History Repeats?

Nueva Onda Movie Night

By Joe O'Connell, Fri., Aug. 4, 2006

Steve Collins

Photo By Toddy Burton

Imagine it's 1988. You're sitting in Quack's on the Drag when a mop-headed guy named Rick starts talking up a storm about this film he's made. It's got a weird title, something like It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books. He hands you a flier for a screening he and his pals are putting on. Oh, and he's making another movie, about directionless young people right here in Austin. You decide you'd rather catch a Night Court episode. Flash to 1991. You're a drug-company guinea pig with nurses poking and prodding you every hour. Meanwhile, you hang out, eat junk food, watch the boob tube, and talk. The guy next to you – wasn't he a cartoonist for The Daily Texan? – is talking about this short film he made, something called "Bedhead." It stars his younger brothers and sisters – the Rodriguez kids. He has big plans for a gangster-type film set in Mexico. There's a screening tonight. Coming? Nah, you'd rather watch Blossom.

Leap into the future. Next Wednesday. Nueva Onda Movie Night is going with a theme of Weird World. Steve Collins is showing his short film "Gretchen & the Night Danger," the 2004 SXSW award winner that grew into his feature film Gretchen, a hit at the most recent SXSW and L.A. festivals. It's the hilarious story of an awkward teen struggling with whether to let her boyfriend get to second base. Steve will be there and will also show his "The Ballad of Courtney & James," the tale of a woman's obsession with Abraham Lincoln. Oh, and another guy you'll be hearing more about in the future, Pritesh Chheda, has his "The Package," which unleashes demons from the past. Did I mention that Sundance veteran John Bryant will also be there with "Oh My God," about a man who discovers his family has been attacked and frames himself for it? That's still not enough? OK, they've got an animated short called "Saturday Afternoon Fever" and another short called "Debt Consolidated" – no explanation necessary. Did I mention it's free? Uh, also, you should know some of these films are a tad violent. Are you gonna be there? Or will you be at home watching America's Got Talent again?