It's been 10 years since the smash hit Bring It On high kicked its way into theaters, and it is still as sassy as it was then. Sometimes shocking in its subject matter, especially considering that it was rated PG-13 (perhaps it could have been even better with a R, but that may have killed it's teen market), Bring It On follows a pretty stereotypically affluent and white-washed cheerleading squad as they discover that all of their brilliant routines from previous years had been stolen from their inner city rivals, and their subsequent mission to crush them in an upcoming competition with fresh cheers. With a snarky and satirical script, writer Jessica Bendinger turned what could have been a rote teen movie into something much more fun and memorable. As part of their Conversations in Film series, the Austin Film Festival is bringing Bendinger to the Alamo Lake Creek tonight along with a special screening of Bring It On. more ›

It's possible that you could call writer/director Brant Sersen a cultural anthropologist. With a knack for exploring various subcultures, albeit in a ficticious way, he has created two feature length films now that ingratiate themselves into not often profiled communities. The first, Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story, which won the Narrative Feature Audience Award at SXSW 2004, chronicled the rise and fall of a paintballing icon. Sersen's second, Splinterheads, is opening this weekend in Austin at the Regal Arbor Cinema, and brings us the story of a manchild townie who's life is suddenly swept up in the absurd world of a traveling carnival as he is enchanted by one of its minions: a beautiful, geocache enthusiast con artist. We had the pleasure of exchanging an email dialogue with Sersen this week, wherein we talked about discovering things you may not have had the opportunity to ever see, the inspiration behind his storytelling and the publicity benefits of being linked with the Montauk Monster. Sersen's second, Splinterheads, is opening this weekend in Austin, and brings us the story of a manchild townie who's life is suddenly swept up in the absurd world of a traveling carnival as he is enchanted by one of its minions: a beautiful, geocache enthusiast con artist. We had the pleasure of exchanging an email dialogue with Sersen this week, wherein we talked about discovering things you may not have had the opportunity to ever see, the inspiration behind his storytelling and the publicity benefits of being linked with the Montauk Monster. more ›