Last year, along with the buzz of blood and chaos, Grindhouse brought rumors of marital difficulties. Officially, Robert Rodriguez and Elizabeth Avellan have stated that they were split well before the making of the movie, and that all was amicable. Rumors, however, have also been circulating about Rose McGowan's involvement, which quickly went from a "professional relationship," to a hand-holding appearance at Cannes. Yet another case of the long-term partner getting dumped for the younger actress -- I guess not all men can be Maxwell Caulfield. Anyhow, Avellan recently talked with the New York Times about where things lay post-separation, both for her production company with her ex, Troublemaker Studios, and her future solo work.

The company will continue to run as-is, in accordance with earlier claims, but it looks like both are going to branch out to separate projects. For the first time, she's working with a director other than Rodriguez and is bringing Jonathan Jakubowicz's Queen of the South to the screen for Warner Independent Pictures. She says: "I didn't want Robert to feel like I wasn't giving 150 percent, like any producer would do. So I'd not talk about this or that. Now I feel free to mention some of the things that I'm doing."

It's both a freeing and eerie statement -- one that speaks well for her future, but sadly of her past. Hopefully this is the beginning of some time in the spotlight for Avellan. As the piece notes, The Hollywood Reporter had listed a Latino Power 50 this year, but while Rodriguez was listed third, she wasn't included, nor mentioned. She's functioned under the radar for many years now, so hopefully the time has come to see her shine.

With the South by Southwest Film Festival only a short ten days away, you'd think the programmers would be taking it easy. Wrong-o. Nobody rests on their laurels down in Austin, which explains why the SXSW crew keeps adding new movies, panelists and special guests! Here's the most-recent (although probably not final) batch of late additions:

Pop star James Blunt will attend the world premiere of James Blunt: Return to Kosovo, so be sure to bring those autograph books, ladies!

Director D.J. Caruso and "hot young" actor Shia LaBeouf will be in attendance for the world premiere of their Disturbia thriller, and will probably be talked into a post-movie Q & A session.

Actress Connie Britton and director Sarah Kelly will be here to introduce their cool-looking '80s-centric movie The Lather Effect, which also stars Tate Donovan, Eric Stoltz, Ione Skye, Peter Facinelli and Monica Keena.

Producer Elizabeth Avellan will stop by for a panel discussion on March 14th, and considering she's worked on movies like Sin City, Spy Kids and Grindhouse ... I just might have to stop by and have a listen.

Reign Over Me, a flick that sure looks like a true-blue "tearjerker for guys," will have its world premiere at SXSW on Wednesday, March 14. Written and directed by Mike Binder (The Upside of Anger), it stars Don Cheadle and Adam Sandler as former college roommates whose lives took off in decidedly ... different directions. (UPDATE: Both Cheadle and Sandler will be in attendance at this screening.)

More SXSW updates as they become available. And get ready for some serious wall-to-wall coverage of America's finest flm festival once March 9 hits the calendar.