Desperate for a Jon Stewart fix since the writers' strike struck? Here's a hilarious newscast from The Daily Show writers on the picket lines, which does an excellent job spelling out the issues and hypocrisy at the heart of the strike. Watch out for John J. Viacom Jr. III!

Two months later than founders Tim and Karrie League had originally hoped, the new Alamo Ritz finally opened last night (see Marc Savlov's excellent article about the move here). There had been concerns that the shift from the old Alamo Downtown would lose some of the boisterous DIY charm that defined the old cinema. But when the footage was shown of Tim's valiant defeat when he tried to christen the building with a bottle of champagne (score: unbroken bottle 1, cracked wall 0), it felt like the Alamo.

The capacity crowd and the lengthy stand-by cue that spilled out into the street found a cinema that takes full advantage of the Ritz' golden age picture palace dimensions and the opportunities for a bigger screen and new sound system, without sacrificing the communal spirit the old site engendered (for anyone worried that it would be a big-box generic cineplex product, Tim did note the only way onto the newly finished stage was by clambering up a stack of milk crates). Speaking in the gap between the opening movie, 1963 Japanese killer-fungus classic Matango, and a sneak preview of the Coen Brother's nihilist masterpiece No Country For Old Men, League paid tribute to the hard work of his staff and the history of both the Alamo and the Ritz.

Oh there are other interesting guests on this week, but after last week's celebrity parade, but this one strikes me as the one not to miss:

It's almost – but not quite – too late to herald the fourth anniversary of Gothtober.com, an online Halloween advent calendar with an animated treat behind each day's "door." Here's what someone (okay, I) said about it in 2003:

"Commandeered by one Juliana (JP) Parr and co-animated by a tag team of cheeky CalArts grads and other talented assemblage, the site isn't Goth in any black-lipstick sense, but it is full of irreverent grotesquerie in the spirit of the season."

It's still true. This year's theme is nautical, so do find time to sail away on a sea of monsters, mysteries, and messing with your head.

Word has it that the Deer Hunter-obsessed heckler at the John Milius/Oliver Stone discussion on war movies actually didn’t create the most uncomfortable moment experienced at an Austin Film Festival panel this weekend (though I for one can’t wait for my commemorative tee-shirt emblazoned with “What the fuck, Milius? What the fuck!”).

While I was too busy chasing Mr. Milius at the time (more on that soon), friends who attended the “Improv in Comedy” talk tell me things got pretty squirmy when Victor Fanucci, director of competition feature Beyond the Pale, arrived partway through as a late addition, and panelists Harris Goldberg, Larry Willmore, and moderator Warren Etheridge didn’t seem to know if he was for real and whether to let him join in. Meanwhile, the audience wondered whether they were witnessing some prankish illustration of improv comedy principles, like a guerilla Curb Your Enthusiasm moment curdling into something a little more Andy Dick ... and one of those moments that really help give a festival some spice.

Most likely an honest mistake or miscommunication heightened and prolonged into comedy of discomfort by the mere topic of the panel itself, the tale made the rounds as one of those events where “this isn’t funny” becomes the funniest thing to say. I don’t care to know whether it was real – whatever that means in this case – so my apologies to the panelists and fest organizers, but all should take some satisfaction in knowing that the legend made for better conversational lubricant at parties than even the 360 Vodka.

Host Peggy Vasquez interviews local Latinos on a variety of issues. Vasquez is editor of La Prensa and has been a local Austin advocate for years. Here are some of her guests in October:

It's movie week on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart next week, with the notable exception of guest Tony Snow. Still, considering what his old job was it seems appropriate that he's among the confabulists from Hollywood. Here goes: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - (week of October 15) Monday 10/15 Tony Snow Former White House Press Secretary Tuesday 10/16 Meryl Streep - promoting movie Rendition Wednesday 10/17 Jake Gyllenhaal- promoting movie Rendition Thursday 10/18 Ben Affleck- actor & director of Gone Baby Gone The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is dark the week of Oct. 29 (showing reruns), but the week after that features some stellar guests including Valarie Plame Wilson. Next week on The Colbert Report:

On the Doll director Thomas Mignone with cast members at Cedar Street Courtyard, trying their best to hold still for the camera while On the Doll soundtrackers The Crystal Method redefine the idea of "sternum-rattling bass" mere feet behind them. (Deaf by temptation?)

Couldn't get into The Walker? Us too, so we're heading over to Cedar Street Courtyard ASAP to check out the party for director Thomas Mignone's feature On the Doll, which, of course, we haven't seen yet but the word is good. Oddly (or maybe not – like I said, we haven't had a chance to screen the film), Las Vegas techno rockers The Crystal Method are spinning the party. Which begs the question, "Do Ken and Scott regret their choice of name now that no one in Arkansas has any teeth left?" We'll ask 'em, we promise, and we'll try to corner Mignone and hit him up for a screener while we're at it.

Wish us luck (and drink tickets).