We got a chance to sit down with Mark Duplass, Craig Johnson, Bret Loehr, and Carr Thompson to talk about a really great film from SXSW 2009 called ‘True Adolescents’. Enjoy:

I know we completely slacked on our daily updates but with the craziness of SXSW it was nearly impossible to keep up on them. Even without the daily updates I like to think we rocked Austin’s face off, maybe we even dutch ruddered Austin..who knows?

From the night that we got there, till the afternoon that we left things were a complete whirlwind that refused to stop. In order for us to sit down and write it meant we were missing out on something and the thought of all the stuff we missed makes me cringe. Here are a few numbers that we are proud of from SXSW:

We posted 26 reviews(we still have a few more to write so be patient), Conducted 9 interviews(we are still posting these as well so be patient), I caught half of one panel(Vivid, YES!), and went to parties almost every night. On top of all of this we had to find time to sleep, which didnt happen very often, eat, cover red carpets, and hang out with the coolest people we could find.

The festival is quite the undertaking however I think we did a tremendous job making you all feel like you were there, and if we didnt..sorry. Here are a few pictures that we thought were amazing.

Scott, Javi “Baby Got Back”, and Jeremy

Scott, Weston from Funny or Die, and Travis Bagent from ‘Pulling John’

Interviewing Seth Rogen on the Red Carpet

Scott with Navid, John Brzenk, and Sevan from ‘Pulling John’

Jeremy doing an interview with the Cast/Director of ‘My Suicide’

Mark Duplass, Me, and Jason Segel

Jeremy rocking his Sierra Mist sunglasses, and IFC Bag

Well there you have it boys and girls, we gave ourselves to the festivals and all we got in return were a few memories and some Sierra Mist Sunglasses.

Funny or Die has had a stellar year so far for bringing us the laughs. As SXSW came to a close, some funny and unique trailers made there way into and infront of some of the films that played. One of them was The Dirty Garage, a close look at the relationships of twenty somethings on a trip to clean the garage. The other was horror favorite Gobstopper, a mash-up of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and the Saw Franchise. Check them out below and tell us what you think!

Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno, The Yes Men, want to fix the world. Â  Do they do it? Â  Not exactly. Â  What they do do is create elaborate pranks and gags by pretending to be members of powerful companies who have practiced less-than-moral ethics. Â  The Yes Men want to teach these companies a lesson, and they do so in increasingly detailed, ridiculous, and hilarious ways.

At first, they pose as Dow Chemical Company promising to liquidate Union Carbide and pay $12 billion towards medical care for the victims of the Bhopal chemical disaster. Â  Later, theyclaim to be members of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and promise to reopen public housing facilities HUD had closed down after Hurricane Katrina.

At first, what these guys are doing might seem not unlike Sacha Baron Cohen, encountering high-powered people and making attempts at ridiculing them. Â  What they are doing, however, goes so much deeper than Cohen, it’s hard not to feel a little pride in backing them.

Granted, you have to feel sorry for the people they give false hope to. Â  But the film never holds back to show the reactions of those these two give this false hope to. Â  They are never angry with the Yes Men. Â  They are always ecstatic that someone is out there hearing their plight and making an effort to make others hear it, too.

And that is how the Yes Men are fixing the world. Â  Granted, this film might be better suited to a different format. Â  Seeing one prank after another after another for 90 minutes gets somewhat tedious. Â  Perhaps a weekly television show would have helped us stay far more interested in the latter issues they raise.

Nonetheless, you have to admire (and keep yourself from over-applauding) what the film represents above being genuinely entertaining. Â  ’The Yes Men Fix the World’, if nothing else, brings these men into the public eye. Â  The film may make a difference, yet.

Overall: 4 stars out of 5

Twenty years ago, I was the child star (Joshua Waits) of one of the worst movies ever made – Troll 2. I ran from Troll 2 and I wanted nothing to do with it. But that was before I realized that there was more to this movie than I understood, and so… I decided to make a movie about it. – Michael Stephenson

Quick! Â  What’s the worst film ever made? Â  If you said ‘Troll 2′, you probably wouldn’t be in the minority. Â  Long standing as the worst film of all time according to the IMDB Bottom 100 (it currently isn’t even on the list, Damn You, Jonas Brothers!), ‘Troll 2′ has garnered a cult following in recent years. Â  People hold screenings of the film, and, in ‘Rocky Horror’ fashion, reenact some of the more interesting scenes.

The documentary, ‘Best Worst Movie’, follows this cult phenomenon that has surrounded ‘Troll 2′ and everyone involved. Â  The documentary was directed by Michael Stephenson, who starred in ‘Troll 2′, and follows Stephenson’s trek with the ‘Troll 2′ road show that took the film from town to town. Â  Accompanying Stephenson is George Hardy, the man who played his father in ‘Troll 2′ and probably the sweetest man on the planet. Â  Seriously, if you ever see George Hardy, and he’s not smiling, note the time and date, because the world is coming to an end.

‘Best Worst Movie’ is more than just candy for fans of ‘Troll 2′ or people who are interested in the idea of cult film. Â  It is an intriguing character study of people who, 20 years ago, did something that didn’t turn out how they thought it would and how it has affected their lives ever since.

Hardy is a man who is extremely pleased at the celebrity status he has gained from the cult following of ‘Troll 2′, and it is heartbreaking whenever he approaches someone who doesn’t know who he is. Â  Equally heartbreaking is the scene where Stephenson and Hardy track down and visit Margo Prey, who played Stephenson’s mother in the film. Â  The actress’s story could be turned into a film all in itself, and, as if channeling ‘Sunset Blvd’s Norma Desmond, Prey still believes her time in the spotlight is yet to come.

Stephenson tracks down all of the cast and crew from ‘Troll 2′, all colorful characters in their own right. Â  Some have gone on with their lives. Â  Some are still trying to hold onto their celebrity. Â  Some are happy they appered in ‘Troll 2′. Â  Others are apathetic. Â  However, none of these characters are as colorful as the director, Claudio Fragasso, who, to this day, claims that there is a deeper meaning in ‘Troll 2′ that people just don’t understand.

There is a fine line between failure and success, and ‘Best Worst Movie’, in several different ways, depicts this line with pristine accuracy. Â  The filmmaking seems effortless for Stephenson. Â  It should. Â  The film was a passion project for him. Â  Whether he can hold this same level camera work and storytelling with a story that does not find him at the center of it remains to be seen. Â  However, with ‘Best Worst Movie’ he has created an extremely well-crafted film about a film that was…well…not so well-crafted.

Overall: 4.5 stars out of 5

I originally caught this movie at Sundance and with all the hype surrounding it I came out of it a little disappointed, but I think that might have had something to do with the high altitude because I watched this again at SXSW and it rocked my socks off.  

The story follows Jesse as he graduates high school and starts gearing up for his post high school trip to Europe in 1987. When his parents drop the bomb on him that they can no longer pay for the trip he is forced to go and find a summer job, but the only thing he is qualified for is working at the local amusement park Adventureland. When he starts at the park he quickly realizes there are 2 types of employees at the park, the Games people and the Rides people which is essentially like two different cliques in high school, the geeks vs the jocks.  

Jesse immediately falls for a fellow rides worker in Bella..I mean Emily(Kristen Stewart), who he doesnt know it yet but is totally hung up on the park mechanic/rockstar Mike Connell(Ryan Reynolds). After displaying that he is more than a geek he gets her attention and they start a love affair to spark his otherwise boring summer.  

I wont go and ruin the entire plot of the movie but  Greg Mottola really makes you feel nostalgiac with the gritty feel he gives the park, and the throwback 80′s tunes he tosses into the film. If you were born, grew up, or even graduated in the 80′s then you are going to fall in love with this flick. The movie is packed with a star studded cast featuring Bill Hader, Ryan Reynolds, Martin Starr, Jesse Eisenberg, and Kristen Stewart who all play their roles in the movie to perfection.  

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5

We actually stumbled into this movie when ‘Made in China’ was sold out, and I couldnt be more happy about that fact. ‘RiP: A Remix Manifesto’ is at its core a documentary about a mashup DJ named Girl Talk who takes a bunch of songs and mixes/mashes them together to create epic, danceable versions of the song. The question really comes up about whether he is doing something illegal and if so why is it illegal?

Most of the songs that Girl Talk makes will have samples of other songs, but after he is finished with them they could barely be considered the same song. Think of it like this: What if when the internet was created they put some copyright on the speed of the internet through dialup and no one even tried to make hi speed because of legal implications, we would all still be rocking 56k modems and the image you see above would still be loading! Those are the sort of the same kind of thoughts Brett Gaylor invokes with this documentary that exploits the questionable and sometimes laughable copyright laws. Did you know that Warner/Chappell owns the rights to the Happy Birthday song? In order to use it in a film you have to pay upwards of $10,000, now does that not seem a bit ridiculous?

Brett explores all kinds of copyright issues from music, to Mickey Mouse and how Disney at one point encouraged and even ripped things in their early cartoons. The best thing about the documentary is that they have made it public, you can download it, remix it and make your own version of the film. You can even show it publicly without fear of the legal hammer coming down upon you. If you want more information on how to see this doc, or participate in showing it go to http://ripremix.com. Here is the trailer as well for those interested:

Overall rating: 5 out of 5

SXSW 2009 is in the books, and I made an EPIC video to highlight it all so watch below and enjoy..

If you dont know who Iron Maiden is then obviously you have been living under a rock for the last 30 years because these guys have been ruling the metal scene for that long. When I heard that they would be doing a documentary that was set to premier at SXSW, I was more than stoked.

Stoked it how you could describe the first 15 minutes of this movie, but then it just falls flat. Not flat as it in gets boring, but flat because it is very repetitive. Essentially for every big city you see the band fly in, get ambushed by fans, try to get in some golf or tennis, rock the crowd’s faces off and then board the plane for the next city. All 2 hours of the movie this is what you see for pretty much every city they go to. The live performances are fantastic, and you sort of feel like you are there in moments but this doc is definitely made ONLY for hardcore Maiden fans.

Dont get me wrong, the documentary we watched was filmed really great, put together very solid but it just comes off as a fluff piece. There is essentially no conflict in the film, unless you consider one of the band members getting hit by a golf ball and there was 8 seconds you thought he wouldnt be performing the show that night. Outside of that there is nothing in the way of conflict/resolution. If i didnt know any better the film makers handed this over to the band and they decided what would go in and what wouldnt. Unless Iron Maiden are not metal at all in their old age and never show off their rockstar personas then there has to be some great footage on the cutting room floor.

If you are a fan of metal you should definitely check this movie out, even if it is for the first 15 minutes, then shut it off because you know what will happen throughout the flick.

Overall Rating: 2.5 out of 5

It’s amazing to think that it was a woman director behind such testosterone-laced action flicks as ‘Point Break’ and ‘Strange Days’.   Well, Kathryn Bigelow is back, this time showing us the inner workings of a bomb squad unit in 2004′s Iraq War.

The film stars Jeremy Renner (’28 Weeks Later…’) as Staff Sergeant Williams James, the newest sergeant in charge of an elite Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit.   James is reckless and daring, always thumbing his nose at death as he boldly walks down bombed out streets towards a potential trap.   Anthonie Mackie plays Sergeant JT Sanborn, the glue that holds the unit together.   More specifically, Sanborn is that which keeps Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) from losing his composure after an early incident that leaves one man dead.

‘The Hurt Locker’ is daringly directed.   Bigelow is a pro at working her camera into even the most intense of situations, and she never makes us feel disconnected from the harsh realities of it all.   When James is tearing a vehicle apart searching for an IED, we are right there in the car with him.   When Sanborn and Eldridge are covering James, searching the are for potential snipers or detonators, we move all about the area with them.

The details in ‘The Hurt Locker’ are amazing.   Here, we see the day-to-day trappings these men have to go through just for the sake of keeping themselves alive.   This is particularly shown in a scene in which the three, along with a group of British soldiers, are pinned down by snipers.   Every detail is shown.   Their guns become empty.   There’s blood on the bullets jamming the gun.   There’s no spit to wash the bullets off from all the heat.   And, then, there are the flies, darting their way in and out as if they were hired on as extras.   It’s an incredible scene, and, dare I say, it rivals the opening scene from ‘Saving Private Ryan’ it is suspense and form.

Where ‘The Hurt Locker’ falls short, however, is in the structuring of the story.   Besides James’ increased sense of laughing death in the face and Sanborn’s increased desperation to control him, there is very little in the way of plot lines throughout.   What we mostly get is scene after scene after scene of this group disposing after one bomb after another after another.   There is one subplot involving James and an Iraqi boy whom he befriends, but the resolution to that plot-line is as confusing as it deflated.

The film’s final moments also grow tedious.  Ã‚   There is a perfectly good ending point, but the film keeps going.   This hurts the film in a number of ways.   One, it makes you think they didn’t really have a way of ending it.   Two, it follows only one of the three, main characters, indicating to us that the film was all about him and not the other two.

A little more cohesion throughout the film and the sense that all three men shared the top spot in the story would have done wonders for ‘The Hurt Locker’.   It probably would have even put the film at the top of my list at SXSW.   However, we’ll just have to settle for a very good film with some incredibly intense direction.

Overall: 3.5 stars out of 5

I was overly excited to hear that the new Broken Lizard film would be playing the South by Southwest film festival.   ‘Super Troopers’ and ‘Beerfest’ were hysterical, but I am a huge fan of ‘Club Dread’.   I know.   I’m the only one.   So take that into heart when I tell you ‘The Slammin’ Salmon’, their latest effort, is their weakest.   It might be that this is the first Broken Lizard effort directed by Kevin Heffernan (Farva, for those who don’t know Broken Lizard by their given names) and not fellow troupe member Jay Chandrasekhar.   It shows.

This isn’t to say ‘The Slammin’ Salmon’ is wholly unfunny.   There are numerous possibilities when you are dealing with a comedy about a wait staff at a prestigious, Miami restaurant.   Throw in the fact that the eatery is owned by former, Heavyweight boxing champ, Cleon “Slammin” Salmon (Michael Clarke Duncan) who literally decapitates people with his punches.   Add on top of that a Glengarry Glenn Ross-esque competition amongst the wait staff (1st place is $10,000/last place is a broken rib sandwich) and you’ve got yourself a melting pot of potentially uproarious ideas.

It also helps that Broken Lizard rarely takes the easy route with their comedy.   If you are expecting ‘Still Waiting Even Longer’, this isn’t the movie for you.   There isn’t anyone messing with the utmost disgust with someone’s food, as you might expect.

Many of Duncan’s lines are instantly quotable, and the moments where Chandrasekhar’s Nuts goes a little…well, nuts, are insanely comical.   However, much of the other characters are either not given a whole lot of humor to execute or the actors are not at the top of their game.   Heffernan, in particular, seems to be distracted, which isn’t shocking considering this is the first film the guy has directed.

There are some pretty humorous cameos by Lance Henriksen, Morgan Fairchild, Will Arnett, and Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder on Heroes).   Ramamurthy actually steals the scenes he is in making you almost think the annoyance of his character on his TV show stems from the writing.

All in all, ‘The Slammin’ Salmon’ is a disappointing effort from a comedy troupe who, five years ago, were about to be the next, huge thing going.   This film, while a minor setback, is still a setback.   It’s funny.   It’s not a complete waste of time, but it just doesn’t seem like anyone is giving their all here.

Overall: 2.75 stars out of 5

Our daily updates have sort of fallen by the wayside due to the pure craziness of SXSW, so we will try to recap day 3 and 4 but at this point they are kind of a blur. Lucky for us Day 5 was yesterday and sort of fresh in our minds.

We kicked the morning off pretty late because of the fact that we hadn’t gotten much sleep our trip thus far, but we got up and around about 2:30. We grabbed some Jack in the Box and then headed down to 6th street so that we could catch some fun and craziness before the ‘Iron Maiden: Flight 666′ premiere. After that we headed down to Alamo on South Lamar for the new Broken Lizard movie ‘The Slammin Salmon’, then a midnight screening of ‘Black’ which closes out the SXSW presents Fantastic Fest at Midnight series.

After that due to extreme exhaustion we decided to go home and get some sleep to begin another crazy day.

Hey, how about a blaxploitation action flick without much action and a whole lot of lack of anything blaxploitation?   Then check out ‘Black’, the new film from director Pierre Laffargue.   Laffargue injects his “action” film with some head-bopping, 70s era tunes, and the film definitely deals with some black vs. white issues.   Unfortunately, the feeling is really not all there, and much of the film ends up being humdrum and, ultimately, boring.

At the heart of ‘Black’ is the heist of some priceless, uncut diamonds.   After a heist gone wrong, French thief Black (MC Jean Gab’1) is forced to go on the lam.   He jumps at the bit to do a little traveling to Dakar where said diamonds are being housed.   Needless to say, things don’t go according to plan.   Throw in a little African mysticism and a freakish arms dealer with a flesh-eating virus, and you have the inner workings of a pretty cool actioner.   While the cool level peaks most of the time, the film just falls way short of being interesting.

It didn’t help that ‘Black’ was chosen as a Fantastic Fest midnighter, and most of the crowd watching it were on less than a scheduled amount of sleep.   Had it played earlier in the day, the harshness with which we find ourselves spitting venom at it may be less than it is.   That doesn’t mean the film is good.   Aside from a halfway decent opening heist, and an okay chase scene through a parking lot at about the 3/4 point, the film is mostly talk, talk, talk.

Certain aspects, actually cool aspects, about Black and his involvement in the heist are brought up and completely discarded in the filmmakers’ attempt at keeping us guessing where the story is going.   Certain elements are even established and quickly become a complete waste of time, as they are never utilized to any amount of potential.

Laffargue’s direction is all over the place.   He uses slow-mo, quick-mo, flash-editing, all the tricks of your typical, modern action movie.   However, his heart just doesn’t seem to be in it most of the time, and it comes out in the finished product like a punch to the jaw.

But, beyond all these downfalls in the film’s execution, what really stands out is how un-blaxploitation the film really is.   It has an African-American lead actor.   It has some 70s music on the soundtrack.   There are some obvious day-for-night shots.   Take that away, and all you have is just another, plodding action movie that doesn’t even really deliver on that promise.

Overall: 2 stars out of 5

Our buddies over at Gordon and the Whale interviewed Spike Lee on the red carpet during SXSW and let me say that WOW, he is not a friendly dude..at all. Check it out below:

‘Countertransference’ is an odd little movie. This 15-minute short comedy by director Madeleine Olnek could perhaps be described as a ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ type of experience, except instead of Larry David playing a bald, neurotic jerk, we witness Deb Margolin playing Cathy, a homely woman with a dead-end career and no respect. When Cathy isn’t working in a second-hand, over-priced thrift shop paid solely on commission (even though no one buys anything) for a terribly inconsiderate boss, she attends sessions with the world’s least effective therapist, played by Susan Ziegler.

To say that Cathy’s therapist is the worst would be to make a grave understatement. After watching the movie, you’ll wonder who was actually needing therapy… Cathy or her therapist. All Cathy wants is a little respect and the ability to command her own life, but struggles with confrontation and is unable to speak her mind. During her various sessions with her therapist, she does manage to make a few minor unintentional breakthroughs of her own, as a result of the often demeaning, disrespectful and altogether excessively aggressive tactics of her therapist.

‘Countertransference’ has some interesting shots and some uniquely humorous moments of the type that makes you sort of uncomfortable and squirm a little in your seat. When I say the movie is odd, I simply mean that the point of the story isn’t entirely clear at first. The movie can be awkward to the point of disbelief at times, but stick with it and it pays off fairly well at the end, as Cathy ultimately brings herself to take a relatively small step, but a step all the same in the right direction.

[Overall: 3 stars out of 5]

We got the chance to sit down with the Director, and Cast of the SXSW super hit ‘My Suicide’. The interview was awesome and you can see it below:

I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about watching ‘Lake Mungo’ when I first heard about it.   The idea of a mockumentary about a 16-year-old girl’s ghost haunting her family after her accidental drowning didn’t much appeal to me.   I was worried we would have another in the long line of cheap ‘Blair Witch’ knockoffs.   I didn’t want ‘Cloverfield’ with ghosts.   That is not what ‘Lake Mungo’ is about at all.

Australian writer/director Joel Anderson pieces ‘Lake Mungo’ together as if it is a true documentary, floating heads and all.   His film tells the story of this girl, her ghost, and the family having to cope with her spirit returning with a remarkable precision.   At times, I truly had to question what I was watching.   Was this really a documentary that I had misread was fake?   Was this just a well-put together fake documentary that really brings some genuine creep moments?

That latter turns out to be true, and, though the film isn’t exactly horror in the suspenseful sense of the word, it does have some terrifying moments.   We are shown video images or still photographs that members of the family have taken.   Then the image zooms in to reveal the ghost standing somewhere in the background.   Literal chills were running through me the first couple of times this idea is conveyed.

Unfortunately, Anderson utilizes this moment a time or two too many.   By the time the fifth or sixth image is shown, the film turns into a Where’s Waldo game called Find the Ghost.   Not exactly a good thing if you are trying to scare your audience.

Luckily, much of the last half of the film delves into a progression of the events.   This isn’t just a girl haunting her family for 80 minutes.   We find things out about the images, the family, the girl, and the events that lead up to her accidental drowning.   The climax of the film, where we, yes, are shown yet another video image of a ghost, is creepy just for the sheer way it plays out in the story.   ‘Lake Mungo’ becomes more than just a fake documentary about a haunting.   It begins delving into more universal questions about the space-time continuum and the nature of ghosts.   Can you really be haunted by someone who isn’t even dead yet?   Think about it.   I don’t think I gave anything away by asking that question.

‘Lake Mungo’ is a brilliant idea that is executed pretty decently.   It is just under 80-minutes-long, and it still seems like certain moments drag for hours.   It certainly is a commendable effort by a first-time filmmaker.

Overall: 3 stars out of 5

You can’t force-feed love.   Some things come more naturally than others.   Some things must be learned, but it’s the things that just come naturally that make up the smoothest and most fulfilling moments in a person’s life.   These are the themes behind Joe Swanberg’s film ‘Alexander the Last’, a romantic drama that never holds back from showing us both the ugly and the beautiful sides of monogamy and, yes, even true love.

Alex, played by the genuine and beautiful Jess Weixler, is a married actress of the stage who invites her co-star in a new play, Jamie (Barlow Jacobs) to stay with her while her musician husband is out of town.   Needless to say, sexual tension begins to grow, but things take yet another turn when Alex’s sister, Hellen (Amy Seimetz), begins a relationship with Jamie.

As one of the headliners when it comes to the mumblecore movement, Swanberg’s film is super low-budget and almost entirely improvised.   His films have such a natural feel, as if we are outsiders looking in on actual relationships and the way they play out or, in some such cases, do not play out.   Swanberg knows human connection, and ‘Alexander the Last’ is the latest canvas for him to paint his pictures on.

Amidst this story of a love triangle that seems to be taking place on the outskirts of human emotion, Swanberg captures real, everyday moments that truly make up the heart of his picture.   Try not to showcase a broad smile when Weixler and Seimetz impart a tale of a princess in near-perfect unison.   For it to be perfect, the moment would have to be staged and scripted.   It’s not.   One girl falls just behind the other at times.   That little imperfection in this scene, a scene that really has no bearing on the underlying narrative, really brings out the magic in it all.

This sense of naturalness (imperfection) vs. staging (perfection) brings itself totally into light in the moments where Alex and Jamie are being directed in their stage play.   The scene they are blocking is a love-making scene between the two.   The male/female duo directing the play don’t seem to know what they want from their actors, or they do, and they don’t know how to convey it.   Either way, the idea of trying to choreograph every, little movement just lends itself to more confusion and, ultimately, frustration within the scene.

Swanberg shows this even more by juxtaposing certain scenes of this stage-blocking with actual scenes of love-making between his characters.   One is beautiful and full of human sentiment.   The other is difficult and testing.

Hence, you can’t force-feed love.   You can’t choreograph human emotion.   There is no staging in life’s little moments of imperfection, and Swanberg, who is making it his duty to bring to light the true nature of human relations, knows it and shows it.   ‘Alexander the Last’ is a film that drives this point home with every, little, beautiful blemish found within.

Overall: 4.75 stars out of 5

Last night we got to do the red carpet for ‘Observe and Report’. Here is what we talked to Seth Rogen about:

I got a chance to sit down with some of my favorite Hollywood actors, the cast from ‘The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle’ to talk about the movie and all the wackiness that went on during filming.

If you haven’t seen the movie, you are definitely missing out. Check out the official webpage and facebook page.