SXSW Day 3 - Sunday March 12th, 2006 Got up at 10am today to go see "Dance Party, USA" since I had met the filmmaker at the screening of Altman's "A Prairie Home Companion" on the opening night of SXSW. The screening was at the Alamo Downtown at 11am. I don't think I've ever gotten my ass out of bed to see a screening before noon at a film festival ever. Seriously.

I parked easily and walked down to the Alamo and headed inside. The girl at the top of the stairs in the lobby handed me a ballot and said, "Hello, Lodger." I've never seen this girl before in my life! I am a fucking superstar!

I walked in to the theater and they were showing an 80's instructional dance video that explained a goofy dance called the "Funky Isolation" in horrifying step-by-step accuracy. It was hilarious. There were also clips of some mod goofy girl singer on Soupy Sales' show in the 60's, a clip from the Elvis comeback special, and some other goofy 60's musical performance clips. The guy who directed "Punk Like Me" was handing out postcards and talking about his film to people in the audience.

All of a sudden and female voice said hello and I turned around and there was Karrie League who owns the Alamo with her husband Tim. Karrie plopped down right beside me and we began to talk. I hadn't seen her in ages. She's so sweet and nice and always has a smile on her face. I was so glad to get to catch up with her. We chatted about how she was doing and she told me that her and Tim only own the south Lamar, Village and Downtown locations now. The sold the franchise of the Alamo to some people who are opening locations nationwide. I told her I hadn't been to Lake Creek yet and she told me that they didn't own that one anymore; in fact, that is where the new owners have their headquarters.

It was so cool that Karrie came and sat by me and hung out. Like Dan Cofer who runs the Dobie, (See Day 2) I wasn't really sure what she thought of me. We used to chat a lot when I first started the website and there was only the Downtown location. She was there often, as was I, and we always said hello and chatted briefly. It made me feel great that she thought enough of me to sit beside me and catch up with me.

We chatted for quite a while before a volunteer introduced the film and filmmaker. The filmmaker didn't look like the guy who I met on Friday night. Didn't that guy tell me he was the director? I don't know. So many people, so many screenings. This guy was really young. He looked like he was about 16. And very, very cute. Anyway, this guy told us that he would be around after for the Q&A.

The film was preceded by a short called "Apple's Cherry" that was really typical and lousy. It was an all black cast and the film showed how the guy bragged about laying this girl while she told her friends that she lost her virginity to the guy in a more sweet and demure way. Then, of course, there was the reality of the sexual encounter which found the braggart male to be scared and wanting to talk first and the virginal girl admitting to him that she had been with two other guys. Yawn. We've seen this a million times. If this was a film with white people in it, it never would have been accepted into the festival.

During the Q&A, Katz answered the usual questions and I thought he was pretty articulate and intelligent for a 16 year old. He certainly wasn't egotistical or pretentious. When someone asked him about the script, he said he wrote it during his second and third year at college. So, I thought, Jesus, he must be 20 or 21. He looks so young.

In the lobby, I saw the young actor/producer that I met at the Paramount and asked him, "Where's the guy I met with you the other night?" He pointed to the young director. I said, "Is that him? Did he shave his moustache?"

"He did. We convinced him to." He said.

Katz was deep in conversation with some other viewer but I walked up and handed him a Filethirteen pin and told him I loved the movie. He thanked me for coming and I thanked him for inviting me. I got out quickly before I turned into a flaming queen and told him how cute he was. I went outside and headed to the Paramount to see "Gretchen," starring Courtney Davis, who is a friend. Karrie was outside. I asked if she was going to see "Gretchen" and she told me she wanted to but she left her badge at home and was trying to get hold of Tim, her husband, to see if he could bring it to her. She got him on the phone. I started walking and called my fag hag Lauralee who has promised to come see some films with me. She told me she wanted to see "Pick Up the Mic" and "Bondage."

I was just hanging up and halfway across the street between 7th and 8th on Congress when I saw Kyle Henry ("Room"). I said hello and we stopped in the middle of the street crossing and started talking. The light was about to turn green and cars were revving up, so we hopped back on the sidewalk and chatted. With him was Jacob Vaughn, filmmaker behind "The Cassidy Kids" showing at this years festival and producer of "Dear Pillow" which showed at SXSW in 2004. We chatted for quite a long time.

Vaughn told me that he and Bryan Poyser, who produced "Cassidy," don't have a definite game plan or anything even though each has produced the others latest film. He suggested that they might not be working so closely together in future projects simply because both of them have so much going on that it may not be feasible.

Kyle told me that he had used a quite from my review of "Room" on the on-line trailer for the film and this flipped me out. It has always been my dream to have a quote in a movie trailer! By this time Karrie had walked up and joined our conversation and I mentioned that I had heard that the Alamo had run a quote from the site from "Cabin Boy" when Chris Elliot was in town to make an appearance and screen the film. She wasn't sure.

Kyle is one of my biggest fans (as I am one of his) and he was telling me I should be writing for print as well as electronic media. I told him I hadn't really pursued it. He told me he knew some people and would hype me. He's so cool. He told me I had "style and acumen." (I had to look it up - it means keen insight).

The two filmmakers had just went to see "Jam," a documentary about roller derby and they both said it was really good. My friend Bob Ray ("Rock Opera") has been working on a doc about the Texas Rollergirls for like five years now. His film is yet to be done and now there's even a A&E show about them. I don't really want to see anything about it until I see Bob's film. I haven't seen him in so long, I really need to e-mail him and see what's up.

Anyway, I mentioned that I wish they had hot young guys doing roller derby; that might get me interested. And Kyle told me that "Jam" was about the San Francisco league which was both males and females but most of the participants were older. Somebody needs to put some cute young college guys in short shorts and netted half-shirts, put them on skates and have them roll around and knock each other around. That would sell some fucking tickets!

They young filmmakers went off to grab a bite to eat and Karrie told me Tim was bringing her badge. I went off to get in line and saw my friend Paul Knaus when he said hello. I didn't even stop and talk to him. That was rude. I need to remember to apologize to him. (In the end credits of "Gretchen," Paul is listed as the Assistant Location Manager. I had totally forgotten he told me about working on this film over a year ago). I also saw my friend Ford Turner who works on film build-up and breakdown for SXSW and said hello.

We waiting in line for what seemed like a long time and I never did see Karrie again. As we were headed in, I saw Marjorie Baumgarten of "The Austin Chronicle," John Pierson (star of "Reel Paradise" and now a UT film professor) and John Merriman, who worked in "My Names is Buttons" with Courtney, but I didn't see her.

I went in and sat near the front as is my wont and I overheard a woman who looked like a young Mink Stole say, "I'm working on teeth now." When her young male companion asked, "Teeth?" She replied, "'Teeth,' the movie. It's about a young woman with teeth in various places. You'll hear about it." That sounds pretty fucking interesting.

I finally saw Courtney walk by and go over and sit just a little ways away from me so I went over and said hi. I told her that I didn't want to yell out her name because I was afraid she would get mobbed. She got up and hugged me and said "I'm glad you're here" and I could tell she was losing her voice. She told me her parents were in town and she's been running around and got laryngitis. "The Q&A is gonna be great," she quipped. I went back to my seat and Matt Dentler got up and introduced the film. He told us it was based on a short film called "Gretchen and the Night Danger" which won a jury prize at SXSW in 2004.

I had told Courtney that I would see her after the movie, but she was surrounded by people after the Q&A and so I just went outside. I hadn't eaten yet and I was starving so I decided to go home and eat, since I wasn't going to see another movie until "Life of Reilly," the documentary about Charles Nelson Reilly's one man show at 7pm. I got some Jack in the Box and headed to my apartment, Lodgopolis, but was so drained from getting up early that I just watched some TV and ate and didn't do any writing. Mark Brauner met me at Lodgopolis at 6pm so we could head over to the Austin Convention Center and check out "The Life of Reilly," the documentary about Charles Nelson Reilly's one man show.

There wasn't a huge crowd, so I stood in line with him in the line for people who were buying tickets until about 6:45 and when they started selling tickets I went in and got us some seats. I got my seat and there was a young guy throwing t-shirts into the crowd. Mark came in and had one black t-shirt. I had seen a few of these and thought they were for B-Side entertainment but he showed it to me up close and it had an image of CNR on it. He told me that anyone who bought a ticket got one of the t-shirts. That was pretty cool and he was pretty jazzed because with getting a t-shirt for his entrance fee, he basically got more than his money's worth. The shirt looked medium or large and I knew they would never fit me, so I didn't even try to catch one. The young guy must have thrown 30 or 40 of them to the crowd. He kept coming back with more and more.

Festival Coordinator Lya Guerra introduced the filmmakers and they got up and gave a short introduction. They mentioned that this was the World Premier of the film and I wondered if CNR was hiding somewhere in the wings and would make a grand entrance when the film was over to do a Q&A. But Reilly wasn't there and in the Q&A after the screening and when asked where he was, the filmmakers said he was in Florida in his home and was very ill and told by his doctor's that he couldn't travel even though he wanted to come to the screening very badly. The way this was said was harrowing, making me very concerned about CNR's welfare. After the screening, Mark Brauner and I went out to dinner at Starseeds.

I had planned on going to the Pixie's "loudQUIETloud" concert doc but I had seen 10 movies in 3 day and I was just wiped out. As we walked out of ACC, the lines for the film were pretty long. I saw Dan Cofer of the Dobie and briefly said hello.

Tomorrow I have to return to work at my day gig and will be working 9-5 everyday until Friday and only seeing movies at night. I have two movies planed each night but we will see if I can keep that pace. Something will have to give at some point

Lodger @ SXSW2006