Sadly, while I get a fair amount of H-town music news-like stuff sent my way, lately I've been having a hard time keeping up. There was a time when I tried to post every damn bit of Houston-related news I could find up here, but these days, there's just too much, and I've got too little time to digest it all, y'know? So the murky, shark-infested depths of my Inbox currently has a whole bunch of stuff floating in it where I've looked at it and thought, "ooh, yeah -- oughta post about that!" And then...well, there're only so many hours in a day.

Happily, these days it's not on my head alone to post about stuff like this -- hell, it hasn't been for quite a while now, really, although I was feeling the weight when The Skyline Network burned out & closed up shop. Lately the Houston Press has had the ever-talented Brittanie Shey doing her excellent "Magnolia City Mixtape" roundups of anything and everything Houston music-related under the sun (basically, anything that gets sent to her, I think), and now HP Music Editor Chris Gray's stepped into that particular ring, too, with his "Bayou Beat" stuff.

Plus, there's Houstonist, where new Editor (congrats again, man!) Marc Brubaker sorts through his own pile of news-y stuff and posts it online as his "Rock Talk" column. And then, of course, there's a ton of less-centralized scene news on/in 29-95.com, IndieHouston, Free Press Houston & Houston Calling.

(And yes, I know there're a ton of other local blogs/zines/etc. out there right now, but these seem to be the ones that focus the most on the local stuff. Matthew Wettergreen did a cool two-part rundown on local media types right over here and here.)

Step back and think about that for a second, folks. Right now there're at least six (well, seven, if you count SCR) well-known online outlets -- two of which are Big Media (no offense, New Times, but you are Big Media these days) endeavors -- posting what could, at least in some instances, basically be characterized as Houston scene gossip. And that is fucking awesome.

What that says to me, y'all, is that Houston's really and truly to the point of taking its own music seriously -- thanks to the hard work and diligence of a lot of people in bands, in media, and in booking groups, I should add -- even if the rest of the world barely knows we exist. Every time I see some squabble on a message board/comments list about how local coverage here sucks because paper/magazine/site X doesn't write about band Y, I have to shake my head and laugh; trust me, folks, where we are right now is light years from where we were just a decade ago, and that's a very, very good thing. Seriously, there are days when I wish I could do the Freaky Friday thing and be in a band again right NOW, instead of having to look back with nostalgia-smeared glasses at the late '90s and early '00s.

Anyway, with all that said, I still feel really, really lame for not posting about the stuff that gets sent in to the faithful "gaijin" at "spacecityrock dot com" mailbox, so I'm going to attempt to be more on top of things from now on. (No, really. Stop laughing, dammit.) Here goes:

• DAN AYKROYD, GRAND MARSHAL OF THE ART CARS: Yeah, this has probably been trumpeted from the rooftops by now, but what the hell, it makes me grin from ear to ear just thinking about it, so y'know... According to The Orange Show, none other than Blues Brother #2, Dan Aykroyd, will be the "Grand Marshal" for this year's 23rd Annual Art Car Parade on May 8th. He'll be kicking off the parade and then hanging out in the VIP area with, um, whoever else hangs out in the VIP area at these things (Houston has VIPs -- who knew?). Now, I'm not generally the fanboy type, these days, but I'm sorely, sorely tempted to try to sneak in, just so I can shake the hand of Elwood Blues/Dr. Peter Venkman/Grocer. How burly & mean could Security at the Art Car Parade actually be, right?

• KTRU LIVE, VOL. 2 IN THE WORKS: Cool, cool, cool. I picked up the inaugural KTRU Live comp a few months later than most of the in-the-know crew, I think (had a hard time actually finding a copy; thank you SoundEx!), but even given the lateness of it, I was mightily impressed. Ian over at KTRU did a brilliant job of culling the best damn recordings from some of the high-flyers of our little scene. And yes, know he and his KTRU cohorts are reportedly currently working on Vol. 2, which will apparently be a double album (woo!) with performances by folks like Roky Moon & Bolt, The Literary Greats, & Robert Ellis, among others. Hot damn. Gonna have to try to grab hold of that a little quicker, this time...

• ASH WILLIAMS -- ER, I MEAN BRUCE CAMPBELL ROLLS INTO TOWN!: How did I not hear about this 'til yesterday, when a coworker randomly mentioned it? It seems that at this year's Comicpalooza comics/sci-fi/horror/etc. convention (coming March 26-28 at George R. Brown), one of the featured guests on Saturday, March 27th will be none other than Bruce Campbell, of Evil Dead/Army of Darkness/Briscoe County, Jr./Burn Notice fame. Wow. From what I hear, he's not only a hysterically funny actor but a genuinely nice, down-to-earth guy, to boot. Oh, and other guests include Nicholas Brendon, aka Xander from Buffy, and two of my favorite nerdboy heroes from my D&D-loving, Dragon Magazine-reading youth, Phil Foglio and Larry Elmore. Might have to let my inner geek go play...

• WHILE YOU WERE GONE GIVES AWAY A SONG: Okay, so they don't really "give it away" so much as "trade it for your email address," but eh, I'm okay with that, personally... Local emo-ish rockers While You Were Gone are offering up a free MP3 of the song "Pretty Lights," off the band's stellar 2009 release, Winter/Summer, so long as you sign up for the band's mailing list. Which, hey, isn't a bad trade, at least not to me. Head over here to sign on & grab the MP3.

  The band also recently started working with Restless Management, who've worked in the past with quasi-big-namers like Forever The Sickest Kids, Ivoryline, & Sick Puppies. Hopefully that'll give the band a bit of a leg up.

• LATCH KEY KIDS RECORDING: My favorite back-from-the-dead pop-punk-core band of the '90s, the Latch Key Kids, have been busy bees lately, working this past January & February on a brand-freaking-new full-length over at SugarHill. Frontman Tim Guerinot can't say yet when the album'll be out, but he swears it'll be soon. In the meantime, they've played a few shows here in town and are headed up to the Key Bar in Austin on 3/20, then back down here to Walter's, on 3/27. Calendar-marking time...

• I-45'S STILL ALIVE? WHOA...: Speaking of back-from-the-dead bands, I'm heartened to see that "slip-hop" boys I-45 are out and about yet again, playing shows here & elsewhere. I knew Techronious/Tech Ron B had come back from Cali a while ago, but then it seemed like things fizzled out yet again -- apparently that wasn't the case. The band's playing tonight, Friday, March 12th, up at Rudyard's, and after all the SXSW madness they'll be heading out on the "Legalize the Nation" tour, with Reason To Rebel, bringing word of the joys of cannabis legalization to the South, the East, the Midwest, and the West (where they honestly probably already know, but hey).

  Keep an eye out for 'em -- I haven't seen 'em lately, but their shows back in Ye Olden Days of Houston Music were damn entertaining. And hey, check the still-entertaining video for the insanely old-school-sounding "56 Airline" on over here.

• THE PHLEGMATICS GET A DO-OVER (PLUS, GREYTOWN RESURRECTED): Got to talk a bit a little while ago with Jonas, the bassist & backup vocalist for The Phlegmatics, who says that even though their latest album, Billy the Starfighter Pilot vs. the Phlegmatics, hasn't been out all that long, the band's already planning on remixing their first two albums (Alumnus and the aforementioned one), in the process including songs that got left off the original releases. While I dig the albums the way they are, hey, I'm all for new stuff. And yes, they're also hoping to get going a real-live third album, as well.

  Beyond that, it turns out Jonas used to play in yet another old-school band I recall fondly, Greytown -- my own lame-ass band actually played with 'em once, at our one-and-only gig at The Abyss. The Greytown guys are apparently kinda-sorta reforming, too, and are starting work on new stuff for that band. Sweet.

• THE NEXT BIG H-TOWN SUPERGROUP?: I'll admit to being bummed when I learned that quasi-Nordic-themed, heavy-ass metal trio Kvalla had officially imploded when drummer Danny Mee fled to parts northwestward, but I'm happy as hell to hear that Sam from said band is now channelling his need for heavy-as-fuck, head-crushing music into new project Omotai, which also includes -- dum-da-dee-dum -- the ever-cool Melissa from Sharks and Sailors and newly-found drummer Anthony from now-dead metallers Subjugator.

  The trio are releasing their debut EP, Peace Through Fear, sometime around late April or early May, and judging by what's up on the band's Myspace, at least, it's going to be fucking epic. Heavy, sludgy, doom-y metal with thundering drums, menacing bass, and monster-stomping guitars, the kind of music that makes me want to grab the guitar and crank the amp up to 10 and pretend I'm in Helmet or something. Think Neurosis, The Ocean, Isis, or a nastier, meaner Pelican with a ridiculously better drummer. Seriously, I need to hear more.

• CITYSEARCH HOUSTON LIVES AGAIN: Recently got an email from Nikki Metzgar, who's the new editor of Citysearch Houston, a Website that used to be pretty dang neat way back in the early days of the Internets but which I'd thought had died a quiet, unnoticed death years ago. It turns out the site had still been around all along but was really dormant 'til this past October. As of now, the site's looking promising once again, Nikki promises lots of cool stuff to come.

• PARIS FALLS, ON VINYL & DIGGING THROUGH THE VAULTS: Finally, finally, finally got to see the amazing Paris Falls live and in person for the first time recently, opening for the Gold Sounds CD release (which I swear I'll blog about here soon, assuming my memory doesn't vanish completely...), and was suitably impressed. Also got to meet Ray & Jen Brown, the husband-and-wife duo who kinda run the PF show, and they were very cool folks. Ray emailed afterwards to say that the band's actually just finished up a brand-new two-song 7" single that they'll be releasing real soon -- not sure what songs are on it, though -- and that after that there'll be a really-super-limited edition free(!) album of unreleased songs and alternate takes of existing Paris Falls songs. Gonna have to keep an eye out for that...

• HANDS UP HOUSTON, TEN YEARS ON: Wow. Hard to believe it, but earlier this week it was officially ten years since the first show put on by the now-legendary Hands Up Houston booking gang -- kudos to founding members Bucky for pointing it out. HUH died something like five years ago now, with members moving on to things like Super Unison and Noise and Smoke, and in its wake it left a scene much, much improved. The HUH gang came in at a time when music in Houston was at a real low point, with touring indie bands routinely blowing past us on I-10 (which, yeah, they still do, but they do it less these days, trust me) and local bands getting zero respect from, well, pretty much anybody. They put a lot of work into making Houston's scene the cool, vibrant, astounding (yet still secret, somehow, to anybody outside of the Houston 'burbs) beast it is today. Thanks, y'all.

• AND TAMBERSAURO FANS BREATHE A SIGH OF RELIEF...: Okay, that's a relief. When I heard math-rock heroes Tambersauro were "on hiatus" that that was code for "we're pulling a Guilloteens and just never playing a show ever again" -- especially since the non-Myspace Website for band's own label, Esotype Records, has been taken down -- so it makes me happy as hell to learn that their fourth album, From The Last Day I Saw You, is coming out real soon on Esotype. It's a digital-only deal, at least for now, and I can't fault the band for that -- with the economy in the toilet, it's hard to justify pressing a whole bunch of CDs/LPs/whatever. Either way, it's damn good news. 2008's Theories of Delusional Origin is/was freaking great, seriously...

• BANDS WIN AWARDS, NOBODY NOTICES: I'm hardly the biggest fan in the world of local (crap-)radio station The Buzz, but it still makes me somewhat sad to see that their 2009 Texas Buzz Music Awards went just about unnoticed (that I saw, anyway) in the local non-Buzz media. The one story I saw basically shrugged and said the awards were lame because they didn't include anybody but alt-rockers or metal bands (although that's not strictly true), but hey, who cares? Don't those bands need love? The Houston Press Music Awards aren't typically handing out awards by the dozens to the alt-rock bands scraping it out in this city, and that's just as discriminatory, in my book. Houston's got multiple "scenes" -- it makes sense, then, that there should be multiple awards to accomodate 'em.

  Rant notwithstanding, the main reason I wanted to mention all this is to offer belated congratulations to the bands who won, which include one of my ultimate favorite bands in town right now, the last place you look, who took both "Best Alternative" and "Best Guitar," promising-sounding melodic emocore band Adelaine, whose singer Stormy took "Best Vocalist," and poppier rockers The 71's, who I also like and who took "Best New Band"...although, uh, I could've sworn they'd been around a couple of years now, like since 2006 or so. Am I confusing 'em with a different "The 71's"? Dunno. Aaaaanyway, SCR would like to salute all the winners and hope that next year's awards get more attention outside of the radio station's own airwaves. Congrats, folks!

• WANT TO DRUM FOR A BADASS POST-EMO BAND?: Speaking of the last place you look, it turns out that as of this week drummer Andy is bowing out of the band for personal reasons. Everything's amicable, it sounds like, but yes, now TLPYL needs new drummer. Interested? Hit 'em up on the Myspace...

• YOUNG MAMMALS STILL IN MOTION: Thankfully, while they released debut full-length Carrots last year to near-universal acclaim (from everybody but me, 'cause I can't fucking find the thing in any store in the area...argh), those energetic youngsters in Young Mammals aren't relaxing just yet. Instead, they're working on not one but two new versions of the Carrots album -- the first's a limited-edition deal with new artwork and whatnot, while the second is a limited-edition (again), hand-made cassette release with (again) new artwork that'll include download codes for people like me who no longer have cassette decks in our cars.

  Plus, they've got filmmaker/artist guy Mark Armes designing a new T-shirt, and they'll be putting out a cassette single of two brand-new songs that you'll only ever be able to get on tape. And yes, again, that'll be a limited-edition deal. Which means you should probably just stake out the front counter at SoundEx right now to get your own copy, or else you'll be one the several million people left out in the cold.

• NEW SOMETHING FIERCE TRACKS UP: Okay, so this one pretty much made my week -- it always does my soul good to be able to hear new stuff from those crazy Something Fierce kids, who seem these days to be veering more and more away from straight-ahead punk and towards Brit-style power-pop. They've always had those leanings, but man, the Undertones-esque melodies seem to've bubbled up to the surface more than ever on the three new demos they've got up on their Myspace right now.

  "Empty Screens" comes off friendly and rough-edged, charging into the room like a buddy you haven't seen in years but who's always welcome, "When You Hurt" is sweet and wonderful, with what sounds like actual keys in the background, and then "What We Need Now" throws a real curveball, tossing in Hold Steady-ish piano and a bumping, Cock Sparrer-sounding rhythm that feels like it was ripped straight off an old Peel Session or something. Sure, the tracks aren't mastered and sound kinda raw and scratchy, but hell, that only adds to their coolness. This band does more with its demos, for crying out loud, than most bands ever manage to do with their whole damn catalogue.

• KIDS BEHIND CAMERAS @ AURORA: No, it's not strictly music-related, but hell, I think it's worth mentioning anyway. The Aurora Picture Show is doing a set of Filmmaking Boot Camps for kids and teenagers this summer, running in mid-to-late July (depends on the session and age), and it sounds pretty incredible -- the Aurora folks will teach kids how to use digital video to make their own films and produce 'em using various means, and they'll expose the students in the class to all sorts of "less traditional" film and video, too. It's not exactly cheap, but it still sounds like a cool deal.

• CELEBRATING THE MENIL COMMUNITY, TOMORROW: Speaking of Aurora, btw, they've apparently got a bunch of stuff going on tomorrow, Saturday, March 13th, as part of the Menil Community Arts Festival, which is an all-day festival thing going on at the The Menil Collection and which'll include poetry, workshops, speakers, & music. Check out the site for the details...

• LOCAL VID-AGE FROM BEN WESLEY & PEEKABOO THEORY: The Houston Press has been featuring some cool, cool videos by local folks lately, and two of 'em, in particular, totally bowled me over. Check out the video for Benjamin Wesley's coolly laid-back "People Will Never Stop Being Crazy" right here, and, on the flipside, go here to see the video for Peekaboo Theory's frantically badass (and heretofore unknown to me) "Immediate Hesitation". Or, hell, just look below for the latter:

• ARTHUR YORIA, LIVE (ON CD) AT RUDZ: I swear, Arthur Yoria's got to be one of the most prolific musicians in town; it seems like every time I turn around -- poof! -- he's released a new album, or EP, or whatever, spitting out songs like it's nothing and then smiling as he walks away. And that's definitely what's happening here, although it's not "new" stuff, per se; Arthur's got a new EP, Live at Rudz, recorded back in June of last year by Joe Omelchuck and his wondrous Rudyard's sound setup. I haven't heard it yet, I'll admit, but it's bound to be good. Each disc reportedly comes with a unique watercolor cover painted by Arthur, and they're either $10 via his Website or live and in-person for $5.

phew. That's about all I can think of/write about for now, y'all. Like I said, though, I'm going to be trying to do this more frequently in the future, so if you're in a band, work for a label, put on shows, do a zine/Website/etc., or whatever the hell else, and you've got some news you'd like to share, send it on over to me at "gaijin" at "spacecityrock dot com". I'll post it when I can, I promise...

Labels: Alternative Cinema Houston, H-Town News, Moo-vies, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To Read, Things To See

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JOSHUA STARNES:

Joshua Starnes is Vice President of the Houston Film Critics Society. He is a contributor to Space City Rock. His Picks are below.

82nd Academy Awards

???Even if you've never heard of Punksawtaney Phil or you still get snowstorms after February it's still easy to tell when Spring is on the way, because that's when the annual Hollywood backpatting reaches the fever pitch that is Academy Awards.  For four-plus hours Hollywood becomes the center of the world (or more so than usual, at least if you live there) as they announce their picks for the best and the brightest from the previous twelve months.  And sometimes they even get it right.

Best Picture

For the first time since 1943, the Best Picture category has been expanded to 10 films (at one point in the 1930s, as many as 12 films were nominated), offering a great many more films the opportunity to advertise themselves as Best Picture Nominees. Cynics among us might suggest that this is largely a method to aid to the marketing of films (and film as a whole) during a recession, a complaint the Oscars have suffered under almost since their inception. Or we can be optimistic and call it a return to the Golden Age of Hollywood when politics had to less to do with who was nominated than merit. The reality is that situation is probably going to be about the same as it was before the category was expanded: a mixture of well-marketed films that get nominated because it seems like they should, films so good they can't be ignored, and the odd head scratchers leaving you wondering what the Academy was thinking. 2010's mix is a pretty much exactly like that, only more so:

Nominees

Avatar

The Blind Side

District 9

An Education

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Precious: Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire

A Serious Man

Up

Up In The Air

The biggest change over the last few decades is that the extra slots, especially in a weak year, allows more 'entertainment-heavy' films into the pool, the one type of film the Academy generally loathes to nominate. While Avatar seemed like a shoe-in for a nomination, many thought the same of The Dark Knight last year. Then again, that's probably why we're talking about 10 films anyway and for all its faults the Academy rarely makes the same mistake twice in a row. District 9 and Up would probably never have been nominated, however, (particularly Up as the Best Animated Film category was specifically added to keep them from being nominated for the BIG award).

The Hurt Locker, Up In The Air and Precious were also certain to be nominated. The intense marketing pressure of filling that last slot would have driven out most of the weird nominees in favor of something safe that would settle for being honored to be nominated. But this year we get all of the above, with not one but two left field entries; The Blind Side and A Serious Man.

Actually, even though it has no chance of winning, The Blind Side isn't such a strange pick, particularly given the groundswell of grass roots support for it since it was released back in November. The real head-scratcher is A Serious Man (pushing out better and safer Oscar-bait choices like Invictus or Bright Star) as it it didn't make any particularly deep waves with audiences or critics. The most frequent response to it's nomination is a sudden realization that you haven't seen it or even heard anyone's opinion on it. The only rationale seems to be that it is a Coen Brothers film, and since they have such a sterling reputation for quality it must be good even though no one's seen it, and the people who have, have generally forgotten it. And that Clint Eastwood was probably getting too smug for his own good.

For the most part, though, it's a pretty good (and unsurprising) list, but only two films have any real shot this year: The Hurt Locker and Avatar (with Up In The Air coming in a distant third). The big award is without question the most politicized of the bunch, with winners often picked based on who seems like should get the award rather than who deserves it; what the picking of a certain film says about the people who awarded it. But there's always room for surprises and lot relies on how the Academy's memory. With it's Golden Globe win and stunning box office take, Avatar certainly has the most momentum at the moment, and a lot of years that would be enough. But James Cameron already has a couple of Oscars, for the last highest grossing film of all time that he made, and that sort of thing does matter. And while they may nominate one, the Academy generally hates giving big awards to sci-fi or fantasy unless they have no real choice.

This year they do have a choice, and that is The Hurt Locker. It's pretty much everything Avatar is not; small, subtle and with a taut focus on a complicated main character. It doesn't hurt that it's topical, quite good and it's the first nomination for most of the people making it, even though they've been in the industry for some time. It's actually a pretty close call, which is unusual for Best Picture (only the nominees are usually surprising). While Up In

The Air or The Blind Side could manage some sort of dark horse win, I think this will be one of the safer categories of the night, which is why I suspect the Best Picture of 2009 will be:

Best Picture

The Hurt Locker

(and just in case anyone was wondering, my own pick for best film of the year was Precious but it has practically zero chance; they're just going to have to be honored to be nominated).

Best Director

Just like with real elections, award voting tends to be strictly down ticket. This is most notable in the technical fields, where generally only critically acclaimed films are nominated despite the fact that a movie doesn't actually have to be any good to have great sound design or visual effects or what have you. But it's just as prevalent in the artistic fields, which is why Best Director nominees almost always follow Best Picture nominees exactly. And 2010 is no exception.

Nominees

Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker

James Cameron - Avatar

Lee Daniels - Precious (the title's too damned long to keep typing out)

Jason Reitman - Up In The Air

Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

While a lot of the artistic categories will get their award 'just to give the film' something, Best Director usually also follows Best Picture; in fact it's often quite an upset when that doesn't happen. Cameron actually has more of a chance here than for Best Picture simply because of the immense technical job he did with Avatar (and which Avatar is much more successful as than as a movie). But once again, he's also already got one and I don't think the Academy will be able to pass up the chance to finally give a woman a Best Director statue, so the winner will probably be:

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker Also, we can probably take it for certain now that Quentin Tarantino will have to wait until he's about as old as Martin Scorcese was to finally get an Oscar for an inferior film, in order to make up for not winning for Pulp Fiction. Best Actor

In the reverse of most of the last couple of years, only Best Actor offer the opportunties for real surprises. Except for Colin Firth's admittedly deserved nomination for A Single Man, any single one of these individuals has a real shot. (Despite how good he was in it, A Single Man was probably the most turgid film of the year; most Academy voters were probably unable to stay awake through it to decide whether or not to vote for it).

Nominees

Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart

George Clooney - Up In The Air

Morgan Freeman - Invictus

Colin Firth - A Single Man

Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

Clooney actually gave probably the best performance of his career as a termination specialist who's cut himself off from the human race and Freeman BECAME Mandela, so much so that it didn't really matter how accurate the movie was. But they both already have Oscars and Bridges doesn't, and that will probably cinch it. Which is perfectly okay. Bridges washed up old man doesn't just look like a country singer, he looks like a country song and Bridges inhabits him with skill and grace. The first half of Crazy Heart was probably the best first half of any film in 2009 and even if it didn't really know where it was going until it got there, you could easily award Bridges and not be wrong. Which is why this time next year we'll be seeing ads for Tron: Legacy starring Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges.

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart

Best Actress

Unlike Best Actor, but very much like all the rest of the acting categories, there is no drama around the Best Actress award. A lot of that is the fact that Hollywood has a really hard time coming up with roles for women; for the most part they're just used as set dressing even when they're the star. More often than not you end up with some completely off the wall picks mainly because there weren't many choices and the queue has got to be filled somehow; 2009 wasn't quite as bad as that.

Nominees

Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side

Helen Mirren - The Last Station

Carrey Mulligan - An Education

Gabourey Sidibe - Precious

Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

There's actually a couple of excellent performances from little films in here, so that the Academy wasn't left filling in spots with well known, well regarded actresses in lesser roles (though there was some of that, too). In fact, there were enough really good lead performances this year that there are some real gems missing here; specifically Abbie Cornish for Bright Star and Saoirse Ronan for The Lovely Bones (whether you liked the movie or not, much like A Single Man, she was very good in it).

But they weren't nominated and the rest is all cold, hard math. Mirren and Streep have Oscars, Mulligan and Sidibe are young and have the opportunity to be nominated again. That just leaves Bullock, in the midst of a major career resurgence and after receiving several other awards (including the SAG and the Golden Globe) in what is, if we're honest, probably her only chance to ever be nominated.

Best Actress

Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side

And if we continue being honest, as sentimental and sappy as "The Blind Side" was, Bullock was very good in it. And shit, if Julia Roberts can get one...

Best Supporting Actor

In a lot of ways the Supporting Actor category this year is the most and least surprising. The most because of who was nominated and who was not. Several people you fully expect to be here are here.

Nominees

Woody Harrelson - The Messenger

Christopher Plummer - The Last Station

Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones

Matt Damon - Invictus

Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Woody Harrellson gave the best performance of his life in The Messenger and made that movie worth watching (especially the notification scenes, which are probably the hardest couple of minutes of film to watch of anything made this year) while Ben Foster often threatened to drag it down. Stanley Tucci has been rightly noticed as probably the best thing about Peter Jackson's misguided The Lovely Bones. He got the showy role in that film, however; unfortunately overshadowing Mark Wahlberg's excellent turn in the film. I'd forgotten he can act when he puts his mind to it. Christopher Plummer is one of the real head scratchers; there's nothing wrong with is performance as Tolstoy in The Last Station but it strikes me more as an actor's lifetime achievement nomination for the film that is probably the least viewed of anything nominated for an Oscar that's not a foreign film or a documentary.

But the two big surprises are the inclusion of Matt Damon and the absence of Christopher McKay for Richard Linklater's Me and Orson Welles. McKay inhabited Welles in a way that every other actor playing a real person this year wishes they could have managed (doesn't hurt that Welles was very much larger than life even in his real life). And Damon, while solid in Invictus wasn't really a reason to watch the film. And considering how few nominations Invictus actually got, it's strange that this was one area they decided to notice it in. Freeman's performance aside, it wasn't a particularly actorly movie. Maybe it's the fact he held onto an accent. Actually Damon is a good actor, but for some reason he never gets nominated for his actually good performances. He really should have been nominated for Best Actor this year for his hilarious turn in Steven Soderburgh's The Informant! Perhaps this is to make up for that. None of that matters, however, because the reality is for the third year in a row, Best Supporting Actor is a foregone conclusion. Christoph Waltz's towering performance in Inglourious Basterds has won just about ever supporting award given out so far and will certainly win every one yet to come. It was probably THE performance of the year.

Best Supporting Actor

Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress

It's a really similar situation in the Supporting Actress category. As usually happens in the Actress categories, the number of actually qualifying roles dries up fast, leaving the Academy to scramble to find people who seem likely they should be nominated.

Nominees

Penelope Cruz - Nine

Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air

Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart

Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air

Mo'Nique - Precious

Farmiga and Kendrick are rightly nominated for making "Up in the Air" work as well as it does. Those Twilight people are going to have to pay up to get Kendrick back for the next film. And it's hard to argue with Gyllenhaal's trepiditatious single mother in Crazy Heart but by then you can see the Academy working hard to find some good nominees. I'm actually a little surprised Diane Kruger and Melanie Laurent haven't gotten more notice for Inglourious Basterds. Gyllenhaal's nomination has a whiff of looking for a recognizable name in a role that you might be able to take serious. Which is how we get to Penelope Cruz for Nine. It's a movie that didn't really need to be made from a musical no one really liked to begin with. Cruz was probably the least annoying thing in the film but that doesn't say much, and if that's the requirements for an Oscar nomination nowadays, that's not saying much. But, as with Supporting Actor, none of this matters. No one is going to beat Mo'Nique for her performance in Precious. She may go down as one of the best villains of the decade for that role. It's surprising as it is harrowing; I honestly had no idea she could actually act. Short of some sort of upset from Up in the Air she's a lock.

Best Supporting Actress

Mo'Nique - Precious

Best Adapted Screenplay The screenplay categories get used often as gift awards for the Best Picture nominees that aren't going to win, and that may well be the case again this year. Every so often a screenplay is just so good it can't be ignored, but more often the not it wins for the movie, not the actual words behind the movie. In a perfect world that would mean In the Loop would win. A mixture of political theater and comedy, it was so dry it actually takes a minute to realize how insane it is, with some of the sharpest characterization of the year. But this is probably not a year when the most deserving is going to win, and it's going to have to be satisfied with being nominated.

Nominees

District 9

An Education

In the Loop

Precious

Up in the Air

The rest are all Best Picture nominees, which should seem fitting. The best films should have great screenplays to start with (which is the point where I point out once again the complete absence of Avatar from any but technical nominations; even Star Wars was nominated for Best Screenplay). There are several other excellent screenplays missing from this category, including Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Informant! But people often have a difficulty not nominating Best Picture nominees for a screenplay award unless there's a really good reason not too (*cough*Avatar*cough*) and the sheer number of nominees this year is swamping the screenplay categories. It's kind of a surprise The Blind Side isn't here, then again, maybe not. It's a film that works on a purely emotional level and has many flaws, it's screenplay not the least among them.

With Avatar eating up a lot of the Christmas air, Up in the Air's chances for a major award have begun to fade -- people definitely have a love it or hate it reaction to it's unsatisfying look at modern life -- and this will probably end up being its consolation prize for not getting anything else. Which is sad, because it's probably the weakest screenplay in contention in this category except for District 9 which only really works when the visuals are factored in. Which isn't the way it's supposed to be, but is often the way it is.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Up in the Air

Best Original Screenplay

This is the only artistic category that is a genuine toss up. Because so many of the best picture nominees are from adapted screenplays they don't quite overwhelm the category. And some of the nominees, like A Serious Man just aren't serious. They're they because it seems like they should be, because it was hard to decide what did. It's like the Martin Scorcese or Woody Allen factor. Eventually you just start getting nominated because there are five slots to fill and you're a known quantity.

Nominees

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

The Messenger

A Serious Man

Up

Up certainly deserves the Original appellation and The Messenger is surprisingly affective, though Moverman probably more deserved a nomination for I'm Not There two years ago. And The Messenger is a much more performance driven than script driven film.

This will probably come down to The Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds and there really is no telling which way the Academy will go. The down ticket affect is always a possibility, but Inglourious Basterds had by far the best dialog of the year and reminded people what talent Tarantino can be. If somehow Avatar prevails at the top spot this could be The Hurt Locker's consolation prize. I don't think it's going to play out that way, and Tarantino is probably due to be honored again. It certainly had the most original spelling.

Best Original Screenplay

Inglourious Basterds The rest of the awards will almost certainly be eaten up by Avatar. It is a technical triumph if nothing else. And that might be enough to put it over the top for Best Picture, after people just get used to voting for it, but I doubt it. There are actually a handful of places where it's not nominated, allowing Star Trek to be an Academy Award winning film, even it if is for Best Make Up (not really sure how the The Young Victoria got into that, unless it was for all the sideburns).

The Academy has gone to pains to make sure that no one is overlooked this year, and tamper down the furor of last year. It hates when people realize just how conservative and hide-bound it really is. Hollywood's all about being hip and in the now, after all. But it is, and this year's no different. Even with 10 slots, they still couldn't quite get it right and Invictus snub is quite strange, particularly in favor of stuff no one liked like A Serious Man.

More than anything else, this will be the year of the old hand for the most part, when people like Sandra Bullock and Jeff Bridges and Kathryn Bigelow, who have toiled for so long, finally get their rewards. Sometimes it's easy to forget how political this all can be, with its marketing campaigns and so many considerations that have nothing to do with the quality of the work itself. But that's the way it is. There were still plenty of snubs, like Amreeka for Best Foreign Film or Abbie Cornish for Best Actress of The Informant! for much at all (if there's any justice it will win Best Score, but that would require too much thought on the voter's parts). But overall it was a pretty decent year, if not particularly awe-inspiring. It's rare that the Academy has a real chance to pick the best picture as Best Picture, but this looks like it will be the one.

Unless Avatar wins.

ADAM WOODYARD:

Adam Woodyard is a contributor to Space City Rock, and gives his Oscar Picks below.

It's been several decades since the Academy last selected ten nominees for Best Picture. As critics everywhere scurry to try and apply old patterns to the new paradigm, let me assure you that they do not apply. Votes are split up between ten films, not five, and a needlessly complex mathematical system is now in place, that we needn't go into. Popularity of individual films means less than it ever did; all that is left is members of the Academy voting for the work done by themselves and their contemporaries. Other award ceremonies mean even less, as they are handed out by film critics and journalists. But looking at the history of the Best Picture Oscar, from 1927 to present, certain things—not all—remain consistent. The film most likely to win the Best Picture Oscar, in reverse order:

10. A Serious Man. The Coen Brothers just won the statue three years ago. The Academy feels that one is enough, at least for a few years… there are numerous instances of this, but the most recent would be all three Lord of the Rings films winning different awards, and not all winning the same award. Especially if (more resembling, say, Ron Howard, or Martin Scorsese), that Oscar comes many years into a well-established career.

9. District 9. The most talked about film of the year, at least until Avatar came around. No one is disputing the greatness of the film, but whether there are five nominees or ten, the effects-driven blockbuster does not win this award. Creative, yes… but it's not really actor-driven, is it? Other Best Picture Nominees in this category would include, say, Jaws, Star Wars, or The Sixth Sense.

8. Up in the Air. Essentially not a winner because of the same reasons as above. Also, in tying in with the same reasons as below, the Academy has more often favored big, sweeping epics with complex storylines and even more complex filmmaking. It is, at least in their view, simply a greater achievement to make a film with a cast of thousands. The exception is, of course, the year in which such a big sweeping epic doesn't appear (say, 2005-present), or, if an epic does appear, that filmmaker just won the award, so the Academy's focus is elsewhere (Letters from Iwo Jima, the first two LOTR films).

7. An Education. See above. Well-acted, well-written, but the Academy isn't going to give you the award if they haven't seen your film. See also, The Reader, The Shawshank Redemption. 6. Precious. While not even remotely the same film as #9 on the list, the reasons are the same. A well-made film from a first-time director, with its handful of leads turning in spectacular performances—this is reason enough to go see it. Does it move cinema forward as an art form? While it does admittedly shine a light into corners of our nation that are none-too-often examined… it is by no means unique in that respect. Awards? Yes. Best Picture? No.

5. The Blind Side. This selection is baffling. It's essentially what would happen if Precious were made for a mainstream audience , by a bunch of white executives. You'll leave the theater after Precious feeling depressed yet thoughtful. You'll leave the theater after The Blind Side feeling happy and in the mood to grab dinner at Chili's. The number of artistic liberties taken with this once-true story rivals that of The Great Debaters. The Academy loves Sandra Bullock, but this has as much chance of winning as Seabiscuit.

4. Up. An animated film hasn't been nominated since 1991. Then it kept not happening, so often, that a special category was created, and some fantastic films have won that award. But it never did have the same prestige, exactly, as Best Picture. Up is good enough to be in this category… as a nominee. Just as the actors and director from Precious put in some of the best work of the careers, the same can be true of the animators and writers of Up. But that's all. Someday the Academy may gives its highest honor to a film made entirely in one room… but not this year.

3. Avatar. A shoe-in chosen by people not paying attention, for two very large reasons. First of all, James Cameron just won the award in 1997, and hasn't made a film since. Second, Titanic had emotional weight and specific historical resonance, Avatar does not. Then there's the animation issue. But the real second reason, is that the script is by no means special or insightful, interesting or original. People who had never mentioned the word "screenplay" in their lives had this complaint over and over about Titanic, but the direction, quality of actors, and sheer spectacle, was great enough to overcome Cameron's mediocre screenwriting talents. While this is an old story updated in new clothes, it is still an old and standard story… much like Brokeback Mountain, another fine film that just didn't deserve the award. This leaves two films left, and while 10-3 are very cut-and-dry, the final two are by no means.

2. The Hurt Locker. One of approximately 900 films to be released regarding the war in Iraq, most of them largely forgettable. The Hurt Locker sets itself apart for all the reasons you've read—it is a timeless story, the focus is on the people and not the politics, Kathryn Bigelow is awesome, Jeremy Renner is the finest young actor you've never heard of. These are all true. I was more curious to see this film than all the other Iraq movies, for just that reason. I wasn't disappointed, and this is a truly great film that really does have the ability to render you in awe, if you let it. But watching it, can one really say, "This is an Academy Award Winner for Best Picture?" Bigelow shot reels upon reels of film, and may well win a Best Director Oscar. And until about a week ago, I had this film as #1 on my list. Then I watched it again… Best Pictures are not made to be watched once and then forgotten.

1. Inglorious Basterds. More like Chicago than The Return of the King, this is a sweeping epic for which lightning really may strike this year. Thanks to the relentless hype machine, the filmmaker and his film are not under the radar, nor mysteries. Whether people love or hate this film, they have actually watched it. And it is the Academy—not the popular vote—who gives the award. Whether you look at Wings (1927), The Apartment (1960), Titanic (1997) or The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), this film more than anything else on this list left movies different. The filmmaker created this … thing, this experience, and created images, made us feel things, gave us things to talk about that are both broad, and specific right down to the now, whether you're watching the movie in 2010 or 2035. Popular opinion has Basterds way down the list, far below Avatar or Up or New Moon. But let's remember one thing most critics consistently seem to forget—this is an award given by the people who make the films. And next month the film will win Best Picture… and in 25 years you can watch it again, and smile as you get nostalgic for that strange, controversial, violent, divisive yesteryear that was 2009.

CREG LOVETT:

I have seen all of this year's Academy Award Nominees. The Academy did not even nominate the best films, actors, writers or animators. The Oscar award was created to promote the studios, so that is how the Academy voters make their choices. They are rich social liberals from the 1950's. They are hopelessly out of touch with American society, and uninterested in Art. I'll make my predictions quickly because I have asked 2 of my favorite local critics to present their picks.

Best Picture goes to The Hurt Locker because a war movie with no point of view and no message is what passes for innovation in Hollywood. Avatar is a close second, but it with its hamfisted mash-up of world religions, philosophies and perspectives, it could have been directed by DJ AM for less $$.

Best Director goes to Kathryn Bigelow for reasons listed above. Not because she's a female. Though she is, and she's a foxy 60 year old action film director. If you haven't seen Strange Days, get it from Netflix. By the way, she directed Point Break. You love it.

Meg Ryan must be rolling over in her grave because Sandra Bullock is THIS CLOSE to winning Best Actress for doing what she was once the best at. I've seen the Blindside. It's the most unintentionally racist movie about racism since Crash. You'd have to be Canadian for this Hallmark Channel clunker to teach you anything about American culture. Luckily Merryl Streep will win Best Actress for playing Julia Child in Julie and Julia.

Best Actor will be Jeff Bridges. Waylon Jennings never looked more like Waylon Jennings when Bridges first takes the "stage" in a New Mexico bowling alley. His performance is unreal. Just look at the way he hold his guitar. Crazy Heart is also the most experimental film in the bunch. Look at the beyond-extreme-close-ups on Bridges face throughout the first two acts. A bonus is that the second half of the movie is set in Houston. The only thing they could have done to make this movie better for me is if it had been a 6 or 7 hour epic bio-pic, or if they'd have had Ryan Bingham had replaced Colin Farrell.

Best Supporting Actress can only go to Mo'Nique for playing one of the best villains I've ever seen as the mother of Precious in Precious. If I'd have had a vote, I'd have voted for her, the film and the script. It's a special movie. Don't miss it.

Best Supporting Actor will go to Christoph Waltz.

Best Animated Feature will go to UP, but the actual best cartoon movie wasn't even nominated. Ponyo came out on DVD last week. It's the best animated feature in a several years.

Best Adapted Screenplay will go to Up In The Air, but In the Loop was by far the best, smartest most clever script of any movie I saw this year.

Best Screenplay will go to Inglorious Basterds because I'm the only person who can't stand Tarantino's unnatural, not believable dialogue. A Serious Man was far better. Me, and Orson Welles should have been nominated here, as well as Best Actor for Christopher McKaye. Richard Linklater's movie was inexplicably not distributed even though Zach Efron and Claire Danes were great, the script was better, and Christopher McKaye played the best Orson Welles I have ever seen.

Best Foreign Film will be Un Prophete.

Best Documentary Feature will hopefully go to The Cove for exposing the slaughter of 35,000 dolphins ever year in a small Japanese fishing village. The dolphins are sold as phony whale meat to unsuspecting Japanese. The legendary trainer behind the Flipper TV series shows just how smart and benevolent dolphins are, and then he shows us horrifying footage of the dolphins being mercilessly murdered by poor fisherman. It is as compelling as any documentary I've ever seen. It is terrifying and inspiring at the same time. This was the most memorable movie I saw in the past year. Please don't forget to see this movie which could and would change your life if you watch it today. www.thecovemovie.com

Labels: Moo-vies, Public Service Announcements, Random Rambling, Things To See

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Buffet Volume 1 is a short film festival on a DVD. The packaging is a striking full color tri-fold with the title and concept centered “BUFFET all you can eat video” and excellent stills from the movies surrounding it. Inside, a letter from The Buffet Chefs explains their metaphor where artists bring their short videos to the pot luck party to make the sum greater than its individual parts. Fully opened, the packaging separates the films into Breakfast Specials (containing 7 short videos), Lunch Specials (containing 6 shorts), Dinner Specials (containing 5 shorts) and a single Dessert, Untitled Street Performances 2004-2008 by Nancy Popp. Popp’s film consists of ambient sound and single camera setups of the artist perched like a Buddha halfway up tall street signs and traffic signal poles at various intersections all over the world. It is mesmerizing to watch her peacefully “be” while cities bustle by below. Some passers by are inspired, some are seemingly hypnotized by her, some do not notice her, and some are compelled to near violence in an inexplicable instinct to disrupt her passive performance.

But my favorite films were the first 4 Lunch Specials. The Drift, by Kelly Spears, is 8:14 in length and features a slideshow of Nasa-esque photos and a surrealist voice over story about the history of this unnamed space program. It is abstract and nonspecific in story but, at the end, when the narrator tells us that eventually the public fell out of love with the peaceful exploration of space, I could not help but feel a specific, real, and familiar sadness. Aura by Laura Park is made up largely of a white screen being slowly populated by red pixels revealing the face of a pretty woman. As I watched it unfold on the screen mounted above my mantle it occurred to me as a painting, and I thought how appropriate this, and in fact all of the films, would be if played on a loop at a dinner party. The black and white two minute short Self Portrait by Dan Zajicek was my favorite. The black field with a rectangular image of a man’s eyes lingers long enough to evoke a tone and level of unsettling emotion that left me thinking of the short films of David Lynch. The fourth Lunch Special Bubble Hurricane by Susan Chen is a 1:15 excerpt that left me wanting to see the full length movie and more of her work. This was the most stylized of all the Buffet Specials, heavy with effects that I’d have ordinarily assumed were prohibitively expensive for someone working in this medium. The color and scale brings to mind Nirvana’s “Heart Shaped Box” video. The film is a succession of palm treed green islands floating in a sky of after-the-rain clouds. I hope to see more of Chen's work in future Buffet Volumes. (www.susanchen.com)

Buffet Chefs Kelly Pike, Sasha Dela and Kara Hearn will release the Volume 1 DVD this Sunday at Domy Books, 1709 Westheimer. The party is from 6-8pm and admission is free. The Chefs are an inspiring new addition to the alt-film scene in Houston. This is an amazing first piece. I can't wait to see how this project grows.

www.domystore.com

www.buffetdvd.com

Labels: Alternative Cinema Houston, Moo-vies, Things To See

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So Percussion Imaginary City at Diverseworks February 12 & 13, 2010, 8pm

Ensemble chamber musicians So Percussion collaborated with filmmaker Jenise Treuting to capture sounds and images of several cities - from Tokyo to Montana and from Vermont's landscapes to what is continually referred to as "the urban jungles of Houston". The highly conceptual multimedia program was inspired by Italo Calvino's novel Invisible Cities. So Percussion often uses objects as instruments for their percussive symphony which, as I understand it, finds music in the sounds of cities and compares it favorably to the soothing sounds of nature. The music embraces the seemingly meaningless beginnings and endings which are accepted as a part of city life by allowing for accidents, serendipity and even Found-Art.

Their film was commissioned by DiverseWorks with Myrna Loy Center/ Helena, Flynn Center for the Performing Arts and National Performance Network. I've been watching it obsessively on YouTube and I'm struck by Diverworks' brilliance in cultivating this alliance. You'll benefit from the affirmation of seeing your home on screen in such an artful, non-cynical way.

So Percussion's reputation in NYC as an avante garde interpretive troupe has been solidified by positive reviews in every important publication from the Village Voice to the New York Times itself. Their CD's are critically acclaimed and live performances in New York (and on tour) are well attended. I hope that the Houston run will be as successful as they are in other parts of the country.

www.diverseworks.org www.sopercussion.com

It's Not You; It's Me Screening 5 p.m. Sunday, February 14 Location: Block 7 Wine Company, 720 Shepherd

Aurora Picture Show's Anti-Valentines Day party It's Not You; It's Me, at 5 p.m. on Sunday, February 14 at Block 7 Wine Company, 720 Shepherd. Aurora's roadshow has curated a group of short films that play with the themes of forced romanticism, the battle scars of relationships, and the many quests for love. It's $7 at the door. I cant think of a more uncommon way to spend a February 14th. It sounds hilarious to me. The list of 9 short films for this program are listed on the site. There's an animated short, a lesbian rom-com, and a film made by a former writer for The Daily Show on Comedy Central.

www.block7wineco.com www.aurorapictureshow.org

Monday, February 15th at Domy Books 1709 Westheimer Rd.

I love what Domy Books is doing. They have free movie nights of some fascinating stuff. Most of the time it is a title you've never heard of or seen, and even when it is something familiar, it'll be something great. (Eddie Murphy: Raw screens next week) This Monday the best Alt-Film in Houston is Dr Black and Mr Hyde at 8:30 at Domy Books.

Dr Black and Mr Hyde concerns the proprietor of a Free Clinic & Thrift Shop in Watts who, while researching a cure for cirrhosis of the liver, discovers instead a potion that turns him into a hooker hating hulk. Dr Black was directed by Blacula director William Crane and iconic blaxploitation actor Bernie Casey. Even if it was their worst collaboration, I still figure it's better than Blind Side.

www.domystore.com

Labels: Alternative Cinema Houston, Moo-vies, Things To Do

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It’s award season and I’ll soon be posting reviews of mainstream studio fare, so I want to post a quick note about an original film commissioned by the Houston Symphony, and made in Houston. The Planets - An HD Odyssey recently debuted to 4 sold out performances in its 3 day run at Jones Hall, and it was a revelation. Tonight the Houston Symphony is on tour with the film at Carnegie Hall in New York City for more sold out performances showing the brilliant HD photography that NASA’s $20 billion a year buys. (give or take a billion)

Filmmaker Duncan Copp previously directed episodes of PBS TV’s Nova, and my favorite film about NASA In the Shadow of the Moon. Although the very nature of the film is experimental, Copp’s use of split screens and a 3D animation process seemed gimmicky and even a bit home computer-ish at first. But moments later the scale of the project swallowed all of my apprehension. The music, composed 105 years ago in England by Gustav Holst, brought to mind the maligned word that only online critics use….. cinematic. I apologize for the term. But as the filmmaker’s camera zooms across a red Martian landscape the symphony distinctly sounds like John Williams’ familiar Star Wars Theme. I couldn’t help it. If there were ever a time to stoop to using the term “cinematic”, this was it.

The rest of the planets are mapped and photographed less comprehensively than Mars for obvious reasons. But the symphony is riveting. I didn’t “feel small” while watching these incredible photographs bring the formerly static planets to life. I felt slightly disoriented. We’re used to seeing the rings of Saturn and the deserts of Mars, but I’ve never seen a collection like this and I never knew that photographs of this detail existed. Sometimes, when confronted with a close-up, I wondered what exactly I was looking at. That is how detailed these photographs are. They look like nothing I have ever seen before. I could not find a reference point to link the images to my vocabulary about the planets. I was stunned speechless. That's how far out into space NASA has gone without us knowing, and that is what makes this piece so special. I remember hoping that members of Congress would see this movie because I believed it could convince them to fund NASA further into the future than they are likely to. I applaud the Houston Symphony and their sponsors for creating what could be a life sustaining work for NASA. They have been doing great work for the past 25 years, but unfortunately only manned flight makes headlines around the world. The unmanned work is cheaper, safer, and able to go deeper into space. This film and this performance showed the glory of NASA’s otherwise unheralded work.

While watching, I couldn’t help but take pride in the film, the symphony, and in NASA. For the rest of this weekend the tony confines of Carnegie Hall will be filled with Houston Musicians accompanying a film made in Houston. I can’t wait to read the reviews in the New York newspapers. Look for them to be posted as links hopefully this weekend.

This was my second visit to the Houston Symphony’s Sound Plus Vision series. I reviewed their resurrection of a silent film classic last season, and I’ll post more later this year for the Alternative Cinema Houston blog.

In February look for another original film made partly in Houston, and with a New York Connection, when So Percussion comes to Diverseworks for a series of live performances of their percussive ensemble while a film showing Houston and other urban landscapes plays in the background.

www.houstonsymphony.org www.nasa.gov www.diverseworks.org

Labels: Alternative Cinema Houston, Moo-vies, NASA

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Short notice on this one, I know, but I couldn't pass it up. It turns out that the Houston Lebowski Bash is occurring tonight, Fri., Nov. 13th, up in downtown, complete with costume contests, trivia contests, bowling, live music, lots of White Russians (naturally), and a screening of The Big Lebowski itself on the hill at Discovery Green. And it's all free, free, free. Hot damn.

Things kick off at 5PM at brand-new downtown bowling alley Lucky Strike Lanes, with a "pre-party happy hour" thing for the "bums" in attendance, and then around 7:30PM everybody'll adjourn to the Green for the rest of the party. Picture Book (featuring cool retro-popster Chase Hamblin) are playing live, although I'm not clear on when, and then the movie starts at 10PM. Oh, and somewhere in there, there will be "human bowling," which sounds both neat and horrifying at the same time. I can only hope that A) the participants are willing and B) the balls are padded. Again: hot damn.

And hey, in honor of the festivities, check out 8 Cool Big Lebowski T-Shirts The Dude Would Abide To, over on TeeRater (thanks to Mrshl for yet another Internet addiction, dammit...).

Labels: H-Town News, Moo-vies, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To See

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Non-musical, really, but still damn cool -- I've always wondered why the great-but-kinda-amateurish Houston International Film Festival was H-town's one and only real film fest. I mean, I've loved going to the "old" IFF over the years and have gotten to see some very cool stuff I'd never have caught otherwise (as well as an inordinate amount of utter crap, like that godawful movie with Holling from Northern Exposure as a guy who digs up an Egyptian queen in his backyard and does her bidding; WTF?), but it always felt like it could never measure up to similar film festivals elsewhere.

Hopefully this week/weekend changes all that. The 2009 Cinema Arts Festival Houston starts tonight, Wed., November 11th, and runs on through this coming Sun., November 15th, and it features some extremely sweet-sounding stuff. Tonight, opening night, includes a debut of Richard Linklater's newest film, Me and Orson Welles, and Precious, which looks interesting from the ads, at least. Later in the week, there'll be films and panels with folks like Guillermo Arriaga (writer of Amores Perros), Ant Farm (the folks behind the Cadillac Ranch), the band Dengue Fever (who provide music for The Lost World), the utterly otherworldly and eerie Tilda Swinton, who scares the living shit out of me and should probably be cast as evil fairy queens from now until the end of time (c'mon, you know who she is).

Anyway, this looks like a cool thing for the movie afficionados of this city. The screenings are all over the place, looks like -- the Angelika, the MFAH, the Univ. of Houston campus, etc. -- so check the Website for details & a full schedule of what's showing where. The headquarters, btw, is apparently what used to be the old Bookstop at Shepherd & Alabama; the H Box, this odd mobile film-screening room thing, is now stationed there for the festival, and I think that's where you can get tickets for the rest of it.

Labels: Alternative Cinema Houston, H-Town News, Moo-vies, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To See

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Here's another film-/music-type thing I ran across recently that sounded pretty damn cool, going on tonight (Thurs., November 5th) up at Röcbar in downtown. Caveat first, for this one: this is apparently an RSVP-only deal, where you have to go to this Website to sign up, and I've got no idea how many spaces they've got or if the dang thing's already fully-booked. As of now, the form's still online, though, so I figure it's worth a shot...

At any rate, what this is is a screening of a film called Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry, which is a biopic of sorts of legendary tatooist Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins. I can't claim to be any kind of tattoo afficionado -- needles scare the shit out of me, and I'm not overly fond of pain, either -- but I find the art fairly fascinating, particularly the Japanese-influenced style that Collins is credited with bringing to American tattoo art.

Odds are that when you think of the WWII-era tattoos sailors and soldiers stationed overseas came home with, the designs that pop into your head were Collins' work. Collins himself has been dead since before I was born, sadly, so the film apparently consists of interviews with protégés Ed Hardy and Mike "Rollo Banks" Malone, among others, but it still sounds pretty cool to me.

As an added bonus, I've heard rumors that there'll be a couple of musical-type performances in conjunction with this -- supposedly Woven Bones, from up in Austin, are playing, and if the Hands Up board is to be believed, local facepunchers Black Congress may be making a "surprise" appearance, too. And yes, there will be lots of rum to drink, since, y'know, that's what sailors drink. Right?

I'm afraid I've got no clue how much, if anything, the screening actually costs, btw; the only other info I've got is that you have to be 21 to get in and that doors open at 7PM. I've been told it may be free, but even if it isn't, I doubt it's too high of a cover charge. Go check it out.

Labels: Free Stuff, H-Town News, Moo-vies, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To See

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Damn, I love stuff like this; tomorrow night (Wed., October 28th), Left Of The Dial mag and The Mink are presenting a showing of the indie documentary Let Them Know: The Story of Youth Brigade and BYO Records, and it sounds damn cool.

Directed by Jeff Alulis, the film's basically about the BYO Records label ("BYO" for "Better Youth Organization"), a pioneering punk label founded by brothers Shawn & Mark Stern of the legendary band Youth Brigade for the purpose of publicizing the exploding punk scene in L.A. and elsewhere. Other parts of the punk rock world may get more attention, but the BYO crew themselves were a groundbreaking bunch. The film includes a bunch of interviews, naturally, with folks like Steve Soto of The Adolescents & Fat Mike of NOFX, and uses 'em to illuminate the 25-year-history of both BYO and Youth Brigade.

(BTW, Youth Brigade themselves reunited back in the '90s and are still touring, and they happen to be playing this coming Friday, October 30th up at Walter's, alongside Iron Age, Roots of Exile, & No Talk. See the movie first, then experience the band in real life, eh?)

As an added bonus, after Let Them Know rolls, there'll be a showing of a short film by LOTD/Hot Punk City's David Ensminger, Chronicles from the Zero Hour: The Punk Legacy, which gathers together interviews with Strike Anywhere, Lifetime, Chumbawamba, and others. And the whole thing's a measly $5; the show kicks off at 7PM or so.

Labels: H-Town News, Moo-vies, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To See

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Sunday, at Edwards Marquee’s screening of Astro Boy, geek dads brought their children to have their hair styled in the inexplicable dual spikes of the 60 year-old anime icon. Hairdressers were contracted by the studio reps to perform this hilarious task. Once inside, adults fell into two categories and children into one. Some adults were enraptured by the modernist retelling of the Pinocchio fable for the 1960’s Japanese nostalgia trip. Other adults recognized a familiar dramatic arc in the story of the boy robot created in the image of a mad scientist’s dead son. In fact, it was the sheer ambition of the story that carried my interest for all of the film’s 94 minutes. The dozens of children in the theater found sporadic humor that I didn’t recognize, and they laughed out loud as the filmmakers wove concurrent story lines: one appealing to adults and one appealing to children. The children even laughed as a joke in their storyline coincided with the film's emotional climax, so I don’t know if the children and I saw the movie in the same way at all.

And I don’t know if Japan's favorite anime films can find enough crossover audience to continue to interest us in their particular weirdness. But Astro Boy is opening in over 3,000 theaters, and judging by the promotional t-shirts being handed out at the press screening, the studio wants to make these relatively low budget features into the newest animation phenomenon. If you’re already a fan of anime or manga or if your kids are susceptible to the considerable promotional campaign, then Astro Boy is a must-see. If you demand the grandiosity associated with modern American studios animated features, then the difference in the style of animation here may distract you. While some of the actors blend their voicework well with the characters, injecting Nicolas Cage was distracting. In fact, despite the long list of big name western actors, this does not come across as a full service wide release animated feature. Some things just don’t translate, and it turns out that merely Americanizing a Japanese animated feature is one of them.

There is a certain cultural literacy in Pixar movies that allows adults to sit through it enjoying it on the level of both Bugs Bunny and The Daily Show, while the youngest among us participate on other equal, but different, levels. The rhythm of the pratfalls and the comic reference points to cultural touchstones bonds us to the material. Much of the physical movement of the animated characters is informed by a visual vocabulary we all share, and it comes in a straight line from the earliest Disney/WB ‘toons, through Hanna Barbera into the recent renaissance of Pixar. There is a warm feeling of coming home to an animated feature, and for all its intent and all the rounding of corners (and eyes), Astro Boy remains foreign in every way.

This is a tough sell for the uninitiated, but a must-see for open minded children and avid fans of Japanese animation.

Astro Boy opens wide on Friday, October 23

Produced by Cecil Kramer, Ken Tsumura, Paul Wang, Francis Kao and Maryann Garger for Summit Entertrainment and Imagi Studios

Starring Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage, Charlize Theron, Kristen Bell, Donald Sutherland, Bill Nighy, Eugene Levy, Nathan Lane, and Samuel L. Jackson

Directed by David Bowers

Written by Timothy Hyde Harris and David Bowers

Based on the manga by Tezuka Osamu

Rated PG for animated violence, Running Time 94 minutes

www.astroboy-themovie.com

Labels: Alternative Cinema Houston, Moo-vies, Things To See

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Who doesn't like a birthday, as long as it's not yours, right? I swear, I am going to make it over to this place the next time I'm in the Montrose, because Movies! The Store is truly a cool, cool, idea, and I'm guessing (based on reports from other folks, of course) that it's equally cool in real life.

Anyway, I'm very glad the place has survived here as long as it has, and hope to see it have a nice long life, so head on over there Friday, October 23rd to celebrate the store's third anniversary with the MTS crew. Ogle the racks of movies, embarrass yourself singing karaoke (indie-rock karaoke, maybe?), eat $1 hot dogs from Ray's Franks (free if you're in costume, apparently), and wish the store many years of good health.

Labels: Moo-vies, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To See

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Paranormal Activity screened for the press last night at AMC Studio 30, and by the looks of the crowd this may be one of the only reviews you'll see in Houston, as everyone else appears to have been "Caller Number 9" on an FM radio station. They, and many people you know have petitioned Paramount Pictures to bring the film to town for a long time now. It's been circulating the globe for two years now supposedly being brought to each market via an online petition from fans. I'm skeptical of this but I'm sold on the film.

We open as Micah (Micah Sloat) turn on his expensive handheld video camera for the first time, and the entire movie is seen from the video camera's point of view. We learn that Micah is a day trader and his live-in girlfriend, Katie (Katie Featherston), is a university student. Soon a paranormal psychologist visits the couple's beautiful suburban house and the exposition begins. Katie has been followed by a very frightening door slamming ghost for most of her life. Micah is a confident, successful stock trader who makes a joke of the whole thing, but keeps the camera running the entire movie. Remember that 100% of this film is seen thru the camera's point of view (POV to you and me). The psychologist moves the story along by "getting to know the couple" and quickly informing them that, good news/bad news, its not a ghost, it's a demon. Demons, he says, are dangerous and he is too scared to stay a moment longer. BUT on his way out the door he informs the couple that leaving will do no good, and that they should stay in their home until a qualified "demonologist" arrives from overseas. Which is convenient, because for a film with a $15,000 budget, leaving the home would present all sorts of unwelcome lighting and audio challenges.

So the ground rules are established. Stay in the home and don't call for help. And so we wander around the home for an hour without much happening. We literally watch the couple sleep for a surprising amount of time. A girlfriend visits. They eat breakfast. They remind each other of the ground rules. Every four or five nights, the "demon" makes an appearance by slamming a door, or just moving the door a few inches. He smashes a picture frame, pounds on a wall, and generally scares the couple into..... doing nothing at all. They just go on about their lives, videotaping themselves even while they sleep, and watching the footage the following morning over breakfast. The couple fights over Katie's belief that they need to seek more help, and Micah's archetypical belief that he can handle the situation himself with just his video camera. The scary moments are always successful if too far apart, and the banter between the couple is often very funny. Every joke works, and every scare is awarded a huge scream from the audience. The achievement of the film is that it is claustrophobic, taking place entirely within a 3 bedroom house in San Diego. Nobody in the movie is well known, so the audience easily believes the drama as seen through this handheld camera. Probably because Katie consistently asks Micah to "turn it off!", "get that camera out of my face", etc.

Paranormal Activity is a very scary movie with the best frights saved for the end. It's really an achievement to have made such a successful, tense horror for such a small amount of money. It's a slow build to get to the punchline, as it were, but if you like horror, and if you signed the petition to get it brought to Houston, then it's definitely worth it.

Paranormal Activity is in theaters now

Produced, Directed and Edited by Oren Peli

Starring Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat

Running Time is 99 minutes

Color

English

Distributed by Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks Pictures

www.paranormalactivity-movie.com

Labels: H-Town News, Moo-vies, Public Service Announcements, Reviews, Things To Do, Things To See

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Capitalism: A Love Story Reviewed by Creg Lovett

At the preview screening for Michael Moore’s new movie Capitalism: A Love Story people hissed, booed, gasped in horror, applauded, laughed out loud and cried real tears. Liberal Democrats Chris Dodd and Barney Frank bore the brunt of the films heavy handed guilt trip, and Republican congressman Ted Poe from Houston was cheered loudly as he, like Dennis Kucinich, denounced the TARP bailout in a rousing speech on the floor of the House of Representatives.

The movie covers much of the same ground, and in much the same way, as recent episodes of investigative television programs like PBS Frontline, but with Moore’s well-timed comic narration. The guilty and the great speak for themselves in Moore’s films, and the filmmaker delivers punch lines in voice over. His sight gags and physical comedy stunts are welcome comic relief because the sad truth is, once again, SO sad.

Years ago I hated the guy on sight just for his appearance. I was vaguely aware that he was a consumer advocate, but I preferred Marvin Zindler’s lightning war to the bookish longwind of Nader or Moore. It wasn’t until his appearances on Bill Maher’s Politically Incorrect that I discovered Moore was devoted to uncovering things I wanted uncovered. Who knew that Canada had fewer murders in a year than Houston has in a month? Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Sicko were, for me, eye opening examinations of the central conflicts in our culture, while for gun owners, hawks and the well insured, the films represented an unwelcome insult to valued American traditions. Still others, never affected by guns, war or ill health found little interest in these downer documentaries.

But everyone whose 401k was affected by the ongoing economic collapse should take notice of Capitalism. Your unemployed friends and neighbors would understand if you watched it by bit torrent. But go into it understanding that he’s really advocating socialism. Michael Moore asserts that postwar England, Germany, Italy and Japan have both free markets and mandated socialist policies. He includes long explanations from Presidents Jimmy Carter and Franklin Roosevelt as well as priests, a bishop and Vermont’s Socialist Senator. Moore includes newsclips of then-candidate Barack Obama promising “the change you need” which brings to mind the choruses or friends, neighbors and coworkers who rebutted “Socialism isn’t the change I need!.”, and it’s then that Capitalism shows us both the numbers and the faces of homeless children explaining their place in the world with uncommon wisdom and we learn that it isn’t about us. It’s about them.

Capitalism: A Love Story opens wide on Friday
Written, Produced and Directed by Michael Moore for Overture Films www.overturefilms.net
117 minutes Rated R
www.CapitalismALoveStory.com

DUELING DOCUMENTARIES-since Capitalism: A Love Story is opening wide, it might not count as Alternative. But MFAH is showing For All Mankind all weekend. So we're including our review below.

For All Mankind Reviewed by Adam Woodyard

For All Mankind, screening this weekend, Oct. 2-4, at the MFAH is the rare example of spectacle at its most moving. The towering 300-foot vertical Saturn V rocket, footage from the lander, and the moon itself, cannot be captured in mere words, it must simply be experienced, as director Al Reinert is comforable to sit back and let you do. Never intrusive, always respecting the footage, there is perhaps not a spot on Earth than can compare to the grandiosity of the giant leap for mankind that took place not just when our species first set foot on the moon, but on the sheer science and drive that got us there in a scant six years, from the time Kennedy made his iconic speech (at Rice University) to the departure of the Apollo VIII mission on December 21st, 1968.

Nominated for a best director Oscar in 1989, Reinert's film is comprised solely of NASA footage, the voices of astronauts, and music from Brian Eno's soundtrack album Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks. He has created a fascinating and jaw dropping collage of what today we think of as commonplace. If you were born from 1975 on, no one has walked on the moon in your lifetime, and yet we take it for granted.

The sci-fi promise of moon bases and residential space-stations has fallen by the wayside, as hi-def shots of Saturn's moons aren’t considered front page news. For All Mankind comes from a time of newspapers and network news. It offers more charm than the internet can muster.

Unlike another documentary that might be opening this weekend, For All Mankind is apolitical, inoffensive, and as moving as if you were told tomorrow that America is going to put a human on Mars. The logistics of putting people on the moon is no less complex, and we did it with 1968 technology. You will never see a grander spectacle than footage shot from the hull of the Apollo spacecraft on its way to the moon, hovering mere feet above it, close enough to touch.

For All Mankind screens as a part of the Cosmic Celluloid Series at MFAH.
Directed by Al Reinert
Featuring music by Brian Eno
USA, 1989
Color
80 minutes
www.mfah.org

Show Times are Friday, 10/2 7:00pm, Saturday, 10/3 7:00pm and Sunday 10/4 at 5:00pm.

Also at MFAH on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 is the 14 minute short film from 1903 A Trip to The Moon about a group of astronomers travelling to the moon.

Following is a 3 minute short film, Goodnight, Moon narrated by Susan Sarandon.

AND E.T. The Extra Terrestrial screens at 2:00pm Sunday as part of Target Free First Sundays: Family Flicks Film Series. IT'S FREE! It's ET on a big screen!

The last thing is the one I'm most excited about. Rice Media Center's Asian Film Festival is this weekend. Friday through Sunday at 7:00 pm are free screenings of films never seen before in Houston. These are all free and open to the public. Rice Cinema is an amazing thing that we only have because we live in a huge giant concrete city. Don't miss this. www.ricecinema.rice.edu

and email me all innuendo, insults and adulation at "creg" at "spacecityrock dot com", or call me at 867-5309.

Labels: Alternative Cinema Houston, Moo-vies, Things To Do, Things To See

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An interesting cinematic-type thing in town tonight (Sat., September 26th, that is) -- the Alamo Drafthouse Theater at West Oaks Mall is hosting a special night with the folks behind hysterically funny/sad found-video blog Everything Is Terrible!. The site dredges up ridiculously awful VHS footage from the past several decades and manages to make it both funny and poignant; it's good shit. They're like the A/V equivalent of FOUND Magazine, and that's no bad thing.

Anyway, at the Alamo they'll be showing their first-ever full-length release, entitled simply Everything Is Terrible! The Movie...and honestly, I have no idea what that's going to be like, except that it probably won't have a cohesive plot but will instead be a whole bunch of clips stitched together in brain-destroyingly hilarious ways. And hey, the Everything Is Terrible! people themselves will be there to show off their Frankensteinian baby. See 'em now, before they have their own TV show on VH1.

The showing starts at 7:30PM, but since this is the one and only showing for this, I'd show up early to get seats. The tickets are $10 a pop, which, frankly, sounds bargain-like for this...

Labels: Moo-vies, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To See

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