March 27, 2009 - The Austin Chronicle

special screeningsBY MARJORIE BAUMGARTENThe symbol (*) indicates full-length reviews available online: austinchronicle.com/film.Forbidden PlanetScience FictionFilm Festival(See FridayandSaturday)THURSDAY 26The Chaser (2008) D: Hong-jin Na;with Yun-Seok Kim, Jung-woo Ha, Yeong-hieSeo. (NR, 125 min.) This Fantastic Fest favorite fromSouth Korea returns to tell its crime story about anex-cop turned pimp who revives his detective skillswhen a serial killer starts attacking the local callgirls. It’s a gritty and taut crime drama. @AlamoRitz, 10pm.Cowboy Smoke (2008) D: Will Moore; withChad Mathews, Mike Lutz, James Paul, EstellaPerez. (NR, 92 min.) Austin Film Festival. A suburbanconvenience-store clerk dreams of being acowboy and moves to South Texas to pursue hisgoal but becomes caught up in a human-smugglingring. The cast and crew will be in attendance.@Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek, 7:30pm; $4, AFFmembers free.Dazed and Confused With RichardLinklater (1993) D: Richard LInklater; with JasonLondon, Wiley Wiggins, Rory Cochrane, MatthewMcConaughey. (R, 103 min.) Brewster McCrackenfor Mayor Fundraiser. Event chairs are ElizabethAvellán and Robert Rodriguez; there will be a Dazedand Confused memorabilia raffle. Tickets are $50(or $350 sponsorship level) and are only availableat www.brewstermccracken.com. @Alamo DrafthouseSouth, 7pm.Flatliners (1990) D: Joel Schumacher; withKiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, WilliamBaldwin, Oliver Platt. (R, 115 min.) Kevin BaconBacon Feast. Medical students experiment on themselves,with near-death consequences. The moviewill be paired with six courses of bacon. @AlamoDrafthouse Lake Creek, 7:30pm; $50.Jaws 3-D With Brad Neely (1983) D: JoeAlves; with Louis Gossett Jr., Simon MacCorkindale,Bess Armstrong, Dennis Quaid. (PG, 97 min.) Localanimator savant and all-around funny guy BradNeely delivers hilariously impassioned renderings ofdialogue from this cinematic bottom feeder to thedelight of viewers. @Alamo Drafthouse South, 7pm.Martyrs (2008) D: Pascal Laugier; with MorjanaAlaoui, Mylène Jampanoï, Catherine Bégin, RobertToupin, Patricia Tulasne. (NR, 97 min.) Fantastic FestPresents. Two women seek revenge for their childhoodabuse in this film garnering notoriety for itsshocking violence. @Alamo Ritz, 7:30pm; free.Monty Python and the Holy GrailQuote-Along @Alamo Ritz, 7pm.SPACES“An Accident Without End … an IndustryWithout Answers” and “Everything YouAlways Wanted to Know About NuclearPower … but Were Afraid to Ask”Sustainable Energy & Economic DevelopmentCoalition. These two short films help mark the 30thanniversary of the meltdown at Three Mile Island.@St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 7pm; free.“Barbecue: A Texas Love Story” (2004)D: Chris Elley; narrated by Ann Richards. (NR, 46 min.)Texas Spirit Documentary Series. It’s enough tomake even a vegetarian drool. Elley gets some of thestate’s favorite sons and daughters (Ann Richards,Dan Rather, Kinky Friedman, etc.) to testify abouttheir barbecue beliefs and rituals in this SXSW 04favorite. @Texas Spirit Theatre at the Bob BullockTexas State History Museum, 5pm.The Visitor (2008) D: Tom McCarthy; withRichard Jenkins, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Jekesai Gurira,Hiam Abbass, Marian Seldes. (PG-13, 108 min.) AustinFilm Society, aGLIFF, Austin Film Festival, Cine lasAmericas. This interpersonal drama is both strangelypredictable and unpredictable as seemingly unrelatedworlds collide. (*) @Texas Spirit Theatre at the BobBullock Texas State History Museum, 7pm; $5, freeto sponsoring organization members.86 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E MARCH 27, 2009 a u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o mFRIDAY 27offscreen501 Studios: Soundstage + HD Theatre 501 Studios’ soundstage inDowntown Austin now doubles as one of Texas’ largest public theatres – with aSony Qualia HD projector, a 28-foot screen, 180 (removable) seats, a vintage popcornmachine, and affordable rates. Need a venue for premieres, wrap parties, orconcerts/plays/performances featuring projection? This could be the place. Alsostill available as a soundstage/green screen. 485-3000. www.501studios.com.Austin Film Festival: Call for Entries Sure, you want to have your workconsidered in one of the most prestigious of festivals. You have a screenplay or acompleted movie; you have something you’ve crafted to within an inch of its virtuallife. Don’t hide that light under a bushel, hoss: Submit today. See the AFF websitefor details. Screenplay and teleplay deadlines: early, May 15; late, June 1. Filmdeadlines: early, June 3; late, July 3; very late, July 15. www.austinfilmfestival.com.Austin Film Society Summer Youth Camps You know those kids wantto learn how to make movies; AFS youth filmmaking camps teach hands-on narrativeand experimental techniques using digital video. The camps run Mondaythrough Friday (9am-5pm) in June, July, and August and are appropriate for ages12-15. See website for details, and register soon. $250 ($225, AFS members).www.austinfilm.org.Austin School of Film Classes An excellent slate of classes is availablefor your cinematic advancement at the Austin School of Film, with professionalinstruction in Final Cut Pro, DV and HD cameras, animation and lighting techniques,and more. See website for details. www.austinfilmschool.org/classes.Dollhouse TV @ the Alamo. @AlamoDrafthouse Village, 12mid.The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship ofthe Ring (2001) D: Peter Jackson; with Elijah Wood,Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Liv Tyler,Billy Boyd, John Rhys-Davies, Cate Blanchett, DominicMonaghan, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving,Sean Bean. (PG-13, 180 min.) Master Pancake Theater.Finally, the Pancake comics can pick on subjects theirown size: hobbits. (*) @Alamo Ritz, 7:30, 10:30pm.Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) D: Rob Lettermanand Conrad Vernon; with the voices of Reese Witherspoon,Hugh Laurie, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett, Paul Rudd,Rainn Wilson, Kiefer Sutherland. (PG, 94 min.) VarietyChildren’s Charity. The lighting will be raised and thevolume lowered at these screenings for kids with specialneeds and their families. (*) @Alamo DrafthouseLake Creek, 11am, noon, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10pm; free forkids with special needs and their siblings.SPACES“Barbecue: A Texas Love Story” (2004)@Texas Spirit Theatre at the Bob Bullock Texas StateHistory Museum, 5pm. (See Thu., 3/26.)They Killed Sister Dorothy (2008) See p.84.The War of the Worlds (1953) D: ByronHaskin; with Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne,Robert Cornthwaite. (G, 85 min.) Science Fiction FilmFestival. This outdoor screening of the 1953 originalis presented in conjunction with the LBJ Library exhibit“To the Moon: The American Space Program in the1960s.” View the exhibit from 5 to 7pm, enjoy music bythe Rockit Scientists (real scientists from the JohnsonSpace Center) on the lawn from 6 to 7:30pm, andeat your picnic dinner on a blanket (both brought fromhome) at 8pm. See www.lbjlibrary.utexas.edu and “Underthe Stars and Maybe Some Space Aliens,” p.49, formore on the festival. @LBJ Library lawn, 8pm; free.SATURDAY 28Black Stallion (1979) D: CarrollBallard; with Kelly Reno, Mickey Rooney, TeriGarr, Clarence Muse, Hoyt Axton. (G, 118 min.) KidsClub. This quiet story about a boy and his horsestands out from the pack because of its exquisitecinematography by Caleb Deschanel and the touchingperformance of Rooney as the veteran horse trainer.(*) @Alamo Drafthouse South, 11am; free.Justin Timberlake Sing-Along @Alamo Ritz,10pm.The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship ofthe Ring (2001) @Alamo Ritz, 7:30, 10:30pm.(See Fri., 3/27.)Princess Mononoke (1999) D: Hayao Miyazaki;with Jada Pinkett, Billy Bob Thornton, Minnie Driver, ClaireDanes, Billy Crudup, Gillian Anderson. (PG-13, 135 min.)Big Screen Animated Classics. This Japanese animatedfeature is packed with an environmentally awarestoryline, breathtaking animation, and English dialoguepenned by Neil Gaiman. (*) @Alamo Ritz, 4:15pm.The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)D: Jim Sharman; with Richard O’Brien, Barry Bostwick,Susan Sarandon, Tim Curry. (R, 95 min.) Austin fans havebeen dressing up and doing the “Time Warp” thing livefor more than 30 years straight. For more info, seewww.austinrocky.org. @Alamo Drafthouse Village, 12mid.SPACES“Barbecue: A Texas Love Story” (2004)@Texas Spirit Theatre at the Bob Bullock Texas StateHistory Museum, 5pm. (See Thu., 3/26.)S Is for Shooting AV Geeks. Safety trainingand shooting at the Capital Area Trap and Skeet Clubat 5:00pm will be followed by beer, barbecue, andan evening of gun-safety films on the Leagues’ lawn.Limited to 25 participants. @Tim and Karrie League’shouse, 6pm; $35.Triple-Feature Sci-Fi Saturday Science FictionFilm Festival. The festival moves indoors on Saturdayfor this triple feature of these science-fiction classicsfrom the Fifties: Forbidden Planet at 10am, When WorldsCollide at 1pm, and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers at 3pm.See www.lbjlibrary.utexas.edu and “Under the Stars andMaybe Some Space Aliens,” p.49, for more on the festival.@LBJ Library, third-floor theatre, 10am, 1, 3pm; free.Whisper of the Heart (1995) D: YoshifumiKondo; with David Gallagher, James Sikking, JeanSmart, Harold Gould, Courtney Thorne-Smith. (G, 111min.) We Heart Totoro: Studio Ghibli Film Festival.In this animated Japanese film, a young girl and boyconnect over their love of books and writing.@Howson Library, 2pm; free.SUNDAY 29S Is for Sissy AV Geeks and HeyHomo! A collection of classic, now-campy16mm educational films which examine the behaviorof potential wimps and what has to be done to fix it.@Alamo Ritz, 7:15pm.Siegfried (1924) See p.82.SPACES“An Accident Without End … an IndustryWithout Answers” and “Everything You AlwaysWanted to Know About Nuclear Power … butWere Afraid to Ask” @Agard-Lovinggood Bldg.,Huston-Tillotson University, 8pm; free. (See Thu., 3/26.)“Barbecue: A Texas Love Story” (2004)@Texas Spirit Theatre at the Bob Bullock Texas StateHistory Museum, 5pm. (See Thu., 3/26.)Lunafest 2009 Reel Women. See p.84.MONDAY 30Audience of One (2007) See p.82.Heroes TV @ the Alamo. @Alamo DrafthouseVillage, 10pm; Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek, 8pm.Cine las Americas International Film Festival: Volunteer CallThis 12th annual cinematic event galvanizes Austin in late April, and you couldbe a part of it. From helping at the box office to assisting with production operationsand more, volunteers help keep the whole operation running smoothly.Interested? E-mail for details. volunteers@cinelasamericas.org.Cine, Musica y Alma: Benefit for Cine las Americas This evening oflive music, film, food, and fun benefits the Cine las Americas International FilmFestival. Featuring performances by Michael Ramos, Brian Ramos, and DJ ManoloBlack. Sun., March 29, 6-9pm. Gibson Guitar Showroom, 3601 S. Congress. $30.www.cinelasamericas.org.Screen It Like You Mean It Austin Studios has a state-of-the-art screeningroom, which is available to the public on a rental basis. Community and indierates are available for the room, which sports an 18-foot-by-7-foot screen, 28fixed theatre seats, and a surround-sound system and supports Super-35, 35mm,16mm, VHS, and DVD formats. Handicap accessible, restrooms – the works. Italso has a “break room” suitable for presentations, meetings, and general cinematictomfoolery. 322-0145. www.austinstudios.org.The Screenplay Workshop The new five-week workshop will cover scene/sequence writing, pacing, and transitions; theme, tone, and voice; the business ofscreenwriting; and more. Prerequisite: basic understanding of screenwriting andformatting. Tuesdays, 7-9:30pm. Through March 31. $225. Also available: Privateinstruction and story consultation packages, 7½ hours of private instruction,$370. All classes are taught by professional screenwriters and meet in CentralAustin. See website for details. www.thescreenplayworkshop.org.