SXSW FILM FESTIVAL

As much as I'd love to go into an in-depth discussion on the intricacies of the comedy within Forgetting Sarah Marshall, it's entirely unnecessary. It's a very funny film that follows the Judd Apatow formula to the core (including with a running time of nearly two hours) and delivers. While not the absolute funniest of Apatow's recent features, Sarah Marshall is still one of the better comedies to arrive this half of the year and that shows both the struggles of break ups and the brighter side on the other end. If you're unsure of whether Jason Segel could pull it off, I'll be the first to tell you that he can, and does.

› Posted March 11 in Movie Reviews, SXSW 08 | 63 Comments

SXSW Review: Dance of the Dead

It seems like every year we get only one good new zombie movie. It's a genre that lives on (pun intended) and is still enjoyed each and every year, but the good ones are harder and harder to find. However, within only three months we've already stumbled across this year's great new zombie flick - Dance of the Dead. The film is a fun mix of Shaun of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, any of Michael Bay's scripts, and any high school prom movie you've ever seen. It's fun, it's exciting, and it's really damn good.

› Posted March 10 in Movie Reviews, SXSW 08 | 5 Comments

SXSW Review: The Promotion

By Ken Evans

I have seen 3 documentaries and 3 1/2 fictional narratives during my time here at SXSW. The Promotion is my favorite film of the festival so far. It was exactly what I needed to see to set the bar for the rest of the films I'm going to watch. A great mix of drama and comedy that led to a final feel good moment at the end. While it's not the greatest movie I've seen, it was still very good and it lifted my spirits, especially after the previous two fictional narratives I watched turned out to be duds.

› Posted March 10 in Movie Reviews, SXSW 08 | 2 Comments

SXSW Review: Some Assembly Required

By Ken Evans

This is definitely going to turn out to be a great festival for documentaries. I've already seen American Teen, We Are Wizards and now Some Assembly Required. I still have a lot more documentaries to see like Reformat the Planet, Second Skin, Throw Down Your Heart, Bananaz, Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry and Crawford. I never knew I was a doc guy but after watching last year's nominated documentaries plus King of Kong, I've been hooked.

› Posted March 9 in Movie Reviews, SXSW 08 | 4 Comments

SXSW Review: We Are Wizards - Ken's Take

By Ken Evans

My first film of SXSW and I wasn't disappointed. We Are Wizards deals with how the Harry Potter series of movies and books have affected its fans. What has sprung up since the series started is a bunch of fan web sites dealing with all news from the Harry Potter world and a new genre of music called "Wizard Rock". The first half of the documentary deals with this new genre from the viewpoint of a few bands like "Harry and the Potters" and "The Hungarian Horntails".

› Posted March 9 in Movie Reviews, SXSW 08 | 2 Comments

SXSW Review: Second Skin

When it comes to documentaries, it takes a lot to impress me. Thankfully Second Skin surpassed all of my expectations and earned a spot on my list of favorite docs, which is incredibly rare. The film is about the "second life" of MMORPG players like in World of Warcraft. Where it succeeds is in its informative style, solid structure, and well-chosen stories. There are millions of gamers out there, but the filmmakers behind Second Skin happened to come across the best few stories that they could ever tell.

› Posted March 8 in Movie Reviews, SXSW 08 | 2 Comments

SXSW Review: Harold & Kumar 2

In this day and age, comedies seem to have a form that they all follow. The jokes are getting more and more bland and the stories worse and worse. To be honest, I wasn't expecting anything but the same old crap with Harold & Kumar 2: Escape from Guantanamo Bay. And to be honest, I enjoyed the hell out of it. It's a dumb stoner comedy to the core that never deviates from that ideal, and yet I still laughed all the way through. It may not top the first Harold & Kumar, but it is a perfect compliment to it that I think everyone who loved that one will enjoy.

› Posted March 8 in Movie Reviews, SXSW 08 | 7 Comments

Heading to SXSW and ShoWest - Fun Times!

Just letting you know that Ken Evans and I are heading out to the SXSW Film Festival today in Austin, TX and will be there for 10 days - until next Sunday, March 16th. In addition, I'll be skipping out to Las Vegas for ShoWest next week from Tuesday to Thursday before heading back to Austin to finish out that fest. Although you might not hear about all the parties we're going to, you will hear about all the movies we're seeing, interviews we're coordinating, and everything else fun that's going on in Austin and Vegas. If you're a fan of the site and happen to be in Austin, drop us a line / e-mail, maybe we'll catch some drinks and BBQ one night! We've also posted a few of the things you can look forward to hearing about below.

› Posted March 6 in General News, SXSW 08 | 7 Comments

SXSW First Look: Mark Webber's Explicit Ills

The SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX begins later this week and we're looking at a few of the films that will be premiering there. Today is our final first look preview from SXSW for the feature film Explicit Ills, written and directed by Mark Webber. Unfortunately we don't have a trailer for this, only a few photos, but it's one I definitely wanted to feature because it's high on my list of films to check out - it just sounds like it could be great. It stars Rosario Dawson, Paul Dano, Lou Taylor Pucci, Naomie Harris, and Tariq Trotter. In Explicit Ills, young love, drugs and poverty collide in the city of Philadelphia creating a beautiful tale of hope and the power of coming together.

› Posted March 4 in First Look, Indies, SXSW 08 | 1 Comment

SXSW First Look: Medicine For Melancholy

The SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX is just a few weeks away and we're looking at a few of the films that will be premiering there. Today it's the feature film Medicine For Melancholy directed by Barry Jenkins. I'll be damned! This looks like the first incredible indie movie premiering at SXSW. This trailer is truly amazing: I love the visual style, I love the music choice, I love the actors, I love the story - this could really turn out very well. Set in San Francisco, Medicine For Melancholy tells the story of two individuals who try to get to know each other after a one night stand.

› Posted February 28 in First Look, Indies, SXSW 08, To Watch, Trailers | 8 Comments

SXSW First Look: A Necessary Death

The SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX is just a few weeks away and we're looking at a few of the films that will be premiering there. Today it's the feature film A Necessary Death directed by newcomer Daniel Stamm. This may be a very morbid trailer to start your day with, but it's one of the most interesting films I've ever come across. "Documentary Filmmaker looking for suicidal individual to follow from first preparation to final act." Cut from 142 video tapes, this film sheds light on the tragedy following the infamous internet ad. I'm not sure whether this is actually a documentary or completely fictitious, but either way the trailer is very eerie.

› Posted February 27 in First Look, Indies, SXSW 08, To Watch, Trailers | 22 Comments

SXSW First Look: Super High Me Documentary

The SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX is just a few weeks away and we're looking at a few of the films that will be premiering there. Today it's the documentary Super High Me directed by Michael Blieden. "You know that movie Super Size Me, where that guy Morgan Spurlock ate McDonald's every meal for 30 days? People actually paid money to see that. Well, if that's a movie, I've got a movie! I'm going to smoke pot every day for 30 days, and it's going to be called SUPER HIGH ME or Business As Usual...I haven't decided on a title yet. But guess what? McDonald's is going to be in my movie too!" And that's the premise for Super High Me.

› Posted February 26 in First Look, Indies, SXSW 08, To Watch, Trailers | 8 Comments

SXSW First Look: FrontRunners Documentary

The SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX is just a few weeks away and we're looking at a few of the films that will be premiering there. Today it's the documentary FrontRunners directed by Caroline Suh. "It's hard to run for office - even in high school." The doc is a look at the student body president elections at the prestigious Stuyvesant High School in New York City. Similar to American Teen, the runaway high school documentary hit from Sundance, FrontRunners follows four students who must battle through the social atmosphere of high school to gain the popularity and attention of their peers and win their vote.