Dallas Movie Screening

Dallas Movie Screenings started out as a mailing list on Yahoo Groups to facilitate finding free screening passes in the DFW area. When Yahoo Groups shut down, we are now posting screenings on our Facebook page at http://www..facebook.com/groups/dallasmoviescreenings
Earlier Reesa's Reviews can also be found at:http://www.moviegeekfeed.com

Logo art by Steve Cruz http://www.mfagallery.com

Website and Group Contact: dalscreenings@gmail.com

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Movies Scheduled for the Week of 2/28 - 3-6

Big thanks to everyone helping to keep this group informed of screening
opportunities. Your diligence is appreciated. Just make sure it hasn't been
previously posted. Just go to the group pages to see if it's there first.

It's going to be mad trading time for those Alice screenings, so please watch
those return addresses when responding! You may miss your chance for passes if
you send it to the group instead to whom it was intended.

Also appreciated is everyone being kind to the folks at Zeus when picking up
passes. They had twittered it went well and without incident. We don't want to
be known as "passholes" by these vendors.


February 28 - March 6, 2010

Sun
2/28

Mon
3/1

7:30 pm
Hot Tub Time Machine
Rave Ridgemar Mall


Tue
3/2

7:30 pm

Brooklyn's Finest
AMC Valley View


7:30 pm
Alice in Wonderland
Cinemark West, Plano


7:30 pm
She's Out of My League
Studio Movie Grill Dallas

Wed
3/3

8:00 pm

Hot Tub Time Machine
Studio Movie Grill Dallas

Thu
3/4

7:30 pm

Hot Tub Time Machine
Studio Movie Grill Plano


7:30 pm
Alice In Wonderland
IMAX 3D


7:30 pm
She's Out of My League
Studio Movie Grill Addison


Fri
3/5

Sat
3/6




Bookmark and Share

Friday, February 26, 2010

St. John of Las Vegas Review



Steve Buscemi plays John Alegheri, a reformed gambler who now lives in a gated community home and works as a insurance claims adjuster. Unfortunately he’s still has a compulsive addiction and spends his last money on scratch cards to pay for the gas at the pump.

John used to be a high roller in Las Vegas. He lived the good life with compensated rooms, food and drinks that came with privilege of winning big. When his luck turned south, he got in his car and drove as far as he could on his tank of gas, which means New Mexico. He’s a bit of a sad sack who is carrying on with Jill (Sarah Silverman) in the next cubicle who is constantly smiling like her happy faced accessories. John decides to ask the boss Mr. Townsend (Peter Dinklage) for a raise. He doesn’t get the raise but he manages to be assigned to the fraud division with the company's best case worker, Virgil (Romany Malco). They have to investigate and accident claim made by a stripper near Las Vegas.

John is not too happy about returning to Las Vegas which just reminds him of how far he has fallen. He’s also a bit pre-occupied with the discovery that Jill and his boss had been previously involved. Now he’s stuck in a car with a extremely terse co-worker with an attitude who has to teach him a new job. The bizarre road trip includes a wheelchair stripper giving John a lap dance, encountering nudist survivalists, tow truck driver that doubles as a carnival fire act, and a junk yard owner names Luce E. Fer.

Written and directed by Hue Rhodes the story is loosely based on Dante’s Inferno. Credit is even given to the 13-14th century poet Dante Alighieri. You really have to reach to find the connections of John’s journey to recognize his sins and find goodness, but this quirky comedy will keep you chuckling.




Bookmark and Share

Ghost Writer, Cop Out and the Crazies Reviews

Reesa's reviews are up at Movie Geek Feed.com:

Ghost Writer:

http://www.moviegeekfeed.com/2010/02/reesa-befriends-ghost-writer.html

Cop Out:

http://www.moviegeekfeed.com/2010/02/reesa-is-ready-to-cop-out.html

The Crazies:
http://www.moviegeekfeed.com/2010/02/reesa-contracts-case-of-crazies.html


Bookmark and Share

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Movies Scheduled for the Week of 2/21 - 2/27

I hope everyone has made plans for their Oscar night parties. There's the big bashes by our favorite movie sites that offer us passes, and we should all go and support their movie loving efforts.

Did y'all forget about checking those return addresses before hitting send? It takes 2 seconds to look at that address and make sure it's going to the person and NOT to the group. This goes for comments you are making to some one specific. Send it to them, not to all of us.
Delete, delete, delete.

Hey, if you enter a contest or RSVP for GOFOBO, just don't do it, because it's there. Do it because you are actually going to the screening.

February 21 - 27, 2010

Sun
2/21

Mon
2/22

7:30 pm

Ghost Writer
Angelika Dallas


Tue
2/23

7:30 pm

Cop Out
AMC Valley View


7:30 pm
The Crazies
AMC Northpark


Wed
2/24

7:30 pm

She's Out of My League
Studio Movie Grill Addison

7:30 pm
Hot Tub Time Machine
Studio Movie Grill Lewisville

Thu
2/25

7:30 pm

The Crazies
Studio Movie Grill Dallas

Fri
2/26

Sat
2/27


Bookmark and Share

Friday, February 19, 2010

SXSW FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES CLOSING NIGHT FILM, ADDITIONAL FEATURES & SHORTS FOR 2010 EVENT

SXSW FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES CLOSING NIGHT FILM,
ADDITIONAL FEATURES & SHORTS FOR 2010 EVENT

Austin, Texas – February 19, 2010 – The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival has announced Chris Morris’ pitch-black satire Four Lions as its Closing Night film, to play on Saturday, March 20 at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas. SXSW also released additional feature and short titles or the 2010 event, which will take place March 12 – March 20, 2010. The festival will open with the world premiere of Kick-Ass, directed by Matthew Vaughn and starring Aaron Johnson, Cholë Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Nicolas Cage.

SXSW will also host more than 80 Film Conference panels, which will take place Friday, March 12 – Tuesday, March 16. Previously announced participants for the 2010 SXSW Film Conference include Michel Gondry (The Thorn in the Heart, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds), David Gordon Green (Eastbound & Down, Pineapple Express), Jeffery Tambor’s Acting Workshop, and Academy Award-winning Argentine composer, solo artist and producer Gustavo Santaolalla, among many others. For full panel descriptions and participants, as well as the complete film lineup and schedule, visit http://sxsw.com/film/.

Additional Feature Films in the 2010 SXSW Film Festival include:

HEADLINERS

Four Lions (United Kingdom)
Director: Chris Morris. Screenwriters: Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, Simon Blackwell and Chris Morris
Four Lions tells the story of a group of British jihadists who push their abstract dreams of glory to the breaking point. Cast: Riz Ahmed, Arsher Ali, Nigel Lindsay, Kayvan Novak, Adeel Akhtar


SPOTLIGHT PREMIERES

American Grindhouse
Director: Elijah Drenner. Screenwriters: Calum Wadell and Elijah Drenner
This feature documentary chronicles the history of the American Exploitation Film. It digs deep into this often overlooked category of U.S. cinema and unearths the shameless and occasionally shocking origins of this popular entertainment. (World Premiere)

Cargo (Switzerland)
Directors: Ivan Engler and Ralf Etter. Screenwriters: Johnny Hartmann, Thilo Röscheisen, Patrik Steinmann
Cargo is an intelligent science-fiction thriller that puts an electrifying, futuristic spin on present-day preoccupations like flight from reality, and destruction of the environment. Cast: Anna Katharina Schwabroth, Martin Rapold, Claude-Oliver Rudolph, Pierre Semmler (U.S. Premiere)


Haynesville: The Hunt for an Energy Future
Director and Screenwriter: Gregory Kallenberg
Haynesville documents the discovery of the largest natural gas field in the nation, its momentous impact on three people’s lives, and the affect this historic find could have on our energy future. (North American Premiere)


EMERGING VISIONS

A NY Thing
Director & Screenwriter: Olivier Lecot
A French romantic follows his object of desire to New York where over the course of 3 crazed and ardent days he must convince her of the authenticity of his love in a comic and melancholy journey where love reveals its peculiar nature. Cast: Jonathan Zaccai, Fanny Valette, Greta Gerwig, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Leo Fitzpatrick
(North American Premiere)


LONE STAR STATES

Skateland
Director: Anthony Burns. Screenwriters: Anthony Burns, Brandon Freeman, Heath Freeman
In the early 1980s, in small-town Texas, dramatic events force a 19-year-old skating rink manager to look at his life in a very new way. Cast: Shiloh Fernandez, Ashley Greene, Heath Freeman, Brett Cullen, Melinda McGraw, Taylor Handley, Haley Ramm, and A.J. Buckley


24 BEATS PER SECOND

Beyond Ipanema
Director: Guto Barra. Writer: Guto Barra and Béco Dranoff
From Carmen Miranda to Bebel Gilberto, from Tropicália to Favela Funk, Brazilian music has been influencing the world for 70 years. The global love affair with Brazil is revisited by the ones who lived it.

Strummerville (United Kingdom)
Director: Don Letts
Joe Strummer’s untimely death sent shockwaves around the music world and beyond. In this documentary, Grammy winner Don Letts shows how Joe’s spirit lives on through a charity set up in his memory, Strummerville. (World Premiere)

This Movie is Broken (Canada)
Director: Bruce McDonald. Screenwriter: Don McKellar
On a hot summer’s night in Toronto, a Broken Social Scene show tops all expectations and resonates deep into the morning, into the lives of two close friends & closer than they knew (World Premiere)

When You're Strange – a film about the Doors
Director: Tom DiCillo
Narrated by Johnny Depp, the first feature documentary about The Doors provides a previously unseen view of the legendary quartet, comprised entirely of historic archival footage shot between 1965 and 1971.


SX GLOBAL

The Sound of Insects – Record of a Mummy (Switzerland)
Director: Peter Liechti
A cinematic manifesto for life, challenged by the main character's radical renunciation of life itself.





FESTIVAL FAVORITES

Waking Sleeping Beauty
Director: Don Hahn
From 1984 to 1994, a perfect storm of people and circumstances changed the face of animation forever.

TONY (UK)
Director and Screenwriter: Gerard Johnson
A week in the life of Tony, an alienated psychopath with severe social problems, an obsession for action films and a horrible moustache. Cast: Peter Ferdinando, Ricky Grover, George Russo, Francis Pope, Neil Maskell, Lorenzo Camporese, Vicky Murdock


MIDNIGHTERS

SUCK (Canada)
Director and Screenwriter: Rob Sterfaniuk
Suck is a rock and roll vampire movie that follows "The Winners” on their final doomed tour down a highway to hell. Cast: Rob Stefaniuk, Jessica Pare, Dave Foley, Moby, Iggy Pop, Henry Rollins, Dimitri Coats, Alex Lifeson with Alice Cooper and Malcolm McDowell. (US. Premiere)


Additional Short Films in the 2010 SXSW Film Festival include:

NARRATIVE SHORTS

I’m Here
Director: Spike Jonze

Successful Alcoholics
Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Drake and Lindsay are successful alcoholics who may need to rethink their definition of "success."

Tough Crowd
Director: Anne Lewis
An over-scheduled, guilt-ridden and totally self-absorbed daughter comes to visit Mom at the retirement home and withers from the contempt that she’s certain the staff and other residents have for her. Plus, she “just knows” that they prefer her dashing, bachelor brother to her.


DOCUMENTARY SHORTS

Robin Hood Gardens
Director: Martin Ginestie
An investigation into the debate surrounding the fate of Robin Hood Gardens, controversial East London housing estate described as a dilapidated concrete eyesore by some and a masterpiece in Brutalist architecture by others.

Star Wars: Retold
Director: Joe Nicolosi
An animated retelling of the original Star Wars trilogy, according to a girl who's never actually watched Star Wars. Her rendition, pieced together from pop-culture references and Kevin Smith jokes, offers a fun glance at the cultural impact Star Wars has had on those who haven't watched the films.



South by Southwest Film Conference & Festival
The SXSW Film Conference and Festival is a uniquely creative environment featuring the dynamic convergence of talent, smart audiences and industry heavyweights. A hotbed of discovery and interactivity, the event offers lucrative networking opportunities and immersion into the art and business of the rapidly evolving world of independent film.

Over the first five days, the Film Conference buzzes as world-class speakers, creative minds, and notable mentors tackle the latest filmmaking trends amidst the unmatched social atmosphere of the SXSW experience. Simultaneously, the internationally acclaimed, nine-day Festival celebrates raw innovation and emerging talent, with a truly diverse program ranging from provocative documentaries to subversive Hollywood comedies. For more information, visit www.sxsw.com/film.


2010 Festival Sponsors
SXSW Film Conference and Festival is sponsored by Miller Lite, Chevrolet, ZonePerfect Nutrition Bars, AOL, IFC, Monster Energy, Pepsi, SoBe and The Austin Chronicle.





Bookmark and Share

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Movies Scheduled for the Week of 2/14 - 2/20

Happy Valentine's Day! Even is you don't have a significant other, do something nice for others or just be nice to yourself.

There's been some concern about people cutting in line with someone who is holding their place. I know we have addressed this before, so this is for the newbies. The rule of thumb is don't go nuts. Over 10 people is excessive. No one who comes early appreciates being 6th in line suddenly becoming the 30th because the people ahead are holding a place for their mom, dad, cousins, co-workers and classmates. The excess can go to the back and you can try and hold their seats for them inside if you can. Unless you wants theaters to all become like Studio Movie Grill Dallas, please use common sense and don't abuse. For more suggestions on "line policy" check the file section of the group pages.

There's also been some concern from people that some sites are not friendly with some browsers and folks are having difficulty signing up for contests and GOFOBO. This list if for letting you know of the contests and such, not to enter and RSVP for you personally. Y'all got to do this own your own. Go to the library, go to the Mac store, go ask a friend, please don't ask the moderators to do it. Thanks!

And kids...I know it's hard to get sitters, but do you really think it's appropriate to bring small children to a movie with sex, murder and mayhem? And having your child run up and down the stairs, kick seats and wiggle around and cry during the movie, besides keeping them up late on school nights? Really?

February 14 - 20, 2010

Sun
2/14

Mon
2/15

Tue
2/16


7:30 pm
Shutter Island
AMC Northpark


Wed
2/17

Thu
2/18


7:30 pm
She's Out of My League
Studio Movie Grill Dallas

7:30 pm
Shutter Island
Studio Movie Grill Addison


Fri
2/19

Sat
2/20



Bookmark and Share

Friday, February 12, 2010

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lighting Thief

Reesa's review is up at Movie Geek Feed
http://www.moviegeekfeed.com/2010/02/percy-jackson-olympians-lightning-thief.html


Bookmark and Share

Valentine’s Day Review




Reed Bennett, owner of a florist/café shop Siena Bouquet, is the narrator of the stories involving the lives and loves a a group of multigenerational people intertwined on Valentine’s Day.

Reed (Aston Kutcher) awakens his girlfriend Morley (Jessica Alba) by putting a diamond ring on her finger. She is surprised but says yes. His co-worker Alphonso (George Lopez) was surprised to hear that she accepted. His best friend, Julia (Jennifer Garner) is also skeptical but she is distracted by the new man in her life Dr. Harrison Copeland (Patrick Dempsey), who she doesn’t know is married. Julia’s 10 year old student, Edison (Bryce Robinson) has a crush on her. Edison lives with his grand parents, Estelle and Edgar (Shirley McClaine and Hector Elizondo). Edison’s babysitter Grace (Emma Roberts) seeks romantic advice from Estelle and Edgar regarding her new boyfriend Alex (Carter Jenkins) and taking the next step. They have been married happily for 51 years when Estelle drops on bombshell On Edgar by confessing an affair. Grace and Alex (Carter Jenkins) are trying to have the perfect Valentine’s Day, but everything keeps going wrong. Felicia (Taylor Swift) is Grace’s high school friend who offers lots of advice. Felicia and her boyfriend Willy (Taylor Lautner) are interviewed for a news segment about young love. The news producer Susan (Kathy Bates) had assigned sports reporter Kelvin Johnson (Jamie Foxx) who resents being sidelined for a fluff piece. He wants a major interview with professional quarterback Sean Jackson (Eric Dane) who is on the verge of retirement after his team lost the playoffs. Sean’s publicist Kara Monahan (Jessica Biel) had been fielding questions all day about her client. She is also holding a “I Hate Valentine’s Day” party for people who like her are always single on Valentine’s Day. Sean’s agent, Paula Thomas (Queen Latifah) is all business and has no time for love. The receptionist at Paula agency, Liz Curran (Anne Hathaway) is moonlighting as a sex phone operator. This causes problems with her new boyfriend Jason (Topher Grace) in the mail room. Jason is an agent in training who is shocked after learning of her 2nd job just after they consummated their relationship. Flying into LA is US Army Captain Kate Hazeline who is flying in for a short leave from the mid east for an important rendezvous. She is sitting next to Holden (Bradley Cooper) offers a friendly ear and a shoulder to sleep on. Holden offers his hired car to take her to destination after flying 14 hours to get to LA.

All of these stories eventually find a resolution in sometimes funny but predictable ways. Director Garry Marshall ably handles the star power and makes everyone looks good. There must not be any unattractive people living in LA. The story written by Abby Kohn and Mark Silverstein manages to give everyone a little moment to shine. The standouts are Jennifer Garner, especially when she confronts her married beau and Anne Hathaway running off with her cell phone doing her second job. Even Ashton Kutcher was almost not as annoying as usual because there were so many others to counter-balance his performance. This is a good mindless date movie just in time for Valentine’s Day.
(Review by Reesa)


Bookmark and Share

Thursday, February 11, 2010

SPECIAL SCREENING: BATTLE OF BROOKLYN

From the Landmark Theater Newsletter:

SPECIAL SCREENING: The Magnolia, in association with the Dallas Video Festival, Lone Star Film Society and Dallas Film Society, presents a rare "work in progress" screening of a feature film in the making. Come join the filmmakers as they screen and discuss their work and let us know what you think. We value your feedback and want you to be a part of the film making process! Screening Tuesday, February 16 at The Magnolia is BATTLE OF BROOKLYN, with filmmakers Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley in person. The screening starts at 7:30pm and admission is only $3.00.


Bookmark and Share

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The DALLAS International Film Festival Announces Ten Titles in Official Selections

http://www.dallasfilm.org/News.php

ALABAMA MOON (USA)

Director: Tim McCanlies
Cast: John Goodman
Based on the novel by Watt Key, Tim McCanlies’ ALABAMA MOON is a children’s story of adventure and survival that follows the journey a young boy takes from Alabama to Alaska after being orphaned by the death of his anti-government radical father.

CARRIED AWAY (USA)

Director: Tom Huckabee
Directed by Tom Huckabee, CARRIED AWAY is a drama about a young man who, upon returning home to Fort Worth to find a fractured family, sets off on a cross-country pursuit after rescuing his beloved Granny from a nursing home.

CASINO JACK AND THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY (USA)

Director: Alex Gibney
The latest film by Academy Award winning documentary director Alex Gibney, CASINO JACK AND THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY, is a probing investigation into the lies, greed and corruption surrounding D.C. super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his cronies.

CLIMATE REFUGEES (USA)

Directed by: Michael Nash
Michael Nash directs CLIMATE REFUGEES, a documentary that uncovers the unbelievable plight of people around the world displaced by climatically induced environmental disasters, illuminating the human face of climate change and the collision that civilization now finds itself at between over population, lack of resources and our changing climate.

I AM LOVE (Io sono l'amore) (Italy)

Director: Luca Guadagnino
Cast: Tilda Swinton, Flavio Parenti
Starring Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton and directed by Luca Guadagnino, I AM LOVE is a tragic love story set at the turn of the millennium in Milan. The film follows the fall of the haute bourgeoisie due to the forces of passion and unconditional love.

NO CROSSOVER: THE TRIAL OF ALLEN IVERSON (USA)

Director: Steve James
Academy Award nominee Steve James (HOOP DREAMS), explores the fallout from a racially inspired incident and the handling of the subsequent trial which landed a young Allen Iverson in jail and sharply divided his hometown along racial lines.

SIN ELLA (Mexico)

Director: Jorge Colon
Directed by Jorge Colon, SIN ELLA is a drama about a successful reality show producer whose life and relationship with his children is turned upside down following the tragic death of his wife. When she appears in his thoughts to tell him what she would have done in each situation, the two begin to relive their love story.

SNOW AND ASHES (Canada)

Director: Charles-Olivier Michaud
Directed by Charles-Olivier Michaud, SNOW AND ASHES is a war-based drama where a war journalist attempts to piece together the events that landed him in the hospital after he awakens from a coma to discover that his long time collaborator and photographer has not come back with him from the war z
one.

SOLITARY MAN (USA)

Directors: Brian Koppelman, David Levien
Cast: Michael Douglas, Jesse Eisenberg, Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, Jenna Fischer, Mary-Louise Parker
Directed by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, SOLITARY MAN stars Academy Award winner Michael Douglas as a former car dealership mogul dealing with a string of business problems and issues in his personal life through a number of relationships with women – many women.

THUNDER SOUL (USA)

Director: Mark Landsman
Directed by Mark Landsman, THUNDER SOUL is a documentary which turns the camera on a reunion of the 1970’s Kashmere High School band and its director, Conrad Johnson, which became an international funk sensation at the time. Thirty years later, his students return to pay tribute to the man who changed their lives.

“These first 10 selections are indicative of the great variety of films we will offer Dallas audiences at this year’s film festival. They represent the latest work from Academy Award winners, inspiring films that we have found at the latest film festivals, and a return to Dallas by some of our favorite filmmakers like Alex Gibney, Steve James and Tim McCanlies that we consider to be part of the DALLAS Film Festival family,” said James Faust, DALLAS International Film Festival Artistic Director.

The DALLAS International Film festival will run April 8 – 18, 2010. Passes are currently on sale, tickets go on sale March 18.




Bookmark and Share

Monday, February 8, 2010

Movies Scheduled for the Week of 2/7-2/13

Please do not ask for passes that are not yet available to trade or offer. If a
contest is currently running to win said passes, it's up to you to enter the
contest, go to pickup stops, or enter radio points. Do what YOU have to do to
get those on your own. No use asking for passes when they have not been
distributed. If you do, your request will be deleted. We are not here to mooch
from others who went through the hoops to obtain them in the first place. Only
when the distribution has been made or the winners been announced may you ask
the group in general if they have one to spare. Thanks to those who follow the
rules, and mention that they have tried to get them on your own.

Remember there is going to be a huge lines at the movies this week, especially
The Wolfman, which is at the dreaded Studio Movie Grill Dallas. So please
exercise patience and restraint.


February 7 - 13, 2010

Sun
2/7

Mon
2/8


7:30 pm
Valentine's Day
AMC Northpark


Tue
2/9


8:00 pm
Wolfman
Studio Movie Grill Dallas


Wed
2/10


7:00 pm
Lord Save Us from Your Followers
Studio Movie Grill, Plano


7:30 pm
Celine Through the Eyes of the World
AMC Northpark

10:00 pm
Horror Remix:Health Care
Studio Movie Grill Addison


Thu
2/11


7:30 pm
SAINT JOHN OF LAS VEGAS
Angelika, Dallas


7:30 pm
PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF
AMC Northpark


Fri
2/12

Sat
2/13



Bookmark and Share

Friday, February 5, 2010

Dear John Review


Dear John

John Tyree is on leave from his Special Forces unit of the Army when he cute meets Savannah by diving off the pier to save her fallen handbag. He’s only home for two weeks, but in that time they become inseparable and fall in love.

It’s attraction at first glance between John (Channing Tatum) and Savannah (Amanda Seyfried). She invites him to a BBQ at her house at the beach. He meets her friend, Tim (Henry Thomas) who has a son with Autism. It’s because of son that Savannah has a dream of having a summer camp for kids with special needs. She is also helping rebuilding a house for a beach family whose house was destroyed in the last storm. John believes that Savannah may be just too good for him.

John is staying with his dad, (Richard Jenkins) who collects coins and cooks lasagna every Sunday. He’s a bit nervous to have Savannah meet him because of his peculiarities, but she gets along with him famously. When Savannah suggests that his father may be Autistic too, John gets defensive. That is until he begins to take another look at his father and their relationship.

John’s leave is only two weeks, but in that time the young couple feel they are in love. He promises that he will be back in a year then they can truly be together. Savannah says they will write and to say everything and anything in their letters. Since John’s job takes him from country to country, they number their letters counting the time they will be reunited. Then 9/11 happens and his unit decides collectively to extend their service. Savannah is disappointed, but John doesn’t realize how much until her letters stop coming and she writes him a real Dear John letter announcing she’s getting married. Years pass before it all gets sorted out in the end.

Directed by Lasse Hallstrom (The Cider House Rules and Chocolat).doesn’t over sentimentalize the story. The actors are attractive and sincere. Richard Jenkins is the standout here, never letting his character become a handicap. It’s almost like another Hallmark type movie with pretty people and better production values. This is the fifth novel by Nicholas Sparks that has sparked a cinematic rendering with two more due in the near future. The same formula applies of star crossed lovers overcoming the odds and finding happiness. Definitely a “chick-flick”, bring tissues.
Review by Reesa



Bookmark and Share

SMU Japanese Film Festival

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=258954898576&ref=ts

SMU Japanese Film Festival

Don't miss out on a great lineup of contemporary Japanese films. The Japan-America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth, SMU Japanese Studies Program, SMU Japan Club and SMU John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies present the 2010 Japanese Film Festival.

Date: March 19, 20, 26 and 27, 6:30 p.m.
Location: McCord Auditorium in Dallas Hall at SMU
3225 University Blvd., Dallas, TX 75205

Films:
Kamikaze Girls (http://www.kamikazegirls.net/trailer.html) - March 19 (Fri.)
Crow Zero (http://www.squidoo.com/crows-zero#module38584162) - March 20 (Sat.)
The Machine Girl (http://latemag.com/the-machine-girl-trailer) - March 26 (Fri.)
Sukiyaki Western Django (http://sukiyaki-western-django-trailer.blogspot.com/) - March 27 (Sat.)

All films are in Japanese with English subtitles. Admission is free. For more information, visit the Film Festival's Facebook page.


Bookmark and Share

Movie Reviews: Frozen, B13:Ultimatum and Frozen

Reesa's Reviews of Frozen, B13:Ultimatum and Frozen are up on Movie Geek Feed:

http://www.moviegeekfeed.com/2010/02/frozen-review.html

http://www.moviegeekfeed.com/2010/02/district-13-ultimatum-banlieue-13.html

http://www.moviegeekfeed.com/2010/02/from-paris-with-love-review.html


Bookmark and Share

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Temple Grandin Review




In 1951 when Temple was 4 years old, her mother took her to the doctor concerned that she was not speaking. The doctor told her the best course of action for her daughter was to send her to an institution. At that time, autism was considered to be caused by a mother not giving enough attention to their child as a baby. The school of thought did not change for many years until it was discovered to be a neurological disorder.

Fortunately for Temple (Claire Danes) her Harvard educated mother (Julia Ormond) took on the task of trying to teach her daughter to speak, read, and integrated her into main stream schools. Temple suffered from the constant teasing and bullying at school before her mother sent her to a boarding school in New Hampshire. There her aptitude for science and math was encouraged by her science teacher (played by David Strathairn). Before heading off to college, Temple went to Arizona to spend the summer at her Aunt Ann’s (Catherine O’Hare) cattle ranch. Temple becomes fascinated by the cows and their mooing. Particularly the holding pen used to calm the cattle when giving them medicines. Temple builds one of her own to use as her autism causes her pain with human touch, and her hugging machine becomes a substitute when she is feeling anxious. Temple is able to survive the emotional, educational and professional turbulence in her life by following her mother’s advice of being different but not less.

The movie airs on HBO this weekend. It was directed Mick Johnson with a teleplay by Christopher Monger and Merritt Johnson who effectively brings Temple’s story from her viewpoint. Her autism turns words into pictures. Her visual acuity is how she deals with her environment. Because she can touch animals and not people, she decides to study animal behavior. Temple develops a way to humanely treat cattle in the stockyards to the slaughter houses. Today her work and designs have changed the way the meat industry handles their products. It will be something you will think about next time you have a burger.

Clair Danes gives a knockout performance that will hopefully be noticed next Emmy season. If you check the real life footage of Temple Grandin on the internet, Danes manages to channel the real Temple’s mannerisms and speech patterns. The inspiring scene at the end of the movie when Temple is telling a roomful of parents that she was able to get her masters and was working on her doctorate; that people with autism can learn and grow and develop was heartfelt. As a parent of a special needs child, Temple’s accomplishments and fortitude should be required viewing to help change way people think of those with disabilities into being different but not less. Take that Rush Limbaugh.
(Review by Reesa)



Bookmark and Share

SXSW FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2010 FEATURES LINEUP

SXSW FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2010 FEATURES LINEUP
MACGRUBER, CYRUS AND MR. NICE
AMONG TITLES INCLUDED


Austin, Texas – February 4, 2010 – The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival is thrilled to announce the complete features lineup for this year’s Festival, March 12 – 20, 2010 in Austin, Texas. Over the course of nine days, 119 features will screen at the festival, with 55 of those having their world premieres at SXSW 2010. These films were selected from a record 1,572 feature-length film submissions composed of 1,206 U.S. and 366 international feature-length films.

Among the major films added to the lineup are: Rogue’s MacGruber, from director Jorma Taccone, Jay & Mark Duplass’ Cyrus, Bernard Rose’s Mr. Nice, Tim Blake Nelson’s Leaves of Grass, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Micmacs, Michel Gondry’s The Thorn in the Heart, Alexandre O. Philippe’s The People vs. George Lucas, Shane Meadows’ Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee, Steven Soderbergh’s And Everything Is Going Fine, Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas’ American: The Bill Hicks Story, Mike Woolf’s Man on A Mission, Jacob Hatley’s Ain’t In It For My Health: A Film About Levon Helm, Mark Landsman’s Thunder Soul, Daniel Stamm’s Cotton, Chris D’Arienzo’s BARRY MUNDAY, and Floria Sigismondi’s The Runaways. They join previously announced films such as Opening Night film Kick-Ass, as well as narrative features Cold Weather and Elektra Luxx, and documentaries Hubble 3D, Lemmy, SATURDAY NIGHT and The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights.

“It was an incredibly competitive year with record submission numbers, and although we had to make really tough decisions, we are extremely excited about this lineup. I’m in awe of the talent on display throughout all the sections,” says Film Conference and Festival Producer Janet Pierson, “We feel we've achieved a great balance that continues our tradition of screening films across all budget lines and styles, and we take particular pride in witnessing the evolution of SXSW alumni as well as the vitality of fresh voices.”

The festival’s main competition categories once again find 8 Narrative Features and 8 Documentary Features, vying for their respective Grand Jury Prizes. The Narrative Feature Competition includes: Brotherhood, directed by Will Canon, Dance With The One, directed by Mike Dolan, Earthling, directed by Clay Liford, Helena from the Wedding, directed by Joseph Ifantolino, The Myth of the American Sleepover, directed by David Robert Mitchell, Phillip The Fossil, directed by Garth Donovan, Some Days are Better than Others, directed by Matt McCormick and Tiny Furniture, directed by Lena Dunham. The Documentary Feature Competition includes: Beijing Taxi, directed by Miao Wang, Camp Victory, Afghanistan, directed by Carol Dysinger, The Canal Street Madam, directed by Cameron Yates, Dirty Pictures, directed by Etienne Sauret, For Once In My Life, directed by Jim Bigham and Mark Moormann, Marwencol, directed by Jeff Malmberg, Pelada, directed by Luke Boughen, Rebekah Fergusson, Gwendolyn Oxenham and Ryan White and War Don Don, directed by Rebecca Richman Cohen.


The comprehensive lineup, by section and with synopsis descriptions, follows below. The final panel and conference lineup as well as the short film program will be announced next week. Visit http://www.sxsw.com/film for more information and updates.


HEADLINERS
Big names, big talent: Headliners bring star power to SXSW, featuring red carpet premieres and gala film events with some major and rising names in cinema.

Films screening in Headliners are:

Cyrus
Directors and Screenwriters: Jay and Mark Duplass
With John’s social life at a standstill and his ex-wife about to get remarried, a down on his luck divorcee finally meets the woman of his dreams, only to discover she has another man in her life – her son. Written and directed by Jay & Mark Duplass, the iconoclastic filmmaking team behind The Puffy Chair, Cyrus takes an insightful, funny and sometimes heartbreaking look at love and family in contemporary Los Angeles. Cast: John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener, Matt Walsh

Get Low
Director: Aaron Schneider, Screenwriters: Chris Provenzano and C. Gaby Mitchell
A film spun out of equal parts folk tale, fable and real-life legend about a mysterious, 1930s Tennessee hermit who plans his own rollicking funeral party... while still alive. Cast: Robert Duvall, Bill Murray

Kick-Ass
Director: Matthew Vaughn. Screenwriters: Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn
A twisted, funny, high-octane adventure, based on the comic written by Mark Millar and John S. Romita, Jr. The film tells the story of average teenager Dave Lizewski, a comic-book fanboy who decides to take his obsession as inspiration to become a real-life superhero. Cast: Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Mark Strong, Chloë Grace Moretz and Nicolas Cage. (World Premiere)

MacGruber
Director: Jorma Taccone. Screenwriters: Will Forte & John Solomon & Jorma Taccone
Will Forte brings his clueless soldier of fortune to the big screen in the action-comedy MacGruber.
Cast: Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillippe, Powers Boothe, Maya Rudolph and Val Kilmer (World Premiere)

Micmacs / Micmacs à tire-larigot (France)
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Screenwriters: Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Guillaume Laurant
Drawing on one of France's most popular screen stars, the incorrigible Dany Boon from the comedy megahit Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis, as well as a cast of some of the country's best-known actors, Jeunet turns on the afterburners in this searing piece of romantic filmmaking set against the storm clouds of warring arms dealers. Cast: Dany Boon (U.S. Premiere)

Mr. Nice (United Kingdom)
Director and Screenwriter: Bernard Rose
The true story of Howard Marks. He was Britain's most wanted man. He spent seven years in America's toughest penitentiary. You'll like him. Cast: Rhys Ifans, Chloë Sevigny, David Thewlis, Luis Tosar, Crispin Glover, Omad Djalili. (World Premiere)

The Runaways
Director and Screenwriter: Floria Sigismondi
The Runaways follows two friends, Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) and Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning), as they rise from rebellious Southern California kids to rock stars of the now legendary group that paved the way for future generations of girl bands. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Scout Taylor-Compton, Michael Shannon, Alia Shawkat, Tatum O'Neal.


SPOTLIGHT PREMIERES
Shining a light on new documentary and narrative features receiving their World, North American or US Premieres at SXSW.

Films screening in Spotlight Premieres are:

Audrey the Trainwreck
Director and Screenwriter: Frank V. Ross
Audrey the Trainwreck is a comedy about attempting to keep life simple, and the beauty of such an absurd pursuit. Most men live lives of quiet desperation – Ron’s desperation is about to get loud. Cast: Anthony Baker, Alexi Wasser, Danny Rhodes, Rebecca Spence, Joe Swanberg, Jess Weixler & Nick Offerman (World Premiere)

Barbershop Punk
Directors: Georgia Sugimura & Kristin Armfield (Co-Director). Screenwriter: Georgia Sugimura
Keeping the independent/punk spirit alive, barbershop quartet fan Robb Topolski takes on the nation’s largest cable company, only to find himself at the center of a federal investigation, inspiring a larger story of censorship, individual voice and access. Featuring interviews with Ian MacKaye, Damian Kulash of OK Go, Henry Rollins, Janeane Garofalo, John Perry Barlow among others. (World Premiere)

BARRY MUNDAY
Director and Screenwriter: Chris D’Arienzo
Barry Munday wakes up after being attacked to realize that he's missing his family jewels. To make matters worse, he learns he's facing a paternity lawsuit filed by a woman he can't remember having sex with.
Cast: Patrick Wilson, Judy Greer, Chloë Sevigny, Jean Smart, Malcolm McDowell, Cybill Shepherd, Billy Dee Williams (World Premiere)

Cold Weather
Director and Screenwriter: Aaron Katz
A former forensic science major and avid reader of detective fiction, who, after making a mess of his life in Chicago, returns to his hometown of Portland, Oregon. There, he, his sister Gail, and new friend Carlos become embroiled in something unexpected. Cast: Cris Lankenau, Trieste Kelly Dunn (World Premiere)

Elektra Luxx
Director and Screenwriter: Sebastian Gutierrez
A convoluted day in the life of recently retired porn superstar Elektra Luxx as she tries to make it in the straight world. Cast: Carla Gugino, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Timothy Olyphant, Malin Akerman, Adrianne Palicki
(World Premiere)

Greenlit
Director: Miranda Bailey
It ain't easy bein' green. (World Premiere)

Hood to Coast
Directors: Christoph Baaden and Marcie Hume (Co-Director)
Hood to Coast follows four unlikely teams on their epic journey to conquer the world's largest relay race. Winning isn't everything in a documentary that takes a celebratory look at personal motivation and attempting the extraordinary. (World Premiere)

Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee
Director and Screenwriter: Shane Meadows
In this unpredictable, irrepressible ode to spontaneous filmmaking, Paddy Considine stars as rock roadie and failed musician, Le Donk. Along the way he's lost a girlfriend but he has found a new sidekick in up-and-coming rap prodigy Scor-zay-zee. With Shane Meadows' fly-on-the-wall crew in tow, Donk sets out to make Scor-zay-zee a star...with a little help from the Arctic Monkeys. Cast: Paddy Considine, Dean Palinczuk, Olivia Colman
(North American Premiere)



Leaves of Grass
Director and Screenwriter: Tim Blake Nelson
Tim Blake Nelson’s Leaves of Grass is a comic thriller that weaves together the diametrically opposed lives of identical twin brothers, both played by two-time Academy Award® nominee Edward Norton.
Cast: Edward Norton, Keri Russell, Tim Blake Nelson, Melanie Lynskey, Richard Dreyfuss (U.S. Premiere)

Lebanon, Pa.
Director and Screenwriter: Ben Hickernell
Philly ad man Will travels to Lebanon, Pa. to bury his father. He meets his teenage cousin CJ and they form an unexpected bond, as both try to find their place in a splintered American landscape.
Cast: Josh Hopkins, Samantha Mathis, Mary Beth Hurt, Rachel Kitson, Iain Merrill Peakes (World Premiere)

Lemmy
Director: Greg Olliver and Wes Orshoski
This documentary delves into the personal and public lives of heavy metal icon and Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister. Nearly three years in the making, and featuring appearances by such friends/peers as Metallica, Dave Grohl, Billy Bob Thornton and pro wrestler Triple H, the film follows Kilmister from his Hollywood bedroom to the hockey arenas of Scandinavia and Russia. (World Premiere)

Man On A Mission
Director: Mike Woolf
Man On A Mission is a feature length documentary that follows gaming millionaire Richard Garriott as he becomes the first second-generation American astronaut. (World Premiere)

No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson
Director: Steve James
Steve James returns to his hometown of Hampton, Virginia to examine the 1993 bowling alley brawl that landed Allen Iverson, the nation’s top high-school basketball player, in jail and divided the community along racial lines. (World Premiere)

One Night in Vegas
Director: Reggie Rock Bythewood
On the evening of 9/7/96, Mike Tyson attempted to regain the WBA title in Vegas. Sitting ringside was his friend Tupac Shakur. This ESPN Films documentary tells not only the story of that infamous night but of their remarkable friendship. (World Premiere)

The People vs. George Lucas
Director: Alexandre O. Philippe
A no-holds-barred cultural examination of the conflicted dynamic between George Lucas and his fans over the past three decades. (World Premiere)

The Ride
Director: Meredith Danluck
A journey into the heart of America through the rough and tumble, rock and roll world of bull riding Cowboys. (World Premiere)

SATURDAY NIGHT
Director: James Franco
With unprecedented access to the behind the scenes process of the writers, actors and producers, Franco and his crew document what it takes to create one full episode of Saturday Night Live. (World Premiere)

The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights
Director: Emmett Malloy
A visual and emotional feature length film documenting The White Stripes making their way through Canada and culminating with their 10th anniversary show in Nova Scotia. The film documents the band playing shows all over Canada; from local bowling alleys, to city buses, and onward to the legendary Savoy Theater for the 10th Anniversary show.


NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
This year’s 8 films were selected from 831 submissions. Each film is a world premiere.

Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:

Brotherhood
Director: Will Canon. Screenwriters: Will Canon and Doug Simon
When an initiation ritual spins dangerously out of control, one young man must stand up to save a friend's life. Cast: Jon Foster, Trevor Morgan, Arlen Escarpeta, Lou Taylor Pucci (World Premiere)

Dance With The One
Director: Mike Dolan. Screenwriters: Smith Henderson and Jon Marc Smith
An emotionally explosive thriller set in the troubled heart of Texas. Tragic family history rises to the surface when a teenager races to protect his family from a lethal drug-runner.
Cast: Gabriel Luna, Xochitl Romero, Gary McCleery, Mike Davis, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson (World Premiere)

Earthling
Director and Screenwriter: Clay Liford
Tragedy aboard the international space station triggers a discovery that some lives have been a lie.
Cast: Rebecca Spence, Peter Greene, Amelia Turner, William Katt, Matt Socia (World Premiere)

Helena from the Wedding
Director and Screenwriter: Joseph Infantolino
Newlyweds Alex and Alice Javal host a New Year’s Eve party at a cabin in the mountains for their closest friends and an unexpected guest in this nuanced and often funny portrait of marriage and anxiety in the late blooming professional class. Cast: Lee Tergesen, Melanie Lynskey, Gillian Jacobs, Dagmara Dominczyk, Paul Fitzgerald, Dominic Fumusa, Jessica Hecht, Corey Stoll (World Premiere)

The Myth of the American Sleepover
Director and Screenwriter: David Robert Mitchell
Four young people cross paths as they navigate the suburban wonderland of Metro-Detroit looking for love and adventure on the last night of summer.
Cast: Claire Sloma, Marlon Morton, Amanda Bauer, Brett Jacobsen (World Premiere)

Phillip The Fossil
Director and Screenwriter: Garth Donovan
Centering around an aging party animal chasing the endless summer, Phillip The Fossil is an uncompromising and raw, portrait of everyday people who struggle in all their blemished glory for a life of meaning.
Cast: Brian Hasenfus, Nick Dellarocca, Ann Palica, Angela Pagliarulo, J.R. Killigrew (World Premiere)

Some Days are Better than Others
Director and Screenwriter: Matt McCormick
Why do the good times go by so fast while the bad times always seem so sticky?
Cast: Carrie Brownstein, James Mercer, Renee Roman Nose, David Wodehouse (World Premiere)

Tiny Furniture
Director and Screenwriter: Lena Dunham
22-year-old Aura returns home after college to her artist mother’s loft with the following: a useless film theory degree, 357 hits on her YouTube page, and no shoulders to cry on. Starring Dunham and her real-life family, Tiny Furniture is tragicomedy about what does and does not happen when you graduate with no skills, no love life, and a lot of free time. Cast: Lena Dunham, Laurie Simmons, Grace Dunham, David Call, Alex Karpovsky
(World Premiere)




DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
This year’s 8 films were selected from 741 submissions. Each film is a world premiere.

Films screening in Documentary Feature Competition are:

Beijing Taxi
Director: Miao Wang
Through a humanistic lens, Beijing Taxi vividly portrays China undergoing a profound transformational arch in an era of Olympic transitions. The intimate lives of three cabbies connect a morphing cityscape and a lyrical journey through fragments of a society riding the bumpy roads to modernization. (World Premiere)

Camp Victory, Afghanistan
Director: Carol Dysinger
Using almost 300 hours of footage shot over the course of three years, Camp Victory, Afghanistan tells the story of the Afghan officers charged with building a new Afghan National Army and the U.S. National Guardsmen sent to mentor them. (World Premiere)

The Canal Street Madam
Director: Cameron Yates
An FBI raid on Jeanette Maier’s infamous family-run brothel in New Orleans destroyed her livelihood. Stigmatized by felony, fearing recrimination from powerful clients and determined to protect her children, Jeanette sets out to re-invent herself. (World Premiere)

Dirty Pictures
Director: Etienne Sauret
Dirty Pictures is an intimate portrait of the life and work of Dr. Alexander "Sasha" Shulgin, one of the world’s most renowned chemists who is considered by many to be the "Godfather of Psychedelics." (World Premiere)

For Once In My Life
Directors: Jim Bigham and Mark Moormann
The film takes an inspiring journey with a unique band of musicians with the common goal of making and performing music. Their story tells of the fine balancing act of taking on new challenges while living day-to-day with disabilities. This documentary shows what people can do when given a chance. (World Premiere)

Marwencol
Director: Jeff Malmberg
After a vicious attack leaves him brain damaged and broke, Mark Hogancamp seeks recovery in “Marwencol,” a 1/6th-scale World War II-era town he creates in his backyard. (World Premiere)

Pelada
Directors: Luke Boughen, Rebekah Fergusson, Gwendolyn Oxenham and Ryan White
Away from the bright lights and manicured fields, there's another side of soccer. (World Premiere)

War Don Don
Director: Rebecca Richman Cohen
The war is over, a trial begins. (World Premiere)


EMERGING VISIONS
Innovation and creativity from new and emerging feature filmmakers, showcasing raw talent in documentary and narratives of varying premiere status.

Films screening in Emerging Visions are:

11/4/08
Director: Jeff Deutchman
Weaving together footage recorded throughout the world on the day Obama was elected President, this vérité documentary explores how people choose to live through “history.” (World Premiere)


A Different Path
Director: Monteith McCollum
In an automobile dominated society, a cast of characters uses ingenuity and wit to forge a new way to commute. One by foot, one by bike, two by boat. (World Premiere)

American: The Bill Hicks Story (United Kingdom)
Directors: Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas
At last the true life story of the outlaw comic who tried to save the world. Three years in the making, using a stunning new animation technique, American: The Bill Hicks Story finally brings the amazing tale of one of modern culture's most iconic heroes to the big screen. (North American Premiere)

Bear Nation (Canada)
Director: Malcolm Ingram
What if your biggest perceived flaw became you greatest asset? Bear Nation is a thorough and stylistic examination of the sub culture sweeping gay culture, the sexualization of fat and hair. From the director of small town gay bar and Exec Produced by honorary bear Kevin Smith. (World Premiere)

Cherry
Director and Screenwriter: Jeffrey Fine
A college freshman gets a different kind of education when he falls for an older woman who has returned to school and her teenage daughter develops a crush on him.
Cast: Kyle Gallner, Laura Allen, Britt Robertson (World Premiere)

The Happy Poet
Director and Screenwriter: Paul Gordon
Bill, an out of work poet, puts his heart, soul, and last few dollars into starting an all-organic mostly-vegetarian food stand. Complications with the business jeopardize his dreams for a hot dog-free future. Cast: Paul Gordon, Jonny Mars, Chris Doubek, Liz Fisher, Amy Meyers-Martin (World Premiere)

Les Signes Vitaux / The Vital Signs (Canada)
Director and Screenwriter: Sophie Deraspe
The Vital Signs: the amount of life beings have... or lack thereof. Cast: Marie-Hélène Bellavance, Francis Ducharme, Marie Brassard, Danielle Ouimet, Suzanne St-Michel (U.S. Premiere)

Mars
Director and Screenwriter: Geoff Marslett
Set in 2014, Mars is an interplanetary animated feature about mankind's first mission searching for life, love, and adventure on the red planet. Told in the playful style of a graphic novel, MARS explores why we explore.
Cast: Mark Duplass, Zoe Simpson, Paul Gordon, Howe Gelb, Liza Weil, James Kochalka, Cynthia Watros, Michael Dolan, and Kinky Friedman (World Premiere)

NY Export: Opus Jazz
Director: Henry Joost and Jody Lee Lipes. Screenwriter: Jody Lee Lipes
This scripted adaptation of a 1958 jazz ballet by Jerome Robbins (West Side Story) takes the original choreography and returns it to the streets that inspired it in this tale of disaffected urban youth. Shot on 35mm on location all over New York City with dancers from the New York City Ballet. Cast: Dancers with New York City Ballet, Jerome Robbins. (World Premiere)

The Parking Lot Movie
Director: Meghan Eckman and Christopher Hlad (Assistant Director)
“It’s not just a parking lot, it’s a battle with humanity.” The Parking Lot Movie is a documentary about a singular parking lot in Charlottesville, Virginia. The film follows a select group of Parking Lot Attendants and their strange rite of passage. Something as simple as a parking lot becomes an emotional weigh station for the American Dream. (World Premiere)



Passenger Pigeons
Director and Screenwriter: Martha Stephens
Set among the Eastern Kentucky Coalfields, Passenger Pigeons quietly interweaves four separate story lines over the course of a weekend as the town copes with the death of a local miner.
Cast: Kentucker Audley, Brendan McFadden, Bryan Marshall, Caroline White, Martha Stephens (World Premiere)

Putty Hill
Director and Screenwriter: Matthew Porterfield
A young man's untimely death unites a fractured family and their community through shared memory and loss. Cast: Sky Ferreira, Zoe Vance, Dustin Ray, Cody Ray (North American Premiere)

Red White & Blue (United Kingdom)
Director and Screenwriter: Simon Rumley
In Austin Texas, the lives of three young people “Erica, Franki and Nate” intertwine in a fateful, tragic way and head down a rocky and violent road to heart-rending oblivion.
Cast: Noah Taylor, Amanda Fuller, Marc Senter (North American Premiere)

Skeletons (United Kingdom)
Director and Screenwriter: Nick Whitfield
Skeletons is a surrealist comedy about two traveling salesmen in the business of cleaning skeletons out of people's closets. Cast: Andrew Buckley, Ed Gaughan, Paprika Steen, Tuppence Middleton, Jason Isaacs
(North American Premiere)

We don’t care about music anyway… (France)
Directors: Cedric Dupire and Gaspard Kuentz
"We don't care about music anyway"...In other words, "we make it and that's all". Beyond the music and beyond its performance, the future and mode of existence of a city, and society as a whole, are in motion.
(North American Premiere)

World Peace and other 4th-Grade Achievements
Director: Chris Farina
World Peace and other 4th-Grade Achievements portrays John Hunter, a remarkable public-school teacher who has dedicated his life to teaching children the "work of peace." (World Premiere)

World's Largest
Directors: Amy C. Elliott and Elizabeth Donius
Desperate for tourism, hundreds of small towns across the U.S.A. claim the "world's largest" something - from 15-foot fiberglass strawberries to 40-foot concrete pheasants. World's Largest visits 58 such sites and profiles Soap Lake, Washington’s five-year struggle to build the World’s Largest Lava Lamp. By documenting these roadside attractions, World’s Largest captures the changing, perhaps even vanishing, culture of small-town America. (World Premiere)


LONE STAR STATES
Texas proud! Documentaries and Narratives with a special connection to the Lone Star State.

Films screening in Lone Star States are:

Citizen Architect: Samuel Mockbee and the Spirit of the Rural Studio
Director: Sam Wainwright Douglas
In Alabama, Samuel Mockbee’s radical design/build program brought architecture to the rural poor and a new set of ethics to architecture. His legacy has inspired a generation of architects dedicated to design for social good. (World Premiere)



For The Sake Of The Song: The Story of Anderson Fair
Director: Bruce Bryant
A devoted community of artists, volunteers and patrons transforms a politically subversive little coffee house and restaurant into a unique American music institution... a small place where big things happen.
Featuring Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams, Nanci Griffith, Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. (World Premiere)

Thunder Soul
Director: Mark Landsman
In the 1970's, Kashmere High School band director Conrad Johnson turned his band into an international funk sensation. Now thirty years later, his students return to pay tribute to the man who changed their lives.
(World Premiere)

Wake
Director and Screenwriter: Chad Feehan
Driving to a wedding in Los Angeles through the Mojave Desert, Paul and Adrienne pull off the highway and into Roy’s Motel and Café. This roadside artifact proves to be a strange and surreal place with an unsettling mix of travelers, who force our couple to discover the secret hidden between them and ultimately, the horrifying reality of their current situation. Cast: Josh Stewart, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Chris Browning, Angela Featherstone, Afemo Omilami, Trevor Morgan (World Premiere)

When I Rise
Director: Mat Hames
When I Rise is the powerful story of Barbara Smith Conrad, a gifted University of Texas music student who becomes a lightning rod for civil rights and ultimately ascends to the heights of international opera.
(World Premiere)


24 BEATS PER SECOND
Showcasing the sounds, culture and influence of music and musicians, with an emphasis on documentary.

Films screening in 24 Beats Per Second are:

Ain't In It For My Health: A Film About Levon Helm
Director: Jacob Hatley
In Ain't In It For My Health Levon Helm finds himself thrust into the musical spotlight for the first time in a quarter century, but a Grammy nomination and ever-growing audiences force him to confront the dark times that have haunted him since The Band's demise: Throat cancer, bankruptcy, drug addiction and the tragic loss of bandmates Richard Manuel and Rick Danko. Win or lose, Levon is an artist who will not go quietly into the night.
(World Premiere)

No One Knows About Persian Cats
Director: Bahman Ghobadi. Screenwriter: Roxana Saberi
Two Persian teens jump through hoops doing what in many other countries is relatively simple: forming a rock band. Together they search the underworld of contemporary Tehran for other players, forbidden by the authorities to play in Iran. Cast: Negar Shaghaghi, Ashkan Koshanejad, Hamed Behdad

REJOICE AND SHOUT
Director: Don McGlynn
A documentary that explores the power and long lasting influence of gospel music. (World Premiere)

RIDE, RISE, ROAR
Director: David Hillman Curtis
A David Byrne concert film that combines riveting onstage performances with documentary footage that explores the creative collaborations that make the music happen. (World Premiere)



Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields
Directors: Kerthy Fix and Gail O’Hara
Ten years in the making, Strange Powers is an intimate documentary portrait of songwriter Stephin Merritt and his band The Magnetic Fields. (World Premiere)

TAQWACORE (Canada)
Director: Omar Majeed
Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam follows a group of Muslim Punks as they travel across the U.S. and Pakistan, challenging Muslims and Non-Muslims with their punchy and provocative anthems. (U.S. Premiere)

The Weird World of Blowfly
Director: Jonathan Furmanski
The Weird World of Blowfly tells the provocative and revealing story of musician Clarence Reid and his alter ego Blowfly, the original dirty rapper. The film follows Blowfly as he tours the world, explores his 50-year career, and celebrates his influential and incendiary work as a music legend. (World Premiere)


SX GLOBAL
A diverse panorama of international non-fiction filmmaking talent, including premieres, interactive documentaries and shorts.

Films screening in SX Global are:

The DeVilles (Denmark)
Director: Nicole Nielsen Horanyi
The love between the American burlesque stripper Teri Lee Geary (aka Kitten DeVille) and her punk rock singer husband Shawn Geary is strong but rather complicated. They live in their own time bubble, hers from the 1950's and his from the 1980's. (U.S. Premiere)

Erasing David (United Kingdom)
Director: David Bond
Just how much of our personal information is floating around in government and corporate databases? Filmmaker David Bond decides to find out, by disappearing for a month and setting two of the world’s top private investigators the task of tracking him down, using only publicly available data. (North American Premiere)

The Erectionman (Netherlands)
Director: Michael Schaap
How one little pill changed the course of sexual evolution. (North American Premiere)

IDFA DocLab (Netherlands)
A curated program of new media and web documentary from the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam's DocLab, bridging the gap between filmmakers and interactive storytellers.

Iron Crows (South Korea)
Director: Bong-Nam Park
Against a harsh environment of constant danger and toxic gases, workers here at the world's largest ship breaking yard in Bangladesh, risk their lives to feed their family on barely 2USD per day. (North American Premiere)

Like a Pascha / Som en Pascha (Sweden)
Director: Svante Tidholm
Welcome to the biggest brothel in Europe, a clear blue eleven story high house in the middle of Cologne, Germany. Around 200 women from all over the world work here. If you ask them why, they will tell you it’s the way it’s always been. Svante Tidholm filmed at Pascha for more than three years, looking for an answer to the eternal question: why are men so obsessed with sex? (North American Premiere)



The Living Room of the Nation (Finland)
Director: Jukka Kärkkäinen
The Living Room of the Nation opens a portrait-like view into six Finnish living rooms. A collage of everyday events the film is a story of changes, loneliness, responsibilities and the unavoidable passing of time.
(North American Premiere)

The Other Side of Life (Germany)
Directors: Stefanie Brockhaus and Andy Wolff
Being arrested for murder, two brothers exist between modern township life, gangsterism and ancient African culture. (North American Premiere)

Phantom of Liberty II (Czech Republic, Germany)
Director: Karel Zalud
A documentary about time which explores its physical quantity as well as its crucial impact on our actions, behavior, perception, social rituals and our outlook on the world. (North American Premiere)

Presunto Culpable / Presumed Guilty (Mexico)
Director: Roberto Hernández and Geoffrey Smith
The heart-wrenching story of a man who happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Through his struggle to regain freedom, two lawyers document the system’s contradictions. (U.S. Premiere)

Reel Injun (Canada)
Director: Neil Diamond
Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond takes an entertaining and insightful look at the Hollywood Indian, exploring the portrayal of North American Natives through a century of cinema. (North American Premiere)


FESTIVAL FAVORITES
Acclaimed standouts and selected previous premieres from festivals around the world.

Films screening in Festival Favorites are:

And Everything Is Going Fine
Director: Steven Soderbergh
And Everything Is Going Fine is an intimate portrait of master monologist Spalding Gray, as described by his most critical, irreverent and insightful biographer: Spalding Gray. The film pulls from some 90 hours of material to fashion a new narrative exploring, among other things, art-making, mental illness and the sometimes thin line between the two.

Crying with Laughter (Scotland)
Director and Screenwriter: Justin Molotnikov
Comedian Joey's act is drawing interest from people in high places until he tells one little gag about an old school pal, who just happens to be in the audience and things begin to unravel...
Cast: Stephen McCole, Malcolm Shields, Jo Hartley, Andrew Neil, Laura Keenan, Michaiah Dring (U.S. Premiere)

Dogtooth
Director: Giorgos Lanthimos. Screenwriters: Efthymis Filippou and Giorgos Lanthimos
Winner of the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooth is a darkly surreal look at three teenagers confined to an isolated country estate and kept under strict rule and regimen by their parents — an alternately hilarious and nightmarish experiment of manipulation and oppression.
Cast: Christos Stergioglou, Michelle Valley, Aggeliki Papoulia, Mary Tsoni, Hristos Passalis

The Freebie
Director and Screenwriter: Katie Aselton
A young married couple decides to give each other one night with someone else.
Cast: Dax Shepard, Katie Aselton



The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Sweden)
Director: Niels Arden Oplev. Screenwriters: Rasmus Heisterberg and Nikolaj Arcel
40 years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs a disgraced financial journalist and a tattooed, ruthless computer hacker to investigate. The film is based on the trilogy of books by Stieg Larsson.
Cast: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Sven-Bertil Taube,

The Good Heart
Director and Screenwriter: Dagur Kári
A homeless boy (Lucas) meets a grouchy bar-owner (Jacques) whose unhealthy lifestyle has resulted in five heart attacks. Jacques takes Lucas under his wing with the intention of having him continuing his legacy. Everything is going according to plan until a drunken stewardess (April) enters the bar.
Cast: Brian Cox, Paul Dano, Isild Le Besco (U.S. Premiere)

Google Baby (Israel)
Director: Zippi Brand Frank
In India, the latest form of outsourcing is surrogate mothers who carry embryos for couples who can’t have a child. Director Zippi Brand Frank follows an entrepreneur who proposes a new service – baby production for western customers. (U.S. Premiere)

Harry Brown (United Kingdom)
Director: Daniel Barber. Screenwriter: Gary Young
Set in modern day Britain, Harry Brown follows one man’s journey through a chaotic world where teenage violence runs rampant. As a modest, law abiding citizen, Brown lives alone. His only companion is his best friend Leonard. When Leonard is killed, Brown reaches his breaking point. Harry Brown is a powerful, character driven thriller starring two-time Academy Award® winner Michael Caine in a tour-de-force performance.
Cast: Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Charlie Creed-Miles

His & Hers (Ireland)
Director: Ken Wardrop
Seventy Irish women offer moving insights into the relationships between women and men.

How to Fold A Flag
Directors: Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein
We were asked to believe that the war was over. We laughed, for we were the war.

Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child
Director: Tamra Davis
An intimate portrait of the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and the downtown New York scene, as told by his friend filmmaker Tamra Davis.

Last Train Home (Canada)
Director: Lixin Fan
Getting a train ticket in China proves a towering ordeal as a migrant worker family embarks on a journey, along with 200 million other peasants, to reunite with their distant family.

Life 2.0
Director: Jason Spingarn-Koff
More than an examination of new technology, the film is foremost an intimate, character-based drama about people whose lives are dramatically transformed by the virtual world called Second Life.

Lovers of Hate
Director and Screenwriter: Bryan Poyser
The shaky reunion of estranged brothers takes a turn for the worse when the woman they both love chooses one over the other. Cast: Chris Doubek, Heather Kafka, Alex Karpovsky, Zach Green



The Oath
Director: Laura Poitras
Filmed in Yemen, The Oath tells the story of Abu Jandal, Osama bin Laden’s former bodyguard, and Salim Hamdan, a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay Prison who is the first man to face the controversial military tribunals at Guantanamo.

The Red Chapel / Det Røde Kapel (Denmark)
Director: Mads Brügger
A journalist with no scruples, a self-proclaimed spastic, and a comedian travel to North Korea under the guise of a cultural exchange visit to challenge one of the world’s most notorious regimes.

The Taqwacores
Director: Eyad Zahra. Screenwriters: Michael Muhammad Knight and Eyad Zahra
When a Pakistani-Muslim engineering student moves into a house with punk Muslims of all stripes in Buffalo, New York, his ideologies are challenged to the core. Cast: Bobby Naderi, Noureen DeWulf, Dominic Rains, Rasika Mathur, Tony Yalda, Anne Marie Leighton

The Thorn in the Heart
Director: Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry’s newest film, further propels his groundbreaking filmography into the realm of the unvisited with a personal look at the life of Gondry family matriarch, his aunt Suzette Gondry, and her relationship with her son, Jean-Yves. Michel examines Suzette’s years as a schoolteacher and her life in rural France. During the course of filming the documentary, new family stories are unearthed and Michel uses his camera to explore them in a subtle and sensitive way.

Trash Humpers
Director and Screenwriter: Harmony Korine
A film unearthed from the buried landscape of the American nightmare, Trash Humpers follows a small group of elderly “Peeping Toms” through the shadows and margins of an unfamiliar world.
Cast: Rachel Korine, Travis Nicholson, Brian Kotzur, Harmony Korine

Winter’s Bone
Director: Debra Granik, Screenwriters: Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini
A 17-year-old must track down her father after he puts their house up for his bail and then disappears. If she fails, she and her family will be turned out into the Ozark woods.
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Lauren Sweetser, Dale Dickey


MIDNIGHTERS
Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative after-dark features for night owls and the terminally curious.

Films screening in Midnighters are:

Amer (Belgium)
Directors: Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani. Screenwriter: Bruno Forzani
Ana is confronted to Body and Desire at three key moments of her life. Cast: Bianca Maria D’Amato, Cassandra Forêt, Charlotte Eugène-Guibbaud, Marie Bos, Harry Cleven (U.S. Premiere)

Cannibal Girls (Canada)
Director: Ivan Reitman. Screenwriter: Robert Sandler
They do EXACTLY what you think they do! Second City TV regulars Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin star in Ivan Reitman’s Canuxploitation classic as a couple on a romantic holiday who settle into a quaint little bed-and-breakfast run by a trio of flesh-eating ladies who fancy them for tomorrow's menu.
Cast: Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Ronald Ulrich, Randall Carpenter, Bonnie Neilson



Cotton
Director: Daniel Stamm. Screenwriters: Andrew Gurland and Huck Botko
After a career spent helping the devout through prayer and trickery, Rev. Cotton Marcus invites a film crew to document his final fraudulent days as an exorcist. Soon his faith is truly tested when a desperate plea from the father of a possessed girl brings him face to face with the devil himself.
Cast: Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell, Iris Bahr, Louis Herthum, Caleb Landry Jones (World Premiere)

Enter the Void
Director and Screenwriter: Gaspar Noé
Oscar and his sister Linda are recent arrivals in Tokyo. Oscar is caught in a police bust and shot and as he lies dying, his spirit, faithful to the promise he made his sister that he would never abandon her refuses to abandon the world of the living. It wanders through the city, his visions growing evermore distorted, evermore nightmarish. Past, present and future merge in a hallucinatory maelstrom.
Cast: Nathaniel Brown, Paz de la Huerta, Cyril Roy, Emily Alyn Lind, Jesse Kuhn

Jimmy Tupper VS. The Goatman of Bowie
Director and Screenwriter: Andrew Bowser
Jimmy Tupper is no one, he's nothing, until one night he sees something in the woods that can't be real. It becomes his mission to prove its existence and find his purpose.
Cast: Andrew Bowser, Pedro Gonzalez, Chris Jones, Michael Eller, Tim Kuczka (World Premiere)

The Loved Ones (Australia)
Director and Screenwriter: Sean Byrne
Brent, a 17-year-old student grieving after the recent loss of his father, politely declines an invitation to the school formal from Lola, the quietest girl in school. Devastated by the rejection, Lola and her overly protective father kidnap Brent and force him to endure a macabre Formal of their own creation…
Cast: Xavier Samuel, Robin McLeavy, Victoria Thaine, Jessica McNamee, Richard Wilson

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (Canada)
Director: Eli Craig. Screenwriters: Eli Craig and Morgan Jurgenson
Two West Virginian hillbillies go on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin, but their peaceful trip goes horribly awry. Cast: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden, Jesse Moss


SX FANTASTIC
Mind-bending international Midnighters, hand-selected by our friends at Fantastic Fest.

Films screening in SX Fantastic are:

Higanjima (Japan/Korea)
Director: Tae-Kyun Kim. Screenwriter: Tetsuya Ôishi
Two years after losing contact, Akira discovers that his long-lost brother may be found on Higanjima Island. He may also find on Higanjima an army of blood-sucking vampires.
Cast: Koji Yamamoto, Hideo Ishiguro, Dai Watanabe, Asami Mizukawa (North American Premiere)

Monsters (UK)
Director and Screenwriter: Gareth Edwards
Six years after a NASA probe crashes, bringing alien life forms to Earth, a journalist agrees to escort a shaken tourist through an infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the US border.
Cast: Scoot McNairym, Whitney Able (World Premiere)

Outcast (Ireland)
Director Colm McCarthy. Screenwriters: Colm McCarthy and Tom McCarthy
Mary and Fergal live their lives on the run, using an ancient form of magic to hide from a terrifying hunter.
Cast: James Nesbitt, Kate Dickie, Niall Bruton, Hannah Stanbridge (World Premiere)



Serbian Film / Srpski Film (Serbia)
Director: Srdjan Spasojevic. Screenwriters: Aleksandar Radivojevic and Srdjan Spasojevic
Facing financial difficulties, a retired porn star is lured back for one final film by a wealthy, eccentric producer. This experience, however, will be vastly more taxing than his previous shoots.
Cast: Sergei Trifunovic, Srdjan Todorovic, Katarina Zutic, Ana Sakic (World Premiere)

Super Secret TBA (World Premiere)


SPECIAL EVENTS
Live Soundtracks, cult re-issues, IMAX, 3D and much more. Our Special Events section offers unusual, unexpected and unique film event one-offs.

Films screening in Special Events are:

All My Friends are Funeral Singers with Live Soundtrack by Califone
Director and Screenwriter: Tim Rutili
Zel, a fortune-teller, is aided in her prognostication by a band of ghosts, but when a mysterious light appears, she may have to give up the only family she knows. Cast: Angela Bettis, Emily Candini, Reid Coker, Kevin Ford, Joe Adamik, Jim Becker, Ben Massarella, Tim Rutili

Hubble 3D
Director: Toni Myers
Narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio and through the power of IMAX® 3D, Hubble 3D will enable movie-goers to journey through distant galaxies to explore the grandeur and mysteries of our celestial surroundings, and accompany space-walking astronauts as they attempt the most difficult and important tasks in NASA’s history. (First Public Showing)

The Lost World (1925) with Live Score by Golden Hornet Project
Director: Harry O. Hoyt. Screenwriters: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (novel) & Marion Fairfax (screenplay)
In Hoyt's sci-fi classic, claymation dinosaurs came to spectacular life 70 years before Michael Crichton's modern retelling. Wyatt Brand helps to present Austin's premier alt-classical Golden Hornet Project and their new chamber-rock score. Cast: Bessie Love, Lewis Stone

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) with Live Score by In The Nursery (England)
Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer. Screenwriter: Joseph Delteil
One of the finest achievements of the silent film era, Dreyer's portrayal of Joan of Arc uses extraordinary, expressive close-ups to create a moving, intense and flawless work. With a new score by In The Nursery, who utilize state of the art music technology with a unique symphonic style, to produce a hauntingly evocative soundtrack. Cast: Maria Falconetti

The Unknown (1927) with Live Score by The Invincible Czars
Director: Tod Browning. Screenwriter: Mary Roberts Rinehart
Wyatt Brand helps bring a film/music convergence event to SXSW Film with The Invincible Czars screening and live, original score for the 1927 silent classic The Unknown starring Lon Chaney as an armless sharp-shooter. Cast: Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford


The SXSW Film Festival will open on March 12, 2010 with the world premiere of Kick-Ass, directed by Matthew Vaughn and starring Aaron Johnson, Cholë Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Nicolas Cage. Vaughn, Johnson, Moretz, Mintz-Plasse and Kick-Ass comic writers Mark Millar and John S. Romita will also participate in a Conversation panel at the SXSW Film Conference.

Previously announced participants for the 2010 SXSW Film Conference include Academy Award-winning Argentine composer, solo artist and producer Gustavo Santaolalla in Conversation with BMI’s Doreen Ringer Ross, and Cult comics legend Gilbert Shelton in Conversation with Harry Knowles. The complete list of panels and panelists, as well as the 2010 Shorts lineup will be announced next week.


Additionally, SXSW Film plans to shine an even brighter spotlight on the artistic touches that help set the tone for every film with the Film Design Awards. In addition to the “Excellence in Poster Design Award,” new for 2010 is the "Excellence in Title Design" competition – a special contest to discover the best in contemporary title sequence design. Selected Title Sequences will be showcased at a dedicated screening during the event and judged by an expert panel of jurors, and will also be eligible for an Audience Award, chosen by the public. Title Sequence jurors include Ian Albinson and Alexander Ulloa (The Art of the Title Sequence), Susan Bradley (Pixar), Karin Fong (Imaginary Forces), Ron Pippin (Shiny Object) and Femke Wolting (Submarine Channel & Forget the Film, Watch the Titles).


South by Southwest Film Conference & Festival
The SXSW Film Conference and Festival is a uniquely creative environment featuring the dynamic convergence of talent, smart audiences and industry heavyweights. A hotbed of discovery and interactivity, the event offers lucrative networking opportunities and immersion into the art and business of the rapidly evolving world of independent film.

Over the first five days, the Film Conference buzzes as world-class speakers, creative minds, and notable mentors tackle the latest filmmaking trends amidst the unmatched social atmosphere of the SXSW experience. Simultaneously, the internationally acclaimed, nine-day Festival celebrates raw innovation and emerging talent, with a truly diverse program ranging from provocative documentaries to subversive Hollywood comedies. For more information, visit www.sxsw.com/film.


2010 Festival Sponsors
SXSW Film Conference and Festival is sponsored by Miller Lite, Chevrolet, ZonePerfect Nutrition Bars, AOL, IFC, Monster Energy, Pepsi, SoBe and The Austin Chronicle.




Bookmark and Share

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

82nd Annual Academy Award Nominations

Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
UP in the Air

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Best Actor
Jeff Bridges, 'Crazy Heart'
George Clooney, 'Up in the Air'
Colin Firth, 'A Single Man'
Morgan Freeman, 'Invictus'
Jeremy Fenner, 'The Hurt Locker'

Best Actress
Sandra Bullock, 'Blind Side'
Helen Mirren, 'The Last Station'
Carey Mulligan, 'An Education'
Gabourey Sidibe, 'Precious'
Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia

Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, 'Invictus'
Woody Harrelson, 'The Messenger'
Christopher Plummer, 'The Last Station'
Stanley Tucci, 'The Lovely Bones'
Christoph Waltz, 'Inglourious Basterds'

Best Supporting Actress

Penelope Cruz, 'Nine'
Vera Farmiga, 'Up in the Air'
Maggie Gyllenhaal, 'Crazy Heart'
Anna Kendrick, 'Up'
Mo'nique, 'Precious'

Best Animated Feature Film

Coraline
The Secret of Kells
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
Up

Best Foreign Film
Ajami
El secreto de sus ojos
Milk of Sorrow
The Prophet
The White Ribbon

Best Original Screenplay

Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman, The Messenger
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson & Tom McCarthy, Up
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Best Adapted Screenplay

Jesse Armstrong & Armando Iannucci, In the Loop
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell, District 9
Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
Nick Hornby, An Education
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

Best Art Direction

Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

Best Cinematography
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon

Best Costume Design
Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria

Best Documentary
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home

Best Editing
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious

Best Makeup
Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria

Best Score

Avatar
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes
Up

Best Song
“Almost There,” The Princess and the Frog, Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans,” The Princess and the Frog, Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname,” Paris 36, Reinhardt Wagner & Frank Thomas
“Take It All,” Nine, Maury Weston
“The Weary Kind,” Crazy Heart, T-Bone Burnett & Ryan Bingham

Best Sound Editing

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up

Best Sound Mixing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Best Visual Effects
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek

Best Documentary Short
China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit à la Berlin

Best Animated Short

French Roast
Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death

Best Live-Action Short

The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants


Bookmark and Share