SXSW Film Festival Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Music, by and large, can be seen as autobiographical; it’s far from uncommon for songwriters not to draw from any number of personal experiences encompassing, say, the lows of heartbreak and loss to life’s triumphs, all of which and more could easily reside within the average person as distant memories but attain a sort of immortality once this narrative is set to music.

For anyone in the midst of, or having previously endured, the pains associated with the salad days of youth, that time-honored tradition of finding one’s unique voice while attempting to entrench oneself within the local population of similarly-aged peers as new feelings and emotions emerge on a seemingly daily basis is, at best, an uphill battle. At worst, it can serve to cripple a developing soul in ways adults may struggle to comprehend fully; it is for these reasons that any successes along the way need not be ignored but celebrated; friendships with like-minded individuals and membership in groups catered to one’s passions are more than a hallmark of these undeniably short years and could be seen as wholly necessary to a developing personality.

Given some of the star-studded titles that have closed out SXSW in previous years, a romantic comedy that could best be described as Harry Styles Wish Fulfillment might seem like an odd choice to round out the festival. But “The Idea of You,” a Michael Showalter adaptation of Robinne Lee’s book of the same name, proves that romantic comedies, when done well, are every bit as deserving of the red carpet rollout.

Look, let’s be honest. From the opening seconds of its debut trailer, we all knew that Alex Garland’s “Civil War” would not be a pill that went down easily.

Very obviously trying to emulate the DIY approach of producers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, Michael Felker’s lo-fi mind f*ck “Things Will Be Different” is both a fascinating debut and somewhat derivation of the filmmakers’ body of work. Clearly influenced by the Benson/Moorhead aesthetic and style, and sometimes slavish to their approach in a way that makes the film feel fairly familiar, this tiny, one-setting film may bring up more questions than answers.

It’s unlikely that two shows exist that are as wildly different as these. As the trio behind Duplass Brothers Productions continue to spread their combined wealth of talents over film, television, and streaming, the experience of taking in the pilots to their two latest series, “Ryley Walker & Friends” and, “The Broadcast, “offers a glimpse at projects loaded with as much promise as they are dissimilar.

In the introduction to the SXSW premiere of his movie, Dev Patel joked that he had recently stumbled across an internet article asking where he was now. According to Patel, that answer is simple: he’s been working on “Monkey Man,” the Mumbai-set actioner he wrote, directed, and starred in.

From the basement of dingy jam sessions in Akron, Ohio, to arena rock success, a multiplatinum career, and multiple Grammy wins, “This is a Film About The Black Keys” tracks the unlikely rise of one of rock’s biggest duos. Directed by Jeff Dupre (“Soundtracks: Songs That Defined History,” “Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present”), the largely conventional rock doc doesn’t break the mold but engages, nonetheless, telling a captivating story of brotherhood, slow-grinding perseverance, weathering many personal storms, and the heavy tolls that success enacts.

It’s so hard to crack the black comedy nut, which can shatter with too little or too much earnestness, trauma, chuckles, and/or heavy thematic considerations. Gasps and giggles are needed in perfect balance to keep the pressure on without fragmenting the object, and it’s a trick “Audrey” pulls off with seeming ease.

Confusion and how information is communicated, relayed, and delayed in a thriller can be a fantastic artistic weapon in the filmmaker’s toolkit. With his mathematic precision, filmmakers like Christopher Nolan can understand the Swiss watch nature of perfectly timed breadcrumbs of info that can preserve the mystery and keep an audience enraptured and on the edge of their seats.

Nicolas Cage (“Dream Scenario,” “Mandy”) clearly likes his “The Trust” director Benjamin Brewer as they’ve reunited for “Arcadian,” a post-apocalyptic thriller that will make its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival on March 11 and arrive in theaters on April 12 via RLJE Films who picked the film up for distribution earlier this year.

Best known for his popular comedy skits on social media and his musical puppetry work on the YouTube channel “Awkward Puppets,” Rudy Mancuso could end up more than just a cult online figure soon. He’s about to star in the semi-autobiographical “Música,” which he co-wrote, directed, directed, choreographed, and composed the score for—a serious multi-hyphenate.

The 2024 SXSW Film Festival is just a month away and today 50 new films and television programs were added to its slate. This is after the festival already revealed that highly anticipated projects such as “The Fall Guy” with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, “Road House” with Jake Gyllenhaal, “Inside of You” with Anne Hathaway, and Netflix’s “3 Body Problem,” among others.

What a way to start your marketing campaign. The poster for Amazon Studios/Prime Video’s “Road House” movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal was released today, the trailer arrives tomorrow, and the always-mercurial director of the film, Doug Liman, has unfortunately picked the worst time to announce he’s boycotting the movie.

Well, it’s that time of year again, isn’t it? The Sundance Film Festival hasn’t even happened, the Berlin Film Festival line-up is not even out or complete, and we’re already looking ahead to March and the SXSW Film & Television Festival. There’s no rest for the wicked.

For all the headlines written about Ben Affleck’s mid-career return to superhero movies, one still must wonder what movies we missed from Director Affleck while Actor Affleck was otherwise preoccupied. Even accounting for the commercial hiccup that was “Live by Night,” Affleck proved himself as a notable director in just a handful of films, putting himself on an upwards trajectory that was unceremoniously interrupted by his franchise work.

Watching “Beef,” the new series from longtime writer Lee Sung Jin produced by A24, is like observing a trainwreck. Only, instead of it being an accident that seems to come out of nowhere, two different drivers are operating separate locomotives hurtling toward each other.

Watching “Beef,” the new series from longtime writer Lee Sung Jin produced by A24, is like observing a trainwreck. Only, instead of it being an accident that seems to come out of nowhere, two different drivers are operating separate locomotives hurtling toward each other.

When it comes to R-rated comedies, no other film festival can hold a candle to SXSW. The Austin-based film festival is often the jumping-off point for some of the year’s highest-profile comedies; previous premieres have included films like “Knocked Up,” “21 Jump Street,” “Keanu,” and the work-in-progress debut of “Bridesmaids.” This means a stop at SXSW is an absolute no-brainer for any film resulting from the Judd Apatow producing tree.

Every once in a while, a piece of cinema comes along like an exciting breath of fresh air, a palate cleanser with just the right amount of everything it needs. “Americana” is one of them.

“Please follow me.” With just three simple, courteous words, the lives of Diego and Elena are forever changed in the psychological drama “Upon Entry.” And after those three words are uttered early on in the suspenseful, methodical film by directors Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastián Vásquez, the tension only increases with each passing moment. READ MORE: SXSW 2023 Preview: 25 Must-See Film & TV Projects To Watch You see, Diego (Alberto Ammann) and Elena (Bruna Cusí) are a happy couple who has just landed in Newark from Barcelona and are on the cusp of beginning their new life in America.

After having explored George Lucas, David Lynch, Hitchcock, and even William Friedkin in previous documentaries, Alexandre O. Phillippe turns his attention towards an unlikely subject, William Shatner, in his newest film, “You Can Call Me Bill.” Framed around a free-associative conversation with the famed actor, Phillipe’s new documentary might be catnip for any Trekkie but also represents something of a regression after the filmmaker’s probing “Lynch/Oz” last year.  Continue reading ‘You Can Call Me Bill’ Review: Alexandre O.

Filmmaker Liza Mandelup can make the promise of social media feel like a dream. In her feature debut, “Jawline,” she toggled back and forth between an established social media content farmhouse and a 14-year-old Tennessee upstart who struggles valiantly at breaking onto the live stream scene, both narratives reflecting and refracting each other.

Larrimah, the small Australian town that gives Thomas Tancred’s documentary its title, has a population of 11. Or, at least, it had 11 people until one, Paddy Moriarty, went missing along with his dog in 2017.

Every instance of abject grief, embarrassment, disappointment, and failure known only by teenage boys can be sourced to cosmological forces beyond their control or to a bummer ticket in the biological lottery. Imran J.

It’s almost a cliche for a supernatural ghost film to include characters with a “haunted” past.

Married in 2013, while Oscar-winning filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin both had been making and shooting films before they met (Chin, “Reel Rock 7,” Vasarhelyi, “Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love“), the power of their collaborative work was instantaneous. 2015’s breathtaking high stakes “Meru” was one of the most harrowing mountain climbing docs ever made up until that point, and they managed to somehow even one-up it with their Oscar-winning doc, the vertiginous and death-defying “Free Solo.” READ MORE: SXSW 2023 Preview: 25 Must-See Film & TV Projects To Watch Since then, the duo has turned their love for the outdoors, the environment and landscape, and their innate curiosity about the natural world into some riveting documentaries, many of them fueled by the same ticking-clock adrenaline of “Meru” and “Free Solo” (see 2021’s Thai Cave rescue doc, “The Rescue”).

Whimsy gets a bad rap in Hollywood. In the hands of some filmmakers, a fantastical approach can be a sign of emptiness — an attempt to obscure a simplistic or pandering narrative through layers of artifice.

Rachel Sennott is ideally cast in the leading role of Ally Pankiw’s “I Used to Be Funny” because this is a character who sort of can’t help but make you laugh, even without trying, even in tremendously difficult situations. Her name is Sam, and she’s a stand-up comedienne (“Like a comedian, but a girl!” she explains, cheerfully), and you see why.

“I took LSD 375 times.” These are the first words said in “Louder than You Think” by subject Gary Young — drummer, producer, drunkard, and all-around enigma, likely best known as being the original drummer for the lo-fi 90’s alternative band, Pavement. The words, accompanied by the image of Young as he appears now, are all you need to understand the kind of documentary you’re in for – one hell of a strange trip, man.

Though it boasts a few clever ideas and exciting set pieces, Rodriguez's latest falters for the same reason his films usually do: a flimsy script.

The "New Girl" star tells a wildly goofy story with the right mixture of silliness and sweetness.

The filmmaker's reunion with "Shiva" star Rachel Sennott is a much broader and sillier affair.

The "Pitch Perfect" actor takes on body image and mental illness in this sometime uncomfortable but often rewarding indie.

Google the origins of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, and one can quickly fall down a rabbit hole of half-truths and urban legends. The popular story – the one now cemented in film history – says that the brand of Cheetos was initially conceived by maintenance worker Richard Montañez.

Lisa Steen's odd-couple comedy/drama is slight but sweet, with yet another winning turn by "Guardians of the Galaxy" co-star Gillan.