A big-screen adaptation of Holly Black and Tony Diterlizzi's popular children's book series, The Spiderwick Chronicles follows three kids named Simon, Mallory and Jared as they try to keep a magical book from falling into the hands of some unsavory goblins. more ›

Even people with kids like to watch movies. Partly because family films are just plain fun and educational, and partly because they, if only for a short period of time, provide a distraction from the endless, high-pitched squealing that children provide. But whatever the motivation, the Austin Film Festival's Family Film Series has a little something for everyone this year. Check out our rundown! Moondance Alexander | Dir. Michael Damian Saturday, October 13 12:30pm, Regal... more ›

The Austin Film Festival is right around the corner, and this year's Marquee programming is some of the best in the festival's history. With a wide variety of stellar comedies, dramas, and documentaries (not to mention several strong Oscar contenders) announced, there's something for everyone in the 2007 Marquee category. To help you plan out your festival schedule, we've put together a list of best bets for this year's program. The whole program looks excellent... more ›

One of the big components of next month's Maker Faire Austin festival is the Swap-O-Rama-Rama, an enormous clothing swap and DIY workshop series. Through the recycling and repurposing of used clothing, Swap-O-Rama-Rama seeks to explore the benefits of community reuse and creativity. During the festival, you'll be able to bring your own bag of unwanted clothing to be added to the collective pile; in turn, you're invited to take away as much as you'd like.... more ›

If you missed out on the initial deadline to participate in this year's inaugural Maker Faire Austin festival, you're in luck! The event organizers have set a new deadline of Thursday, September 6, thereby affording you a comfortable two and a half weeks to come up with your very own zany creation. For an idea of what to expect, the MAKE blog highlights some of the inventions recently previewed at Austin Children's Museum, including hyperbolic... more ›

Maker Faire, the annual Bay Area festival that revels in Do-It-Yourself (DIY) ingenuity, is expanding to Austin this year. The two-day, family-friendly event will showcase some of the coolest shit—arts, crafts, wickedly geeky science projects—you've never seen in your life; think Dorkbot but hulked out. What else would you expect from a festival organized by the staffs of Make and Craft magazines? If you're a "Maker" and are interested in showing off your zany (or... more ›

The folks at South by Southwest have announced the winners of their 2007 SXSWclick short film competition. This year's winners include some fantastic shorts about lovestruck mice, low-budget time machines and bizarre customer service reps. If you haven't already, we recommend checking out all of the finalists here, but if you're short on time (like, say, if you have a nail appointment, or you desperately need to pee) you can just check out the winners... more ›

Tomorrow, take a trip up I-35 and get your pants scared off at the Texas Frightmare Weekend, a giant horrorfest being held in Dallas at the Omni Dallas Park West Hotel. George A. Romero will be there, which is, for us, reason enough to brave the hordes of horrorfans (why can't we stop thinking of Comic Book Guy?). But that's not all: you could meet Clint Howard (Ron Howard's weird-ass brother/star of Ice Cream Man);... more ›

It's the second-last Music Monday at the original Alamo Downtown, so if you haven't been in a while (or if, God forbid, you've NEVER been) tonight is the night. Here We Come is a documentary chronicling the rise of Hip Hop and Breakdance culture in communist East Germany during the 1980s--which, we imagine, was an incredibly bizarre time to be involved in any music scene there. Director Nico Raschick describes the film as "a documentary,... more ›

Sugar, you know it annoys your mama when you slam that screen door, so please close it quietly when you head over to Salvage Vanguard Theater to watch the Screen Door Film Festival. more ›

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 at the center of their lives, and the "B-Boy City" competitive events thrown by visionary street dancer Romeo Navarro serve as emotional milestones in their journey to adulthood. Facing off in intense dance battles that mirror the larger events in their lives, Josh and Omar seek meaning and identity "inside the circle." more ›

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... more ›

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... more ›

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... more ›

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... more ›

Paramount Theater, 7 PM
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"I've had a hell of a good time. I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different." Such was the off-the-cuff nonchalance and quirky charm that epitomized the inimitable Kurt Vonnegut, who passed away yesterday at the age of 84. With a dazzling career that spanned over half a century, Vonnegut was, to us, the quintessential American man of letters: novelist, essayist, playwright, and, despite having borne witness to the brutalities of World War II, a staunch humanist. Vonnegut crafted lucid, oftentimes absurd narratives that unmasked the horrors of war, satirically railed against the greed and hypocrisy inherent in human nature, and generally took the piss out of the bizarre structures and notions built into what we consider "modern" societies. "Human beings will be happier," said the writer in an interview with Playboy in 1973, "Not when they cure cancer or get to Mars or eliminate racial prejudice or flush Lake Erie, but when they find ways to inhabit primitive communities again. That’s my utopia." Equally as memorable as the messages in his novels were the characters that Vonnegut conjured up. Some of our favorites were Dr Paul Proteus of Player Piano, a rabble-rousing engineer fed up with life in a fully-automated society, and the curmudgeonly old Rabo Karabekian of Bluebeard, a retired artist who'd rather everyone just leave him be. We can only imagine Vonnegut carefully crafting these fascinating and (mostly) likable protagonists, then gleefully plunging them into preposterous or terrifying dystopias and forcing them to fend for themselves. Vonnegut suffered a fall a few weeks ago in his Manhattan apartment, causing extensive damage to his brain. Even then, said his manager, Donald Farber, "He was in good spirits. Every time he spoke with me no matter what the circumstances in the world, he had a funny angle on it even if it wasn't a funny thing." And so it goes.
More:
Kurt Vonnegut dead at 84 (Washington Post)
Works by Vonnegut (Book List)
Vonnegut's Official Website
Interviews with McSweeney's more ›

Tonight, director Keith Maitland and producer Patrick Floyd will offer Austinites a sneak-peek at their new Austin-lensed documentary Keep Your Ear on the Ball. The film chronicles a year in the lives of four students at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired as they struggle to live independently, fit-in, and prepare for college. The students are also members of the school's goalball team—goalball is the only competitive team sport designed specifically for... more ›

One of the cornerstone events put on by the Texas Cultural Trust -- which also runs the fledgling young professional arts group, StrataTX -- is the biannual Texas Medal of Arts Awards. Since 2001, the Medal of Arts have recognized "outstanding contributions" by standout Texans, notable past winners of which include Tommy Lee Jones (film), Willie Nelson (music), Phylicia Rashad (TV/theatre) and Joe and Teresa Long (for arts patronage). A slew of events are planned... more ›

One of the cornerstone events put on by the Texas Cultural Trust -- which also runs the fledgling young professional arts group, StrataTX -- is the biannual Texas Medal of Arts Awards. Since 2001, the Medal of Arts have recognized "outstanding contributions" by standout Texans, notable past winners of which include Tommy Lee Jones (film), Willie Nelson (music), Phylicia Rashad (TV/theatre) and Joe and Teresa Long (for arts patronage). A slew of events are... more ›

Now in its thirtieth year, Carnaval Brasilero returns to Austin this Saturday. Over 6,000 Austinites are expected to attend the flamboyant Brazilian-style celebration of Samba-fuelled half-nakedness, funky costumes, friendliness and hedonism. This year will once again feature NYC samba band Grupo Saveiro and performers from local samba school Acadêmicos da Opera. The Carnaval web site notes that Grupo Saveiro was “twice voted ‘the best Brazilian group in the United States’ by the Brazilian International Press... more ›

An old world stage illuminated only by lantern light. Armed guards standing post throughout. The audience, a sea of faces with mouths agape, except for one. The skeptic tilts his head away from the stage in a sidelong glance as the magician evokes his deception. The Illusionist is a gothic romance-mystery set in the surreal world of 19th century Vienna. Based on the short story, Eisenheim, The Illusionist by Pulitzer-Prize winning author, Steven Millhauser,... more ›

Mike Booher looks like a rock star until he smiles. Tall and lanky, shaggy black hair, smoking a cigarette outside his practice room, he is a throwback to the Ramones. Then he grins, waves, and he’s the friendly guy everyone loves. Who just happens to be the front man for Austin’s much-hyped Zykos. more ›

* Image from www.damienjurado.com more ›

, rather (because up until we did this brief write-up, we didn’t care what they looked like, but they look really bookish, as expected). The music is what piqued our curiosity. They have a sound that harkens back to when MTV was new, confused, unfocused, and absolutely brilliant with unchecked creative energy. Even if the songs had no real substance to them (chicks, being broke, young life, drugs, whipping it, whatever Men at Work were trying to do). Plus, they sport patched-elbow tweed jackets and irreverent facial hair. And as played out as that is for some bands, these guys appear to pull it off. Proper. more ›

Back when we lived up in Nueva York, we kept hearing about these crazy “Gypsy-Punk” assholes who appeared out of nowhere, presumably from the general vicinity of The Ukraine. Their shows were rumored to be complete sweat-fests of insane, mobish crowds that moved to the circus-like music with a singular, beast-like quality. Their singer, reputed to have some Brian Jones sort of charm over the masses, moved from song to song in a live show,... more ›

Scott Biram is like Tom Waits in a meshback with lots of side-story between songs and a gruff whisky slur. Hold up. That’s really just Tom Waits in a meshback. Except Tom Waits never got hit head-on by an 18-wheeler at highway speed. Biram’s an Austin native who goes solo on the stage, where he spins grim yarns of lost lust/love, fumbling with the evils of humanity, and chasing the desire to do whatever the... more ›

Hello Forward Russia! [Forgive us for not doing the Spanish exclamations on that one, even though it's part of their shtick, but we don’t know the “special keys” for that, so okay then.] Coming straight out of Leeds and kicking ass since 2004, this quatro has a reputation for stirring the shit and getting the monkeys to stop holding up the wall. We're going to take the lame route and just start naming other bands... more ›

* Image from theowls.net/press.htm more ›