Austin saw plenty of movie action in March as the popular SXSW Film Festival descended on the “biggest little town” in Texas. For an intensely creative and exciting week industry types, cinephiles, eager attendees (and me) crowded the streets and multiple theatres throughout town to watch the best in indie film.
SXSW saw record numbers this year for its film festival (traditionally it was only a music festival), which reflects a growing interest in the film portion and thus even more elite film selections. The SXSW “powers that be” sifted through thousands of submissions to select the best out there in indie film, in categories that included narrative films, documentaries, shorts, horror/genre films, big-budget films, and international offerings.
Jason Eisener’s Hobo With a Shotgun is a fun, blood-spattered homage to vintage exploitation films. It screened at last week’s SXSW Film Festival, and Eisner took time to sit down with me to discuss his film, which will get a theatrical release this May.
Cold Sweat is a nonsensical horror film out of Argentina. With a plot so illogical it’s hard to describe, Cold Sweat (Sudor Frio) didn’t work on any level. Ok…there was one worthwhile head-exploding scene, but that’s it. Premiering at Austin’s SXSW film festival last week, Cold Sweat was less a horror film and more a vehicle for ultra close-ups of wet, half-naked female bodies.
The plot, from what I could decipher, centers around an ex-boyfriend looking for closure. He and his female friend are looking for his ex-girlfriend so he can talk things over with her, except she‘s kind of fallen off the face of the planet. He’s had a few emails from his ex, and he and his friend are using the IP address on the emails to track her down.
So this isn’t a great re-imagining of the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, but Beastly does have mass tweener appeal. It’s a charming bit of fluff, all said, with plenty of cheesy pre-pubescent humor and cutsie romance.
Alex Pettyfer, a hot commodity right now in Hollywood, stars as the “beast” (aka Kyle). Kyle is the coolest (and hottest) guy in his elite private high school. His father is a famous anchorman, and has taught Kyle from a young age that looks are everything (and those that don’t think so are either dumb or ugly). Kyle seems to have it all, well all of it except any real depth of character or kindness. He picks on a bizarre witchy fringe-type, setting her up and then humiliating her at a high school party. This incurs her wrath, and she curses him with the very worst thing he can imagine: ugliness.
Takashi Miike’s samurai film 13 Assassins screened at Austin’s SXSW film festival last week, and featured some great swordplay. It was, however, somewhat dry and lackluster, and seemed to be missing director Miike’s signature dark vision and twisted violence.
The story is simple enough. There is the powerful, sadistic Lord Naritsugu who does whatever he wants (and mostly he wants to use innocent families as target practice). No one can touch him because he’s related to the Shogun. After the people begin to complain of his atrocities to the honorable samurai Shinzaemon, a plan is hatched to secretly assassinate him before he can assume even more power, and throw the country into war again.
Co-starring in the sci-fi thriller Source Code, Vera Farmiga took a minute to sit down with me at the SXSW film fest to discuss her role. Farmiga, who has played strong women before in films like The Departed and Running Scared, plays soldier Carol Goodwin, the main liaison between Colter (Jake Gyllenhaal) and the source code creator, mad scientist Max Denoff. Her character must deal with Colter as he struggles to understand what is happening to him, and tries to find out who planted a bomb on a train.
This bizarre adult animated film out of Poland premiered at Austin’s SXSW Film Festival last week. George the Hedgehog (Jez Jerzy) sported some really messy, almost childish, animation while dealing with a libido-driven, skateboarding hedgehog and his flatulent clone.
Ok, after that set up you’re probably wondering what the hell kind of film this is. It’s like a cartoon for pervs, but with some great humor and satire. There are tons of skimpily clad women with humongous boobs and a hedgehog they can’t get enough of. George is a sexual dynamo, and he’s never had a problem getting women. Maybe that’s because he’s the only orgasm-inducing hedgehog around, or maybe because he’s really cool and strangely resilient to all attempts to destroy him. He turns out a sort of anti-hero, always saving people without even meaning too.
Michelle Monaghan co-stars in the sleek sci-fi thriller Source Code, in theatres April 1st. It premiered at Austin’s popular SXSW Film Festival, and Michelle took some time to sit down with me and discuss the project. Check it out below. Audio version included at the end of the page.
Super is an irreverent and twisted comedy about a sad loser who decides to take his fight against evil to the next level. And if you think the next level is fashioning a ridiculous superhero costume out of red cloth and naming himself the Crimson Bolt, you’d be right. With disturbing humor, graphic violence and comic book-esque animated sequences, Super puts the Ka-pow in action/comedies.
Ben Ripley penned the sleek sci-fi thriller Source Code, in theatres April 1st. It premiered at Austin’s popular SXSW Film Festival, and Ben took some time to sit down with me and discuss the project.
