It may be seem like an eternity of tinnitus and day parties ago, but during the interactive component of SXSW, the annual ScreenBurn Arcade had some serious buzz moments. There was a lot of player interest in the Nvidia GeForce 3D Vision system, which uses the built-in depth information in games to create a stereoscopic 3D image (How good is it? Well, it's sure no Virtual Boy.) SXSWi even had its own little Metallica moment, with a hands-on demo of Bionic Commando, developer GRIN's reboot of the classic Capcom franchise from the '80s. The game, being developed for PC, XBox 360 and PS3, doesn't ship until May, but the multi-player deathmatch mode demoed was smooth and intuitive. [video-1]

So the loudest part of SXSW has arrived in full force with the music component unfurling. But the film festival is still here as well, and could teach these guitar-wielding whipper-snappers a thing or too about shocking the public. What could be more rock and roll than a film star, stark naked, on all fours, being stroked by strangers and urinating in the street? OK, so the stars of Artois the Goat had a very good excuse for such behavior when they turned up for the film's world premiere last Sunday: They are goats. Artois the Goat has its final SXSW screening tonight, March 20, at the Alamo Ritz at 7pm.

Psychiatrist Keely Kolmes and writer Thomas Roche presented this Tuesday afternoon core conversation, which felt much like sitting in an AA meeting or other group therapy session. One after another, for almost an hour, audience members described their experiences with a relatively new category of neurosis – Information Anxiety caused by information overload. One young woman said she feels she has lost the capacity for solitude and she wonders if it is gone forever. She recently noticed that it has become extremely unusual for her to take a walk or drive the car without checking email and twitter during the walk or drive. She feels that she doesn't have a sense of wholeness unless someone else is validating her experience fairly constantly throughout the day. Others talked about feeling terrible guilt when they didn't electronically check in constantly, about sitting and tweeting in the same room with people they could be talking to. One man felt that the increased capacity to understand comes with responsibility, which feels like a great weight. Several people spoke of boundaries – how technology helps us hide and gives us a false sense of intimacy which can cause problems in online relationships.

A new screen day and time has been added for The Big Squeeze, Austin filmmaker Hector Galan's newest documentary about the annual accordion festival. Check it out Friday, 3:30pm, at the Paramount Theater.

It was a thrill to catch the world premiere of The Promised Land: A Swamp Pop Journey, about Louisiana supergroup L'il Band o Gold at the Alamo last night. At the film's conclusion the filmmaker and members of the band got up to answer questions. At one point the audience asked the subjects in attendance for a song: [video-1] "What key ya in man, whisKey?" And yes, that's LBoG founder C.C. Adcock against the backdrop. The film shows one more time: Tomorrow, Thursday, March 19, 3pm at the Austin Convention Center.

Paul Solet, director and screenwriter of the post-natal splatterpunk shocker Grace, obviously knows what he want an audience to take home with them after seeing his film: nightmares. And not just any nightmares, either, but the pre-partum sort that can derail an impressionable couple's decision to procreate, or trust a midwife, and which pretty much calls into question the whole of the American birthing process in all its gory glory. Jordan Ladd is Madeline Matheson, an upper middle class wife with an upper middle class husband, Michael (Stephen Park) who, after years of trying, finally conceives. Having already determined to usher her little miracle into the world with the assistance of M.D.'d midwife Patricia (Samantha Ferris), Madeline's once-upon-a-time Univeristy mentor-cum-lover, the expectant mom foresees nothing but the joy of impending motherfun. Nevermind that her shrewish mother-in-law Vivian (Gabrielle Rose) is violently opposed to this non-traditional route, or that her husband has his own, vague, misgivings. No one ever said childbirth was ever anything other than painful, bloody, and -- to men, at least -- often downright horrific. The point is moot, however, as a tragic automobile accident leaves both Michael and his wife's in utero offspring dead on arrival. Madeline survives, though, and amidst the madness of the hospital's natal-trauma unit, she makes the ultimately unwise decision to birth the stillborn tot at Vivian's holistic midwife center. There, the dead infant -- christened Grace -- miraculously returns to cooing, drooling life, to the hysterical delight of its mother. Slow-burning horror ensues.

Alison, Rose, and Hetty – 87, 101, and 102 years old respectively – may be ready to “go to sleep for good,” as Hetty puts it, but in the meantime they’re quite adept at entertaining themselves wholeheartedly. As such, they make particularly engaging subjects for Jocelyn Cammack's candid look at life’s final chapter. As residents of a North London assisted living facility, their days are filled with diversions both ordinary (tai chi, crossword puzzles) and extraordinary (anti-war protests). Against this backdrop, they share their views on Tony Blair, religious fanaticism, men, sex, and the quantum soup, all the while taking shots at the vagaries of old age: “I have such disgusting eating habits,” laments Rose. “I either put nothing into my mouth or drop it on the floor, and it’s really quite revolting.” There’s nothing comfortable about the topic of aging, and on screen, it’s generally confined to comedic vehicles of the Grumpy Old Men variety. That’s why this lovely film is a rare treat – and a testament to the power of unflinching documentary-making to be both uncomfortable and comforting at the same time. Wednesday, March 18, 4:30pm, Alamo South Lamar

Although Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson was the Tuesday keynote speaker for the Interactive portion of South by Southwest, his concepts of the Long Tail and the freeconomics of his upcoming book, Free, have had perhaps more theoretical impact on the emerging digital music economy than any other writer today. His conversation with doubtful venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki was spirited, but left the question open of whether the model of Free, proven to have worked in a limited capacity already, will be able to generate money for the more general economy. Music, of course, is ground zero for many of these ideas. Anderson’s declaration that “Free is the best way to maximize your reach” may be true, but the important aspect of that equation for artists and their business partners (be they labels, managers, or agents), is converting that attention and reputation to money.

Oh, SXSW-Interactive-enormous-pit-of-Lego, how we have missed thee. The annual building block extravaganza has become one of the high-point stress relievers of the festival (moreso even than free beer at the trade show happy hour or finding a particularly monotonous speaker at a panel to dose through.) Even one noted Texas political reporter (who shall remain nameless, and no, not someone from the Chronicle) was seen happily constructing some kind of multi-headed space ship. Much less stress than covering a voter ID bill in the Legislature. Check out the gallery for more images.