On Tuesday, the American -ists will be celebrating democracy and hitting the polls, letting politicians know what they really think. It just made us wonder: if it were up to the -ist-a-verse, what would we be voting for? Londonist votes for better skincare, alternative spaces for art, cute little birds and the men who keep them, and concrete. Lots of concrete. Shanghaiist votes for one of the Bee Gees and Air Supply (it's a double-ticket),......

“In the movie about your life, are you the hero or the anti-hero?” It’s the question we’ve always wanted to ask prodigious screenwriter, Shane Black, and we finally got the opportunity. Not that Black is inaccessible, just. . . intimidating from a distance. His reputation precedes him. Known for “reinventing” the action flick as much as breaking with the stereotypical screenwriter persona of a bespectacled pipsqueak, Black prefers to shun the conventions of the movie......

David Milch ("NYPD Blue," "Deadwood"), Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) and Sydney Pollack (Tootsie, Three Days of the Condor) gathered Saturday for the Creating Classic Characters panel at the Austin Film Festival. The conversation quickly became a completely engaging discussion of the craft of writing, managing expectations of the studios, Dostoevsky and much more. Black was his general convivial and vulnerable self, while the affable Pollack spoke with great humility about......

The Austin Film Festival, which wraps up this evening, is crawling with writers, directors, producers, handlers, film fanatics and drunks. With that assortment of characters, you are bound to overhear a few bon mots here and there. Below are a few of our favorites. Some were said on panels into microphones, some were shared with us in hushed tones, and some wafted across the air in our general eavesdropping direction. And, no, we are......

Beyond screening over 100 excellent films, the Austin Film Festival also offers over 60 panels and roundtable discussions, led by more than 100 industry professionals. This year the panels will focus on ‘telling your story by any means necessary.' The panelists will give an informative look into how they sold their scripts, got distribution deals, had their pilots picked up, etc. If you are (or want to be) a writer, producer or director, you......

: : FRIDAY : : [art] Coy Poage and William K. Stidham Art Exhibit benefiting the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition of Austin, 7pm-10pm @ Barocca Studios - $15 donation [music] Mae Shi @ Elysium [film] New Films! @ Your Local Theaters [music] Andy Rourke of The Smiths @ The Parish [music] Loxsly, 8pm @ Red Fez [music] AM Syndicate with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Cue and Dear Nora, 8pm @ Beerland [books] Douglas......

We went to our first screening at the Austin Film Festival last night, and we were treated to one of the more entertaining movies we have seen in quite some time. And, we got to pick the director's brain a little afterwards. Shane Black goes back to some familiar writing territory in his directorial debut “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.” But instead of staying within one genre, say, a buddy flick, a thriller or a......

Cinephiles rejoice! The Austin Film Festival kicks off this Thursday, featuring a bevy of shorts, documentaries, advance screenings and parties! Of course, the festival is not just about watching movies; it’s also a fantastic opportunity for you wannabe filmmakers to hear from a slew of panelists about the craft of filmmaking and the industry in general. Among the distinguished panelists at the screenwriters’ conference are Judd Apatow (40-Year-Old Virgin, Freaks and Geeks, The Larry......