How cool is this? SXSW has announced the last-minute inclusion of director Sam Raimi, who will be screening a "work in progress" cut of Drag Me To Hell, his upcoming return to the horror genre. Raimi will be on hand at the Paramount Theater, midnight, Sunday, March 15, and although we don't know a whole helluva lot (sorry) about the production, we do know Alison Lohman gets to climb into a soggy grave (see accompanying pic) and looks good doing it. Knowing Raimi, who first came to the attention of the Fangoria/Dead Central set via his now-classic 1981 gutbuster Evil Dead, and later revivified Marvel Comics sagging fortunes with his whiplash take on Spider-Man, there's bound to be some gooey eyeballs flying around. No word, though, on whether or not Raimi's longtime pal/stooge Bruce Campbell is in the pic -- the Old Spice shill and man with the lantern jaw may be letting his screaming brain rest for a while, but either way, SXSW coup is -- say it with us -- groovy!

The mayoral candidate forum carried live on ChannelAustin last week (cable public access channel 10) is now available to view online. Public access hosts and producers Pam Thompson of Austin News Real and Peggy Vasquez of Hispanic Today LIVE co-hosted the forum, presenting questions to the candidates culled from Austin area organizations. Mayoral candidates Lee Leffingwell and Brewster McCracken participated in the live broadcast. Carole Keeton Strayhorn was invited but did not participate.

Are you an out-of-towner coming in for SXSW, not knowing the first thing about the venues, the bus system, the ins and outs and insider info about Austin? Or are you a local who’s not looking to buy a badge but still wants to enjoy a slice of that tasty SXSW pie? Either way, we can't recommend enough the guides put out by our friends at Slackerwood. (Okay, we’ve actually never met, but Jette and I did swap emails about our, er, disgruntlement about certain votes cast by our fellow members of the Austin Film Critics Association. Beer ya at South by?) In addition to updating its venue guide, with pros and cons of each of the participating theatres, Slackerwood has also just published a guide for locals thinking about buying film passes or tickets. It’s good stuff. Check out the venue guide here and the how-to for locals here.

In addition to that whole Oscar-winning business, Jonathan Demme has proved again and again to be the master of the music doc. He's chronicled the Talking Heads, Robyn Hitchcock, and Neil Young already, and he's going back for more with Young: SXSW Film has just announced it will premiere Demme's latest, the performance doc Neil Young Trunk Show, come March.

Fans of pornography (I know you're out there) have a reason to get out of the house and off the computer this Friday as adult video superstars Stoya and Jesse Jane come to town to promote megabudgeted triple-Xer Pirates 2: Stagnetti's Revenge. Pirates demographic leans more toward the adventurous couple looking to spice things in the bedroom than the solo spanker searching for the ultra-hardcore stuff. With its big budget, A-list talent, special effects, and actual narrative, couples might find themselves fast-forwarding through the sex scenes to get to the next chapter in the story (or maybe not). Speaking of the sex scenes, they are sensual as opposed to exploitative and tightly edited unlike the more amateurish (and cheap) production values typically found in porn these days. And thankfully there aren't many close-ups of bobbing pimply man asses which seems to be prevalent in adult films for some unknown reason. Keep an eye out for the 4-DVD collector's edition set which features a surprisingly large amount of bonus materials including extended scenes, a blooper reel, an audio commentary, special featurettes, and much more. Stoya and Jesse Jane will be signing copies of Pirates at the Adult Video Megaplexx (7111 S. I-35, 442-5430) Friday, Feb. 27, from 8-11pm. For more on Stoya and Jesse Jane, click on the image gallery at right and …

Conventional wisdom holds that gaming and tech industry types are not the masters of social skills. An overgeneralization, yes, but I unashamedly identify with that demographic and embrace my awkward “charm” in social settings. Five years of South by Southwest attendance has taught me that the festival doesn’t suffer charmers for long. And while individuals may be kind, the mob is ruthless. I decided to make a concerted effort this year to network and schmooze – both words that until this point needed air quotes for me to even say.

I decided to attack SXSW head on and address my inability to schmooze at a networking party at Shangri-La on the Eastside. My initial plan was to ask a stranger if they had a “pick-up line” to meet people and then use that line on the next stranger and so on until I was slapped silly or basking in the attention of industry bigwigs.

Glory fades, or so Max Fischer once said, but we'd wager Rushmore feels as fresh and as funny as it did more than a decade ago. It was the last picture show Wes Anderson shot in Texas before he abandoned – yes, abandoned! – us for New York, but at least we'll always have it as a lasting monument. And now the Texas Film Hall of Fame is making it official, by inducting Rushmore into its hallowed (entirely metaphorical) Hall at this year's awards ceremony on March 12. Luke "These are O.R. scrubs" Wilson will be on hand to accept. For more info about the Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards, go here.

KLRU’s Docubloggers had a short but comprehensive primer on the film incentives issue on tonight’s show, in a segment titled "Is There a Future for the Texas Film Industry?" (We're going with a cautious – but hopeful – yes.) The segment's a good gear up for the upcoming Lobby Day on March 4 – that's when concerned citizens can lobby the legislature to pass the Moving Image Incentive bills. Get more information at the Texas Motion Picture Alliance’s website here and watch the Docubloggers piece embedded below. Or you can check out the Docubloggers site for the show as well as a web extra interview with Austin Film Casting’s Dan Eggleston here.

Filmmaker Magazine has a Q&A up on their site with filmmaker and former Austinite Tommy Pallotta, who, among other things, produced A Scanner Darkly and Waking Life. Pallotta is world-premiering a new doc, American Prince, at SXSW 09, but the bulk of the interview, interestingly, is actually about his decision to jump ship from social networking sites. "Recently I got rid of my Myspace, Facebook, and Linked In accounts because I think that being able to control information about yourself will be the new commodity of the future." Read the whole interview here.