by Joe Gillis, Mar 14 2012 // 10:15 AM
With the film and Interactive portions of the South By Southwest Festival over now and the music part getting into full swing, it’s time for some awards. Taking the “Best Narrative Feature” prize in film was director Adam Leon’s Gimme The Loot.
Other winners include Jay Bulger’s Beware Of Mr. Baker, which won the award in the documentary category and Eden, Directed by Megan Griffiths, which won the “Audience Award” for best narrative feature.
Leon’s film was very well received by audiences and critics during the festival and several distributors have reportedly been considering the project. The film is set in New York and tells the story of Malcolm and Sofia, two tough Bronx teens who are up and coming graffiti artists.
When their latest masterpiece is defaced by a rival gang, the two plot to get spectacular revenge and become the biggest writers in the city.
Click through for a complete list of winners.
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Posted in: Awards · Movies · News · SXSW
Tagged: Adam Leon, Awards, Beware of Mr. Baker, Eden, Film Festivals, Gimmie the Loot, Jay Bulger, Megan Griffiths, Movies, South by Southwest, SXSW, SXSW Film
by Joe Gillis, Mar 13 2012 // 10:00 AM
It isn’t just movies and music at the South By Southwest event, there’s also comics. Comics and technology, to be exact.
That’s right, at SXSW in Austin, TX yesterday Marvel announced a new initiative, in the form of an iOS and Android app, and the first of many steps in its Marvel ReEvolution called Marvel AR. This new app, developed in conjunction with Aurasma “brings the world of print and digital media together for a comics experience like never before.”
Sound exciting? Well, if you want to know more, check out all the info below from the official press release.
Yesterday, at the SXSW Interactive Festival, Marvel Entertainment unveiled Marvel AR, the first major augmented reality app from a comic book company. As part of the recently announced Marvel ReEvolution, which brings the world of print and digital media together for a comics experience like never before, the Marvel AR app powered by Aurasma will be released on April 2 for iOS and Android devices. Fans can first discover the power of this new app in Avengers VS X-Men #1, arriving in comic stores on April 4 and kicking off the comic book event of the year in which the world’s most popular Super Heroes go to war!
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Posted in: Android · Apple · Comics · Marvel · News · Tech
Tagged: Android, Apple, Aurasma, Comics, iOS, iOS 5, iPad, iPad 2, Marvel, Marvel AR, Marvel ReEvolution, Smartphones, SXSW, SXSW Interactive
by Joe Gillis, Mar 12 2012 // 3:15 PM
Given the proliferation of smartphones with decent to very good cameras, it made sense that what followed was a whole lot of camera and photography apps for those smartphones. Among the most popular for iOS devices, with over 27 million registered users, is Instagram.
But what of Android and its users? Are they supposed to sit on the sidelines and not be able to enjoy all that Instagram goodness?Not much longer, apparently. As we previously reported, the app was announced for Android in December but not specific release dat was given.
However, at the annual South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger of Instagram hinted that the Android version of their app is coming “really soon.” In fact, Systrom briefly showed the app running on his Galaxy Nexus and claimed that “it’s one of the most amazing Android apps you’ll ever see, in some ways, it’s better than our iPhone app.”
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Posted in: Android · Mobile · Mobile Apps · News · SXSW · Tech
Tagged: Android, Google, Instagram, iOS, iPhone, iPhone 4S, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, Mobile, Mobile Apps, Photography, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Smartphone Photography, Smartphones, Social Media, SXSW, SXSW Interactive
by Chris Ullrich, Jun 8 2011 // 10:30 AM
When you run a website like The Flickcast, you are often lucky enough to see movies in advance of their release to the general public. Or, in the case of the horror comedy Tucker & Dale Versus Evil, way in advance.
I first saw this movie last year during Austin’s South By Southwest Film Festival and reviewed it for the site. Now, over a year later, the film has finally found distribution through Magnolia Pictures Magnet Releasing arm.
To save you the trouble of reading my review I will tell you that at the time I didn’t fall madly in love with the movie. However, it was fun and leads Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk and Katrina Bowden are likeable and very watchable.
The film has problems, of course, as to many movies these days. I don’t really blame it for its problems, though, as it aspires to do a lot and is mostly limited by its extremely modest budget. I definitely give director Eli Craig points for at least trying to do something.
So, I’m happy more people will get a chance to experience Tucker & Dale Vs Evil. Plus, if the film does well we may be able to see what director Craig does with a larger budget.
Expect Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil to hit VOD on August 26th and then theaters on September 30th. For more info, click through for the full press release.
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Posted in: Announcements · Movies · News · Press Releases
Tagged: 30 Rock, Alan Tudyk, Eli Craig, Firefly, Horror, Katrina Bowden, Magnet Releasing, Magnolia Pictures, Movies, SXSW, Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil, Tyler Labine
by Nat Almirall, May 16 2011 // 1:00 PM
Like most folks who attended the last screening of Natural Selection, I was catching the film mostly due to its winning both the audience and jury awards at SXSW. I hadn’t heard of it either, but then there were a ton of films on the venue, and I stuck to the ones I probably wouldn’t get screening invites to later (read “documentaries”).
So the hype for Natural Selection was ample, foremost among its champions was/is my Chicago colleague, the great Roger Ebert. And I can see why: It’s a tender, sweet story, the performances are terrific, and it’s all-around original, funny, and (forgive the use of this word) fresh.
Rachel Harris (whose eclectic credits range from The Hangover to Stuart Little 2 to SeaQuest DSV) plays the infertile, sexually frustrated, and very Christian housewife Linda White. Since she can’t produce a child and since she and her husband Abe Abe (John Diel) are such dedicated Christians, the two haven’t had sex in about a quarter of a century.
Abe finds a loophole in the only-sex-for-procreation by making weekly donations to the local sperm bank, something Linda is unaware of (as it would only compound her frustration at not being able to likewise relieve herself) until Abe suffers a stroke during one session and subsequently reveals to her that years ago one of his donations grew into a 23-year-old son Raymond (Matt O’Leary). He tasks Linda with tracking down Raymond so he can see the lad before he dies, and, like the dutiful wife she is, Linda accepts.
However, Raymond is the polar opposite of Linda—blasphemous, crooked, and, as the opening scene discloses, a fugitive. At first he resists her request, but after spying the opportunity to run some sort of grift on this gullible, overly patient woman, he accepts.
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Posted in: Comedy · Film Festivals · Music · Reviews · SXSW
Tagged: Film Festivals, John Diel, Matt O'Leary, Natural Selection, Rachel Harris, Robbie Pickering, SXSW
by Nat Almirall, May 11 2011 // 12:00 PM
(Even though it’s been over for a while, there’s still some reviews to squeeze out of SXSW!)
The opening scene of Fambul Tok is as powerful as any documentary could hope for: A few dozen Sierra Leone villagers circle a campfire—the social center of their tiny community—one of them stands and accuses another, her own uncle, of slaughtering her family during the 1991 civil war. The gathering becomes a tribunal as the leader reiterates the charges and then asks the accused if they are accurate. And then, instead of handing down a sentence, the leader asks the man’s accuser if she forgives him. She does.
It’s everything an opening scene should be: engaging, tense, and a capsulation of the film.
Fambul Tok, which is Sierra Leonean for “family talk,” refers to this process, where, instead of charging one with a crime and judging him with a jury of his peers, justice is replaced with forgiveness in the hope of fostering peace. This method, its application and merits, are the focus of the film as explored by director Sara Terry and her guide John Caulker, himself a victim of the Sierra Leonean atrocities.
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Posted in: Documentary · Film Festivals · Indie · Movies · Reviews · SXSW
Tagged: Documentaries, Documentary, Fambul Tok, Sara Terry, SXSW
by Matt Raub, Apr 20 2011 // 2:30 PM
It may be about a month over, but that hasn’t stopped the marketing machine for James Gunn’s Super from bringing us some great internet material to enjoy while still pimping out the film.
In this case, said marketing is in the form of both Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page (the film’s heroes) fighting crime in Austin, TX for this year’s South by Southwest film festival.
The film stars Wilson, Page, Kevin Bacon, Michael Rooker, Liv Tyler, and Nathan Fillion in a very dark, very hilarious look at a regular nobody who decides to take justice into his own clenched fist.
Take a look at the clip of Wilson taking to the streets of Austin after the jump, and catch Super in theaters everywhere and on demand via Comcast, Cox, Cablevision, Time Warner, and Bright House.
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Posted in: Action · Comedy · Drama · Indie · Marketing · Movies · News · SXSW · Video
Tagged: Ellen Page, James Gunn, Kevin Bacon, Liv Tyler, Michael Rooker, Nathan Fillion, Rainn Wilson, Super, SXSW
by Nat Almirall, Mar 28 2011 // 12:30 PM

Kumaré is a good documentary. It (somewhat) does what it sets out to do, does it well, takes some daring chances, scores some laughs, and is a nice-enough movie-going experience. It’s premise is ingenious: Vikram Gandhi, a 30-ish lad of Indian descent, poses as the “enlightened guru” Kumaré and amasses a following among some of the spiritually attuned (and gullible) residents of Arizona.
Dispensing platitudinal and often comically obtuse wisdom, he nevertheless ingratiates himself to his followers, who soon (and not surprisingly) take him to be their confidant, asking questions far less abstract and, personally, much deeper than the lofty spiritual conundrums he poses.
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Posted in: Documentary · Movies · Reviews · SXSW
Tagged: Kristin Calgaro, Kumaré, Purva Bedi, SXSW, Vikram Gandhi
by Shannon Hood, Mar 25 2011 // 10:00 AM
Insidious was one film that was high on my list of priority to view at SXSW. Essentially a haunted house genre movie, the film is from writer Leigh Whannell and director James Wan, who previously worked together on Saw. No worries, this film is more carnival fun-house ride than house of horrors. I mean that in a good way.
Wan keeps the gore to a minimum, and the film is more campy than truly frightening. It’s still a darn fun ride, in the vein of Drag Me to Hell. The jump scares are plentiful, and had the audience squealing and screaming, but you won’t lie in bed at night pulling the covers up under your chin. It’s quickly forgotten as a fun diversion.
Young couple Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) have just moved into a big, creepy house with their three children. Josh is pretty oblivious to just how stressed out Renai is, what with caring for three small children and settling into this huge house. You could even say she is (understandably) emotionally unstable.
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Posted in: Horror · Horror Reviews · Movies · Reviews · SXSW
Tagged: 'Insidious', Horror, James Wan, Leigh Whannell, Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, SXSW, SXSW reviews
by Nat Almirall, Mar 24 2011 // 11:30 AM
On the surface, The Beaver is the story of Walter Black’s struggle with depression and the unorthodox means with which he copes, and, finally, his desperate attempt to return to a normal life. On a deeper level, it presents a much darker problem: What if one morning you woke up to find you had lost all interest in your family?
No reason, no explanation, just disinterest and dissatisfaction with the very things you thought were supposed to make you happy. This is Walter Black, played by Mel Gibson in perhaps the best performance of his career. Walter is CEO of a successful toy company, is married to a beautiful, smart woman successful in her own right (and played by director Jodie Foster), and has two children.
However, Walter’s life is far from perfect: His son Porter (Anton Yelchin) hates him and keeps an ongoing list of post-it notes detailing each quirk of his father that he himself exhibits and needs to rectify. Hhis youngest son Henry feels so ignored that he retreats into anonymity, so much so that when his own mother picks him up from school, she needs to make several passes to find him. His wife Meredith herself struggles to keep her family together before throwing up her hands and throwing Walter out.
But serious as these family problems are (and they aren’t particularly serious—what teenage boy doesn’t resent his father? What child doesn’t feel neglected? What mother doesn’t feel she’s the family adhesive?) they’re not the cause of Walter’s depression, or at least he seems so oblivious to them that it seems unlikely.
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Posted in: Drama · Movies · Reviews · SXSW
Tagged: Anton Yelchin, Jodie Foster, Mel Gibson, SXSW, The Beaver
by Shannon Hood, Mar 22 2011 // 10:00 AM
Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan give wonderful performances in this charming film about family and the unexpected detours that life throws our way sometimes. Director Thomas McCarthy has previously brought us the wonderfully quirky The Station Agent (2003) and the touching film The Visitor (2007). If there is one thing that he excels at, it is showing us that some of the most profound relationships blossom from the most surprising circumstances.
Giamatti plays Mike Flaherty, an attorney who is barely scraping by. Rather than choose a lucrative position, he works in a dingy no-frills office protecting the elderly and indigent. His furnace is threatening to explode, and his office-mate Stephen (Jeffrey Tambor) doesn’t have any money, either. They both volunteer time to the local high school wrestling team as coaches. To say the team is terrible is an understatement.
Mike suffers a massive panic attack (certainly the most hilarious I’ve seen on screen) and decides something must be done. His wife has no idea how dire things are, and out of desperation, he makes a really poor decision. Mike tells the state that he will become the legal guardian of his client Leo (Burt Young) so that he can carry out the man’s wishes to remain in his own home.
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Posted in: Comedy · Drama · Fox Searchlight · Movies · Reviews · SXSW
Tagged: Alex Shaffer, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, dramedy, Jeffrey Tambor, Melanie Lynskey, Paul Giamatti, SXSW, SXSW film review: Win Win, The Station Agent, The Visitor, Thomas McCarthy
by Shannon Hood, Mar 18 2011 // 5:00 PM
Kill List suffers from a case of schizophrenia. It tries to be a jack of all trades, but masters none of those said trades during the course of the film. Though I personally found the film gratifying, I was sorely disappointed in the disjointed quality of the final product.
The film starts out a fairly interesting character study of a semi-retired hit-man (Neil Maskell) and his oddly complacent wife (Myanna Buring). Turns out she is quite capable, having been a member of the Swedish army. She understands the demands of his unconventional job, and encourages him to return to the lifestyle in order to keep their family afloat.
I liked the aspect of her not only knowing about, but encouraging, his amoral lifestyle. An old acquaintance shows up for dinner with his mysterious girlfriend, and just like that, he is thrust back into the hitman lifestyle.
After a heated domestic argument ruins the evening, he takes an assignment to off a few pesky people, hence the title, “Kill List”. Even though he’s been out of the biz for a while, it takes precious little time to jump back in the saddle, offing his victims so sadistically that his partner finds it disturbing.
There are hints of a pedophilia/snuff/pornography ring. When Jay watches a video featuring one of the people on the list, his reaction to what he sees upsets and enrages him to the point that he offs those responsible in horrible ways.
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Posted in: Film Festivals · Horror · IFC Films · Movies · Reviews · SXSW
Tagged: IFC Films, Kill List, Myanna Buring, Neil Maskell, Reviews, SXSW