Thompson on Hollywood

SXSW Review: In Lovely and Devastating Narrative Spotlight Entry 'Good Night,' No One Goes Gently

Reviews

One of the best films I’ve seen at SXSW is “Good Night" by Sean H.A. Gallagher, a striking ensemble piece that looks at one night in the lives of a group of thirtysomethings as they unwittingly assemble for an announcement from their friend Leigh (Adriene Mischler): Her leukemia, which has been in remission for the past three years, has returned. It’s not going away.

By Beth Hanna
|
March 12, 2013 7:35 PM
|
0 Comments

More:

Magnolia Acquires Sundance and SXSW Music Doc 'Muscle Shoals'

News

Magnolia Pictures likes docs. The indie distributor has acquired US rights to Greg "Freddy" Camalier's Sundance entry "Muscle Shoals," a documentary about the Alabama Muscle Shoals recording studio that spawned some of the greatest records of all time. Produced by Stephen Badger and Camalier, the film includes interviews with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge, Gregg Allman, Clarence Carter, Alicia Keys, Bono and more. The film is debuting in Austin Tuesday at the Paramount Theater as part of the SXSW Film Festival.

By Anne Thompson
|
March 12, 2013 2:29 PM
|
0 Comments

More:

SXSW Midnight Deals: 'Haunter' Goes to IFC, Drafthouse Films Looking for 'Cheap Thrills'

Festivals

Per usual, genre flicks are selling at SXSW. IFC Midnight has snapped up rights to Midnight entry Vincenzo Natali’s “Haunter,” starring Abigail Breslin as a girl perpetually on the eve of her 16th birthday, fated to relive the day before she and her family were all murdered. “Haunter” is Natali’s follow-up to 2011’s “Splice,” starring Sarah Polley and Adrian Brody.

By Beth Hanna
|
March 11, 2013 11:52 PM
|
0 Comments

More:

SXSW 2013: ‘Bates Motel’ Preview a Few Cuts Under Its Pre-‘Psycho’ Potential

Festivals

“Who’s gonna rent a room in the rape/murder hotel?” smokin’ hot Norma Bates (Vera Farmiga) rhetorically asks her introverted son Norman (Freddie Highmore) after a grizzly scene has just unfolded in their creaky house. Based on the first episode of “Bates Motel,” which was unveiled March 11 at SXSW, a number of clunkily-drawn characters will probably swing by the infamous rest-stop, less in the service of true creepiness and more for generic thrills.

By Beth Hanna
|
March 11, 2013 11:46 PM
|
2 Comments

More:

SXSW Panel: Indie Career Advice from Filmmakers Candler, Poyser and Zobel

Festivals

About halfway through the Sustaining a Career in Indie Film panel the filmmakers began talking about labs – Sundance, IFP, The Hamptons – and 80 percent of the audience began scribbling down notes. It seemed to be a session for real beginners, the people that haven’t quit three or more jobs to take on little film gigs that come up, or sat in a corporate office because they needed health insurance.

By Valentina Valentini
|
March 11, 2013 1:58 PM
|
0 Comments

More:

SXSW 2013: 'Loves Her Gun' Star Trieste Kelly Dunn Talks Improv, Road-Tripping and Directors

Interviews

Geoff Marslet's "Loves Her Gun" will be talked about at SXSW, not only because it centers around violence and gun control, but because the improvised dialogue makes for a naturalistic portrait of a woman's progression from victim to aggressor. Trieste Kelly Dunn, who broke out in SXSW 2010's "Cold Weather" and went on to star in Cinemax's "Banshee." The story starts off with a random act of violence in NYC before a road-trek to Austin, Texas, where the majority of the drama unfolds, complete with hipster band, moustache and river tubing with beer.

By Sophia Savage
|
March 11, 2013 7:04 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Joss Whedon Makes 'Much Ado' About Tweeting

News

Fans rejoiced as Joss Whedon sent out his first tweet on March 7: "Hey it's Joss. I'm tweeting. I'm a member of the twitterati. I hath tweeth'd. It's on. -Joss— @MuchAdoFilm"

By Maggie Lange
|
March 10, 2013 5:45 PM
|
0 Comments

More:

SXSW Panel Talk 'Girls,' Changing Rules for Women and Sex on TV

Festivals

It was a poor SXSW panel showing with only about 50 people in the room for one of the most provocative discussions in television: sex. In just one hour, Alyssa Rosenberg's "Changing Rules for Women and Sex on TV" panel packed everything in from body dysmorphia and Patrick Wilson to rape and fertility. Although each of these topics could use any number of hours (or days… year) to be properly mulled over, no blow job, lube or fantasy corner was left untouched.

By Valentina Valentini
|
March 10, 2013 5:05 PM
|
0 Comments

More:

SXSW 2013: 'Bellflower' Producer Grashaw Talks Directorial Debut 'Coldwater'

Festivals

Vincent Grashaw produced, edited and acted in SXSW's 2010 hit "Bellflower," written, directed and starring his fellow Coatwolf Productions pal Evan Glodell. Now he's back in Austin with "Coldwater," his feature directorial debut, which he also co-wrote. The testosterone-fueled drama centers on a teenage boy (Ryan Gosling look-a-like PJ Boudousque) sent to a privately run reform boot camp for misbehaving youth.

By Sophia Savage
|
March 9, 2013 7:32 PM
|
0 Comments

More:

SXSW Opens with Raucous 'The Incredible Burt Wonderstone'

Festivals

The SXSW Film Festival's opening night has been the terrain of celebrity-infused audience-pleasers from "Kick-Ass" to "The Cabin In the Woods" and this year played to a seemingly winning formula. Friday evening, Jim Carrey, Steve Carell and Olivia Wilde took to the stage at the Paramount Theater in the heart of Austin to introduce "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" to a packed and rowdy audience that SXSW seems to breed and studios (and their smaller brethren) eat up. If spontaneous hollers and boisterous guffaws can pass as a barely scientific poll for how a film played, then "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" appeared to be a hit. Brass at New Line, indeed, received what past openers have found here -- a raucous crowd.