One Sentence: A great movie history. 

Running Time: 80 Minutes

Nudity: Tons

Release: On Video On Demand Soon. 

American Grindhouse is a documentary about exploitation films starting from the beginning of the movies all the way till now.  It is an amazing look at what exploitation is, why it happened, and how it happened.  The documentary has tons of people talking about their roles in exploitation and the history of it from their point of view.  John Landis, Joe Dante, Larry Cohen and tons and tons of others all giving their view on exploitation and grindhouse theaters.

Not only does this documentary have the cred from a filmmaker point of view, it also has the clips.  Tons of clips from tons of movies, all credited and all amazing.  There seems like clips from over 100 movies (I am not sure of the exact number) and they are all valid and part of this amazing documentary.  They truly help make this documentary amazing. 

American Grindhouse is one of my favorites of SXSW so far, it will be on Video On Demand soon and is also trying to be put on DVD and possibly theatrical release so keep an eye out for it if you want to know more about exploitation in Hollywood since the very beginning. 

Well I lost my whole MacGruber review.  I can't write another one right now, so MacGruber was the best SNL comedy since Wayne's World, which doesn't mean it was amazing.  It was pretty funny and because it was rated R it saved it.  If it was PG-13 it would have been horrible.  I give it a 3 out of 5 and SNL fans should go check it out when it comes out in May.  

From left to right: Jorma Taccone, Ryan Phillippe, Kristen Wiig and Will Forte

Taken during Jeffrey Tambor's Acting Workshop. I don't know the name of the actors.

Inbetween movies we walked around the convention center and found this cool LEGO set-up in ScreenBurn.

Lego Ghostbusters mixed in with the San Jose hotel and the Driskoll.

360 bridge in Lego form with moving train.

Article & Photos by monkeyjenn(aka Jenn Baldillez)

I only saw about 2/3rds of this movie, so please take that into account with this review.  Something happened with the projector, and I gave up on it and left to try to get to the Japanese Vampire movie.  I never made it to that movie, however I do not regret leaving Elektra Luxx, the sequel to the last SXSW premiere Women In Trouble.  This movie is about a pregnant porn star who teaches a class called how to act like a porn star in bed.  There was also some song lyrics that were stolen, and some other random girls acting as porn stars.  The movie has a porn star quality to it, in plot, humor, film style and everything about it.  It felt like an unfunny porn with no sex in it. When the bulb went out on the movie, I leaped at the chance to leave.  No conflict, no comedy, nothing that was interesting to me in any way, I was out of there.   I am sure most of you won't even come across this movie, but if you do see the words pregnant porn star on a DVD box somewhere, if it is not real porn, it might be this movie and you just need to put it back on the shelf and walk on by. 

The good news is that we were able to attend Jeffrey Tambor's (Arrested Development and what seems like every movie since 1977) Acting Workshop. It wasn't a movie, but it was very good and since it wasn't, I won't review it. I will say this, if you get the chance to see him, do it. His ideas are very applicable to everyone's life. 

Tally so far…

Saturday Night (James Franco movie about the behind the scenes of an SNL skit): FAIL

Elektra Luxx: FAIL – We think the bulb burned out.

Higanjima (Japanese horror movie): FAIL

While we're glad we made it to the acting workshop, we were bummed about not seeing any movies. Ah well, we've learned some lessons and hope to make it to the movies we plan to watch today and the rest of the week.

Article by monkeyjenn(aka Jenn Baldillez)

Austin Convention Center Entrance.

The insides of the Chevy Volt.

The People Vs George Lucas line

The Reviewer and a Stormtrooper

More reviews to come today as the day gets started here at SXSW 2010.

 Article & Photos by monkeyjenn(aka Jenn Baldillez)

One Sentence: All the feelings and opinions we all have felt and argued, in an hour and a half. 

I just got out of the World Premiere of The People Vs. George Lucas, which is maybe a documentary of the fans of the world affected by the life and times of George Lucas.  It was part film school history lesson, part new Star Wars bashing, part merchandising complaints/praise and part dedication and love to the man who created all.  

I don't know what The People Vs George Lucas is supposed to be exactly, or what I am supposed to take away from it.  The title makes it sound like there is some authority or something that is at least credible to whatever it is intending to be, but the more you think about whatever that thing would be, the more you are confused and don't know what you really want out of this movie, or George himself.  In the end, I am feeling like maybe all this movie is or can be to anyone is closure.  Closure of any opinion that you might have about George Lucas and Star Wars.  I think that is what I am going to take away from it, and while I don't think the movie was especially amazing, I think it is at least entertaining, and allowing for all of us to face our own feelings about the last 15 years of Star Wars and figure out what we really feel.  So if you are a fan, and feel like you have always wanted to do something about it, at least you can watch this movie and deal with your own feelings.  

I don't know anything about availability or distribution, so just keep an eye out and maybe it will come to a DVD near you.  

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This documentary film follows the Whites Stripes, Jack and Meg White, as they tour Canada. They played the usual venues and also challenged themselves by playing in buses, bowling alleys and cafés. I've never liked concert films so I wasn't really looking forward to this one. They are always boring to me. I also didn't know anything about the White Stripes and didn't think I liked them either. The music, the talent and the filmography made me change my mind about both. It was extremely well done. Jack White is a musical genius and Meg White is awesome on the drums. Even if I didn't like their music, I could appreciate the amount of talent they have. Fortunately for me, I quickly became a fan.

You can see and feel the passion they have for the music and they really let go during their performances. The White Stripes are a bare bones, true rock and roll band. I couldn't resist the urge to dance. And by dancing, I mean I bobbed my head and tapped my feet a little. That's about all you can do in the tiny seats at the Paramount theater.

I recommend this movie to anyone who loves rock and roll. If you like the White Stripes, then all the better. I think this is definitely a movie worth watching at the theater.

 

Article by monkeyjenn(aka Jenn Baldillez)

 

 

So for today we have The People Vs. George Lucas, a documentary about the fans and their attitude toward the new trilogy accompanied by an animated short based on the video of the girl who told the plot of star wars who had never seen it.  That video is here and if you have never seen it, it's pretty damn funny. 

Dirty Pictures a documentary about the chemist who discovered the effects of MDMA and lots of other mind bending products.

And if we can make it, a space horror called Monsters at midnight.  

As always I will try to get the reviews out to you as soon as I can. Be sure to check out my twitter at Mikeyreviewer for updates throughout the festival.

One Sentence: The best movie I have seen since The Dark Knight. 

Rated: R

Running Time: 117 Minutes

Release Date: 16-Apr-2010

Nudity: None

Wow, just wow! I just got blown the fuck away with the opener SXSW Film.  Kick-Ass was about as Kick-Ass a movie as it could have been.  Funny, action packed, amazing fighting, a great story, and characters I cared about a lot.  There is not a single thing I can say bad about this movie.  It was everything I hoped it would be and more.  

I left the theater feeling pumped up, full of energy and just smiling from ear to ear.  It delivered a knock out punch of pure awesome and I think I am going to go see it again as soon as I can.  

Kick-Ass doesn't come out until April 16th, so mark your calenders! The best movie of the year, so far, is coming and it is wearing tights.