A good – if not entirely sporting – place to start a discussion about being pro-writers’ block is with the anti-addiction argument. So… why do I hate junkie-writer movies so? (And I do – I really, really hate junkie movies.) Because junkies are joyless and, even worse, one-note. Yes, writers with block have a certain sameness to them, too – mostly a lot of staring glumly at the blank page, the monitor, the typewriter – but the fun stuff happens when the writer gets up from the page, the monitor, the typewriter, and does some living instead. When the junkie writer gets up from the page, he goes straight to the nearest dealer. Injects drug of choice. Spectacularly fouls up career, health, hygiene regimen, relations with family and family. Rinse and repeat.

Greetings all, and welcome to another Film Fight. If you’re new to the Fight, then I’ll direct you here to read all about the rules of engagement. Rules might be a misleading word, though – honestly, Josh and I are sort of making this thing up as we go along, which is why our topics grow more amorphous and ungainly every month. Hence… Writers in the Movies! (dunh-dunh-dunh) What do we mean by this? It’s a good question. A couple of weeks ago, when we were scratching heads over what we were going to brawl over next, it occurred to us that the Austin Film Festival will be kicking off this week. AFF is unique in that it was one of the first (if not the first?) conference in the country dedicated to the art of screenwriting. And I suppose I should preemptively put it out there – because I suspect Josh will use it against me anyway and I’d rather cut him off at the pass – that I have a half-dozen scripts gathering dust in a drawer, which is why the topic is especially near and dear to me, and also why I will no doubt casually, annoyingly drop screenwriterly words willy-nilly in an attempt to intimidate Josh.

Josh Rosenblatt and I have just a couple more days to cram for the next Film Fight throwdown – Film Fight III: Writers in the Movies lands Monday! – but if you're hankering to show us a little love rightthisverysecond, then mosey on over to our myspace page and make us a friend, eh? See you on Monday.

Damn you, Alamo Drafthouse. Every time I think I've finally loosed your death grip on my attentions and my affections, you go and program another typically awesome show. Wait, make that two typically awesome shows.

Sunday noon at the Ritz marks the marriage of two undeniable forces of good in this world – brunch and West Side Story. I've already rhapsodized about WSS in this space before, so let's instead praise chef John Bullington's ingenious-sounding menu, including last course "Officer Crumpet: Crumpets torn between two rivals, guava-lime jam and strawberry jelly." Altogether now: mmm.

But before Sunday morning comes Saturday night and the two-shows-only showcase of Don Hertzfeldt's animation, including the regional premiere of his newest short, "I Am So Proud of You," and Hertzfeldt in attendance for a post-screening chat. If you've never seen his stuff before, watch his Oscar-nominated short "Rejected" below. It's bloody brilliant. Well, and also just plain bloody, but this is stick-figure gore, which is pretty much the only kind I can get behind.

REJECTED

Got plans for Halloween night? Cancel 'em. You're going to Hell! No, not that Hell. This Hell! You know, the one with the wonky elevators and Scatman Crothers. Fantastic Fest, purveyors of terror, and Nike Sportswear, purveyors of pricey footwear, have officially announced their "Come Play With Us Halloween Party," billed as "a celebration of The Shining at The Timberline Lodge." From the press release: "In 1980 Stanley Kubrick came to the Timberline Lodge to film one of the all-time great horror classics, The Shining. In the film, Jack Nicholson slowly loses his grasp on reality and loses himself in a hallucination of a 1920s era ball. Twenty-eight years later, Nike Sportswear and Fantastic Fest have joined forces to recreate the very same ball at the very same lodge." Whoa, nelly. How cool-scary is that? Cooler than anything you had planned for this Halloween, we'd wager, and scarier than The Bucket List for certain. Several types of packages (VIP, Gold Room Ticket, Dead Kids in the Dumb Waiter Special) are available, apart from the latter, which we just made up but think would be pretty cool nonetheless, from the official site, so go get 'em right now, before they sell out and you're left trolling Sixth Street with a plastic scythe in your hand come All Hallow's Eve (again).

Apparently the smarty-pants engineers at Google are as human as the rest of us – meaning they've engaged in the e-mail equivalent of drunk dialing. And they aim to put a stop to it, by way of new software, called Mail Goggles, that red flags late night, potentially problematic e-mails to the ex and forces you to answer a series of timed math questions prior to sending. (Already I see a hitch: Does it have to be math? How about French New Wave trivia, or a name-the-sexual-dysfunction series of Philip Roth multiple choices?) Excerpt from the Guardian UK's article "Google Mail Goggles aims to end drunken email embarrassment" after the jump:

Looks like SXSW fave Crawford has found a home. B-Side Entertainment has acquired Austin filmmaker David Modigliani's doc and will premiere the film on Hulu.com, the ad-supported, frankly indispensable streaming site. (Hulu means never having to say, "Shit! I forgot to program the DVR!" We kid, of course. As if we could afford DVR.) Crawford, which marks the first feature film to premiere on Hulu.com, hits the internets on October 7, to be followed by "streaming, downloads and DVD on demand via B-Side's proprietary website, Amazon VOD and CreateSpace, as well as iTunes and ultimately broader platforms."

"Karaoke!" hollered the first, hoping for more than this. Pause. "You ready for some Benatar?" deadpanned the second, who was City of Ember star and legendary comic hardpan Bill Murray. (You know: late of SNL, Stripes, and Lost in Translation. That one.) "Yes..." re-deadpanned the Alamo's Tim League, for once star-stuck, at the tail end of Fantastic Fest, at its most ridiculously fantastic moment. League had lost his voice earlier in the week. His intro to the Jean-Claude Van Damme meta-flick JCVD was spat out in a growly, hoarse-burst of hyperbolic enthusiasm that seemed altogether utterly deranged until, amazingly, the film and JCVD's soft-hero, hard-target performance made cinematic jokes of everyone who never thought to give a second glance to a Belgian kickboxer who was -- honestly, surprisingly -- sick of being the butt, the joke, the muscles, the mass. "I saw this film in Cannes," said League, "and when I got back to the states I immediately applied to the Texas DMV to have the plates on my van changed to 'VANDAMN.' Laughter. "But what I didn't realize was that V-A-N-D-A-M-N is not really kosher in the State of Texas, but, funny thing is, it fucking appeased the gods, because a week later I get my plate in the mail and then the studio says, 'Yeah, we want to give you this film." Screaming. "This is really one of the biggest buzz films of the festival, and, hey, I've got to admit I have little problem sometimes: I get maybe a little too excited. But not this time. In fact, I don't think I've been more surprised by a performance by an actor in my entire life. "I really think that Jean-Claude Van Damme is one of our great modern actors..." The audience, laughing, not sure what to make to League's statement.... League charges back: "Hey, fuck you people for laughing, I'm serious about this! We'll see who's laughing in two hours, alright?" Alright. And he's right. JCVD is a miracle, a hail-Mary pass, a trifecta, and gut-wrenching, soul-stirring madhouse all in one. C'est ne pas merde; c'est magnifique! But enough about Brussels.

Click here for Richard Whittaker's short piece in this week's Screens section on Bob Ray and Werner Campbell's Roller Derby documentary Hell on Wheels getting a nifty two-disc DVD release from IndiePix. It hits the shelves Tuesday, Sept. 30 with a DVD release party to be held Thursday, Oct. 2 at the South Lamar Alamo Drafthouse. Producer Campbell and director Ray will be in attendance and I'm sure more than happy to answer any questions your inquiring mind may have for these two young filmmakers and Roller Derby lovers.