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SXSW Announces SXSWclick Winners, Call for '09 Entries
Filed under: Awards, SXSW, Shorts, DIY/Filmmaking, Home Entertainment, Cinematical Indie  We're well into August, and here in Austin it's hot and dry and the last thing most of us are thinking about is anything going on next March. But over at SXSW, they're ignoring the dog days of summer and preparing like crazy for next year's interactive, music, and (of course) film festival / conference. The 2009 South By Southwest Film Festival is scheduled for March 13-21, as you can see from the new site for next year's festivities, and you can start submitting your films now for consideration. You've got...
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Note to Lionsgate: 'Dance of the Dead' is a Really Good Movie
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Horror, Independent, Thrillers, SXSW, Fandom, Fan Rant 
When the brilliant French horror flick Inside went straight to DVD, I thought "Well, yeah. It's hardcore horror and it's in French. It probably scared the arthouses and it would never play multiplexes. Bring on the DVD already." When I heard that the very awesome [REC] was going directly to home video, I thought "Yeah, Sony did an English-language remake, so no big shock there." But when I heard that Gregg Bishop's Dance of the Dead was not only going straight to video -- but it...
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Interview: 'Baghead' Writer-Directors Jay and Mark Duplass
Filed under: Comedy, Independent, SXSW, Sundance, Sony Classics, Festival Reports, Interviews, Cinematical Indie 
By: James Rocchi
(With Baghead's limited release expanding this week, we at Cinematical are re-running our Sundance 2008 interview with Jay and Mark Duplass.)
In Baghead, the writing-directing team of Mark and Jay Duplass (The Puffy Chair) combine not two, but three separate traditions of American Indie Cinema: It revolves around two couples; it celebrates and mocks the world of indie film ... and it takes place in an isolated cabin in the woods where a masked stranger hovers outside in ominous silence. Cinematical spoke...
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The Awesome 'Dance of the Dead' Snags a Distributor
Filed under: Comedy, Horror, SXSW, Lionsgate Films  One of the best things about last March's South By Southwest Film Festival was that I got to hang out with a bunch of Cinematipals like Kim, Erik, Pete, Jette, Snider and Gene ... and one of the best times we had together was during the world premiere midnight screening of Gregg Bishop's Dance of the Dead. It certainly helped that we were chilling at the Alamo Drafthouse, but the flick should play well in traditional cinemas as well.
Which brings me to the point: According to a recent press release, Dance of the...
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SXSW Review: Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
Filed under: Comedy, SXSW, Theatrical Reviews, Festival Reports, Fandom
(We're re-posting our SXSW review of Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay to coincide with the film's theatrical release this weekend.) "Is it as good as the first one?" That's the question I've been asked most since watching Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay last night. Short answer: Yes ... and no. The HIGHly-anticipated sequel to 2004's Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle comes just how you'd expect it: raunchy, wild, disgusting and completely absurd. This isn't -- and has never been -- a real-life comedy (all that went out the window...
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SXSW Comes to Aid of Injured Filmmaker
Filed under: SXSW, Exhibition, Cinematical Indie  During the South by Southwest Film Festival, short filmmaker Behn Zeitlin was in a terrible car accident on the way to the screening of his film, Glory at Sea. Zeitlin shattered his hip, which had to be replaced, fractured his pelvis, and sprained both ankles. The director, who did not have medical insurance, now faces over $80,000 in medical bills.
Even in the midst of transitioning into a new gig, outgoing SXSW head Matt Dentler is on the ball with this. SXSW is trying to help Zeitlin out, by hosting two benefit screenings on April 29 at everyone's favorite...
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Matt Dentler Steps Down from SXSW
Filed under: SXSW, Executive shifts, Festival Reports 
Wow, this news threw me for a loop. According to indieWIRE, our mutual friend Matt Dentler, producer of the South By Southwest Film Festival since 2004, is leaving his post (and Austin) to move to New York City, where he will head the marketing and programming operations of Cinetic Media's new digital rights management unit. Replacing Dentler as SXSW producer will be Janet Pierson, long-time independent film producer and board member of the Austin Film Society. I've never met Pierson (well, that I know of ... you do get introduced to so many people at film fests, it's hard to keep track of...
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SXSW Review: 21
Filed under: Drama, New Releases, SXSW, Theatrical Reviews, Festival Reports 
(Note: We're re-posting our 21 review from SXSW to coincide with the film's theatrical release this weekend.)
In 21, an M.I.T. math whiz joins a secret cabal of card-counters who fly to Vegas on the weekends to make a killing at the blackjack tables. That's the hook, the part you may not have seen in a thousand other films. But the rest is as generic as the title (21? Really? That's the best you could come up with?), a story about a nobody who becomes a somebody, forsakes his friends, and learns What's Really Important.
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SXSW Review: Stop-Loss
Filed under: Drama, Independent, SXSW, Theatrical Reviews, Festival Reports, Cinematical Indie 
(Note: We're re-posting our Stop-Loss review from SXSW to coincide with the film's theatrical release this weekend.)
It's been almost nine years since Kimberly Peirce's breakout film Boys Don't Cry, so expectations for her new project were bound to run high. Alas, she doesn't do herself any favors with the self-serious, emotionally hollow Stop-Loss. Why would someone who's so selective about the films she makes choose something so uninspired?
The title refers to the U.S. Army's policy of renewing soldiers' enlistments against their wishes, a necessary step...
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SXSW Review: Body of War
Filed under: Documentary, SXSW, Theatrical Reviews, Cinematical Indie, War
The recent U.S. involvement in Iraq has become one of the biggest subjects for documentaries in the past few years, and it's hard not to feel weary of watching the variety of movies on this topic, no matter how varied and original they might be. Phil Donahue has contributed to the genre with Body of War, a documentary he co-directed with Austin filmmaker Ellen Spiro (Troop 1500). The movie focuses on the effect that the U.S. conflict in Iraq has had on a single soldier.
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