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South by Southwest Film Picks

Written by Laura Romer

Austin, your happy place has arrived. And it’s called SXSW.

Lesbian Vampire Killers

It’s the 2009 South by Southwest Film Festival and while it serves as both a showcase and a competition for up and comers in the industry, it also dabbles in the mainstream during the March 13-21 film happening shindig. We’ve sifted and sorted through all sorts of options and have come up with a list of feature length films and documentaries to maybe steer you in a direction of possible entertainment and intrigue. Films topics include those of love, musicals, Neil Young, Kinky Friedman, schizophrenia, the ever en vogue vampires, and even a prison rodeo. And that doesn’t even include any of the short films. And away we go…

Friday, March 13th

The 2 Bobs (World Premiere) – Austin Convention Center at 6:45pm
SXSW Interactive trailers might want to find their way to this one, an after-school special saga with a decidedly geeky (but ultra-in geeky) spin. The 2 Bobs, gaming legends, have their latest groundbreaking, violent video game stolen before its release. They must get it back at all costs, and are forced to enter the bizarre worlds of Christian Venture Capitalists, internet spammers in Austin, Texas, and Dixie mafia hoodlums. But it’s not until they meet The Two Janes that the mystery begins to unravel. (Directed by Tim McCanlies. Also screening Mon, 3/16 at Paramount at 6:30pm.)

SXSW Film, Blood Trail Blood Trail (U.S. Premiere) – Austin Convention Center at 9:30pm
The documentary Blood Trail features photographer Robert King over a 15 year journey in his quest to become a professional photographer with all the ups and downs that follow. (Directed by Richard Parry. Also screening Mon, 3/16 at noon at Alamo Ritz 2 and Wed, 3/18 at 4:30pm at Austin Convention Center.)

Saturday, March 14th

True Adolescents – Alamo Ritz 1 at 4:30pm
Indie favorite Mark Duplass ( The Puffy Chair ) is featured in director Craig Johnson’s first feature film, True Adolescents. Duplass’ character, a loser in his own right seeing as how he’s a has-been wannabe musician who is jobless and houseless, embarks on a camping trip with two teenagers in this coming of age comedy. (Also screening Sun, 3/15 at Alamo Lamar 2 at 1:30pm and Sat, 3/21 at Alamo Ritz 1 at 4:30pm.)

Sons of a Gun (World Premiere) – Austin Convention Center at 5:15pm
In Sons of a Gun, a recently evicted group of three men living together and related not by blood, but by a shared disease, battle schizophrenia as they try to find a new place to live in this documentary. (Directed by Rivkah Beth Medow & Greg O'Toole. Also screening Sun, 3/15 at Alamo Lamar 2 at 4pm and Thur, 3/19 at Austin Convention Center at 5pm.)

Troll 2 – Alamo Lamar 3 at 11:45pm
South by Southwest Film, Troll 2

Please be advised: this film is not for your enjoyment, but certainly for your entertainment. Often claiming the title of The Worst Movie Ever Made (but with a High School Musical 4 confirmed, it might have some serious competition), Troll 2 involves a country visit, vegetarian goblins, and even poor ol’ Utah. Yep, it’s so bad it’s good. Be sure to check out Best Worst Movie, a feature documentary that chronicles the aftermath and acceptance of the epic failure of cinematic history that is Troll 2 . Screening to be same day at Alamo Lamar 1 at 9:30pm. (Directed by Claudio Fragasso (as Drake Floyd).

Sunday, March 15th

Garbage Dreams (World Premiere) – Austin Convention Center at 4:45pm
You can’t accuse director Mai Iskander of piggybacking on Slumdog Millionaire’s massive success. Iskander has been filming for this documentary for four years. It follows three teenagers living in the world’s largest garbage village in the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. The three are among the 60,000 Zaballeen (garbage people), and they work in the trash trade. As globalization reaches even their corner of the world, the teenagers are faced with new decisions they hadn’t anticipated. (Also screening Mon, 3/16 at Alamo Lamar 3 at 2:30pm and Thur, 3/19 at Alamo Lamar 3 at 4:30pm.)
SXSW Film, Sounds Like Teen Spirit

Sounds Like Teen Spirit – Hideout at 8pm
Following the lives of four pre-teens and teenagers in hopes of achieving world domination through the art of song, the documentary Sounds Like Teen Spirit chronicles contestants and their personal worlds at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. (Directed by Jamie J Johnson.)

Monday, March 16th

Office Space – Alamo Lamar 1 at 9pm
A special screening of Office Space, or otherwise known as Jennifer Aniston’s only good comedy film, is to celebrate the film’s 10th anniversary. Director Mike Judge will also be present.

SXSW Film, Lesbian Vampire Killers

Lesbian Vampire Killers (World Premiere) – Alamo Lamar 1 at midnight.
Everybody wants to be hunted by a vampire these days—at least when they are ridiculously good looking. Something tells us this isn’t one of those films. This outrageous comedy features two losers who come under attack by, you guessed it, lesbian vampire killers. (Directed by Phil Claydon. Also screening Wed, 3/18 at Alamo Lamar 2 at 11:30pm.)

Tuesday, March 17th

The Hurt Locker – Paramount at 6:30pm
Limits are pushed in The Hurt Locker, as a team of elite army soldiers have the job of disarming bombs in the midst of Iraqi combat. However, when a new sergeant (Jeremy Renner) takes command, he recklessly puts them in the face of danger as the suspense builds to reveal his true nature. Ralph Fiennes (yes, Lord Voldemort), Guy Pearce, and Evangeline Lilly (“Lost”) round out the cast. (Directed by Kathryn Bigelow.)

Passing Strange – Paramount at 9:30pm
Spike Lee directs this documentary about Passing Strange, a Tony award-winning musical that chronicles the life a young black man in the mid-1970s as he leaves the land of the free and goes to Europe to find him and his artistic self.

Wednesday, March 18th

Iron Maiden: Flight 666 – Paramount at 7pm
Iron Maiden: Flight 666 showcases heavy metal-ers Iron Maiden as they decided to hit the skies for their 2008 tour of 23 shows in 45 days all while covering a distance of 40,000 miles. This is only remotely cool because lead singer Bruce Dickinson piloted the customized Boeing 757 and was responsible for the lives of 70+ crew and a dozen tons of equipment. Rock on. (Directed by Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn. Also screening Sat, 3/21 at Austin Convention Center at 2pm.)

Creative Nonfiction (World Premiere) – Alamo Lamar 2 at 10 pm
Follow college student Ella as reality and fantasy merge as she struggles to separate the two as she tries to finish a screenplay for her creative writing class. (Directed by Lena Dunham. Also screening Sat, 3/14 at Alamo Ritz 2 at 1pm and Fri, 3/20 at Alamo Lamar 2 at 1:30pm.)

Thursday, March 19th

Alexander the Last (World Premiere) – Alamo Lamar 2 at 11am
An intimate look at a young marriage, Alexander the Last tells the story of the challenges associated with an artistic young couple as they try to adjust to monogamous (i.e. married) life and their encounters with other seductions. (Directed by Joe Swanberg. Also screening Sat, 3/14 at Paramount at 10pm and Sat, 3/21 at Austin Convention Center at 11:30am.)
SXSW Film, Along Came Kinky

Along Came Kinky...Texas Jewboy for Governor (World Premiere) – Paramount at 7:30pm
Kinky, Kinky, Kinky. Indeed Texas pop culture will never be the same. Along Came Kinky follows Kinky Friedman during his bid for governor in 2006 running as an Independent complete with witty repartee. (Directed by David Harstein.)

ExTerminators (World Premiere) – Alamo Lamar 1 at 10pm
South by Southwest Film, ExTerminators

Emmy-nominated director John Inwood’s ( Scrubs ) first feature debut, ExTerminators follows a trio of women who are very, very angry with the world and especially, very, very angry with the men in it. Filmed in Austin and features a cast that includes Heather Graham and Jennifer Coolidge, and musician Charlie Robison. (Also screening Fri, 3/13 at Paramount at 9:00pm and Sun, 3/15 Alamo Lamar 3 at noon.)

Friday, March 20th

Breaking Upwards (World Premiere) – Alamo Ritz 1 at 11:30am
Real life couple and filmmakers Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones are placed within a fictional setting where their relationship is in a rut after four years, but are both reluctant to be alone. In Breaking Upwards, the New York couple plots its own breakup and tests new and unconventional dating waters along the way. (Directed by Daryl Wein. Also screening Sat, 3/14 at 9:30pm at Alamo Ritz 1 and Mon, 3/16 at 4:30pm at Alamo Lamar 2.)
SXSW Film, Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo

SXSW Film, Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo

Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo (World Premiere) – Austin Convention Center at 4:30pm
The title pretty much sums it up. The documentary, Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo, leads a journey to the last remaining prison rodeo to take place on prison grounds at Oklahoma State Prison where convicts compete for cash and attention. (Directed by Bradley Beesley. Also screening Sat, 3/14 at 11am at Paramount and Tue, 3/17 at 1:30pm at Alamo Ritz 1.)

Saturday, March 21st

South by Southwest Film, Neil Young Trunk Show

Neil Young Trunk Show (World Premiere) – Paramount at 4:30pm
Come on. It’s Neil Young. What else do you need to know? Neil Young Trunk Show follows the man himself as he performs a concert in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, in 2007. Director Jonathan Demme captures Young’s concert persona as well as backstage moments using a mix of mostly hand-held video and film cameras.

South by Southwest Film, DeOfrivilliga

De Ofrivilliga (Involuntary) – Alamo Lamar 3 at 6:30pm
Swedish film offers a humorous, if twisted, look at lessons to learn and lines not to cross. Lessons that should be learned by everyone: Party boys, flirtatious teen girls, and schoolteachers. As summer approaches, indiscretions surface. But how far is too far? (Directed by Ruben Ostlund. Also screening Thur, 3/19 at Alamo Ritz 2 at 1pm.)

Interested in the state of the Texas and Austin film industry?