It's heartening to see a good indie film find distribution after you'd almost lost hope of seeing it again, or being able to urge your friends to watch it. I caught Dear Pillow during a limited run at Alamo Drafthouse in 2004, as part of a series showcasing SXSW films that hadn't yet found theatrical distribution. I was pleasantly surprised by the Austin-shot film and although I thought its sexual content might make it a tough sell, wished it would eventually find a wider audience. Three years later, Dear Pillow has finally appeared on DVD, and I am able to recommend it to anyone who doesn't object to watching a frank film about sex.

Dear Pillow isn't a porno, and in fact we witness very little sex or nudity in the film. Characters talk about sex, read and write and watch porn, and obviously are desirous of having sex with the people around them. (They masturbate, but we don't see this directly.) This isn't a dry, talky movie, however -- it can get downright disturbing at times.

You might have heard the term "mumblecore" recently and are wondering where it came from and what it means. I'm still trying to figure that out myself. Here's what I know: In 2005, Andrew Bujalski (Mutual Appreciation) gave an interview to IndieWIRE in which he mentioned the term "mumblecore" as a name for a new indie-film movement. (The term allegedly came from Eric Masunga, the sound mixer on Bujalski's Funny Ha-Ha.) At SXSW this year, the term "mumblecore" was invoked everywhere -- the cast of Joe Swanberg's film Hannah Takes the Stairs included several mumblecore filmmakers, and SXSW Film Festival head Matt Dentler called the film "the blockbuster of this movement." Aaron Hillis actually created a groovy chart that linked many of the mumblecore gang together on different projects. But none of this is giving you a clear definition, is it?

As I see it (and you should feel free to correct me), "mumblecore" refers to a group of American filmmakers who tend to work on each other's movies, and whose films are performance-based and focus on the everyday problems, often about relationships, of middle-class twentysomethings. Some examples besides the above-mentioned films might include Susan Buice and Arin Crumley's 2005 feature Four-Eyed Monsters; The Puffy Chair, from brothers Jay and Mark Duplass; and Orphans, Ry Russo-Young's film that won a special jury award at SXSW this year (Buice and Russo-Young are in the minority as female filmmakers among the mumblecore guys).

So this week's Eat My Shorts includes a sampling of films from some of the Mumblecorps, as the group is also called, mostly from their earlier filmmaking days. Every short film on the following list ties in with one of the others -- the editor of one may be the director of another and the star of a third. These shorts tend to be funny rather than angst-y, but with some genuine emotion behind the laughs at times. Whether you're mumblecore or working on your own shorts, feel free to email me links to any shorts available to watch online: shorts AT cinematical DOT com.

It seems as though sex is permeating many of the film events in Austin this week, from movies that stretched the limits of the old Production Code (Lolita, Baby Doll) to contemporary movies that stretch our ideas about sex and film (Dear Pillow, Kissing on the Mouth). Labyrinth is also a hot choice for many David Bowie fans. You may want to buy a frosty beverage, with lots of ice, to accompany your viewing of these films. Or you could go see something tamer, but what's the fun in that?

• This week's addition to the AFS@Dobie collaboration is the 2005 Australian Western feature The Proposition, which opens today for a week-long run at the Dobie. Tibet: A Buddhist Trilogy and Clean are being held over for extended runs.
• This week's selection of Summer Movie Classics at the Paramount includes a saucy pairing of Lolita and Baby Doll on Sunday and Monday, a "Tales of Kipling" double-feature of Gunga Din and The Man Who Would Be King on Tuesday and Wednesday, and all three Indiana Jones movies next weekend.

• Bryan Poyser, producer and co-writer of The Cassidy Kids, shares the six most important things he learned from SXSW this year, as a filmmaker and an attendee. I would have thought he'd already know that "dark elves can't be trusted," but then he does live in Austin.

• Doug Block, who directed 51 Birch Street, writes about the SXSW audience reaction to the documentary about his family. Block's father and stepmother were present at the Austin screenings and his dad fielded a number of questions with good humor.
• Micah posted in the comments of last week's Film Blog Group Hug about his Austin-based film blog, Dumb Distraction. He managed to see 21 movies in four days at SXSW this year. I'm in awe. Next year I want to follow him around for a day to see if I can keep up.
• Martin of the new blog Blank Screen wrote a detailed review of East of Havana, the Charlize Theron-produced documentary about Cuban rap music. The entry includes some photos of Theron from the Q&A after the film's SXSW screening.
• Nothing to do with SXSW: Ed Symkus recounts a sweet little tale about chocolate-chip pancakes, True Grit, and the sad effects of bending to parental pressure. Obviously someone needs to open a diner that caters to film geeks ... maybe a chain, with outlets in Boston and Austin.