Young actor Zach Gilford is best known for his role as Matt Saracen, the unlikely choice for a starting quarterback on TV’s Friday Night Lights. Over the course of a few seasons, Gilford took Saracen from being a shy, mumbly-mouthed, and in-over-his-head second-stringer to being a less shy, less mumbly-mouthed star player with aspirations toward being an artist; so you know the kid has the chops. But even if you’ve already proven your skills on the small screen, you don’t just jump right into meaty Hollywood roles, you’ve got to pay your dues. To that end, Gilford has recently signed on to play Arnold Schwarzenegger’s sidekick in the upcoming action showdown Last Stand. Last Stand is the Kim Jee-Woon-directed Western that has been described as a cross between Die Hard and High Noon. It stars Schwarzenegger as an aging, small town sheriff who finds himself mixed up in some nasty business with a Mexican drug cartel. You see, one of the cartel’s big wheels has broken out of a U.S. prison, and Schwarzenegger and his sleepy town are the only things that stand between the escaped con and his pathway of destruction back into Mexico. I haven’t heard it mentioned until now, but apparently Schwarzenegger also has a bright-eyed young deputy under his command. This is the role that Gilford will be playing. It may not be a glamorous part, but you’ve got to break out of the stigma of being a TV and indie film actor somehow, and jumping into a [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Here in Texas, we are more brown than green. I say that because all the grass is usually pretty dead. It’s hot here. But here in Austin, saving the environment is a pretty big deal, as well. But our efforts — mighty as they may be — are nothing in comparison with the tree-hugging liberalism of Hollywood. Or so you might think. In the new documentary Greenlit, director Miranda Bailey explores the world of “green” or eco-friendly filmmaking and how it works (or doesn’t work) in the real world.

Up today is a trio of films, all with unique and fresh young voices behind them. By my estimation, they all have a shot at making my “Best of” list at the end of the festival, which is saying quite a lot seeing as this year has been a spectacular one in the snowy mountains of Utah.