|
SXSW
- Day Four, Monday, 3/13/2000
Went to see the Hughes' Brothers' "American
Pimp" at 6pm at the Paramount. again there was a long
line but we all got in with relative ease. Sometimes SXSW
seems hopelessly to organized. It doesn't give me anything
to bitch about and, of course, that just pisses me off. Maybe
this will jinx it.
I had to wait in line for a bit but the time spent there
was made really enjoyable by the folks around me. A couple
behind me, which consisted of a female with a shaved head
tucked nicely into a lime green suit and her alt_rock boyfriend,
told me of seeing many films. We talked about "George
Wallace," "The
Independent," "Juvies," (which they said was depressing),
"Wildflowers," (which they said was much more light and enjoyable),
and "Grass." They had seen a lot of the documentaries. When
we talked of "Grass," which they liked, they mentioned that
some friends of theirs had walked from San Marcus to Austin
to support medical marijuana recently. They also said these
friends had a micro radio station in San Marcos and we being
interviewed for a documentary about such stations.
On the way into the theater I saw Chris Garcia of the austin
American Statesman and said hello. I had met him at a party
in Park City. I don't think he remembered me. I talked to
my friend Kelly again, who works at the Paramount, and he
told me that there were over 1000 people here for "Pimp."
That's pretty cool.
Before the film started, they let us know that Elvis Mitchell
of IFC would be taping a interview segment for "Independent
Focus" after the film. I had wondered why there was a 3 hour
gap between the movies screening there that night. The people
who introduce films at SXSW never say who they are. It's annoying.
Some guy with a badge and a clipboard will just bring out
a mike for a second and start talking.
I watched "American
Pimp" with a pretty young crowd. They howled with laughter
when these repulsive men called women "bitches" repeatedly
and talked about slapping them around. It was repulsive. (Read
my review).
After the film this weird looking guy came up to and sat
down close to beside me. He was a bit creepy, so I hastened
my movement to downstairs for the taping. They introduced
the Hughes Brothers a few minutes later and there was the
guy who had sat down near me. I swear to God.
The place cleared out a bit after the film but a lot of
folks stayed after to watch the taping. It took almost an
hour. I learned a lot about the Hughes that I didn't know.
They have one white and one black parent. There mother is
a radical feminist. They made several rap and hip hop videos
early in their career. They spoke a lot about the making of
"American Pimp" and seemed like honest and very real guys.
I ended up liking them quite a bit and maybe even rethinking
my opinion of their film, but only slightly.
The Hughes Brothers said that their next film would be about
Jack the Ripper. I think it is called "To Hell" or something
like that.
The taping ended a little after 9pm. I had planned on going
home early, since none of the late shows seemed all that intriguing,
but since the film at the State started at 9:30 and it was
right next door I decided to go and watch it. I'm so glad
I did.
I hadn't seen a film (or a play or anything for that matter)
at the State, so while standing in line for the film I asked
the young man ahead of me if he had ever seen a film there.
He said he had not. Thus began a long and wonderful conversation
with Trey, a college boy from Denton, Texas who was down for
a few days at SXSW. He was a cute guy, thin and with glasses,
so of course I found him attractive. The fact that he works
for a Blockbuster Video store and we spent the next 30 minutes
talking about film was just icing on the cake.
We talked about DVD's, Troma (he had met Troma founder Lloyd
Kaufman and because his name was the same as Trey Parker's,
Lloyd had given him a T-shirt), Park City, John Waters, Janeanne
Garofalo, the screening of "The Independent" the night before
(where he got Janeanne to autograph his film pass), and about
"Magnolia" and
P.T. Anderson. Trey is a "broadcast journalism" major and
goes to some college in his hometown (University of North
Texas, maybe. I know I'm dumb about this junk). He also does
some screenplay writing but I didn't have a chance to ask
him too much about that.
Trey did tell me about going to the Alamo for a special
sneak screening on Monday afternoon which turned out to be
a film called "the Bullfighter," which he hated. I wondered
if it was the one with Guillermo Del Torro and asked him this,
but he didn't seem to know who I was talking about and the
conversation quickly moved to other topics.
It was a really pleasant conversation and we sat next to
one and other while watching the film, "Spectres
of the Spectrum." The film was introduced by this girl
with an accent who I remember introduced Michael Snow during
a festival last fall. She always gives such interesting and
metaphorical introductions. She introduced the director, a
lanky and squirrely guy who talked for way too long before
starting his film. (Read my review).
I didn't hang around for the Q&A afterwards and I didn't
get to say good-bye to Trey during the shuffle out of the
building, which was kind of a bummer. I did see Karrie of
the Alamo Drafthouse leaving and she said hello to me.
I walked back to my car and contemplated the mysteries and
wonders of meeting new people and seeing old friends at film
festivals.
DAY ONE
DAY TWO
PREVIEW PAGE
DAY THREE
DAY FOUR
DAY FIVE
DAY SIX
FILMS
DAY 7
DAY EIGHT
DAY 9
|
