Well, to paraphrase "Easy Rider," I blew it. I was so tired and so burnt on movies, I slept all day. I not only missed "Things that Hang from Trees" in the morning, but slept right through the afternoon and missed "Gabrielle" and "The Lost." I thought about going to "American Dreamz" but figured it would be really crowded. I set my sights on seeing Joe Swanberg's "LOL" at the Convention Center at 9:45. I told Johnny about Swanberg's last film, "Kissing on the Mouth" and how the director had jacked off in that film to a full orgasm and Johnny was suddenly interested in going.

I drove around for a good 15 minutes trying to find parking and was just about to give up and call it a night. Johnny called and said he had found some over on the south side of Cesar Chavez (AKA 1st street) by a gay bar called The Chain Drive and I bitched and moaned about how far it would be to walk but ended up meeting him by where he parked and finding a space. It wasn't so bad. We only had to walk three blocks or so.

We got into the Convention Center and I went to pee. There were a few people milling about and as I headed back by the screening room, I noticed Swanberg, who I met last year with Spencer Parsons, over in the corner talking to Kat Candler ("Jumping off Bridges") and some other people. I went over and said hello. I told Kat how much I loved her film and she introduced me to the woman beside her, who I recognized from the Q&A. She was one of the producers. I'm terrible with names.

We went into the theater and Swanberg, who always seems so cute and cheerful, thanked us for come out for the last screening on the last night of the festival, introduced the film, and told us he would do a Q&A following the screening.

The stadium seats at the Convention Center are kinda wobbly and you can feel it each time someone walks down the stairs to leave the screening room. There were a lot of walk-outs during the screening of "LOL" so I can quite easily say that I literally could feel how much the audience hated the film.

Swanberg, Mason Wells and Kevin Bewersdorf did a Q&A after the film. Bewersdorf, who did the Noise Head transition segments for the film told us that there were several of these made for the film which did not make it into the final cut. He told us that he really hated making these as they were complex and time consuming. For a part of the time he was working on them, he was in Berlin and he and Swanberg mailed the videos back and forth.

When someone asked about the film being made for an Ipod shuffle, Swanberg told us that the film was originally intended to by made in pieces which could be randomly accessed and seen in random order on a DVD player or an Ipod Shuffle, but that plan was scraped during production as various arcs in the characters' stories because evident. Another reason this was abandoned was that festival screenings usually are on video tape (which is obviously linear) and thus, the scenes could not be randomly shown.

At the end of the Q&A, the guys gave the attendees CD's including a "LOL" soundtrack which we were told had several songs that were not in the film. Bewersdorf also gave us a copy of his CD, "Slow Dudes."

After walking back to our cars, Johnny and I went to Starseeds for a late dinner. I saw my friend Kevin in the Dirty City. I don't know his last name but we call him that because he used to be in a band called In the Dirty City and I know so many Kevins that this became his unofficial last name. He told me he was playing in a band called Single Frame and tried to play it off as if it weren't important to him. We chatted for a second and he promised to e-mail me (which he hasn't). I noticed he had black magic marker X's on his hands, so I guess he is still under 21.

Our favorite waiter at Starseeds, Shaun, told us that he is moving to Alaska with his girlfriend in a few weeks. What a bummer.

Well, SXSW 2006 is over. I saw 22 films in nine days. Festivals are becoming more and more tedious and difficult. It just seems like day after day of being beaten down and not having a life followed by another week or two of writing and missing movie s I want to see because I still have so many reviews from the festival left to write. I am writing this on May 29th, over 10 days since the festival ended.

Looking back, the real highlight of the festival for me was running into so many Austin film people that I like and haven't seen in a long time. Seeing Kat Candler, Courtney Davis, Korey Coleman and the Reel Deal guys, Joe Swanberg, Karrie League of the Alamo Drafthouse, Dan Cofer of the Dobie and Kyle Henry was really cool. Meeting filmmaker Jacob Vaughn and Timothy Massett

of the Jacksonville, Florida, film festival gave me some people to look forward to running into again.

Kyle Henry has already shot an episode of Lube TV to promote the run of his film "Room" at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar on April 7th and were running some pictures of him and a banner ad for the film on the site. It's so exciting to know someone as talented and cool as Kyle. He's very down to Earth, funny, sweet, and he love filethirteen. Even when we disagree, we still remain friends and I look forward to every single moment I get to spend with him. He's the kind of guy that makes you believe Austin can still be a viable, cutting edge, important film center in America.

I know people in Austin are going to hate me for dogging the Austin films "The King" and "2AM." I know I will get that old "you need to support the local film scene" spiel from someone again here soon in the future. But they have to understand that I am a reviewer and critic, not a hype-man and, regardless, any press, any mention of films made in Austin is good hype. Hell, just read my review of "The King;" if that doesn't make you want to see it - no commercial or poster or marketing ploy will.

It was also cool to go to "Don't Come Knocking" and see Wim Wenders do a Q&A. He was a great speaker, funny and entertaining and he had the most wonderful stories. He has been one of my favorite filmmakers ever since I saw "The State of Things" on video in the early 90's. What a treat to see him live in person. And the film was quite good too.

My favorite films of the festival, of the 22 I saw, were:

"Dance Party, USA," "Jumping Off Bridges," "Who the $#%& is Jackson Pollack," "Brothers of the Head," and "Life of Reilly." These are excellent films and it was a joy and a pleasure to discover them at SXSW. I can't wait for others to get to take a look at them. Discovering the fresh, raw talent of Aaron Katz, Cole Pensinger, Bryan Chafin, and the brothers Treadaway was just as compelling and just as rewarding as meeting Teri Horton and considering her five dollar thrift store Pollack and listening to a cult icon and hero like Charles Nelson Reilly discuss his life in his one-man play. These are moments I will treasure forever.

My mind and body are still recovering. But I bet you anything I'll be ready to do it again by the time Agliff and The Austin Film Festival roll around.

South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference & Festival Announces Festival Winners

Austin, TX - March 14, 2006 - SXSW is pleased to announce the winners of the 2006 edition of the SXSW Film Festival.

Jury Awards:

Reel Shorts

Runner Up - "Shortstop" directed by Risa Machuca & Fanny Veliz.

Winner - "Hiro" directed by Matthew Swanson.

Animated Shorts

Runner Up - "Tall Tales & Other Big Lies" directed by Dano Johnson.

Winner - "The Wraith of Cobble Hill" directed by Adam Parrish King.

Experimental Shorts

Runner Up - "Stadtplan" directed by Reynold Reynolds.

Winner - **TIE**"Sea Change" directed by Joe King & Rosie Pedlow

"Marion" directed by Ry Russo-Young.

Music Videos

Runner Up - The Sad Little Stars 'Don't Fuck With Love' directed by Rachel McIntosh & Jim Starace.

Winner - Ralfe Band "Women Of Japan" directed by Nigel Coan & Ivana Zorn.

Texas High School Competition

Runner Up- "Weathered" directed by Elizabeth Mims.

Winner - "Maikafer" directed by Chris Hergert.

Documentary Feature

Special Jury Award - "Maxed Out" directed by James D. Scurlock.

Winner - "Jam" Dir. Mark Woollen

Narrative Feature

Special Jury Prize - Outstanding Ensemble Cast - "AMERICANese" directed by Eric Byler.

Special Jury Prize - Outstanding Visual Achievement - "Inner Circle Line" directed by Eunhee Cho.

Winner - "Live Free or Die" directed by Andy Robin & Gregg Kavet.

Emerging Visions

Runner Up- "Manhattan, Kansas" directed by Tara Wray.

Winner - "High Score" directed by Jeremy Mack.

Lone Star States

Runner Up - "Slam Planet: War of the Words" directed by Mike Henry & Kyle Fuller.

Winner - "State VS Reed" directed by Ryan Polomski & Frank Bustoz.

Documentary Feature

Winner - "Darkon" directed by Andrew Neel & Luke Meyer.

Narrative Feature

Winner - "AMERICANese" directed by Eric Byler

Lodger @ SXSW 2006