News from Slackerwood: aGLIFF, Beowulf and SXSW Presents

Tonight, the Austin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (aGLIFF) starts at the Arbor Theater and runs through Oct. 8, with a variety of films and parties scheduled. The opening-night films will be followed by a gala event down at City Hall. I'm covering the festival for Cinematical, so look for reviews and highlights over the next week.

Other special screenings and film-related events around Austin:

• Indie films opening in Austin today include the documentary The U.S. Vs. John Lennon at the Dobie, and Edmond at Alamo Lake Creek.
• Alamo's Saturday Morning Kids Club features a Joseph Losey film this month: the 1948 movie The Boy with Green Hair. Free admission to the Saturday noon screening at the South Lamar location, which might provide an interesting contrast with Austin Film Society's series on Losey.
• If you missed the epic adventure film Beowulf & Grendel (pictured above) at Fantastic Fest, you can catch it at Alamo Downtown on Saturday afternoon and Sunday night.

• Alamo Village is offering a gospel brunch on Sunday afternoon that includes live music and -- well, what movie do you think would go with a gospel brunch? Something with a lot of singing, dancing, and references to God -- The Blues Brothers, naturally. The menu includes fried chicken, eggs on dry white toast, and the Alamo's version of an orange whip.
• Enjoy Beerfest under ideal viewing circumstances for the film: Alamo Downtown's Oktoberfest beer and sausage feast on Sunday night.
  
• The Austin Film Society series "Surviving the Blacklist: Joseph Losey in Europe" continues on Tuesday night at Alamo Downtown with a double-feature of 1968 films: Secret Ceremony and Boom!
• Kat Candler's film Jumping Off Bridges, which premiered at SXSW this year, will screen at Alamo on South Lamar on Tuesday night. The screening is sponsored by the Travis County Suicide Prevention Coalition, and will be followed by a Q&A.
• KLRU's series SXSW Presents returns for a third season on Tuesday nights. The series features films that have played SXSW in previous years but haven't had a lot of exposure since then. Several are focused on Austin events. Tuesday night's kickoff film is Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party. This year, the shows not only include the films, but also panel discussions with people in the local film community ... I'm on a couple of the panels for later episodes, and you know I'll keep you posted about which ones.
• The Tom Waits concert film Big Time isn't currently available on DVD, but you can see it at Alamo Downtown on Wednesday, Thursday, or next Sunday.
• Normally the Sinus Show guys at least wait until a movie is out on DVD before they start mocking it mercilessly. Not this time: next Friday and Saturday -- in fact, every weekend this October -- you can see what the comedy troupe does with Snakes on a Plane at Alamo Downtown.