Austin dweller Margaret Brown brings her new documentary, The Order of Myths, to SXSW after a successful showing at Sundance. Brown was born in Mobile, Alabama, where Myths takes place. The film follows Mobilians through one cycle of their Mardi Gras celebrations—a festival which the city is proud to have begun celebrating before New Orleans. Unlike the Big Easy’s do, however, the Mobile Mardi Gras is, effectively, segregated. ...

Spiral follows a lonely, nerdy telemarketer who sketches portraits as a hobby. But when he begins sketching a hot new ladyfriend (Amber Tamblyn), shocking secrets from his past begin to emerge. If the reviews on the Fantastic Fest B-Side site are any indication, it's quite good....

MovieMaker Magazine has just named Austin the "Number One City to Live, Work and Make Movies". This is the seventh year in a row that Austin has placed in the top three, and the second time we've been numero uno (unseating longtime fave New York City, which slipped all the way down to #4 this year)....

"Tales Of Mere Existence" By Levni R. Yilmaz Esq VOTE LEV!!! I'm in this competition that Delta Airlines is running to play short films between features on the plane. The 'Tales' episode "Conversation" is up against 4 other short films, The winner will be announced at Sundance (!?!) in a week or so. Please take a moment to cast a vote here: http://www.delta.com/marketing/flyinmovies/index.jsp Buy a Comic/DVD set from Lev! http://www.ingredientx.com/buy/main.htm For more comics, animations......

As we waited for our feature presentation at the Drafthouse over the weekend, we laughed at the trailer above. The film is titled Teeth and it doesn't take long to figure out that the pearly whites they refer to aren't found in the mouth, but in a curious teenager's "vajajay"....

Photo from ImageAfter Starting today, we'll be publishing a weekly roundup of various arts & entertainment news that we've come across. Most of these developments, whether national or international, have a direct relationship with something local, whether it be an organization, individual, or our collective culture. In any case, it's a nice chance to broaden our world view -- a definite bonus (or necessity, some might argue) for a city that revels in creativity! --......

Last New Year’s Eve, experimental film artist Luke Savisky gave us the eye. This Halloween season, he'll create a surreal urban oasis on film at one of Austin’s historic parks. It may be hard to top images of a giant eyeball projected on to a downtown water tower, but Savisky’s latest large-scale film installation promises to be just as imaginative—and maybe just a little less creepy. On Friday night, Savisky will present Film Actions VI:......

Another Friday means another round of fresh outta the box movies. With summer's end possibly mere weeks away, these are our last days to indulge in the pastime of escaping Austin's scorching good vibes to sit in distracted air-conditioned comfort. And in some parts of the country it's already fall, which means there's a bumper crop of new movies out! The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: On one hand, this period......

This Thursday night, the Alamo will host a special advance screening of the new documentary No End In Sight. The film (which won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance earlier this year) paints a grim picture of the current situation in Iraq, and suggests that key errors in policy and strategy have caused a slow but certain spiral into chaos in the war-torn country. But here's the interesting bit: rather than focus on the usual......

Captivating, stereotype-busting material centered on the theme of disability often comes in the form of poignant documentaries (although the possibilities are endless in this genre, we recommend checking out Sound and Fury and 2003 Sundance favorite My Flesh and Blood). When it comes to feature films, it may take you a while to cite more than a few decent offerings that revolve around a character with a disability or a theme of disability. The......

Finding hot button issues in Austin is not unlike finding a needle in a needlestack and no issue is as passionately debated as real estate. When Liz Lambert left her law practice with the Attorney General’s office and purchased the run down San Jose Motel, she had designs to create an oasis of hip on South Congress Avenue before the condo-boom had even begun, and little did she know that what she was building would......

These days, when it ain't raining, it's blazing hot--definite shorts weather. So put on your short-shorts and head over to Salvage Vanguard Theatre next Wednesday for an assortment of offbeat short movies, all of which will quench your thirst for knowledge just like a Shiner quenches actual thirst. From car crashes to dead dogs to hustlas from Galveston, these films have it all: The Aftermath on Meadowlark Lane (David and Nathan Zellner) A car crash......

Go ahead and order that failure bowl at KFC and dig in with your spork of sadness, it might be the only thing that will smother the despair that will come with missing Patton Oswalt present Ratatouille tonight at the Alamo. That’s right kids, it’s sold out. In fact, it was sold out last Thursday. You will just have to wait until June 29th for your yearly dose of Pixar magic and Brad Bird brilliance.......

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......

We enjoy watching This Old House on PBS (mostly for the building tips and partly for the gardener's accent). The show will be exceptionally interesting this Saturday as they start on the Austin house. This past fall, the show helped some homeowners in Hyde Park renovate their house using green/environmentally-safe practices and products. Since completion, the house has been given a five star rating for green building by the city. This is the first......

SXSW Presents returns to KLRU TV tomorrow for its third season, with four brand new episodes slated to run through the end of February. The critically acclaimed series, hosted by SXSW Film Fest Producer Matt Dentler, showcases some today's finest examples of independent filmmaking, many of which have a local emphasis -- past epiodes have featured Viva Les Amis, 24 Hours on Craigslist, and Witches in Exile. BBQ: A Texas Love Story February 6th,......

Tonight, Screen Door Film and the Austin Museum of Art present Screen Door's Best Short Films of 2006. The winners were chosen by audience vote from among the 41 shorts presented by Screen Door Film throughout the past year. All of the eight films being screened tonight are national or international award-winners (including awards from film festivals like Palm Springs, SXSW, Sundance, Melbourne, Tinklai, Palm Springs, Tribeca, IndieWire and more) and three of the winners......

Opening this weekend with a lack of fanfare is the flagship Burnt Orange Productions feature film, The Quiet. Seasoned film and television director Jamie Babbit (But I’m A Cheerleader, Gilmore Girls, Malcolm in the Middle, Nip/Tuck)directed the project as part of the Texas Film Institute’s program, which provides real-world training to University of Texas film students. The screenplay by writing team Abdi Nazemian and Micah Schraft was chosen by the Sundance Institute in 2003 for......

Tonight at the Alamo Drafthouse the Flicker Film Festival celebrates the creativity, passion and art of short filmmaking. The Flicker Fest is a great way for nascent filmmakers to get their works screened. All of the movies in competition are shorts that run no longer than 15 minutes and must have originally been shot on film. “Flicker is a totally Austin experience. It’s fun, it’s cheap, it’s independent, and it’s creative,” explains Matthew Cornelius, HBMG......

Imagine you’re on a bus traveling halfway across the country to your destination. A destination that, in your mind will mark you a “winner” or a “loser” in life. It’s your life’s ambition waiting there, so you go. On the bus are the people your mother warned you about, types you normally wouldn’t associate with in life: An aged heroin sniffer with a porn collection; a self-imposed mute teenager who worships Nietzsche and communicates......

Screen Door Film started off in 2004 by showcasing a bunch of wonderful short films they'd found from all over the country, with a particular emphasis on works by Austin directors. Many of their selections have appeared at Sundance, SXSW, and other festivals around the world. Most recently, they began hosting a series of combination screenings and presentations, focused on the business aspect of indie filmmaking; programs in the last two months included the Duplass......

The Devil and Daniel Johnston directed by Jeff Feuerzeig has been receiving a ton of buzz, and for good reason. The film tells the heartfelt and compelling story of one of Austin's most famous musical icons. It is a portrait of the artist as a troubled man, a movie that confronts the painful issues of mental illness and its effects on not just the artist in question but all with whom he comes in contact.......

Toby Keith would watch at least one of these movies... *Akeelah and the Bee It’s hard to make fun of such an earnest, lesson-filled film that stars Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, and an adorable little girl. All we can really say is, she best win that motherf*cking bee. United 93 Nothing says “America” quite like capitalizing on the lingering sentiments created by recent national tragedies. *Stick It From the geniuses/idiots who created Bring it......

It's Wednesday night and you didn't think to buy Franz/Death Cab tickets. What to do? Well, as usual, the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown has something on you'd enjoy. The final showing of "World's Best Commercials" happens at 7pm, and the breadth alone of this compilation makes it look mighty good. Over 140 (!!) commericals from around the world will be shown, and the curators promise amped up sex, violence, and comedy during the foreign bits.......

We were tickled to read about the premiere of Robert Altman's latest, Prairie Home Companion, at Salon.com. The film premiered at SXSW, of course--Friday night, in fact. Salon's Andrew O'Hehir was on hand remarking on the heat and tank tops. Here's a snippet: From the stage of the Paramount, a gingerbread-laden movie palace (originally built in 1915 and remodeled in the '30s) that has been lovingly preserved, festival director Matt Dentler told us that......

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome. Here's to your livers and wallets making it through this week. MONDAY [books] Will Clarke talks crazy with his latest novel, Lord Vishnu's Love Handles @ Bookpeople, 7pm [film] Starchaser in 3-D! @ Alamo Drafthouse Downtown, 7pm, $1 + $1 Glasses Rental [music] 54 Seconds @ Lucky Lounge [music] Paris 49 @ Continental Club TUESDAY [music] Cafe Tacvba with Grupo Fantasmo @ Stubb's BBQ, Doors at 7 pm [music] Alkaline Trio with......

Nearly five months ago, seven Austinites showed their movie at the Sundance Film Festival. Now three are headed to France for Cannes, which runs May 11 to May 22. Among the lucky are Robert Rodriguez’s "Sin City" (shocker) which will compete in the main program. A low budget thriller called "Room" by Kyle Henry, a University of Texas alumnus, is showing in the Director’s Fortnight program. Keun-Pyo Park, a UT graduate film student, will screen......