Austin
Film Festival 2003 - Day 1 - October 9, 2003
I worked during the day at my regular job as I am
going to take off Friday, Saturday and Sunday to check
out the fest and, hopefully, have time to party a little
and write a little more. I headed over to the Driskill
at around 6pm to pick up my badge, kindly provided by
AFF, who are nice enough to consider me press. On the
way into the Driskill going through their bar I ran into
Cargill who is on the "Reel Deal" and said hello. The
Driskill bar, which is the hot spot for schmoozing during
AFF was already crowded. My plan was to go over to the
Paramount at 7:15 and see "Prey for Rock and Roll" and
then sneak over to the Hideout, which is only a block
away, and catch the Bukowski documentary at 9:30. The
Hideout is really small, less than 100 seats, probably
60, so I knew I wanted to get there early to make sure
I got in.
I got my badge and package of goodies (a typical
black AFF bag - the same one they've been giving out
for years with a program, a bunch of flyers and a box
of Altoids, yawn) and went back into the bar. I didn't
see anyone else I knew so I decided to go outside and
make some calls. I tried to call Melissa because I want
her to hang out with me this weekend at the Driskill
for the afterparty but she is in Vegas getting married
and her machine was either full or off. I called Mark
Brauner because he used to come tot he Driskill and
party when John Christensen was alive and he does so
sometimes still with me, but all I got was his voicemail
too. As I was in front of the Driskill on my phone,
I saw Chris Garcia of "The Austin-American Statesman"
was waved hello.
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Lodger
with "Confine" director Ryan Williams and J.H.
at last year's AFF.
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I went over to the Paramount and the line
was small, so I decided to go across the street
and get a piece of pizza. I ordered the pizza
and reached into my pants pocket and couldn't
find my wallet. I panicked. Had I dropped it in
the AFF office? Had I dropped it on the street?
Had I left it at home in my mad rush to get to
AFF by 6? Luckily I have roommates, so I called
mine and, sure enough, I had left it on my bed.
I was relieved but realized I wouldn't be able
to buy even a soda all night, let alone food.
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I went over to the Paramount and it was starting
to get a little brisk with business. The Paramount had
a lot of their ushers, who are all volunteers, working
and they were as sharp as usual. I also realized that
I forgot my camera. (DAMN!) when I took my seat and
saw a bunch of folks with theirs. I was way early for
the movie and as I sat and waited for the showtime to
roll around, I looked around a bit.
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Their was some huge hubbub where someone tried
to put up a banner that said "The Recording Academy"
on stage. Eventually, someone came and made them
take it off the stage and put it on the floor
and some lady spent an enormous amount of time
apologizing to some other lady. Festival politics
are such bullshit.
The film started late and the crowd grew to
near capacity. I looked up and they had even opened
the balcony. I worried about being late for the
Bukowski show and decided that unless "Prey
for Rock and Roll" was really awesome, I would
duck out early if need be and miss the Q&A to
go to the Hideout.
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Lodger
with J.J. Villard at lasty year's AFF .
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Bob, of Dudley and Bob, a shitty morning
show on rock radio here in Austin, got up and introduced
himself by bragging that he was in "Spy Kids 3." He
yammered on for a while and made a couple of semi-humorous
remarks and informed us that the lead actress of "Prey,"
Gina Gershon, was at Antone's doing soundcheck for a
show she was playing there at 9pm, which was before
the movie even ended. He told us she wouldn't be making
the promised (in the program) appearance at the film.
That sucks. He introduced director Alex Steyermark and
actress Shelly Cole. They came out and had on cool old
punk t-shirt. Cole had on an Iggy Pop "Lust for Life"
tee that looked really cool and battered. My hopes for
the movie were strong.
They started the movie (and the director and Cole
came and sat in the row behind me) and there was a hilarious
and cool AFF trailer that was about a script-writing
action figure for kids (bottle of booze and ex-wife
sold separately). It was hilarious and the crowd roared.
The festival program lists the filmmakers as Ron Pippin,
Nick Smith, Wally Williams, and Darin Murphy. They should
be proud.
Then there was a short film that was a piece of
typical crap called "Nouveau Riche No. 34" that was
more like a Playstation or Doritos commercial than a
short film. The joke (and there was only one) was that
these two teenage couch potatoes had this huge bathroom
with a creepy new "attendant." At least it featured
a hottie teenage boy taking a piss (fetishists of the
world unite and take over), but it was just typical
and stupid. It was like a bad idea with a million dollar
budget. Yawn.
The film was awful, and I left as it was obviously
wrapping up. I didn't stay for the Q&A. It was about
9:10 and I wanted to get to the Hideout. On the way
out, I was Lisa Albract, the AFF Competition Film Programmer
and said hello. We hadn't talked much this year, as
AFF politely told me they wanted new blood to screen
the competition entries. I asked her if she could get
me a copy of "The Failures" and "The Golden Age of Broadway,"
a couple of films that I knew I wouldn't have time to
see and she said she would probably be able to. Later,
I remembered I wanted to get a couple of this film "Undermind"
too as the filmmakers have wrote me more than once asking
me to view it. I'll have to try and ask Lisa for that
as well.
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Lisa asked me what I though of "Prey" and
when I told her I didn't like it, she didn't seemed
surprised. She asked me if I was going to "Bukowski"
and when I said yes, she told me that the Wendy's
next door had had a fire and there were firetrucks
but the Hideout was still open and okay. I said
my goodbyes and walked on the street and saw that
indeed there were firetrucks at Wendy's but they
were wrapping up and leaving and I walked easily
into the Hideout.
As I waited for the Bukowski
documentary to start, the room filled up until
almost every chair was taken. No one bothered
to sit right next to me, thank God, because the
film ran way longer than what I though it did
and I sat there for three hours. The chairs in
the Hideout are abysmal. I squirmed and squirmed
after the first hour and my ass felt like it was
going to bruise from atrophy.
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Writer
and AFF 2003 documentary subject Charles Bukowski
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A cute boy introduced the film but did not introduce
himself. He was a little nervous but did his best. These
cute AFF volunteer boys never say who they are.
An odd thing happened before the film started,
something I thought film festivals should do for a long
time. The screening started with "trailers" for competition
films in the showing. This is so much easier now because
of digital video. There were ads for:
Klepto - did not make me want to see it.
The Failures - made me pretty sure I want to see
it.
Breaking the Mold - a short that looked interesting.
Levelland - a local film that played during SXSW
to many unintentional laughs at the inter-generational
love story. I liked the love story but the rest of the
film was shit. I wonder if the filmmaker, Clark Walker,
has re-edited it.
The AFF trailer was another hilarious beaut called
"The Kid." It spoofed Robert Evans and was about a young
kid doing what it takes to get a print to the Paramount
on time for a screening. It was cute. The program says
it is by Dirk Higdon and Jimmy Schwertner.
The short before the feature was "The Son of Satan,"
an awesome animated short story by Bukowski brought
to life by the animation of J.J. Villard. I met Villard
briefly either last year or the year before at the Driskill
bar and he seemed cool but a bit crazy. He seemed like
he would be a gifted and cool animator and he is in
fact. This short is simply awesome. Villard's harsh
and jagged images perfectly accented Bukowski's story.
The voice work and sound editing were a bit rough but
the animation was so kick-ass that it didn't matter.
The story was stilled conveyed in harrowing and beautiful
Bukowskian images and words. Villard even accentuated
the importance of the words by having some text in his
drawings that became the animation for the film. This
is one of the most exciting and innovative animations
I have seen since "Waking
Life" and Villard seems poised for greatness. He
also seems like the kind of guy who is not going to
sell-out his art for money. I hope he continues to be
able to make great films like this. A feature in this
still would be imminently interesting and watchable.
After I got out of the movie and saw it was almost
midnight, I raced to meet some friends for a secret
rendezvous and a screening I cannot discuss here. Suffice
it to say the review will be up by the time you read
this. My ass was killing me but the midnight film was
so good, I forgot all about my bruises.
Oh, and before I go, I thought about the E-mails
I got before AFF and I wanted to make sure I put them
on the site:
Confine, a short film written and directed by Ryan
Williams, will screen at the 10th Annual Austin Film
Festival. Confine tells the story of the relationship
between a doctor and a mental patient in a world of
twisted realities. Confine will screen as part of the
Festival's Student Competition on the following dates:
Saturday, October 11 (filmmaker in attendance)
The Hideout Theater (617 Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78701,
512-443-3688 main line) 7:00PM
Monday, October 13 The Hideout Theater (617 Congress
Ave., Austin, TX 78701, 512-443-3688 main line) 7:00PM
WHAT: Regional Premiere of the psychological dramatic
thriller UNDERMIND. Derrick, a corporate lawyer with
a large trust fund, and Zane, a criminal, live in opposite
social spheres. Although they never meet, their lives
are more connected than either of them could ever imagine.
Set in New York City, UNDERMIND is about one man on
a journey to find himself. Writer/director Nevil Dwek
in attendance. Cast includes: Sam Trammell Erik Jensen
Celia Weston and Susan May Pratt.
WHERE: Dobie Landmark Theater (2025 Guadalupe St.)
October 9th @ 10pm and Regal Arbor (9828 Great Hills
Trail) October 15th @ 9:30pm
WHAT: Regional Premiere for _Broadway: The Golden
Age~ is the story of award-winning filmmaker Rick McKay's
search for a lost, undocumented era of historical performances
in the theatre. McKay^s interviewed over 100 legends
of stage and screen; the largest all-star cast ever
assembled for one film (including Jeremy Irons, Angela
Lansbury, Alec Baldwin, Gena Rowlands, Carol Burnett,
Stephen Sondheim, Maureen Stapleton, Jerry Orbach, Carol
Channing). The film is full of long lost archival performance
footage, home movies and found footage.
WHERE: Friday 10/10 7:30 pm Dobie Landmark Theater,
2025 Guadalupe and Sunday 10/12 3:30 pm Regal Arbor,
9828 Great Hills Trail
The 2003 Austin Film Festival is less than a week
away and we would like to take the time to recognize
some of our proud sponsors for all their help and support
in making our 10th Year Anniversary a smashing success:
The Austin American-Statesman is this year's exclusive
daily print and online sponsor. For up to the minute
updates and news about the Festival, visit the Statesman's
website at www.austin360.com.
Commercial Video Systems is sponsoring a special
screening showcasing the latest in HD technology. A
question and answer session with a panel of industry
experts will follow. Visit www.comvids.com for further
information about Commercial Video Systems. October
11, 3-5 pm, Paramount Theatre
Austin Community College offers certificates and
degrees in over 180 areas including 3D animation, web
design, and RTF. For more information call 512-223-4acc
and visit www.austincc.edu. A representative will be
available at the following screenings: October 10, Dobie
Theatre 10 pm; October 13, Dobie Theatre, 9:45 pm; Alien
screening, October 11, Arbor Theatre, midnight.
Geyser Peak Winery is an award-winning producer
of super- premium wines based in Sonoma County's, Alexander
Valley. Known for the outstanding quality of it's Cabernet
Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc, Geyser Peak Winery has
been awarded numerous "Winery of the Year" and "Winemaker
of the Year" honors by numerous National and International
media outlets.
The Sundance Channel is the proud sponsor of the
Austin Film Festival's "Feature Award Winner," "Short
Award Winner," and "Student Short Winner." Sundance
will be co-presenting these awards as well as assisting
in screening these award-winning films at a later time
on their Dallas and Austin PBS affiliates. For more
information about Sundance, visit www.sundancechannel.com.
Lodger@AFF2003
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