War! Football! Snake Plissken?
The hotter it gets this masochistic summer, the more they need you. They being film/TV projects, and you being extras, background, blurry and silent visages over yonder dreaming of the big break or at least a free lunch with pay. The untitled war-in-Iraq film formerly known as Stop-Loss wants you this Saturday when Third Coast Extras will have an open-casting call from 10am to 6pm at the Austin Film Society office, 1901 E. 51st. They particularly want males between ages 18-25 to portray soldiers. As you read this, an entire platoon of extras is already going through boot camp, so expect to sweat. Bring a photo. And if you've missed the stream of extras-casting calls around town for the NBC series Friday Night Lights, call 707-7934, or e-mail fnl_extras@yahoo.com to learn how to get your info in. How long will it be before we get an extras call for the most coveted of gigs, on Quentin Tarantino's half of Grind House, his double-feature project with Robert Rodriguez? QT revealed at Comic-Con that his part, a slasher flick titled Death Proof, will star Kurt Russell and Rosario Dawson. Also announced are stunt woman Zoe Bell (Kill Bill), Vanessa Ferlito (24), Jordan Ladd (Waiting), Sydney Tamiia Poitier (Veronica Mars), and a couple of actresses also in Rodriguez's Planet Terror: Rose McGowan and Marley Shelton. I'll tell you about extras calls for this one if you send me your best Goldie Hawn sightings.
SXSW Alums aim to make a difference
Two films that played to large, appreciative crowds during South by Southwest 06 and that deliver messages of hope continue to draw a buzz. Turk Pipkin's inspirational Nobelity, which asks Nobel Prize winners how to solve the world's biggest problems, returns for screenings Saturday and Sunday at the Arbor Cinema (for showtimes, see Film Listings; for a SXSW 06 interview with Pipkin, see "Intelligent Briefing
," Screens, March 10, 2006. But the bigger news is Landmark has picked up the film and will open it in Boston and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 8. Meanwhile, Kat Candler and crew are putting together a fall tour for the heartfelt jumping off bridges, including an Oct. 3 screening at the Alamo South. The tour will team with suicide-prevention groups across the country.
And the rest ...
Rumors keep flying about The Highwaymen, a film about the Texas Rangers who took down Bonnie and Clyde, which may or may not shoot here in the fall and may or may not involve Robert Redford... Congrats to Arnie Reyes, whose short film Sticks & Stones screened this week at the New York Independent Latino Film Festival in the "On the Edge" category... Juan Garcia of the Student Film Showcase, or SFS TV (and podcast), has been asked to speak at an international conference in Paris in October about the future of independent media. Check out the show's latest podcast at blog.sfstvvod.com... Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain is the closing-night film of the second Fantastic Fest, with Aronofsky in attendance. Plus, they've talked Ed Neal, the hitchhiker from the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, into coming for a screening and slated lots of great Japanese films for the Sept. 21-28 fest. More at www.fantasticfest.com... The Galaxy Highland 10 has installed DLP cinema projectors that make all the auditoriums fully digital. What does that mean for a theatre that already boasts real butter on its popcorn? "Ultimate color, clarity, and detail," theatre folk say. Joe-O sez check it out.Send tips to filmnews@austinchronicle.com
