Tag: SXSW Film Festival

SXSW Starts Tomorrow: March 10, 2023

On March 9, 2023

In Movies, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture, Reviews, Television, Texas

Isla Fisher at the premiere of “The Beach Bum” at SXSW. (Photo by Connie Wilson).

SXSW, 2023, starts tomorrow, March 10th.

I will be trying to cover as much ground as I can, while battling some issues involving my e-mail not working right.

I picked up my badge and had my cameras tagged yesterday, and I’m ready to roll tomorrow, with a TV premiere of “Swarm” from Donald Glover, who will be here in person, and an earlier documentary, “Confessions of A Good Samaritan,” which is about a girl donating a kidney to a stranger.

The opening night film with Chris Pine (“Dungeons & Dragons”) does not sound like my kind of movie, but I am looking forward to the documentaries about Mary Tyler Moore (“Being Mary Tyler Moore”), Michael J. Fox (“Still”), and 91-year-old Captain Kirk, William Shatner, entitled “You Can Call Me Bill.”

All kinds of celebrities have come streaming back to Austin for SXSW, including the First Gentleman (Doug Emhoff), Joe Jonas and celebrity wife, Riley Keough (granddaughter of Elvis), Jen Psaki (former White House Press Secretary under Biden), Chelsea Manning, Eva Longoria, Liev Schreiber and a host of others. If that isn’t a varied range of talent, I don’t know what is! Something for everyone.

Scott Rogowski, Host of H.Q. Trivia, “live” in Austin at SXSW. (Photo by Connie Wilson). There is now a documentary about H.Q. called “Glitch,” featuring Scott Rogowski.

Anthony Whyte, owner of The Movie Blog, where my reviews will also appear, is flying in late tomorrow. I look forward to meeting my New York City boss for the first time.

Meanwhile, I continue to fight against a cellulitis infection and a bum knee, so bear with me.

Enjoy the two old pictures from previous SXSW festivals. I have been reviewing the films and documentaries here since 2017, the year that Ryan Gosling and Natalie Portman came with “Sound by Sound.” During the pandemic, it was pretty much all via streaming, but SXSW is back with a vengeance.

Last year, I had the opportunity to see “To Leslie” here, with one of this year’s Academy Award nominees, Andrea Riseborough. I hope my viewing this year will be as excellent as that indie film, and check here and on The Movie Blog for daily updates.

SXSW Film Reviews to Come: Looking Back at One Year “Sheltering in Place”

By Connie Wilson

On March 13, 2021

In Local, Movies, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture, Reviews

“Lily Topples the World,” SXSW Online Film Festival, 2021.

Today is March 13th, Saturday, and it sticks in my brain pan as the day that my husband and I went out to see “The Way Back” at a local cinema. The place was deserted and, when I asked about upcoming films, the news was not good.

By that weekend, we were “sheltering in place” and we were going to be sheltering in place for one full year. My hair appointments became non-existent, My nails grew out and became a problem. I was giving hair cuts to my husband. I would not enter a movie theater for 7 months to see “Tenet” at the Regal Cinema (now closed) in Moline, Illinois.

During that long Covid-19 year my husband and I would contract the virus and be sick for two weeks (in October). We would venture out perhaps twice (once to a drive-in) to see movies, but the flow of new films would cease, so the sacrifice that no movies means, to me, as a bona fide movie buff, was slightly mollified by the realization that there were very few new good films coming out. All of us were glued to our respective television sets, and that is where I would cover the Chicago International Film Festival, the Denver Film Festival, Sundance, and, this coming week, SXSW, virtually, online.

I am Press at SXSW, again, and the films I will be seeing from March 16-20 will include the following, (with reviews here and on The Movie Blog.com and perhaps a few on QuadCity.com):

Tuesday- March 16th

“Demi Lovato: Dance with the Devil” (Credit: OBB Media @ the SXSW Online Film Festival 2021.)

“Hysterical – top female comics perform in a special.

“The Oxy Kingpins” – a documentary.

“Aretha” – a documentary about Aretha Franklin

“Lily Topples the World” – young girl sets up blocks to “fall.”

“Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil” – the story of Demi Lovato’s close call with death from a drug overdose.

“The Thing That Ate the Birds” – horror

Wednesday, March 17

“Recovery” –

“The Return: Life After Isis”

“Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free” (documentary)

Waze & Odyssey” with appearances by George Michael et, al.

Not Going Quietly – feature film

United States vs. Reality Winner – a documentary about White House leaks

Offseason

Thursday- March 18

“Swan Song” (Credit Chris Stephens, SXSW Online Film Festival 2021).

“Swan Song” – I actually have already seen this one, about a hairdresser called out of retirement in the nursing home to do a dead friend’s hair. The dead friend is Linda Evans (“Dynasty”). The hairdresser is German actor Udo Kier. The co-star is Stiffler’s Mom, from “American Pie,” Jennifer Coolidge. Todd Phillips directs.

“The Lost Sons” – fascinating documentary about a boy kidnapped at birth from Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago only to be returned to his parents 2 years later. Or is the boy found in New Jersey really their son? A fascinating documentary with many twists and a Chicago setting.

“Cruel Summer” – Jessica Biel’s project; teen-aged cast.

“The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Mary Johnson – one of the few feature length films

“Violet” – a Justine Bateman project

“Alone Together” – a documentary about Charlie XCS

“Sound of Violence”

“The Spine of Night” – animated, with voices by Patton Oswalt and others. The last 2 are “midnight fare,” meaning scary films.

Friday, March 19th

“Late Night Girls Club” – Samantha Bee and Amber Ruffin

“Cruel Summer” Q&A”

The festival does not end until Saturday, but my husband and I are scheduled to get our second Pfizer shots on Saturday and Sunday, which is his birthday. We are making a true celebration out of it, staying at the VanZandt hotel downtown in a pricey room and dining out with the son and daughter-in-law, so no closing night film for me. Check back at WeeklyWilson.com for reviews of the above.