I can’t believe that the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival is just a few short weeks away! Seriously?! This year I plan on attending as many screenings as humanly possibly, or until a migraine sets in from the massive amounts of caffeine and dark movie theaters. Below is my list of films I will be attempting to squeeze in to. I do plan on writing reviews for each one so be sure to check this website or my Examiner column during the week of March 12-20! For a full list of all films that will be screened during SXSW visit sxsw.com/film/screenings/films.


GABRIELLE’S 2010 PICKS


Get Low
Director: Aaron Schneider
Screenwriters: Chris Provenzano and C. Gaby Mitchell
Synopsis: A film spun out of equal parts folk tale, fable and real-life legend about a mysterious, 1930s Tennessee hermit who plans his own rollicking funeral party… while still alive.
Cast: Robert Duvall, Bill Murray


Kick-Ass
Director: Matthew Vaughn.
Screenwriters: Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn
Synopsis: A twisted, funny, high-octane adventure, based on the comic written by Mark Millar and John S. Romita, Jr. The film tells the story of average teenager Dave Lizewski, a comic-book fanboy who decides to take his obsession as inspiration to become a real-life superhero.
Cast: Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Mark Strong, Chloë Grace Moretz and Nicolas Cage. (World Premiere)


Leaves of Grass
Director and Screenwriter: Tim Blake Nelson
Synopsis: Tim Blake Nelson’s Leaves of Grass is a comic thriller that weaves together the diametrically opposed lives of identical twin brothers, both played by two-time Academy Award® nominee Edward Norton.
Cast: Edward Norton, Keri Russell, Tim Blake Nelson, Melanie Lynskey, Richard Dreyfuss (U.S. Premiere)


Lemmy
Director: Greg Olliver and Wes Orshoski
Synopsis: This documentary delves into the personal and public lives of heavy metal icon and Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister. Nearly three years in the making, and featuring appearances by such friends/peers as Metallica, Dave Grohl, Billy Bob Thornton and pro wrestler Triple H, the film follows Kilmister from his Hollywood bedroom to the hockey arenas of Scandinavia and Russia. (World Premiere)


The People vs. George Lucas
Director: Alexandre O. Philippe
Synopsis: A no-holds-barred cultural examination of the conflicted dynamic between George Lucas and his fans over the past three decades. (World Premiere)


The Canal Street Madam
Director: Cameron Yates
Synopsis: An FBI raid on Jeanette Maier’s infamous family-run brothel in New Orleans destroyed her livelihood. Stigmatized by felony, fearing recrimination from powerful clients and determined to protect her children, Jeanette sets out to re-invent herself. (World Premiere)


No One Knows About Persian Cats
Director: Bahman Ghobadi.
Screenwriter: Roxana Saberi
Synopsis: Two Persian teens jump through hoops doing what in many other countries is relatively simple: forming a rock band. Together they search the underworld of contemporary Tehran for other players, forbidden by the authorities to play in Iran.
Cast: Negar Shaghaghi, Ashkan Koshanejad, Hamed Behdad


The DeVilles (Denmark)
Director: Nicole Nielsen Horanyi
Synopsis: The love between the American burlesque stripper Teri Lee Geary (aka Kitten DeVille) and her punk rock singer husband Shawn Geary is strong but rather complicated. They live in their own time bubble, hers from the 1950′s and his from the 1980′s. (U.S. Premiere)


Dogtooth
Director: Giorgos Lanthimos.
Screenwriters: Efthymis Filippou and Giorgos Lanthimos
Synopsis: Winner of the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooth is a darkly surreal look at three teenagers confined to an isolated country estate and kept under strict rule and regimen by their parents — an alternately hilarious and nightmarish experiment of manipulation and oppression.
Cast: Christos Stergioglou, Michelle Valley, Aggeliki Papoulia, Mary Tsoni, Hristos Passalis


Cotton (U.S.)
Director: Daniel Stamm.
Screenwriters: Andrew Gurland and Huck Botko
Synopsis: After a career spent helping the devout through prayer and trickery, Rev. Cotton Marcus invites a film crew to document his final fraudulent days as an exorcist. Soon his faith is truly tested when a desperate plea from the father of a possessed girl brings him face to face with the devil himself.
Cast: Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell, Iris Bahr, Louis Herthum, Caleb Landry Jones (World Premiere)


Higanjima (Japan/Korea)
Director: Tae-Kyun Kim.
Screenwriter: Tetsuya Ôishi
Synopsis: Two years after losing contact, Akira discovers that his long-lost brother may be found on Higanjima Island. He may also find on Higanjima an army of blood-sucking vampires.
Cast: Koji Yamamoto, Hideo Ishiguro, Dai Watanabe, Asami Mizukawa (North American Premiere)


Monsters (UK)
Director and Screenwriter: Gareth Edwards
Synopsis: Six years after a NASA probe crashes, bringing alien life forms to Earth, a journalist agrees to escort a shaken tourist through an infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the US border.
Cast: Scoot McNairym, Whitney Able (World Premiere)


Outcast
Director: Colm McCarthy.
Screenwriters: Colm McCarthy and Tom McCarthy
Synopsis: Mary and Fergal live their lives on the run, using an ancient form of magic to hide from a terrifying hunter.
Cast: James Nesbitt, Kate Dickie, Niall Bruton, Hannah Stanbridge (World Premiere)


Serbian Film / Srpski Film (Serbia)
Director: Srdjan Spasojevic. Screenwriters: Aleksandar Radivojevic and Srdjan Spasojevic
Synopsis: Facing financial difficulties, a retired porn star is lured back for one final film by a wealthy, eccentric producer. This experience, however, will be vastly more taxing than his previous shoots.
Cast: Sergei Trifunovic, Srdjan Todorovic, Katarina Zutic, Ana Sakic (World Premiere)


***


Well…that should keep me busy for the film festival this year!

Tags: 2010, Austin, film festival, indie, international film, March, Movies, South by Southwest, SXSW, Texas, world premiere film screening

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