SXSW 2013

[PfR73]

Does anyone else from the board attend SXSW? If so, what are you looking forward to seeing?

This will my 8th year attending the film festival. Among other things, I'm really looking forward to:

Upstream Color
The Rambler
Milius
Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction
You're Next
A Band Called Death
The East
Milo
Evil Dead (although I'm prepared to be disappointed)


And as an Austin native & aspiring filmmaker/actor, there's a really exciting slew of films from Austin, many of which I have personal connections to the filmmakers/actors, including:

Rewind This
Grow Up Tony Phillips
Loves Her Gun
The Bounceback
Zero Charisma (I am a supporting actor)
Computer Chess (I am an extra)

[Zot!]

Computer Chess

I hope this is as exciting as the title implies

I really like Austin, maybe I'll make it SxSW sometine.

[Brianruns10]

I'll be interested in how "Drinking Buddies" by Swanberg does. It's his first film with a significant budget and name recognized stars in the cast, and I think will be a crucial test for him.

Count me among the skeptics, who regarded his previous efforts as less a product of a creative mind, than of one rather uninterested in mastering his craft, or stepping outside himself for inspiration. So given the resources to make a more polished film, as well as actors with better training and ability, either one of two things will happen:

1) Swanberg will make a genuinely good film, and prove his talents had in the past been limited by his lack of resources and budget.
2) Lacking the DIY, mumblecore aesthetic as a crutch, he'll fall flat on his face creatively and make an utterly average and forgettable effort which will go straight to VoD.

[RagingNoodles]

I was hoping to go but won't be able to afford it. I was most interested in watching This Ain't No Mouse Music. I really like Maureen Gosling and Chris Simon's work in Les Blank's films, and Chris Strachwitz is someone who I genuinely admire. He's played a huge role in my taste in music. Some of Les Blank's best work, like Chulas Fronteras and J'ai été au bal, wouldn't have been possible without Strachwitz's role.

[PfR73]

I'll be interested in how "Drinking Buddies" by Swanberg does. It's his first film with a significant budget and name recognized stars in the cast, and I think will be a crucial test for him.

Count me among the skeptics, who regarded his previous efforts as less a product of a creative mind, than of one rather uninterested in mastering his craft, or stepping outside himself for inspiration. So given the resources to make a more polished film, as well as actors with better training and ability, either one of two things will happen:

1) Swanberg will make a genuinely good film, and prove his talents had in the past been limited by his lack of resources and budget.
2) Lacking the DIY, mumblecore aesthetic as a crutch, he'll fall flat on his face creatively and make an utterly average and forgettable effort which will go straight to VoD.

Swanberg's had a film at the festival every year since I started attending, except 2010, and I've seen each one. I really liked LOL & Nights And Weekends. I didn't like Silver Bullets and the others I didn't feel strongly about in either direction. I'm planning on seeing Drinking Buddies, so we'll see.

[Brianruns10]

And it looks like the early reviews are pretty favorable for "Drinking Buddies." Good for him! I hope this film has legs to stretch beyond VoD purgatory that other rom coms have fallen into of late.

It looks to be a nice step forward for Swanberg.

[AlexHansen]

Swanberg's All the Light in the Sky is worth seeking out.