Notes from Austin, Volume 2 #10

Including:

Recovering from SXSW

Lube TV

Hollywood gossip!

Updated calendar

Rich and Kelly and Kelly and Rich

Warhol films in Houston

Porno for the people! Going to the Forum and getting, literally, falling-down drunk

The play "Tracers" opens in Austin

The F13 mailbag overflows

Volunteering for aGLIFF

"Twin Peaks" at the Alamo Drafthouse

Anarchy screenings at Slamdance.com

Ann Lu's "Dreamers"

"Gummo's" Nick Sutton - or at least his mom

Kyle Henry's "University, Inc.."

Monika Mitchell's "Night Deposit"

Most of the fun I had this past week was at SXSW, so make sure and take a look at my daily reports from the festival. There's also a plethora of movie reviews from SXSW too!

Wednesday during SXSW, I did get home in time to catch an episode (#9) of Lube TV on cable. They showed a Devo video, a Karen Findley (Finely?) piece and a cartoon I saw at the Austin Film Festival that was supposed to be an ad for a "killer" mousetrap.

The Karen Finley (?) piece was really annoying and stupid. This isn't performance art. It's strip-tease stand up annoyance. Thud. But it did inspire John Christensen to pelt his forehead repeatedly with raw eggs. John seems to have an "unnatural" attraction to raw eggs and condiments. I'm always scared when I go over to visit him that I'm going to come home covered in mayonnaise. (And not in a good way!)

Lube TV is on cable channel 10 at 11pm every Wednesday. John tells me Wiley Wiggins will be guest starring on Episode #14.

Hollywood gossip trickles down to Austin...

It's official. Austin resident GUILLERMO DEL TORO has finally signed to direct a new film. Nope it's not "Hellboy" or "Monte Cristo," but "Blade 2: Blood Hunt," the sequel that will reteam stars Wesley Snipes and Kris Kristofferson.

Forget Princes of Maine, she'll be the Queen of New Jersey! MICHAEL CAINE and Austin's own Sandra Bullock will be in "Miss Congeniality." He will play an image consultant who must transform Bullock from a cop into Miss New Jersey. (BTW Bullock's "Gun Shy" and "28 Days" are both scheduled to be released April 14th in Austin).

Steven Soderbergh's drug war drama Traffic will star lovers Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Who else but ANGELINA JOLIE could star as action hero Lara Croft in the big-screen version of the video game "Tomb Raider?" Could happen!

ANNA PAQUIN will join Sean Connery in director Gus Van Sant's "Finding Forrester" due this Xmas.

HELEN MIRREN will join Jack Nicholson in director Sean Penn's crime drama "The Pledge." Nicholson was also in Penn's "Crossing Guard."

LAURA DERN wants to play with Steve Martin's in his new comedy "Novocain."

BETTE MIDLER is in talks to plays Mel Gibson's psychiatrist in "What Women Want."

You can see PENELOPE CRUZ, who stars in both the upcoming "Woman on Top" and "All The Pretty Horses" play the female lead opposite Nicolas Cage in "Captain Corelli's Mandolin." I bet that title changes!

Mrs. Coen, FRANCES MCDORMAND, will be in the Coen Brother's next film, an untitled film-noir drama. I can't remember which brother is her hubbie though.

TOM CRUISE is in talks to star in "Beautiful Minds" based on a true story about a man who struggled with schizophrenia yet receives the Nobel Prize in mathematics. Robert Redford may direct the film.

WES BENTLEY of "American Beauty" fame has been suggested to star as the vampire Lestat in "Queen of the Damned," the film version of Anne Rice's "Vampire Chronicles." He seems like the right choice to me!

First it was John Travolta, then Billy Bob Thornton, now KEVIN SPACEY may play the lead for director Lasse Hallstrom in "The Shipping News."

JOHNNY DEPP is in talks to star in "From Hell." Depp would play a Scotland Yard detective investigating the 1880 London killings by Jack the Ripper. (Sounds too close to "Sleepy Hollow" for the persnickety Depp to me!) The Hughes Brothers will helm.

Heartthrobber JOSH HARTNETT has signed on to join Ben Affleck in "Pearl Harbor," directed by Michael Bay. Kate Beckinsale is in talks to co-star. The film has a huge budget but supposedly the actors are taking scale.

JOHN CUSACK has signed to star in the romantic comedy "Ser-endipity," about a couple who reunite a decade after they first met.

TOMMY LEE JONES may ante up again with his "Rules of Engagement" director William Friedkin in "Shooter," a thriller about a retired sniper. Wasn't Keanu supposed to be in this one?

Mr. Bean, aka ROWAN ATKINSON stars in the comedy "Touch of Weevel," about an English diplomat who is mistaken for a spy.

The rumor mill keeps grinding that STEVEN SPIELBERG'S next film will be to write and direct "A.I.," the oft mentioned former project of the late Stanley Kubrick. Jude Law and Haley Joel Osment are being considered to star in the film. What's up with "Minority Report" and "The Newports?"

Weirdest rumor of the week: OLIVER STONE may remake "A Star Is Born" with Jamie Foxx???

BARRY LEVINSON is the latest director mentioned up for the job to helm Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton in "Outlaws," about two bank robbers.

IMAX announced at the recent ShoWest Convention that it plans to build the next genera-tion of digital projectors based on Texas Instruments' DLP technology.

"Hannibal," the sequel to "Silence of the Lambs," will star Anthony Hopkins and Julianne Moore. We assume Moore will play Clarisse, all grown up. The film will be directed by Ridley Scott.

Coming to the megaplexes this week:

On Wednesday 4/5 "BLACK AND WHITE," ROBERT DOWNY JR. stars in this film by JAMES TOBAK, who directed him in "2 GUYS AND A GIRL."

On Friday it's "RULES OF ENGAGEMENT" another military trial film with SAMUEL L. JACKSON and TOMMY LEE JONES

"READY TO RUMBLE" has DAVID ARQUETTE and ROSE McGOWAN as wrestling fans.

"RETURN TO ME" is a romantic comedy with DAVID DUCHOVNY and MINNIE DRIVER (She was just in Austin shooting a film, wasn't she?)

THE VIRGIN SUICIDES, JOE GOULD'S SECRET, ME MYSELF I (Not the new Farrely Brothers film), and BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER all are scheduled to open this weekend but we may not see them in Austin yet.

Upcoming events we haven't had time to add to the calendar yet:

3/10-4/29 – WIZARD OF OZ ON ICE – FRANK ERWIN CENTER

3/24-4/22 - The Weir - State Theater

3/28-4/2 – SUNSET BLVD W/ PETULA CLARK – BASS CONCERT HALL

3/29 – PETER MURPHY – LAZONA ROSA

3/29 – P-FUNK - BACKROOM

3/29 - Defrockers - Flamingo Cantina

3/30-4/8 - Tracers - The Off Center

3/30-4/1 – PHANTASM-ANIA (PHANTASM 1, 11, 111, 1V, GUESTS) - ALAMO

4/1 – SPALDING GRAY – PARAMOUNT

4/1 – JOHN MAYALL – ONE WORLD THEATER

4/7- WILLIE NELSON - BACKYARD

4/14 – 3RD EYE BLIND – AUSTIN MUSIC HALL

4/18-4/30 – RED WHITE AND TUNA - PARAMOUNT

5/16 - BLINK 182/BAD RELIGION – FRANK ERWIN CENTER

5/19-6/18 - Women Who Steal - State Theater

5/20 - SUZANNE VEGA – ONE WORLD THEATER

6/9 ACOUSTIC ALCHEMY – ONE WORLD THEATER

6/24 LEON RUSSELL- ONE WORLD THEATER

7/7-8/6 - Nunsense 3 - The State Theater

After SXSW, I just wanted to gel as much as possible so I watched a lot of TV. Of course, I catch myself ending up at the cable access channels a lot. There was some stuff on late Monday night on channel 16 that turned out to be a lot of video shorts, seemingly made by a bunch of different people. Some of them were really clever. One called "Plato's Pizza" was, I thought, quite interesting. Another one, about a guy and a girl who go to a park to have a picnic and end up either daydreaming or reminiscing about "their" girlfriend was quite surprising. I watched a few more and, lo and behold, they played my friend Rich's short "The Ledge." What a surreal trip.

Of course, these seemingly student films got progressive worse and worse. It was hard to be as insipid as as "The Wallet Chase," but films like "Question," "Whitman's Tower," and "Raw Deal" sure came close. A Lynchian drenched love triangle weirdness piece of crud was also in the mix. Finally, there was the ludicrous "Picking up Mommy." The credits of this fluff actually listed my old pal Richard as editor. We'll have to talk.

Missed the most recent episode of "Lube TV" cause I went out with Kelly to see a midnight showing of "The Exorcist" at the Dobie. Kelly gave me a flyer about a Warhol film retrospective at Rice Media Center in Houston in March and April. I will have to miss it. This kills me. The retrospective is put on in conjunction with The Menil Collection. They own several Warhol pieces. I guess eventually I'll have to go to Pittsburgh to the Warhol museum to see some of the films.

BTW - Warhol's "Trash," actually made by Paul Morrissey while Warhol was recuperating from being shot by Valerie Solanis is being re-released. It will show at the Dobie from 5/26-6/1.

Also coming to the Dobie:

Sex Pistol's "The Filth and the Fury" (5/5-5/11)

Sex: The Annabel Chong Story (6/2-6/8)

When we got back to Kelly's house, Rich and his film partner Queana (I'm sure I'm spelling that way wrong) were just leaving to go do some more editing on their student film, "Celebrate America with Fish!" The scene I shot for the film is apparently being edited up and spliced in as sort of subliminal images. Flashes. It's probably hard to take me in chunks larger that two or three frames at a time.

Thursday night, I watched another one of those John Stossel ABC News special programs, this one about the slow erosion of the freedom of speech in politically correct America. This stuff gets me so pissed off. It makes me want to just kick the ass of America with a swift whap.

There was an interesting article in the latest "Advocate" about how porno is the last bastion of gay life in the closet. I agree. The world is so overly politically correct now and gay people want mainstream acceptance so desperately, that we sometimes forget what is the best part of being gay: The Sex. Why do we try to deny that? Our whole identity is tied into a sexual act (or, if your lucky, several of them). Coming out of the closet doesn't just mean telling the world you are gay. It means taking all of our feelings about sexuality out of the closet as well. It's not just that I like guys... It's that I like having sex with guys. Freedom is the freedom to say 2+2=5. Freedom is the freedom to fuck.

Now if I can just get over body image, feeling old, and all those icky feelings that I associate with the aftermath of sex, maybe I'll become a whole person.

Saturday night, I went to the Forum on Congress. I drank a lot and had a pretty good time. They are starting to play really crappy music, like Oilcan Harry's though. There were a lot of sexy guys there. I left around 2:30 and on the way to my car, I tripped over one of Austin's numerous and freaky concrete problems on 4th and Colorado. I fell flat on my face. It was embarrassing. Now my knees and wrists are killing me. (You'd think I'd have built up some stamina in these areas but...

I have a small desire to be an actor but I was only in one high school play and, in that, I had no lines. So I thought I would try to memorize a couple of monologues to test myself. To see if I could do it. I am in the process of memorizing two Laurie Anderson pieces. I picked these because they were unusual and they also said something. One is about going to a psychiatrist and the other is called "Mach 20." I'm actually doing quite well in this process and am pretty pleased with myself. Don't invite me to a party anytime soon, cause I'll probably get up on the coffee table and perform them.

My friend Kelly is in a play called "Tracers" which is going up this Thursday. They will be running 3/30 to 4/8 at the Off Center playhouse located at 2211-A Hidalgo. (Right off East 7th). Tickets are $12 but Thursday night is a pay what you wish thing.

Got this e-mail and psuedo-threat from someone identifying themselves as "Michael Bramon," who did some music for a film called "200 Cigarettes." (The film was directed by Risa Bramon Garcia):

"In your review of 200 Cigarettes, I noticed that you mentioned a nepotism factor with Michael Bramon and Risa Bramon, in reference to "score" pieces...obviously you have no idea what your talking about, since Michael Bramon did no scoring whatsoever in this movie.

"If you check the end credits of the film, which you obviously don't do (which speaks a lot for your site) you'd see that Mr. Bramon wrote 2 SONGS in the movie ("Question" and "Forever Young"). And if you check Michael Bramon's credit's, say on http://www.imdb.com (and type in Michael Bramon) you'll see he has an illustrious career as a singer/song writer in the million selling and award-winning acts "Crush" and "Head", as well as previous TV composing for The Equalizer, Max Headroom etc.

"Change your facts...(or face the consequences of false reporting)

"In fact, when Mr. Bramon's new band rolls into Austin next month, perhaps the crew will just pay you a visit... to straighten things out."

I accused the writer of this e-mail of making a threat against me and suggested that my lawyers would contact him. He responded:"

"No threat intended...funny that that's how you read it, though. All that was said that they would stop by to straighten things out in person (to make sure it's taken care of). You know, before you wittingly trash someone's career online like you do- u should think of the legal consequences of youe actions, as well. And if u insist on bringing lawyers to this- we can do the same with regard to your knowingly providing the public with intentional misinformation and slanderous commentary. Perhaps you would like Paramount Pictures to contact you, as well?

Michael Bramon"

So I respond:

Mr. Bramon;

You and I both know that this was meant as a threat. But let's try and get past this.

What is it about the notations in the review that are upsetting you?

Is it that I said you contributed score music when actually you contributed songs?

Or is it that I called your involvement with the film Nepotism? The director is related to you, correct? Nepotism is not necessarily a insult. I simply mean, by this word, that you are involved with the project through a family connection with another person involved with the project. If this is untrue, then I will retract the statement. Otherwise, I see no insult or shame in this. You will see this kind of mention on the site regarding other films where family members are working on the same project. It is not my intention to defame anyone with these statement.

Sincerely lodger

More mail:

From: Todd

To: lodger@filethirteen.com

Subject: get real

Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000

Hello Lodger,

Was pretty disappointed at your review of Get Real but it may be my >limited exposure to gay oriented films here in 'small town Alaska.'

I do feel that I have fairly good taste......I truly enjoyed Get Real for what it portrayed ......a teenage story/dream that I longed for at that age and was not brave enough to embrace until much later in life.

I'm a sucker for reminiscence. What you don't give in your critical review is a list of films along these lines that you feel is genuine and 'real.' I would appreciate some advice and then maybe I could reevaluate my opinion about what I felt was an incredible adaptation of gay youth and coming out. In addition I thought the acting was incredible and look forward to seeing these actors in future films gay or straight. I appreciate and respect your opinion as I hope you do mine.

I responded:

Hi Todd;

Thanks for checking out the site and writing. Sorry it took so long to respond. I was at SXSW and got my butt kicked with the slam that only a film festival can be.

I also wanted to access some stuff on my main computer that has a pretty good list I've compiled of gay films I've seen. Some of these reviews are on the site and some will be in the future...

My fave gay film of all time is "You Are Not Alone." Not only is it a great gay film, but it ranks #2 on my all time great films (of any genre). Now, it's set at a Danish boys school... but it's not a film that is trying to be prurient. Rather it's a wonderful examination of how we don't educate our children properly. It's about the innocence of young love and experimentation. It's a call-to-arms for the freedom young people should have to explore their sexuality... And in this way, it is a message to the older folks among us that we should also have this freedom ourselves. It's a beautiful film. Yep. Hard to find. Distributed on video by Award films.

I also love the films by Gregg Araki... info on these films is in the "Lodger's Favorites" section of the site.

Some other awesome films to check out:

Jeffrey

Threesome

Ma Vie en Rose (My Life in Pink)

Torch Song Trilogy

Mass Appeal

Another "coming out" film from the past year or so that I found typical but still liked was "Edge of 17..." There is a review of that on the site too...

Hope this gives you a few ideas for movies you can check out.

And "Get Real" isn't so bad. Ben is quite cute in the film. But the coming out to the school scene is just too over the top. This is a far too exaggerated version of what we all go through to be respectable. It's hyperbole. It also recalls some horrid Afterschool Special (or maybe it was a TV movie of the week) shown in the states a few years back that I don't even know the name of. In that one, the kid (whose had an affair with a older man - who then promptly cheats on him with another boy) doesn't come out but at a school assembly cries and says he should be given time to figure out what he is... I guess the flashback of that film was to close to "Get Real" for comfort.

All my best and happy viewing; Lodger

From aGLIFF:

Are you a programmer, writer, web designer, grant writer, or projectionist? Do you like to answer phones, distribute information, proofread or do data entry? Do have any experience with bulk mailings, fundraising, or special events planning? Do you have expertise or experience in other areas not listed above? Are you looking for new ways to meet friends and get involved?

If the answer is YES to any of the above – please contact us!

aGLIFF 2000 is in high gear and we need your help. If you are interested in volunteering with the Austin Gay and Lesbian International film festival please give us a call at 302-9889, email us at volunteers@agliff.org or visit our website at http://www.agliff.org/volu000.htm.

The Alamo should be having another "Twin Peaks" night on April 9th.

Scott Collegiate and Patty S. of ZXZW film fest fame (if they can still legally call it that!) will be doing some stand up comedy in April performing and competing in the "funniest Person in Austin" comp. I think these are at the Capitol City Comedy Club.

From: Paul

To: lodger@filethirteen.com

Subject: SXSW Austin corrections: Paramount venue details... Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2000

Just wanted to let you know that the Paramount Theatre in Austin seats 1,300 people (not 600-700), and was built in 1915 (not the 1940s). Also, it isn't anywhere "close" to "art deco" architecturally.

I respond to Paul here:

Thanks. I was guestimating the capacity just from visiting but my friend Kelly who works there tells me that it does seat between 1300-1400 people. Wow. And, you're right. It isn't anything like Art Deco, which was the streamlined look of 40's America. I don't know where my mind was. Definitely not on architecture. This is one of those rare occasions where I should have known when to shut up. Okay... not so rare but...

Slamdance.com is continuing its popular Anarchy competition as 11 new short films are now streaming on the site. "Anarchy was an incredibly successful part of the Slamdance Film Festival in January, and we're happy to be able to continue it as a competitive showcase for short films year-round," said Slamdance Co-Founder Shane Kuhn, director of Slamdance.com. "We're also now calling for entries to Anarchy on a rolling-deadline basis." An online application form and Frequently Asked Questions are now available at Slamdance.com in the Anarchy section.

The 11 films appearing on Anarchy today were culled from shorts that appeared in Slamdance's Park City "traditional" Competition and Lounge sections in January. However, this is the first time they are streaming on the Slamdance website, and they will be competing for the Anarchy Online Audience Award for the month of March.

Films appearing this month on Anarchy include:

"Rosewater" - (USA, 13 min.) Directed by Kimi Takesue

"The One-Armed Bandit" - (USA, 12 min.) Directed by Richard Allen

"The Rooster" - (USA, 6 min.) Directed by Scott Gardner

"Tonite" - (USA, 4 min.) Directed by Masa Tsuyuki

"Last Dance" - (USA, 7 min.) Directed by Alwine van Heemstra

"Best in Beef" - (The Netherlands, 10 min.) Directed by Rob Smits and Britta Hosman

"Vedma" - (USA, 5 min.) Directed by Allison Schulnik

"Luz" - (USA/Spain, 8 min.) Directed by Jose Javier Martinez

"Family Portrait" - (USA, 13 min.) Directed by Chris Harris

"VooDoo" - (USA, 6 min.) Directed by Gregg Bishop

"Relievio" - (USA, 10 min.) Directed by Ara Corbett, Michael Glumicich, Stacey Lucich, Lucas Sabean and Hideki Tomita

If you're not already a member of the jury, sign up at: http://www.slamdance.com/anarchy/ and vote on the monthly competition films. At the end of the year, the highest ranking films from each monthly competition will battle for the Global Anarchy Audience Award at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City.

Ann Lu's upcoming feature film debut, "Dreamers," won two awards at last Sunday's 2000 FLO (Flying Low On the radar) Film Festival in West Palm Beach, Florida.

"Dreamers" won the BEST PICTURE award (Ann Lu) and the BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY award (Neal L. Fredericks) in a ceremony that wrapped up the festival at The Carefree Theatre in downtown West Palm Beach.

The FLO Film Festival is the fifth competitive festival for the film. "Dreamers" has also recently been an official selection at three cinema series in Los Angeles, CA (CineOrphans), Baltimore, MD (Cinema Sundays at the Charles) and Washington, D.C. (Studio 650).

"Dreamers" also won the BEST SCREENWRITER award and the AUDIENCE CHOICE award at the 1999 Malibu Int'l Film Festival.

A limited theatrical release for "Dreamers" is expected to be announced soon. A domestic and international release (home video/ DVD/ cable/ TV/ internet) is also being secured.

The website for the FLO film Festival is http://www.theflo.net/flofilmfest.htm

Harmony Korine's "Gummo" is one of my favorite films. In the review on the site I said that Harmony discovered his star Nick Sutton when he was on TV's "Sally Jessie Rafael" show and that Nick was on acid when he did the show. I think I read this on-line somewhere, perhaps on a fan page but maybe even on the film's official site.

Sutton's mom, Sherry, disagrees with the statement and told me her side of the story in an e-mail:

"When Nick was on Sally, it was because I was having problems with him and drugs. Nothing was working. We had him in a rehab hospital for about 6 weeks. Nick was getting high on all sorts of drugs and getting himself in trouble with the law for shoplifting and running away. We flew out to New York to do the show and Nick played it up as being a tough teenage drug addict who did not care about life. Somebody in the audience asked him if he was on drugs and I guess that is where it came from. But what they saw of Nick on that show was just plain normal Nick. He is a very bright, gifted individual and has always thought deeply before he speaks about anything. People who do not know him assume that his lack of immediate response is due from either drugs or a learning disability. Nick has tested over 150 on IQ scores, has been in gifted programs and could do anything in life he wanted to do. I had hoped that by taking him to Sally Jesse Raphael, it would make him see how much he was wasting his life away. Nick is now 21 and has not been on drugs for over 4 years. As part of the agreement with Miramax to be able to do this film, he had to agree not to do any drugs during the filming of the movie. He stayed clean and decided he liked it. What people see in that movie is a normal Nick who looks like he is on drugs all the time. What is even more funny is that the part he played seemed so natural to me."

Thanks for the info Sherry. And tell Nick we all hope he is doing well. It was a pleasure to hear your side of the story!

TFI 2000 call for entries for its next screenplay competition runs through June 1 2000. Entries can be found on the website: www.texasfilminstitute.com or via moviebytes.com website or by sending a SASE to TFI, Dos Cerros Ranch, 409 Mountain Spring, Boerne, Texas 78006.Fees are $50 or $75 with structure notes. Former contestants receive a discount, for info and the special forms contact TFI at 830-537-5906

Wanna see Kyle Henry's awesome film "University, Inc?" Here's some opportunities:

April 6 - University of Texas, Austin, TX Benefit for University Staff Association 5:15 PM, Texas Union Theater, UT Campus

April 21-22 - Brown College, Providence, RI

April 30 - Swathmore College

Like the band Punchy? See them play live at:

Fri 03/31 Chelsea St. Pub Abilene

Sat 04/01 Executive Surf Club Corpus Christi

Thu 04/06 Lucy's Austin

Fri 04/07 Five Star BBQ Austin

Sat 04/08 Sweet Eugene's College Station

Tue 04/11 Franks' Belton

Fri 04/14 Sneakers Nacogdoches

Sat 04/15 Dan's Bar Denton

Thu 04/20 Maggie Mae's Austin

Fri 04/21 Zero's Corpus Christi

Sat 04/22 Koolly's McAllen

Fri 04/28 Steel Penny Pub San Angelo

Sat 04/29 Green Frog Abilene

See it at:

BOSTON SCREENING: THE COOLIDGE CORNER THEATER, THURSDAY MARCH 30TH AT 7:00PM

*Cleveland International Film Festival (Cleveland, Ohio), March 2000

*Newport Beach International Film Festival (Los Angeles), April 2000

*New Haven Film Festival (New Haven, Connecticut), April 2000

*Arizona Film Festival "Reel Frontier" (Tucson, Arizona), April 2000

*Tahoe International Film Festival (Tahoe, California), April 2000

*WorldFest Houston (Houston, Texas), April 2000

*Atlanta Film and Video Festival (Atlanta, Georgia), May 2000

*PinkBubbleBath Film Festival,(New York and Los Angeles), Fall 2000

That's it for this installment boys and gurls. See you at the megaplex! Lodger2000