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South By Southwest: Recap (2nd Half)

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

To see the first half of my recap, click here.

And that’s a wrap! The South By Southwest 2010 Film Festival is over and wow, what an experience it was. In total, I got to see 22 films in 7 days mixed with 2 other conferences! It was quite intense but really fun and informative. Here’s the 2nd half of my film journey:

Day 6: Wednesday, March 17th.
I started off the day with finally getting into the Ritz on 6th Street. Earlier, with all the crowds from the weekend, I was turned away from seeing Mars. But luckily, today, I got a seat to see Cherry and I was really happy afterwards, because it was a great film. I’ll definitely be writing a full review for this one because it’s either my 2nd or 3rd favorite film of the festival, I’m still trying to decide. (Funny enough I’m trying to decide between this and the film I missed at the same theater earlier, Mars) After, I moved back to the Paramount where I saw Get Low starring the incredible cast of Bill Murray, Robert Duvall, and Sissy Spacek. Following that, I saw a Swiss Sci-Fi film called Cargo and the super secret midnight screening of Centurion.

Day 7: Thursday, March 18th.
Today I ventured off and saw some of the Music from SXSW. The only movie I caught was The Runaways starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning. I should have a full review of it later today (since it came out this weekend).

Day 8: Friday, March 19th.
Last day of SXSW Film (for me .. I did Music again for the full day on Saturday). I decided to stick to one theater and just watch movie after movie there. I started with Canal Street Madam, a documentary on the life of Jeanette Maier as she continues her life after an FBI raid on her family-run brother in New Orleans. Next was One Night in Vegas, an ESPN documentary about the tragic night where Mike Tyson won the heavyweight belt but Tupac Shakur lost his life. Finally, I got to see the animated film Mars which was well worth the wait and either my 2nd or 3rd favorite film of the whole festival (read above for more about that). I finished off the night by singing karaoke with other film festival peeps right next door at the High Ball – a great way to end a great festival.

More in depth reviews for many of these films will be coming later on in the week. There were a few films I didn’t get to see which I’ll have to run down now but all together, I had a great festival experience seeing great movies and meeting great people. See you next year South By Southwest!

This post is part of our SXSW Film Festival coverage
The South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conferences & Festivals offer the unique convergence of original music, independent films, and emerging technologies. Fostering creative and professional growth alike, SXSW® is the premier destination for discovery. The internationally acclaimed, nine-day Film Festival celebrates raw innovation and emerging talent, with a truly diverse program ranging from provocative documentaries to subversive Hollywood comedies.Visit South by Southwest’s Official Website

Tags: Bill Murray, Canal Street Madam, Cargo, Centurion, Cherry, Dakota Fanning, Get Low, Kristen Stewart, Mars, One Night in Vegas, Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, South By Southwest, SXSW, The Runaways
Posted in Film Festivals and Conventions, South By Southwest 2010 | No Comments »

South By Southwest: Halfway Through!

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

I apologize for not updating more but the South By Southwest Conference and Film Festival is hectic! There’s so much to do, I don’t know how anybody can get it all done. I flew in Friday night and today is Wednesday, I’ve seen over a dozen films in the past 4 days and almost all of them have been great. Here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to. I’ll be writing more in depth reviews when the festival is over.

Day 2: Saturday, March 13th.
After picking up my badge and finding my way around a bit, I sat down for my first movie, a movie I wasn’t even planning to see: Marwencol. It was a great and tragic story about a man who was almost beaten to death regaining his life through an alter life in the form of action figures and dolls. I tried to get in to a film called Mars at the Ritz but I have still yet to be able to make it into a screening at this theater…it has been packed! Instead, I got some food and then headed over to the Paramount where most of the big premieres were taking place and saw the French film Micmacs and then Cyrus starring John C. Reily and Jonah Hill…they were in attendance for a Q&A afterwards.

Day 3: Sunday, March 14th.
I tried to get a few interactive events in today so I didn’t start watching movies till later. I was back at the Paramount for Mr. Nice and Elektra Luxx. Mr. Nice was the true story of Howard Marks, a British drug smuggler. Elektra Luxx is the sequel to Sebastian Gutierrez’s Women in Trouble starring Carla Gugino, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Malin Akerman, Adrianne Palicki, Emmanuelle Chriqui, and many more…most of them were in attendance which kind of saved the night because the projector stopped working before the end of the film.

Day 4: Monday, March 15th.
To make up for the day before, I watched 6 movies today, yes 6. I started off with a film I really wanted to see, Pelada…and it was amazing! 2 Americans travel the world playing pick up soccer games. I sat next to the 2 player-travellers in the film. It’s my favorite film of the festival so far. I tried to get into Tiny Furniture at the Ritz, but again it was full, so I saw Beijing Taxi followed by American: The Bill Hicks Story. Beijing Taxi was a stale documentary about a couple taxi drivers in Beijing before and during the Winter Olympics. American: The Bill Hicks Story is the story of comedian Bill Hicks who became more of an activist as his career progressed. I went to a smaller venue, The Hideout, to watch a Finnish film called Living Room of the Nation which put cameras in a few Finnish homes to see how stories unravelled through everyday life. Then I went back to the Paramount for the world premiere of MacGruber, the SNL skit starring Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Ryan Phillippe, and Val Kilmer. It was actually hilarious, I’ll write a full review soon. Elektra Luxx was played again tonight since it broke down the night before, so I caught the ending of that.

Day 5: Tuesday, March 16th.
This was the ending of the interactive and film conference so I watched some internet related films. I started off the morning with Erasing David, a British filmmaker sets off to disappear for a month and hires 2 private investigators to try and find him using only publicly available data. It’s about the state of our privacy in society today. Then I set up shop at the Paramount again and watched 3 films back to back. I couldn’t handle the last one (Skateland) and will have to catch it later. I heard good things about it so I’m sure it’ll get picked up. I started off with Hood to Coast, a film documenting a few teams during this epic marathon from Mt. Hood to the coast of Oregon. Followed by The People vs. George Lucas, another documentary about the angry fans of Star Wars. And finished the night with Harry Brown, a great in your face thriller starring Michael Caine.

So that was 14 films and 1 twice. There’s hardly any time in between to eat! I still have 4 more days but I’m probably going to see less and less movies. I took most of today off to try and get some work done in the middle of the week and I’m planning on catching the other side of the South By Southwest festival, the music. Tonight, I plan on seeing Get Low, Cargo, and maybe another film. For the next couple days I will try and see The Runaways, Monsters, Higanjima, World’s Largest, The Red Chapel, and maybe Canal Street Madam, The Parking Lot Movie, and Mars.

Are you guys interested in any of the movies I’ve seen, am trying to see, or other films of the South By Southwest festival? Let us know!