Fantastic Fest has announced its second round of films, and boy, are zombies back in style. Not that they ever went out of style: just twenty minutes ago we were walking our fourpaws down Sixth Street and relishing the balmy aftergoo of our recent thundershowers when -- we kid you not -- a real, live (or not) zombie shambled past us. Seriously. We were standing in front of The Jackalope, minding our own business and admiring the apocalyptic weather when a threadbare cardigan-sporting returner with a foot-long strand of saliva swinging from his chin and a freakishly bloody abrasion on his noggin shuffled past, heading east, presumably, back to his burrow at the Texas State Cemetery. Who says Sixth Street is dangerous? We were completely unarmed and Mr. Creepy Deadfolk didn't even give us a snarl. (Frankly, we're a tad disappointed by that. And by god, we'll never leave the house without our digital camera/iPhone again.) But we digress. The real big news is that Fantastic Fest has, for the second time now (or third, if you count pre-Fantastic Fest Alamo appearances), lassoed zombie-flick godhead and only-reason-to-visit-Pittsburgh-ever director George A. Romero, who will be premiering his latest chompsocky nightmare, Survival of the Dead, along with, most likely, lots of scotch. (That would be a reference to his infamous "What's your favorite color?" answer from his Fantastic Fest Q&A session two years ago, in case you missed it.)

As part of its new-ish Reverse Shot Talkie series, Indiewire has posted a video of journalist Eric Hynes interviewing filmmaker Andrew Bujalski as the pair rummage through the Family Jewels, a Manhattan vintage store. It's a reference to the setting of Bujalski's latest film, Beeswax, which was shot in Austin and centers on a turf war over a co-owned secondhand store (North Loop's now-shuttered Storyville). In the video, Bujalski wanders through the aisles, talking about his three feature films and how he finally taught himself how to tie a necktie – off the Internet – in anticipation of his recent wedding to local author Karen Olsson. Beeswax opened in Manhattan on Friday. NY Times' lead critic (and new balcony warmer) A.O. Scott says this: "Beeswax, at first glance a modest, ragged slice of contemporary life, turns out to be a remarkably subtle, even elegant movie." Cinema Guild is distributing Beeswax, which had its American premiere at SXSW 09. No word yet on when it'll make its way to Austin theatres.

Austin is too small to contain a rumor like the one about Connie Wodlinger's departure from Music and Entertainment Television (ME TV). That rumor hit the street weeks ago and today, those rumors became official. The founder and current ME Television CEO is leaving the network after a turbulent year that saw the layoff of most of its staff and lingering questions about its financial stability.

Before Judd Apatow gave us Freaks and Geeks, there was writer/director John Hughes (The Breakfast Club), who passed away from a heart attack this morning. A "philosopher of adolescence," as Roger Ebert once dubbed him, Hughes told stories of awkward teenage moments in that shallowest of decades, the Eighties. Through the wild suburban romps of hijinks and uncomfortable tears, he showed that high school caste boundaries could be crossed and that all these other kids around you weren't so strange after all, in a time when jocks and pretty, rich girls and freaks and bad kids and nerds intermingled much less than they do today. Every movie had someone who took a chance, and it was never about whether the result had good or bad consequences, but that they took a chance at all. Hughes' characters bravely stepped outside their comfort zones, whether it was padded with Laura Ashley floral madness like Molly Ringwald's character in Sixteen Candles or Alan Rudd's Cameron literally smashing out of his antiseptic bubble in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Hughes helped define a generation's experience and reshape their expectations, and teen movies will always be held to this standard. He will be missed.

I know all of my loyal readers who get their internet games solely from my blog posts were disappointed last week. My apologies, writing actual printed words got in the way. Won't happen again.

To make up for it I have a gaggle of games all made by Molleindustria, an Italian team that specializes in fun as biting social commentary. Everything from direct statements against big oil and megacorporations to more artistic presentations of communist revolutions. Some of the games are purposefully frustrating (eg., the copyright/freedom of ideas game) while others show the downside of success in a corrupt world (eg., the McDonald's game).

Share with all your radical friends (meaning "pinko," not necessarily "totally awesome") or just piss off your right-wing peeps with a quick and easy statement about what laissez-faire capitalism gets you.

Regardless of whether you win or lose, you finish the game with a better-than-thou attitude because you "get it." And you can ride that jerk wave all day and hold your big head high. I know I am.

Click here to choose your game and start playing your way to a cleaner conscience.

Molleindustria also has a few things to say about religion ... and they aren't good. Operation: Pedopriest and Faith Fighter will either make you laugh or write a letter to Congress.

Enjoy.

You may remember us talking – mere hours ago – about the WPFG Studios monster film party, which has shifted date and location since we wrote about it in Film News last month. Stop the presses: We've got more updates. WPFG owner and creator of the Wolfpack Film Group Robin Blesch checked in to clarify a few things about the party, at which, she promises, "We will have some live performers, show off some high quality local film work, show off some brand new technology, film, live switch, and stream live over the internet for all who cannot attend." But back to the stuff we got wrong (for the record, we were just copying off the press release, crackerjack reporters are we): For starters, the party is happening Sept. 12 – NOT Sept. 19 – and it's open to film professionals only. So says Blesch: "There is a guest-list, and people wishing to attend must get on the guest-list by indicating their interest and filling out the application form." Presumably, you can do just that by going here.

So listen, PBS, we need to talk. First of all – you know I love you, right? You're like family. Which is why I can be a little tough with you – because no matter how harsh I may sound now, I'll still be there for you. Correction: I'll be there for you in 2 weeks. That should be right around when you're wrapping up your summer fundraising drive. Now don't get me wrong – I have no complaints with you asking for money, and I'll be writing you a check in appreciation of Charlie, Gwen, Hercule and Jane, the Doctor, the Dickens, Nature and Nova. But I'm not writing that check until Aug. 17, because I'll be damned if I'm going to reward you for the crap programming you put on during pledge drive. Let me get this straight: You want me to pay for all the free public television I've been enjoying. Reasonable enough. So then why do you yank for two weeks all the programs I love and replace them with a bunch of self-help seminars and hokey-pokey music retrospectives? That's the carrot you're dangling at me? Dr. Wayne Dyer's Excuses Begone! (emphasis entirely his) and doo-wop? More like don't-wop. Har! Sorry – Sunday nights I typically get a civilizing dose of British drama or mystery; without it, I'm unmoored, and prone to very bad jokes. Keep your Dr. Dyer and your complimentary mug**. Give me back my Masterpiece Theatre and I'll cut you a check the very same day. Check listings for local affiliate KLRU here. And for god's sake, don't be a grump like me; go here to pledge now. I'll bring up the rear. ** Actually, a mug would be lovely. Thank you.

A couple of weeks back, we wrote about two Austin fimmakers, Bob Byington and Ben Steinbauer, who were going up to Michigan to show their films at Michael Moore's annual Traverse City Film Festival. Well, now, all hail the conquering heroes: Both Bob and Ben nabbed prizes at the event, with Bob receiving the Stanley Kubrick Award for Bold and Innovative Filmmaking, Fiction Film, for his films Registered Sex Offender and Harmony and Me, and Ben taking home the Founders Prize for Best Comedy Documentary for Winnebago Man.

Spout's Karina Longworth attended their panel on Comedy, American Style up in Traverse, and she had this to say about it:

"An overarching theme of the panel was that things that you’re not supposed to joke about make the best fodder for jokes. Moore recalled an early writing meeting on his show TV Nation, in which he made a list of a number of taboo subjects — the Holocaust, the death penalty — and set his staff to work turning each into comic theater. A similar impulse underlined Byington’s RSO, which screens here tonight and tomorrow. “I couldn’t believe that no one had ever made a film about a sex offender,” he said. “I thought, if you just followed a guy through all the stuff he had to do after getting out of prison, you couldn’t miss.”

Two changes to two recent items run in the paper: Firstly, Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund panelist Sam Green (The Weather Underground) has had to excuse himself from judging due to a family emergency. He's been replaced by Austin transplant Todd Rohal. We haven't yet seen Rohal's much-praised debut feature The Guatemalan Handshake – which will screen Aug. 12 at 9:25pm at the Alamo South – but we are fans of his deeply weird Ola Podrida video below. And another change to schedule – it was reported in Film News a couple weeks back that Omega Broadcast would host a "monster Texas film party" on Aug. 8 to celebrate the new incentives bill. Turns out all the i's weren't dotted – something about building and liquor permits – so the party – which is hosted by WPFG Studios owner Robin Blesch – has been moved to Sept. 19 at 501 Studios. No word yet on if the party's "monster" status remains unaffected. Go here for details.