South
by Southwest 2004 - Day 2- Saturday March 13, 2004
A rainy, dreary day. I didn't pull my ass out of
bed until almost 2pm. I had planned on getting up and
going to the Open House at Austin Studios since I have
never actually had a chance to visit there but, not
too much to my surprise, blew that off in order to sleep
a little longer. I took a shower, watched the episode
of Fox TV's "Play It Straight" (which is the best trash
on TV right now) and headed to the Paramount.
The lines for "I
Love Your Work" were quite long. I saw my friend
Jan, who is probably the only person I know who sees
more films than me, and said hello. She offered me a
place in the pass line (because usually I just have
a Film Pass) bit I told her I had a badge. I would have
offered to save her a place inside but I like to sit
in the second or third row and I've never seen her sit
that close.
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I had to stand in the rain but I had brought
my roomie's umbrella. Finally we got to go inside
and I grabbed a popcorn and Diet Coke so I could
take my meds. I figured I would grab a bite at
the Alamo Drafthouse later in the evening when
I saw "Napoleon
Dynamite." I was given a ballot but I never
fill those out because I cast my vote with my
reviews. I went and sat in the second row. I noticed
that Ravkill was sitting in the row behind me.
Sitting in row was a blonde girl who had two photographers
talking to her. They were like vultures. Straight
guys are so funny. A volunteer announced the show
and said that the filmmaker and some of the cast
were in attendance and would do a Q&A after the
movie. The film started and the SXSW trailer was
"Convergence" again.
After the movie SXSW Producer Matt Dentler
brought out Adam Goldberg, the actor who directed
the film, came out and did a Q&A. No one else
got up on stage from the cast or crew.
I waited in the rain to go into the Alamo
for "Napoleon Dynamite" and found myself unaccustomed
to having to maneuver an umbrella in a crowd.
It's very important to be conscious of your surroundings
when attempting this undertaking.
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Adam
Goldberg
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I finally got into the inside and headed
upstairs while the line moved slowly forward. The hold-up
was so that the RIDICULOUS FUCKING ASSHOLES OF FOX SEARCHLIGHT
FILMS could check everyone's bags and wand them for
metallic items. I admitted that I had a camera but I
was press and that my camera was approved by SXSW and
THE FUCKING ASSHOLES MADE ME LEAVE MY BATTERIES WITH
SECURITY. Is that not the stupidest fucking thing you
ever heard? I left my batteries and while heading up
into the lobby shouted, "IT'S A FESTIVAL!" I felt better
anyway.
I realized the screening would be full to the brim
so I made the quick decision to not eat or drink (no
waiter ever ask me if I wanted anything anyway) and
to give the film a horrible review because of the RIDICULOUS
FUCKING SECURITY. Fuck these ridiculous fucking assholes.
The overwhelming evidence continues to support the fact
that it is the labs and the effects houses and other
people who get to prints of the films before the public
are the ones pirating these films! That Fox Searchlight
and a number of other distributors insists of harassing
the people who come to see their films (mainly people
they are hoping will promote the film by "word of mouth")
is just absurd. This piracy hysteria continues to be
out of hand and the distributors are ridiculously pissing
off the very people who might promote the film for them.
Whew. I fumed for 30 minutes and I hated the film. I
still don't know if I hated it because it was bad or
because I was so pissed off at the distributor.
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Morgan
Spurlock
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Before the film I went to the bathroom and
ran into Ravkill and said hello to him. He said
hello but seem totally embarrassed to be doing
so. I went back to my seat where I proceeded to
watch the film while the stupid cunt sorostitute
next to me elbowed me throughout its running.
The film started with no SXSW trailer but otherwise
ran smooth.
When the film was just about over, I left
and got my batteries and went outside. It had
pretty much stopped raining. On 5th Street, I
ran into my friend J.H. who I mainly see during
film festivals. J.H. is a super nice guy and very,
very cute and although we always talk quite a
bit when we see each other, I still can't figure
him out. We talked about a few films we had seen.
We both hated "Code
46" but he said everyone else he talked to
liked it. He had just come from "Bush's Brain,"
a documentary about the president's advisor Karl
Rove. J.H. seemed to like it but he also intimated
that he was a bit of a Bush supporter and he had
to sit through the film with an anti-Bush audience.
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J.H. also recommended the documentary about
a Haitian radio journalist by Jonathan Demme called
"The Agronomist" before he went to grab a bite at Noodleism
(I've never been there). We were both going to go see
"Super
Size Me" at the Paramount next and I was going to
get in line, so I told him to look for me in line if
he wanted. I walked to the Paramount and the lines were
long but I was a little bit closer that I had been for
"I Love Your Work." A lady came by and asked if she
could see what was in my bag. I went through the whole
camera spiel and she told me that she had been told
that no cameras were allowed but that I should talk
to Morgan when I got inside. I told her okay. I decided
that I would just wait and see if others were taking
pictures inside and if they were, I would too. I don't
use a flash (which is why my pics kinda suck) so I don't
see how they could bother anyone. Anyway, before long,
J.H. was there and we continued to talk. He told me
that his brother is doing some (non-film related) work
with Peter Berg and some of the actors working on "Friday
Night Lights" here in town.
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While we stood in line, some guys from the
"48 Hour Film Festival" came up and handed out
flyers and a candy bar promoting their screening.
One of the guys who was on the flyer is apparently
in that dodge commercial where he gets the little
boy to say "Hemi." Also, some guy came by handing
out books. This seemed odd so we quized him about
it. He said it was a novel coming out later this
year and the publisher was just giving out copies
to help word-of-mouth. The book is "Wild Animus"
by Rich Shapero and J.H. and I both took a copy.
The guy told us he was also taking donation which
scared me for a second before he smiles and laughed
and told us he was "just kidding."
We finally got to go inside and I told J.H.
that he didn't have to sit by me because I like
to sit really close but he said that he would
be okay with sitting close. We went to the front
and sat in the second row again. The film was
suppose to start at 9:30 but it was probably almost
10 before it finally got underway. Guess they
were making sure as many people as possible could
get it. While we waited J.H. and I talked about
films more and got into a discussion that touched
on Kevin Smith, Hal Hartley and Whit Stillman.
We also talked a little about film piracy and
J.H.'s recent trip to Mexico.
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Spurlock
and Girlfriend
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I really like J.H. but when I'm talking
to him I always feel like he doesn't really like the
fact that I am very opinionated and fairly loud-mouthed.
I was really surprised that he wanted to hang out quite
so much tonight. It's really funny, he asks my opinion
then seems to wince when I have one. I guess he wishes
I was less opinionated and I wish he had an opinion
at all. He is just so nice.
Matt Dentler finally came out and introduced Morgan
Spurlock, the director of the film. He said a few words
and promised to come out for a Q&A after the screening.
(So that was the Morgan the lady was talking about who
asked about cameras. The film began and it had another
SXSW trailer that was pretty horrible. I think SXSW
took a page from the Austin Film Festival and asked
8mm filmmakers (like the ones in Austin Cinemaker Co-op
- who are now called something else I think). Anyway,
these are really bad, grainy trailers that aren't very
good. This one had something to do with Bollywood.
J.H. stayed for the Q&A. Spurlock is a nice guy
and is really good with a crowd but the majority of
the audience were so enamoured with his message that
they were putty in his hands. He did at least bring
his girlfriend out and let her get a round of applause.
She is in the film and seems really smart and funny.
Afterward the screening ended, J.H. and I headed outside
and said our good-byes. I walked to my car and called
Wan Fu and ordered some Chinese.
Tomorrow I want to see four films and my head already
hurts after two days.
Lodger@SXSW2004
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