Film News

BY JOE O'CONNELL

Of Emmys, 'Barbarella,' Terrence Malick, and Pauly Walnuts

Terrence Malick directing his next film right here in Austin in the
spring? My sources say the top-secret project based on Malick's script
is a go, but with Malick nothing is certain. Meanwhile, major congrats
to Beth Sepko, who can now call herself an Emmy-winning casting director
for handling Austin casting for NBC's Friday Night Lights. In other
words, she got major props for working hard to get a whole lot of Texas
actors on the small screen week after week. She had a list of 215 actors
cast for the show's first season, and a scant 18 of those came through
Los Angeles. The rest are primarily actors who have been sweating away
hereabout for years. Meanwhile in segue town, there are casting rumors
afoot for the lead in Robert Rodriguez's Barbarella remake, which is
expected to lens here in November. Topping the rumor list are Kate
Beckinsale and Rose McGowan. Also in town shooting independent comedy
The Sno Cone Stand Inc. this week are Morgan Fairchild and The Sopranos'
Tony Sirico.

Bloody festivals everywhere!

Just when you thought Fantastic Fest had all of your cult-movie needs
covered, now comes word that Fangoria magazine will have its own soiree
in town soon.

Fantastic Fest – the eight-day festival of the best new sci-fi, horror,
fantasy, and genre films – is in progress through Sept. 27 at the Alamo
Drafthouse South with all sorts of secret guests like Patton Oswalt
(here for showings of Sex and Death 101) and surprise screenings. See
"Seven Days in Heaven and Hell" for the Chronicle's preview.

Next up is the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors, Jan. 18-20 at the
Renaissance Austin Hotel, with local heroes like director Robert
Rodriguez, stuntman extraordinaire Gary Kent, and Ain't It Cool News
guru Harry Knowles, plus such luminaries as Supernatural star Jared
Padalecki, House of the Dead director Uwe Boll, scream girl Angela
Bettis, and special-effects legend Tom Savini. Oh, and there's a reunion
of Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood.

And the rest ...

Vanguard International Cinema will distribute Ken Johnson's Austin-shot
Spanish/English film, El Abandonado!, which premiered at the 2006 Cine
las Americas International Film Festival... Occasional Chronicle
contributor Jesse Sublett wrote six of the 13 episodes of the History
Channel's Boneyard, which airs Thursdays at 8pm... Joe "King" Carrasco
headlines a benefit concert and silent auction for the feature film Z: A
Zombie Musical at Trophy's Bar & Grill on Sunday from 5:30 to 10pm.
Silent-auction items include acting classes, workshops, autographed
movie posters, and a belly-dancing certificate... Moonlighting's Glenn
Gordon Caron will receive the Outstanding Television Writer Award at the
Austin Film Festival in October... Film journalist extraordinaire Merle
Bertrand is the new host of The Director's Cut on KMACTalk.com. The
weekly one-hour Internet show about the movie world streams live at 10am
Saturday mornings, but shows are also available any time on the site...
NBC's Friday Night Lights has been good to Austin shooters, says Todd
McMullen, director of photography for the show's second season. That's
because it fields three camera crews at once, including Austin's top
lens artists. As he says, "Ian Ellis, Todd Campbell, and Shane Kelly
frame it up, while Robert Rendon, Rob McGrath, Zach Nasits, Frank
Parrish, Amanda Bruce, Adam Schwartz, Trevor Nelson, and Ryan Abrams
keep it all in focus"... Austin-made "Chickenfüt" recently screened at
the L.A. Shorts Fest. Written and directed by UT cinematography
professor Harrison Witt and produced by Jourdan Henderson, it stars
Jeffery Mills and Cyndi Williams.