Usually I am all over the SXSW opening-night festivities, but this year I decided to try something different: the annual Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards at Austin Studios. I snapped red-carpet photos of many celebrities presenting or receiving awards, then had a break in the lobby during the dinner and auction (a set visit for Will went for $5K; a set visit with extra trimmings for King of the Hill went for an even more phenomenal amount). I ducked back into the big dining area for the awards themselves.
Dan Rather emceed the ceremony this year -- I'd never heard him being this funny before. Tess Harper presented an award to Morgan Fairchild, who reminisced about a Sixties fling with a drummer for ZZ Top. Jayne Mansfield's daugher, Mariska Hargitay (Law and Order: SVU) accepted an award on behalf of her mother. Debra Winger accepted an ensemble award for Urban Cowboy, reminding us all of the days when mechanical bulls ruled certain watering holes. Luke Wilson, describing himself as a half-crazed megafan of ZZ Top, inducted the trio into the Hall of Fame. And finally, the Ann Richards award went to filmmaker Mike Judge -- when a clip was shown from Office Space, the whole audience whooped and cheered. (They were less enthusiastic about Beavis and Butthead.)
Today, I need to catch up double-time on movies, since the awards took up all of my Friday evening. Today I'm hoping to see The Order of Myths, Margaret Brown's movie about Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama; Josh Brolin's short film, X (and hopefully Brolin himself, mmm); and Dreams with Sharp Teeth, the doc about Harlan Ellison. There's also a chance for a happy hour where I hope to run into the rest of the Cinematical gang.
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