SXSW Music kicks off on Wednesday the 12th, as always with the Annual Austin Music Awards at Austin Music Hall, but it has become clear over the last few years that the music really starts the night before. Just thinking back to last year, we remember walking up and down Red River, watching bands like Golden Bear, White Denim and Broken Teeth at venues such as Beauty Bar, Emo’s and Red 7, and congratulating ourselves for getting started early....

Image from Ringo Deathstarr’s MySpace It’s no secret that Austin is home to one of the most prolific artistic scenes in the country, Live Music Capital of the World or not. Any weekend in the city promises a number of day time occurences and a plethora of evening events. A quick browse through this weekend’s notifications leads one to fun activities for the kids at The Flying Theater Machine’s Wang Dang Doodle Hour or a......

The Midgetmen are at it again in their pursuit of good times, rock 'n’ roll, and beer. The lovable local pop-punk outfit is working on material for a third full-length record. As per bassist Marc Perlman, “The goal is to have something recorded for a late spring 2008 tour.” The band has quite a few new tracks in the works already and their latest show this Saturday at The Mohawk should offer a preview. And......

As Fantastic Fest kicks off tonight, Austinist will be bringing you previews of films playing at the festival. We begin today with Wendigo director Larry Fessenden's latest, The Last Winter. An interesting yet practical genre mash-up, the film is an eco-horror piece concerning the fate of an oil crew who are damaging the environment in rural Alaska. There's no serial killer here: the antagonist(?) is actually the planet, which begins to fight back when......

The Invasion Kidman stars in this remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. While some might argue that this particular sacred cow does not need a remake, others might argue that a remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers that was first directed by the German guy who made the fantastic Der Untergang, and then meddled with post-production by the Wachowski Brothers, is a totally different story. Monstruous and beautiful hybrid, we hail you. [Trailer]......

The Hold Steady have been holding, er, steady in the limelight since 2004, picking up a Village Voice cover here and a best album of the year there (2006: The Onion’s A.V. Club), and just generally best-ing all over the place: they were Blender’s 2006 Band of the Year and made it to Rolling Stone’s annual album ranker at number 8. Critical acclaim blah blah blah. The big hit from the big album Boys......

FRIDAY [4] party/bikes • Yellow Bike Project's Second Annual Bike Art Show with music by DJ Orion, DJ Katherine at Gallery 1906 (Free, 7pm-Midnight) art • Opening Reception: memoria/memoir: Carol Flax at Volitant Gallery, 320 Congress Ave., Ste 100 (6-9pm) art • B Scene at the Blanton Museum of Art 1st Anniversary Celebration at Blanton Museum of Art, MLK at Congress ($5 members, $10 non-members, 6-11pm) art • Opening Reception: Tunnel Vision: Parading Down the......

THURSDAY [3] film • Austin Film Festival screens "The Ballad of A.J Weberman" at Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek (7:30pm Free/$4 Members/General) art • West End Gallery Night at Participating Galleries (Until 8pm) art • Blanton Museum of Art Public Tour: An Introduction to Prints at Blanton Museum of Art, MLK at Congress (7-8pm) books • Book Release Party: Collecting the Imagination: The First Fifty Years of the Ransom Center at The Harry Ransom Center (7:00pm)......

WEDNESDAY [11] books • JoAnna Barrett presents The Men's Guide to the Women's Bathroom at BookPeople (7:00pm) film • Texas Doc Tour: "Fish Kill Flea" at Alamo Downtown film • Open Screen Night at Alamo Downtown film • Weird Wednesdays: "Marta" at Alamo Downtown film • Jim Jarmusch Film Series: "Dead Man" at Alamo Village film • "Babe" Organic Vegetarian Feast at Alamo Village film/discussion • Screening of Israeli film director Eytan Fox's "Walk......

This Sunday, March 18th, the Austin Film Festival and 'Specially for Children will present a free sneak screening of New Line Cinema's family sci-fi film, The Last Mimzy. The screening (which will take place at the Regal Arbor Cinema as part of the AFF's Target Family Film Series) will help raise funds for a film-themed infusion room for teenagers with cancer and blood disorders at the Children's Ambulatory Blood and Cancer Center. Based on the......

Whether you think of it as a test run for SXSW, a belated Christmas present to local music fans, or an excuse to drink for seven days straight, Emo's Free Week kicks off today with a schedule of acts that reads like a who's-who of local punk, indie, and rock. As the showcases are all without cover, we'd recommend getting there early. Emo's Free Week January 2-8 603 Red River Tuesday, January 2 Inside:......

THURSDAY [9] music • Ice Age Cobra, Maaster Gaiden at The Mohawk music • Crash Gallery, The Last Gasp, Future Clouds and Radar, Red Leaves at Emo's music • 2nd Annual Miracles on 8th Street at Stubb's ($70, 7pm) music • 2006 Hotel Cafe Tour with Cary Brothers, Rachel Yamagata, Tristan Prettyman, Joshua Radin, Jonah Matranga, Jim Bianco, Sara Bareilles at The Parish Room music • Joshua Radin at Waterloo Records music • CREEPOUT......

You've grown tired of the standard Austin buzz bands (Brothers and Sisters, Tacks the Boy Disaster, What Made Milwaukee Famous, etc.). They're great and all, but you've seen them already and its Thursday night goddammit, you want a cold beer and some fresh sounds. Never fear, intrepid music fan, Emo's is hosting a sprawling, awesome show where you can hear some of your local comrades demonstrate their ability to rock your silly face off.......

Cary Brothers, Rachel Yamagata, Tristan Prettyman, Joshua Radin, Jonah Matranga, Jim Bianco, and Sara Bareilles will grace The Parish's stage on Thursday night as part of the 2006 Hotel Cafe tour, which has blossomed from a rag-tag gang of L.A.-based musicians harmonizing in a Hollywood coffee shop into a tour bus full of artists with credits like appearances on Grammy Award winning soundtracks (Garden State). Throughout the U.S., the tour offers a variation of......

THURSDAY [26] music • The Beauty Shop, The Shells, The Drawing Board, Just Guns at Emo's music • Broken Social Scene with Do Make Say Think at Stubb's music • Reunion Show for Clifford Antone's Birthday at Antone's music • Jamie Lidell w. Back Ted N Ted (late show) at The Parish Room music • Juana Molina w. Adem (early show) at The Parish Room music • Pete Yorn, Minibar at La Zona Rosa......

If you can ignore Sarah Michelle Gellar’s strained cries for the prolongation of her career, you might see some good movies this weekend. The Grudge 2 Those creepy Japanese ghosts are back. And they’re still holding that grudge. And apparently, we’ve got a trilogy on our hands now. Great. Man of the Year If you’re one of those people who are into the whole “Stewart/Colbert ‘08” uh, concept, seeing this movie might make you......

The following review was written by Austinist foreign correspondent David Cheng, who's off cavorting with ill-mannered expats in Southeast Asia. We would've published this sooner, but we forgot. -- The Editors We want to start out this review by saying we "heart" Zach Braff.  We’re a huge fan of Scrubs, so much so that we’ve seen every episode at least three times.  We loved Garden State, and not just because Natalie Portman was so very......

TUESDAY [10] film • AFS Essential: The Romantic Englishwoman at Alamo Drafthouse (7pm) ® film • The Flower of My Secret at Arbor (2:45pm & 7:30pm) ® film • Talk to Her at Arbor (12:10pm, 5:05pm, 10pm) ® film • Noam Chomsky: Rebel Without a Pause at The Space (8pm, Free) ® film • Yellow Submarine at Alamo Drafthouse (9:45pm, $2) film • Beetlejuice at Rounders Pizzeria (9pm, FREE) film • SXSW Presents: The......

FRIDAY [6] agliff/party • here! presents the aGLIFF member mingle at Rain (9pm) theatre • "Psycho Beach Party" at Arts on Real (8pm, $30) theatre • "At Home With Dick 2" at Dick's Apartment (3309 Grooms) (8pm, $10-$25) ® theatre • "Stillborn" at Hyde Park Theatre (8pm, $15) theatre • Zell Miller III: "Mix Tape, Theatre Style" at Off Center (8pm, $10) theatre • "Bitten: A Zombie Rock Odyssey" at Dougherty Arts Center (8pm,......

Out at the refurbished Del Valle High School football stadium, a staged homecoming football game was filmed last Friday night and into the pre-dawn hours of Saturday. The “game” was the backdrop for the Austin-based NBC series Friday Night Lights. The show’s pilot premieres tonight at 7:00 p.m. “We wrapped at 4:00 a.m.,” assistant director Michael Waxman said. “I’ve had about 3-1/2 hours of sleep at this point.” Waxman was talking by cell phone from......

Long before there were literate emo boys scuffling around gazing at their shoes preoccupied with death, there was Harold Parker Chasen (Bud Cort). The well-heeled boarding school type, Harold is obsessed with death (or is it just a lack of attention from which he suffers?) and constantly fakes his own death in front of his mother who seems more concerned with marrying off her son than his unstable emotional state. Enter Maude (Ruth Gordon). Harold......

Celebrate, it's Memorial Day weekend! You most likely have plans to float down a river, or swim in a pool, or have your rich friends take you out in their boat, all while getting exceedingly plastered and forgetting about your soul-sucking day job.* Good thing, because film pickin’s today are slim and, well, strangely international. Most of you are probably wildly anticipating the release of X-Men Part Trois - one Austinist editor was so......

Get ready for some movie culture. The Paramount Theatre has announced the 2006 Summer Film Classics series, and the lineup is both eclectic and unique. There is something here for all tastes (though we don't see many family or kids' films), so check out the listings and see what classic or obscurity you'd like to see this summer: Classic Films In May: Wed, May 24 7:30 PM CHOCOLAT Thurs, May 25 7:30 PM KING......

FRIDAY [14] [music] The Arm CD Release, with Single Frame, Faceless Werewolves and Lomita at Emo's (link) [music] Sound Tribe Sector Nine with Govinda at Stubb's Austin (link) [music] Matt Nathanson at Waterloo Records (Free, 5pm) (link) [music] Til We're Blue or Destroy at Beerland (link) [music] The Weary Boys Release Show at Continental Club (12:15am) (link) [party] Car Stereo (Wars) at Plush (10pm-2am, $2 Lone Stars) (link) [music] Loxsly and The Lemurs at Blue......

Austinist is running around town (just like you) catching as much South By action as is possible this week. The following are our thoughts on the first three films we caught on Friday and Saturday: The Last Western (Documentary) - This short feature (65 minutes) tells stories from Pioneertown, CA, a small outpost built in the 1940's to film western movies. An oddball mix of drifters, eccentrics, and Roy Rogers fans have made the......

Aaron and Adam Nee’s confident debut film, The Last Romantic, is a gorgeous and quirky piece of work. The story revolves around Calvin Wizzig (Adam Nee), an aspiring but uninspired poet who heads to New York City to find a publisher for his poems. He spends several destitute days meandering around the city, meeting a small array of odd characters, and musing about love and life. But don’t get the wrong idea; this movie......

So, SXSW Film begins tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. Austinist realizes that we just freaked you out by saying so. Don't worry, though: we watched about 50 previews for the film festival so that you wouldn't have to. Having emerged a little bleary-eyed, we suggest the following less-heralded films as picks worthy of your time and attention: A/K/A Tommy Chong: Who's in it? Tommy Chong, Cheech Marin, Bill Maher, Jay Leno What's it about? Tommy Chong......