Just hours before venerable Hoboken indie rock institution Yo La Tengo descend upon The Parish on September 17th, they'll be all up in your Alamo as part of the Alamo's Cinema Under the Influence Series. In a dazzlingly cross-referency evening, Yo La Tengo will present Four Flies on Grey Velvet, the Dario Argento flick that most influenced them as a band. Also on the bill is Cockaboody, an animated film drawn by YLT drummer......

Could there be a better emblem of corporate "zaniness" than the Segway? You know, the two-wheeled "personal transporter" device that, while marketed as a solution to traffic congestion, is in fact a really annoying adult toy that gets in everyone's way? To filmmakers Hunter Weeks and Josh Caldwell, however, the Segway scooter embodies the American Dream. Or something like that, because they decided, after purchasing a Segway "on impulse" (note: the things cost 5 grand......

Got reels? Dusty old boxes of family films? Long-untouched Super-8 or 16mm treasures? Home Movie Day wants you to bring your stash to the Carver Museum this Sunday. Not only can you see your (or your parents') films projected on the big screen at the swank Boyd Vance Theatre, but there will also be Home Movie Day elves on hand who will inspect and repair your films AND give pointers on proper storage and care......

Mayor Will Wynn and writer/actor/director Turk Pipkin will tackle a hot topic (this one, not that one) this coming Monday as they host a special "Global Warming Q&A Session" between screenings of Pipkin's Nobelity and Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth at the Paramount Theatre. Mayor Wynn loves talkin' climate change (he's a key member of the U.S. Mayors Council on Climate Protection, and in January, he trained with Al Gore to deliver the slideshow Gore......

Tonight, 101X and the Alamo Drafthouse present The Princess Bride, in a special screening on the lawn at Central Market North. It's a no-brainer! Buy yourself a treat and indulge with everyone's favorite slice of 80's self-referential swashbuckling. A pre-Shepard Fairey-co-opted Andre the Giant! A pre-Penn Robin Wright! The so-hot-he's-cornz-Carey Elwes! Rodents of unusual size, cliff-scaling, and the six-fingered man! Vaudevillian troll Billy Crystal! And of course, sporadic interruptions from a whiny Fred Savage.......

Thanks to everyone who wrote in about getting tickets to the annual summer party we're co-sponsoring with Green Potato Ventures, PartyEnds, Super!Alright! and Progress Coffee. Summer Extrav-O-Ganza 2 will take place on Sunday, August 5th, on board the Ark at Lake Travis. We'll have music by White Denim, DJ sets by Markus with a K and Hustle Simmons, plus beer, food, refreshments and more. Everything, including the boat rental, is included in the ticket. BYO......

Tonight and tomorrow night, the Paramount's Summer Classic Film Series gives you a double dose of the man who once singlehandedly freaked out some radio listeners so much that they ran out on the streets, shooting at menacing water towers and searching for meteorites: the corpulent and magnetic Orson Welles. First, enjoy 1958's border story Touch of Evil, recently restored and also featuring Charlton Heston; then, regardez-vous the best movie of all time, Citizen Kane......

Synth-obsessed French duo Daft Punk have accomplished a lot in the past few years. They sort of singlehandedly created the sexxxable electronic dance music genre that's all the rage with today's youth. They paved the way for Air, Ratatat, and the Ed Banger consortium. They made some videos with Michel Gondry. Also, they figured out that they really, really like robots. In fact, they like robots so much that they went and directed a movie--a......

Like ladies? Like film? We've got the festival for you! Austin's own Femme Film Texas will be rolling some festival films next weekend at the Hideout Theatre. It's a bit too late to get your own film into the festival, but come check out the offerings and plan your entry for next year. The Femme Film Texas Festival focuses on bringing new perspectives to the screen. This year's festival theme is Identity, Perception, and Reality,......

What more can really be said about the Simpsons and the indelible yellow smudge they've left on pop culture? To celebrate the opening weekend of the Simpsons' ascent to the silver screen (beginning next Friday, July 27th), the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar and Village are planning characteristically over-the-top shenanigans. At the Alamo South Lamar premiere, a life-sized Homer and Bart will greet fans, and a Squishee machine in the lobby will provide tasty, relevant......

Local children's show stars The Biscuit Brothers are celebrating the Fourth of July with a special concert at the Paramount Theatre. The performance is their biggest ever, and will be filmed for a DVD. All profits go towards funding the duo's third season of family-friendly, music-centric (not to mention Emmy Award-winning) programming on KLRU/PBS. If you'd like to win a free family pack to the show, fill out the form below! This contest is......

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......

CLOSING NIGHTInside the CircleAlamo Drafthouse South Lamar, 7 PM Capturing the raw power of a grassroots hip-hop movement in the heart of Texas, INSIDE THE CIRCLE tells the story of two strikingly talented b-boys, Josh and Omar, former best friends who become rivals when they join competing dance crews. Immersed in the b-boy culture of defiant creativity, Omar rises to international renown, while Josh tangles with the law. Both of them struggle to keep dance......

The Journals of Knud Rasmussen (Canada)Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, 7 PMThe last great shaman of the Inuit Avva and his beautiful and headstrong daughter Apak live on the verge of change in 1922. As the father is trying to resist encroachments upon his family and culture, a group of Danish scientists arrive to study and record his way of life. Explorer/adventurer Knud Rasmussen pays Avva a visit, accompanied by two fellow Danes: trader......

En El Hoyo | In the Pit (México)Bob Bullock Texas State Museum, 7 PMAccording to a Mexican legend, the devil asks for one soul for every bridge that is built, as a guarantee for the bridge’s durability. In Juan Carlos Rulfo’s documentary In the Pit this old legend takes on new meaning. Made of more than 17 kilometers of asphalt, the Second Deck is a major urban project set to transform Mexico City. The most......

Madeinusa (Peru, Spain)7 PM, Regal Metropolitan Theater #14Madeinusa is a girl who lives in an isolated village in the Cordillera Blanca Mountain range of Peru. This strange place is characterized by its religious fervor from Good Friday at three o’clock in the afternoon (the time of day when Christ died on the cross) until Easter Sunday, in which the whole village can do whatever it feels like. During the two holy days, sin does not......

Costa Rica SA | Costa Rica, Inc. (Costa Rica) Hideout Theater, 11 AM The film explores with satirical black humor some absurd aspects of the Dominican Republic - Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA); such as the inclusion of war weapons as objects of commerce for Costa Rica, a country without an army, or the incorporation of Central American undersea resources as part of the United States’ definition of territory. Costa Rica, Inc. was......

New Visions/Works in Progress: Bringing Texas to the Latino Film Map. Hideout Upstairs Cabaret, 11 AM A new program section at the festival, New Visions/ Works in Progress showcases films that are looking for production or completion funds, as well as case studies that represent examples of Latino or indigenous filmmaking in Texas. These projects are brought to the consideration of investors, producers, distributors, and artists with the goal of fomenting industry participation and......

Qué tan lejos | How Much Further Regal Metropolitan #11, 7 PM Qué tan lejos narrates a journey of self-discovery, as two girls in their mid-twenties travel through the Ecuadorian mountains and coastline. Esperanza and Trizteza will not find postcard views or true love, but their journey will open them to a world beyond such illusions. Tania Hermida was born in Cuenca, Ecuador. From 1988 to 1991 she studied Film Direction at the San......

EL VIOLÍN | THE VIOLIN (Mexico) Paramount Theater, 7 PM "Pure and emotive cinema that shakes you with its honesty" – Guillermo del Toro Cine Las Americas is honored to present Francisco Vargas Quevedo’s award winning drama El Violin at the historic Paramount Theater in downtown Austin. El Violin won the Knight Grand Jury Prize for Ibero-American Cinema at the Miami International Film Festival in 2007, where it was called “a perfect film, perfectly......