The big movie event in Austin this week is the Austin Film Festival. Several movie theaters in town have screens dedicated to showing festival movies. However, there are so many cool movies playing in town this month, even if you don’t make it to the festival, you can see a different movie practically every night. Yeah, even if you skip the lame ones.
There are all kinds of new movies this week: heartwarming, quirky, melodramatic, bursting with big-name acting talent. But only one of them has irreverent puppets fighting terrorism, and that’s the only one I particularly want to see. They’re not Muppets, but that’s all right.
New movies in Austin this week:
Eulogy—Just in time for the holidays, it’s a story about a big complex dysfunctional family preparing for a funeral. Hank Azaria is in it, which tempts me because I have a secret crush on Hank Azaria. (Yes, and I used to have a crush on Harold Ramis in high school. Shut up.) Unfortunately, Ray Romano is in it too. Piper Laurie, good. Glenne Headly, also good. Debra Winger, fine as long as she’s not dying of cancer. I’ve read reviews describing this both as “wickedly funny” and “heartwarming” and the cynic in me suspects it might not be much of either. You can’t be both, really. Sorry.
Grand Champion—A heartwarming family film about a boy who enters a steer he raised from birth into the rodeo. With cameos from Natalie Maines, Robert Earl Keen, George Strait, Julia Roberts, and Bruce Willis. Joey Lauren Adams is in it, and she annoys me, but I’m sure small children who aren’t allowed to see Shark Tales will love it.
Head in the Clouds—Charlize Theron, Penelope Cruz, and Stuart Townsend survive love, lust, and impending war in 1930s Europe. Hey, Berkoff is in it too. It’s the kind of movie described as “sweeping,” y’know? You know, this just makes me want to see an Ernst Lubitsch film, possibly Design for Living, a witty and sophisticated film about a trio in Europe in the 1930s … except it’s not out on DVD, damn it.
Rick—Bill Pullman plays an aging corporate jerk working for a young ambitious jerk … and one day an old school buddy shows up to promote his new business: killing people who are in the way, like jerky bosses. This is a modernization of Rigoletto written by Daniel Handler, who writes the Lemony Snicket books. Looks like an intriguing little movie.
Shall We Dance—Someone please find something better for Susan Sarandon to do than to play the Supportive Wife in a movie where JLo teaches Richard Gere how to dance. And of course, as he learns to dance, he learns to live, live, live, just like Auntie Mame. Isn’t this the same basic storyline as Dirty Dancing? I don’t care if the screenwriter also wrote The Truth about Cats and Dogs, there is no way I would be tempted to see this film.
Team America: World Police—Trey Parker. Matt Stone. Naughty puppets. What’s not to love? I can’t wait to see this.
Notable events/revivals in Austin:
Austin Film Festival—Continuing all around town through Thursday 10/21. Sounds like they still have film passes and tickets for sale.
Alfie—Showing at Alamo Downtown Wednesday 10/20-21. This is the 1966 film with young Michael Caine, which I would like to see, as opposed to the forthcoming remake with Jude Law, which I have no interest in seeing.
Control Room—Showing at Alamo Downtown on Friday 10/15 and Tuesday 10/19. I saw this movie last week and I definitely recommend it.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre—Showing at Alamo Downtown on Monday 10/18, with $1 admission. Part of the Alamo’s tribute to horror-film art director Robert A. Burns. I had a great time at Re-Animator last week and can’t wait to enjoy more gore this Monday.
Notable DVD releases:
What can I say about a week in which Ed Wood and the second season of SpongeBob SquarePants are released on DVD? I can say that I will believe Ed Wood is out on DVD when I see it in the stores, because it was already yanked from imminent release once this year. I’m hoping it really happens this time.
Also, if you haven’t seen Super Size Me yet, it’s on DVD now. You probably don’t want to get McDonald’s to eat while you’re watching it, though. The DVD apparently includes an interview with Eric Schlosser, who wrote Fast Food Nation. You could make it a double-feature with Fahrenheit 9/11, but that seems just a little extreme.
This weekend we still have Dawn of the Dead to watch on DVD. Then we’re going to see Shawn of the Dead. And on Monday, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. If we need some light comedy, we have also rented Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom, with Holly Hunter. Great lineup.
Jette, I think you’re making a wise choice on the J-Lo film, but I actually think you might like the Japanese film of which it’s a remake. It’s not a lifechanging movie or anything, but it’s a pretty cute little film, and actually makes some sense when it’s rooted in Japanese culture instead of just being an excuse for J-Lo to shake her ass at Richard Gere.
I’m a secret whore for Richard Gere (secret because even he doesn’t know) and I bet I’ll end up seeing Shall We Dance no matter how dreadful it is. It got a great review in our local paper, which almost always means the movie is garbage.
And I’m with you on the Hank Azaria– his red socks in Quiz Show sealed it for me.
Hey, guess where I just applied for a computational biology job? The first two don’t count.
Um, Miskatonic University? Keep an eye on your cats.
Okay, okay … that’s cool, kismet. Let me know what happens.
Stacey, I checked and the title of the Japanese film is Shall we dansu? and it is not available on DVD in the US, damn it. I’ll have to remember to keep an eye out regarding DVD release. (Hey, Alamo, you should totally show it.)
I did put Quiz Show in my rental queue, though.
I think I Heart Huckabees might be good also. DH is looking forward to Saw.
It turns up on cable every once in a while, Jette, though I can’t remember whether you get cable. Of course, last time I tried to tape it, they drove me completely crazy by running it on one of those weekends when people who don’t have premium channels can get free access to those channels for a weekend. So they ran this movie with subtitles — and then ran a giant banner across the bottom of the screen saying “Hey! Order this channel!” and thereby completely obscuring the subtitles.
Real clever, there. Sometimes I just want to strangle the people who make these choices.
Jette, I rented the video of SHALL WE DANSU from Blockbuster, but that was a couple of years ago. Still, if you’re willing to put up with video, check around Austin and you may find it.
Yay for Quiz Show! I’m looking forward to your review. (I hope you like it– I have major guilt issues with recommending movies that people hate. But Hank really is adorable in it and, as a special bonus, it’s just really, really well-made.)
I had such a big crush on Egon when I saw “Ghostbusters” when I was little. You are not alone.