Austin

The folks at the Alamo Drafthouse have officially announced today that the Sundance sensation Mystery Team will be making its debut here in Austin at the Alamo Ritz on Friday, August 28th.

The official Fantastic Fest blog has announced today that Quentin Tarantino’s latest film Inglourious Basterds will be coming to Austin for a premiere event on August 15th.

The reviews on this will probably be a mix of A’s and F’s. It’s either love or hate for the D, and movie-goers won’t be able to know which side they’re on until they pay their ten bucks for a seat.

I was excited for the end of the festival to come because I was anxious to get home, and also because the last two days’ movies were going to be a great experience. Word came today that the last TBA film for the closing night would be Nightmare Detective, a movie I figured I’d have [...]

Making movies just isn’t good enough anymore. We’re thrusting headlong into an exciting new world where movies aren’t just biographical, but fictionally biographical; not just documentaries, but mockumentaries; not just fictional, but reality-based fiction. With meta-humor becoming as commonplace in comedies as explosions in action flicks, it’s getting tougher to create the next big twist on classic stories.

There are more than two parts to making every movie, but if it had to be done, the process could be split into concept and execution. Every critic knows this since many of them rely solely on the arsenal of insults involving the execution of a film, praising its concept as genius while distressing over how it could have been made better. I’m not one to follow trends, but after watching this movie, I’m forced to say that I loved Run, Robot, Run!’s ideas and yawned at the way they were presented.

The festival is almost over by this point – most of the L.A. types (excluding myself) have all flown back to their respective homes where they are, as all know, waited on by man-servants and washed by professional bathers. Yes, rich and poor alike all take in the luxury that is Los Angeles.
With no panels [...]

Coming straight from Belgium, the horror capital of the universe comes the striking tale of a morally repugnant family that finds a door in their house where one wasn’t there before. It sounds intriguing, but although the idea is interesting, the execution is terrible.

Release Date: TBA (festival circuit)
If The Night of the White Pants was categorized, it would end up being either the shortest road trip, the most unlikely hero’s journey, or an incredibly funny drama. This is a good thing. The movie doesn’t suffer from the dreaded “not knowing what it is” that critics often slam films [...]

If there’s one thing that American movie consumers are clamoring for, it’s a tale of ancient Japan told with puppets in stop motion animation. For the most part, the only exposure to puppets that America’s had has come in the form of the satirical Team America, and stop motion comes in the form of The Nightmare Before Christmas.

I figured that “Half Over” was a good title for this journal entry because 1) It’s midway through the festival 2) The panel ‘half’ of the festival is over and 3) I’m a huge fan of my own ideas. That is a great title.
Moving along, yes, the panels are over, and it’s only movies from [...]

For most, the recent environment of cinema is the unthinkable mix of brilliant innovation and boring stagnation. The former, is characterized by filmmakers like Gondry and Aronofsky who are brave enough to play around with storytelling styles and camera work. The latter is characterized by the majority of films that can be found on the marquee at your local 800-screen mega-multiplex-o-rama.

Feel free to sue me (you can have my entire Film School Rejects salary if you’d like), but I skipped out on the panels today in favor of catching up on some much needed sleep and some much needed hydration. Plus, I felt the need to get prepared for the movies of the night since [...]

Noriko’s Dinner Table is a semi-sequel to The Suicide Club, and although it was listed under the horror heading at the festival and in most reviews, it contains virtually no semblance of the horror genre except for a sizable amount of blood.

If you haven’t heard buzz about this movie, you’ve probably been too wrapped up in Borat hype or have taken a vow to never remove the sound proof headphones wrapped around your ears.

Release Date: November 3, 2006
The roots of mainstream horror date back to black and white television sets bringing a large audience shows like The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and Twilight Zone – morality plays which set normal people in outrageous situations to teach a lesson. This concept got updated in the late 80’s with Tales from [...]

Last night I had the privilege of attending the Barbecue the festival puts on that’s notorious for its great food and free-flowing beer/wine/spirits (a common theme, no?). It’s one the few outdoor events, and it was nice to get outside before soldiering through day four indoors with panels and films.
So far I’ve been fairly lucky [...]

Release Date: October 13, 2006
This directorial debut from Dito Montiel, AGTRYS as its come to be known in our short-attention spanned culture, is two movies slammed into one. The first is the early life of Dito (Shia LeBeouf) as he grows up on the mean streets of Astoria in the 1980’s. The second is a [...]

Release Date: TBA
If it looks like this review belongs in the vault or merits mention on an episode of “I Love the 90’s”, trust me, it doesn’t. The general populous is well aware of Payback, the black and blue Mel Gibson film that gave everyone something to see him in before Lethal Weapon 19 came [...]

Release Date: January 5, 2007
Dustin Hoffman. Alan Rickman. Have I sold you on the movie yet? As if going to see two brilliant actors together in one movie isn’t enough incentive, throw in the fact that it’s directed by Tom Tykwer (Run, Lola, Run) and has a cast of capable, rising stars telling the story [...]