SXSW Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Just last week, the South by Southwest Film Festival revealed the majority of its 2010 line-up, and now they've announced the guests scheduled to attend for their always-informative panels.

Jeffrey Tambor is returning with his popular Acting Workshop; Michel Gondry will turn up for a conversation about his work to date and his latest documentary, A Thorn in the Heart (playing there); David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express) will talk about his role in the success of HBO's "Eastbound and Down"; and the casts of Kick-Ass and MacGruber will each host a panel about their respective films.

I'd be remiss if I omitted two of the panels in particular: One sees our own Scott Weinberg moderating a horror panel attended by the likes of Ti West, Quentin Tarantino, Eli Roth, Matt Reeves and Ruben Fleischer, while another sees our own Erik Childress taking to task hyperbole in film criticism. We don't want to shamelessly promote either of them, obviously, but I will just say that I've heard Erik's will be "the best panel of the year" and "a total laugh riot!"

So... take that for what you will.

"In Austin Texas, the lives of three young people "Erica, Franki and Nate" intertwine in a fateful, tragic way and head down a rocky and violent road to heart-rending oblivion."

Going off the above description from the official SXSW program guide, Red, White & Blue reads like it could be a number of different films, but two names attached to the production hint at what kind of "heart-rending oblivion" it'll be. First off, this is the latest film from The Living and the Dead director Simon Rumley, so we can begin to rule RW&B out as, say, a Havoc-type melodrama about teenagers dipping their toes into life on the other side of the tracks and winding up in over their heads. Second, its roster of producers includes Tim League, which should give anyone familiar with the cinematic tastes of both Fantastic Fest and the Alamo Drafthouse (League is a co-founder of both) an idea of what kind of genre brew will be coming to SXSW in a few weeks time.

But even with those two nuggets, nothing gives as good an idea of what's in store than seeing the beast in motion. And with that, Cinematical is proud to offer you the premiere of Red, White & Blue's first teaser trailer, starring Noah Tyler, Amanda Fuller and Marc Senter.

Be warned, the below teaser is most definitely Not Safe For Work. Nudity and sexual explicitness abound, so keep that in mind before you click on.

Cinematical has just been handed this exclusive trailer for the SXSW break-out hit The Overbrook Brothers, a film that has carried plenty of good buzz around to several other film festivals over the past year and is now ready to slam its fist down in your living room when IFC brings the film On-Demand this February 17th via its IFCInTheaters brand. Directed by John E. Bryant (and written by Bryant and Jason Foxworth), The Overbrook Brothers follows two brothers who go on a road trip to find their biological parents. On paper that may sound like a lot of small, indie comedies, but take a look at the trailer after the jump and tell me this flick doesn't look like an absolute riot.

A bunch of my friends and colleagues had lots of good things to say about this film after it premiered at SXSW last year, including our own Scott Weinberg (who you may see pop up in the trailer in quote form), who, following a festival screening, said this about the movie: "...My first "little" favorite is a dry indie comedy called The Overbrook Brothers, which seems a lot like every "dry indie festival comedy" I've ever come across ... for the first few minutes. But once the tone is laid down and the two leads settle into an effectively fractious chemistry, it becomes a very funny road trip with a few moments of real insight and strange warmth..."

Check out the trailer and poster after the jump, then make sure you order this sucker up it lands On-Demand this February 17th.

The SXSW Film, Music, and Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas just announced their list of features at this year's festival, and I have to say my excitement level has pinged up a couple of notches. I'm actually looking forward to this more than I was to Sundance, even though many of the same films are playing at both festivals. The all-seeing eye of the geek is on Kick-Ass, which will open the festival, but there are a ton of other projects that sound impressive, including the documentary The People vs. George Lucas, James Franco's SATURDAY NIGHT project about Saturday Night Live, MacGruber (my own personal jury is still out on this one), and Bernard Rose's Mr. Nice.

SXSW differs from most other film festivals in that it also encompasses a massive music festival as well, and it's nice to see that reflected in the film selection. Films include music documentaries about Lemmy Kilmister (Lemmy), Stephen Merritt and The Magnetic Fields (Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields), The White Stripes (The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights) and a David Byrne concert film (RIDE, RISE, ROAR), among others.

The Sundance Bonus Round: If you missed Cyrus, The Runaways, Winter's Bone, Get Low, Enter the Void, and several others that were at Sundance, they'll be playing here as well, giving you a second shot at seeing them.

SX Fantastic Fest: Last year, SXSW kicked off a collaboration with Fantastic Fest that continues this year, and will feature several FF-themed special screenings at the Alamo Drafthouse, like Tae-Kyun Kim's Higanjima and a super secret TBA world premiere..

Cinematical will be at SXSW in full force, so stay tuned in the days leading up to the March 12 launch of this year's festival, and throughout the event for reviews, interviews, and breaking news. Read the full breakdown of this year's many films that will be playing at SXSW just beyond the break.

After wowing the crowd at December's Butt-Numb-A-Thon (including our own John Gholson), the ultra-violent smart-ass superhero flick Kick-Ass is coming back to Austin for a more formal bow as the Opening Night Film of SXSW 2010 in mid-March.

The hype's only been exceedingly positive for Matthew Vaughn's comic-book adaptation, and Lionsgate was probably only willing to shell out a reported $50 million to distribute it if they thought they'd be making that much back and then some. Aaron Johnson (pictured), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad), Chloë Grace Moretz (500 Days of Summer) and Nicolas Cage (The Wicker Man) star; the film opens proper on April 16th.

SXSW won't reveal its complete program for a few weeks yet, not until early February, but they did reveal a couple of additional titles:

The 2010 South by Southwest Film Festival announced its first titles the old-fashioned way: by mail. On Saturday, I received an advertising piece from SXSW that included "a taste of the films planned for 2010." Elektra Luxx, directed by Sebastian Gutierrez, will have its world premiere at the fest. The film is a sequel to Women in Trouble, which debuted at SXSW last year, and again stars Carla Gugino (pictured above). She plays a porn actress "whose life descends into chaos when she discovers she's pregnant." Timothy Olyphant, Alicia Silverstone, and Justin Kirk also star. Gutierrez was working on the sequel even before Women in Trouble hit theater screens.

No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson, will also be showcased at SXSW. Steve James, whose Hoop Dreams recently celebrated its 15th anniversary -- Roger Ebert calls it "the great American documentary" -- directed. No Crossover is part of ESPN Films' 30 for 30 series; James returned to his hometown of Hampton, Virginia to "revisit a pivotal moment not just in that city's sports history, but its social and racial history as well." In February 1993, future NBA star Allen Iverson, 17 years of age, became involved in a bowling alley brawl pitting young black men against white patrons. The doc examines the impact on Iverson and the community.

Fest goers can also attend the first public screening of Hubble 3D at the Bob Bullock IMAX Theater, enabling them to "journey through distant galaxies and accompany space-walking astronauts." Cool! SXSW will be held in Austin, Texas from March 12-21 and Cinematical will cover it in full force. Until then, we'll be checking our mail for further announcements.

It all started in Venice in 1932 – the world's first film festival. Then other festivals began popping up for a variety of reasons, some political, given the growingly fascist government in Italy: Cannes in 1946, Edinburgh in 1947, Berlin in 1951, and so on, until the present day, when a journalist can spend a decent portion of the year (and salary) covering Sundance, the Toronto Film Festival, Telluride, South by Southwest, Fantastic Fest, New York Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, CineVegas, and, more recently, San Diego Comic-Con, just to name as a few, as well as the aforementioned international festivals if they're really lucky.

As time has passed, the fests have become more than venues for movie buyers and sellers to haggle over movies or arbiters of taste in the finest of arthouse flicks. Along the way, critics and journalists have gotten into the festival circuit, which is a win-win for the movies and the writers; small films get the buzz that's sometimes a good push for them to get picked up by distributors, and the writers get access to films before they get hot, making them tastemakers and generally ahead of the curve when it comes to Oscar season, film trends, and insider-y scoops that can only occur when you find yourself sharing an elevator with a Weinstein. Festivals can be great litmus tests for movies that take forever to get picked up – you can pretty much guarantee they're gonna be a stinker by the time they arrive in theaters for a weekend and disappear after that.

Look, I know what you're thinking. I thought the same thing when this photo arrived in my inbox. And then I looked at the "backstage" footage from Women in Trouble, which you can see for yourself after the jump, and I was even more confused. The clip begins with porn star Elektra Luxx (Carla Gugino from Watchmen in a really questionable faux bondage ensemble over regular street clothes) announcing that she's here to tell you why you shouldn't see Women in Trouble. Fresh-faced prostitute Holly Rocket (Adrianne Palicki from Friday Night Lights) chimes in that she's also here to talk to you about why you should avoid the movie. It's not for people who don't like sex, "hot chicks in lingerie," "damn strong language," or, uh, spaceships, among other things. ("There is no spaceship in the movie," whispers Elektra to Holly.), Later, the two talk amongst themselves...

After a long flight on my part and a far longer drive for both of us, Scott Weinberg and I have finally arrived in Montréal for the FanTasia International Film Festival (their thirteenth, our first). The genre-heavy festival lasts for nearly three weeks; alas, we've but one to spare, so without much further ado, here's a look at what I've seen already and what I hope to see before Scott tips his own hand with a title or two to recommend.

Of the features playing, I can highly recommend Michael Paul Stephenson's Troll 2 doc, Best Worst Movie; the Aussie revenge thriller, The Horseman (not to be confused with the barely-seen Dennis Quaid vehicle, Horsemen); and Paul Solet's beautifully bloody baby horror, Grace. Those looking for something a bit stranger might end up being a bit more fond of Black and The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle than I was, though I also seemed more easily pleased by the Nazi zombies of Dead Snow than most, so I guess it all balances out. My enthusiasm for the ultra-kitschy likes of Alien Trespass and Lesbian Vampire Killers, not to mention the admittedly boundary-pushing Deadgirl, is all a bit less than what's already been mentioned, so let's just leave those at that.

Read the rest at HorrorSquad!

In some opposite-ish corner of the world right now (from me anyway), the New Zealand International Film Festival kicks off today for the rest of the month, before making further provincial rounds through next November. (Damn, now that's a film festival!) It makes all the more sense that people might want to plan ahead for the highlights, and what better way to do that than to bequeath some awards for the films right from the get-go?

Incredibly Strange programmer Ant Timpson (who's perfectly normal himself, I swear it; that's the name of their specifically oddball selections) has rightfully singled out SXSW '09 alums like Best Worst Movie, Drag Me to Hell, Grace, The Horseman and Winnebago Man for particular accolades (i.e. "Best Film to Show Filmmakers That Low-Budget Doesn't Mean Twenty-Somethings Sitting in Cafes Talking About Their Boring Relationships"), not to mention a couple of other picks.

Timpson sums up his mentality thusly: "I already know these films are very special. I don't need a jury to tell me what I already know. I'm giving these films awards in advance because 99% of the public don't care what films win awards AFTER they've screened, they want to know BEFORE they screen..." Believe me you, the man has a point. The real question is, how will such thinking play in the States?