A New Orleans native, writer-director Todd Berger moved to Austin to attend The University of Texas. After graduating from UT’s Radio-Television-Film program, Berger was quickly swept away to the always sunny shores of Los Angeles. With The Scenesters (2009) and It’s a Disaster (2012), Berger has become yet another success story to come out of UT’s film program; and even though he did not spend very much time in Austin, Berger has maintained very strong ties with the Austin film community. So, when we heard that Berger was coming to Austin for the regional premiere of his latest directorial effort, It’s a Disaster, at the 2012 Austin Film Festival we thought it would be fun to get his outsider perspective on the Austin…

Later this week, IFC Midnight is releasing Entrance, a film by Dallas Hallam and Patrick Horvath, a tricky little indie that comes with a metric ton of thrills and chills, wrapped up in a very surprising package. Our own Cole Abaius posted its goose bump-inducing trailer last week, and if it’s been haunting your dreams and you happen to live in LA, we’ve got a surprise for you! We’re giving away two tickets to see Entrance at the Downtown Independent theater this Friday, May 18th at 8PM. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with directors Hallam and Horvath, as moderated by filmmaker Ti West. Having seen the film at last year’s LAFF (and weirdly enough, having seen it at the Downtown), I can vouch for its ability to lure audiences in, lull them gently, before nailing their guts and minds to the back wall of the theater. It’s fun! To win the tickets, which includes 2 tickets to Entrance at the Downtown Independent theater, followed by a Q&A with directors Dallas Hallam and Patrick Horvath moderated by filmmaker Ti West, all you have to do is jump down into the comments section and let us know what your favorite independent theater is in Los Angeles (this isn’t a trick! you don’t have to say the Downtown! but, man, what a great theater!). Filmed on location around Los Angeles, Entrance is both a very LA production and a very indie one, so it’s a pretty perfect confluence of interests.

When I first moved to Los Angeles, I was blown away with the Arclight theater in Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard. Amazing screens, great picture and sound, no commercials, limited trailers, and something novel to me: assigned seating. You could either show up and select your seats or, the way we roll in a post Year-Two-Thousaaaaand world, on the internet. And it was good. I could decide to see a movie on say, Thursday, buy tickets for Friday night, show up 5 minutes before the film started and have a good time. It became the only way to see movies for me. No getting to the theater early to stand in line to make sure I got good seats. I could just buy them early. All it took was a little forethought. In fact it was such a good idea and became so popular in LA that a lot of our theaters are reserved seating. And that’s kind of a bad thing.

The Shriekfest Film Festival, held yearly here in Los Angeles since the year 2000 (the year twooo-thousaaaaaaaand) has a special place in my heart. It was the first festival I ever covered and one of the first times I realized that saying “Press” meant I didn’t have to pay for things. But it’s deeper than that. Shriekfest is a true filmmaker’s festival. You won’t show up to find big studio pictures being played or people walking down a red carpet, smiling, waving, leaving. When the cast and crew shows up, they sit there with you in a small theater. Hang around to answer your questions. That’s pretty cool. Showcasing both shorts and features, there’s plenty to see for any horror or science-fiction fan. Sure, not every thing you see is going to blow your mind, but every year you’ll manage to find a handful of gems before anyone else gets a chance to see them. On to the winners!

This week’s Culture Warrior takes a look at three great American cities and their equally great cultures of movie nerd-dom.

We got a chance to talk to the star of In Search of a Midnight Kiss and, now, Independent Spirit Award Winner Scoot McNairy about love and loss in Los Angeles.

While everyone is busy lambasting Righteous Kill, head to your favorite video spot and rent Michael Mann’s amazing Heat this weekend. You won’t miss going to the theater if you do.