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Film + Food + Focused on Good

As I’ve mentioned before, some pretty cool stuff comes out of Austin. One particular kick-butt organization is Lights. Camera. Help., “a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to encouraging other nonprofit and cause-driven organizations to use film and video to tell their stories.” LCH also hosts the world’s first non-profit-focused film festival. Pretty cool, right? Well, the gang over at LCH is throwing a “Film + Food + Focused on Good” fundraiser this Friday November 4th and featuring some of the greatest food-related organizations in town:

The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas, The Sustainable Food Center, Farmhouse Delivery, The Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, Moray Farms, the Natural Epicurean Culinary Academy, in.gredients, Johnson’s Backyard Garden, Slow Money Texas, Slow Food Austin, Greenling Organic Delivery,  HOPE Farmers Market, Deep Eddy Vodka, Amanda Love- the Barefoot Cook, Amity Bakery, Pie Fixes Everything, Pate Letelier, austiNuts, and Edible Austin.

Proceeds (more…)

November 2, 2011 by
Film, Pop Culture, Writing

CSI- Legoland

You’ve seen the Youtube hit Mario, right? RIGHT?! Like who hasn’t? When it premiered at SXSW 2011 it blew up the Youtube like cray-cray. Who doesn’t love a dramatization of the life and loves of an Italian-American plumber? Well, the director behind Mario is back with another delightful gem. Local director and Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” honoree Joe Nicolosibrings us CSI: Legoland.

Check it out!

*Warning- This video contains graphic images of Legos being decapitated. Viewer discretion is advised.

October 21, 2011 by
20-Something, Film, Hipstercrite Life

Under Your Spell

11:26PM 10/19/11

Watching Drive and writing that post today really got to me. The LA in Drive is the LA in so many movies and was the LA in my head when I lived there, though it’s not the LA that actually exists. I’ve written about this way too many times before, so I will not rehash it too much. Or maybe I will.

There are multiple LAs that exist in film- the glamorous 1920’s LA, the dangerous noir 40’s/50’s LA, the sunny carefree 1960’s LA, the porn/drug-riddled 70’s LA and the beautifully nihilistic 80’s LA. After that, the LA that exists now is the one we all know, but we want the other LAs, you know? The Day-Of-The-Locust-Who-Framed-Roger-Rabbit-Chinatown-LA-Confidential-Boogie Nights-Less-Than-Zero all rolled into one LA.

I just can’t stop thinking about her tonight. I can’t stop thinking about all the illusions and the dreams that weren’t real. The holding my breath, waiting for something to happen. The anticipation that anything– good or bad- would reveal itself to me. (more…)

October 20, 2011 by
Film, Hipstercrite Life, Music, Pop Culture

Songs About Los Angeles

Last night I saw the movie Drive starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Ron Perlman and Los Angeles. A lot of buzz has been going around about this simple, yet visually and auditorily delicious film. The Michael Mann-esque qualities, Ryan Gosling’s subtle performance, the 80’s font, and moody electronic music make for a wonderful, nostalgic ride. Besides the ridiculously long shots on Ryan Gosling’s beautiful face, what made this film particularly engaging is the ominous soundtrack composed by Cliff Martinez and featuring music by Kavinsky, Lovefoxxx, Desire, College, Riz Ortolani, and Chromatics.

“Drive” is an appropriate verb for songs reminiscent of Los Angeles. Any song that reminds me of that city, also reminds me of late nights driving through Hollywood towards the beach, the blur of lights in the background, the windows down and the warm wind holding me firmly into the passenger seat. It reminds me of trips through the city to nowhere in particular, (more…)

October 19, 2011 by
Film, Music, Pop Culture

The Driver Says…

“It’s time for Hipster Halloween Costume ideas again, you guys!”

If you’re not sure what hipstery Halloween costume you’ll be wearing this year, check out my post over at CultureMap for some ideas…

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Halloween is just around the bend. For us hipsters, this is the cherished time of year where we can emulate our heroes or be ironic without people looking at us like we’re huge assholes.

But it’s also a challenging time. More than any other time of the year, we want to be different, irreverent. We have to out-do our peers. We can’t just walk into one of those big box Halloween stores and buy some cheap-o costume, nooo. We have to sit and think for days on what will be the most unique, most stylish, most mother f’ing hip costume Austin will ever see. We scavenge the vintage shops for just the right items. We spend hours putting our costume together nearly exploding from anticipation. Halloween arrives and we make our grand debut at a friend’s East Side party sporting our jean (more…)

October 14, 2011 by
Film, Pop Culture

She’s Got Steve Buscemi Eyes

As little girls we dreamt about sparkles and unicorns and prom night and meeting Prince Charming and beautiful weddings and looking like Steve Buscemi.

Did you know that? Did you know that most girls would kill for Steve Buscemi eyes?

Well, ladies, make your dreams come true with the Steve Buscemeyes Facebook app.

Let me tell you, it’s an instant self-esteem booster.

I was lucky enough to get myself Buscemized as a young child.

*Disclaimer- sorry if this app was big, like, 4 months ago.

October 14, 2011 by
Film, Pop Culture

Beginners’ Guide to Graphic Novels pt. 1

My boyfriend is an animator which means his bookcases are filled with animator stuff.
One day I was bored and pulled down his copy of Persepolis.
I thought graphic novels were for kids and nerds, so I wasn’t expecting much from it.
Boy, was I a dumbass.

By the second page I was sucked into the book like James Spader into the Stargate. I was transfixed. A heartbreaking coming-of-age tale set during a time of historical significance had this history nerd gobbling up every word.   For those of you not familiar with Persepolis (and live a sad, sheltered life like I do), it is the autobiography of Marjane Satrapi, a young woman growing up in Iran in the 1970’s. The book takes us through her childhood, which intersects with the Iranian Revolution, her escape to Europe as a teenager, and then back to Iran as a twenty-something and the dramatic changes within her country.

Satrapi writes of a life that was once simple and carefree, how women didn’t have the adhere to strict Islamic (more…)

October 6, 2011 by
Film, Pop Culture

Arrested Development Is Back! It’s Time to Celebrate with Fan Fiction!

I don’t know about you,  but I blue myself when news surfaced that Arrested Development was coming back with a movie and 10 television episodes in 2013.  Arrested Development is probably my favorite TV show. At one point X-files was, but I’ve come to discover that X-files doesn’t necessarily stand the test of time as well as AD does. The music and secondary actors were kind of cheesy on X-files. NOTHING ABOUT ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT IS CHEESY.

Now that the show is back, I’ve been fantasizing about what the Bluths have been doing all this time. I used to be really good at fan fiction writing as a teenager. Coming up with stories about Mulder and Scully doing it helped me get through puberty.

I’m going to see if I still have the fan fic chops.

The show has been off the air for five years and Michael Cera and Alia Shawcat are noticeably not fat-faced anymore. However, I freaking hate when shows or movies come back in real time. Can’t everyone just stay all Simpsons-like? Do we really (more…)

October 5, 2011 by
Film

We’re Almost Finished Making a Movie!

We just wrapped our Austin shoot onLoves Her Gun. The gang is now en route to NYC in a Winnebago that looks like this:

Our three week shoot in Austin has been awesome. We had so many wonderful cast and crew helping to make this movie something special. The footage looks great and we had some amazing talent in front of the camera. Our lead actress, Trieste Kelly Dunn, has starred in the IFC filmCold Weather, the indie hit Vacation!, and starred on the law drama Canterbury’s Law. Here is a picture of Trieste getting bruised by our make-up artist Liz Rische.

photo by Brandi
Our lead actor, Francisco Barreiro, happens to be one of the hottest talents coming out of Mexico City and we are so lucky to be able to work with him. His last movie, We Are What We Are, a film about a cannibalistic family living in LA, premiered in Cannes and Fantastic Fest last year!
 
Our film also stars the absolutely adorable Austin-based actress Ashley Spillers and NYC writer/director/actor (more…)
September 22, 2011 by
Film, Pop Culture

When Movie Productions Go Bad

Working on a low-budget indie film is new to me. When I worked in Hollywood I worked for big people and therefore there was big money put into the films (in other words I worked on pieces of crap). Everything was taken care of on set- food, transportation, accommodations- and you only had to worry about your own duties and not making eye contact with ANYONE.

On a low-budget, guerrilla-style indie feature, none of this applies. Typically cast and crew wear many hats, eat homemade meals, and sleep on air mattresses. As stressful as it sounds, it can be a lot of fun because the ego involved in Hollywood is nonexistent. Everyone is the same and all working towards the same goal. They’re working on the project because they believe in it.

Currently we have 6 people sleeping in a 3 bedroom house with only 1 bed and 4 couches including one couch from the set of Tree of Life. We are all sleep-deprived and pushed to the max. Daily needs like eating, showering, and peeing have gone out the window. (more…)

September 9, 2011 by