There's a critic bitchslap going on in the blogosphere, and Austinite Jeff Nichols is caught in the crossfire. It kicked off when NY Press film critic Armond White – who's (in)famous for strong opinions, fighting words, and the occasional certifiableness – umbrella'ed Nichols' widely praised but mostly unseen film Shotgun Stories into a larger screed about the state of film criticism today. White is entirely complimentary of Shotgun Stories (which premiered at last year's Austin Film Festival); in fact, he argues it "should have rocked film culture." He continues: "Being a non-hipster film meant that Shotgun Stories was off established critics’ radar screens. Even I, shamefacedly, only caught up after it had opened; but it’s been the most resonant American movie so far this year." Would he kept it at that.

Femme Film Texas' mission statement reads "teaching filmmaking and media literacy to young women and girls in Austin, Texas," and who can't get behind that? The real question is, how much can you get behind that? They're currently seeking donations for their summer film camps for girls, and every little bit counts. Hey big spender: $975 provides full tuition and housing for one girl at the overnight camp. A bit rich for your blood? Even 10 bucks makes a difference. A handy donation site here details exactly where your contribution will go.

Don't let anybody tell you we don't do important work here at the Chronicle... which is why I spent a good chunk of my morning on a fact-finding mission to resolve the Great Lyric Debate of "Try a Little Tenderness" (check out tomorrow's review of My Blueberry Nights to understand why). Specifically, I needed to know if Otis was talking about a shaggy or a shabby dress. Tim Robbins already memorably mangled the lyrics in Bull Durham, so he was no help, and I clicked off Michael Bublé's singing-automaton version right after he humorlessly changed "young girls" to "women." Eventually, I decided to go straight to the source – archival Otis Redding. Come for the "shaggy," stay for the awesome performance. The overeager snare somewhat defuses the delicious tension of the song, but nonetheless – damn, that man was sexy.

Austinites get a chance for a sneak peek at Iron Man this week, but you're gonna have to work for it. In order to score a ticket to the free Monday night screening (sponsored by Ain't It Cool News and Fantastic Fest), hopefuls will have to send in a photo of themselves dressed up either as Tony Stark or as Iron Man. The 100 best costumes will receive a pair of tickets to the show. But don't junk the homestyled threads – there'll be a costume contest at the screening, along with a demonstration from Mr. Jet Pack International, who plans to fly around the Alamo South Lamar parking lot, then "return to earth to shake hands, hold babies, and sign cleavage." Is he running for office, too? For more info, check out the Alamo blog here.

This one's for my fellas (or the three straight and/or bi ladies who read this. sigh). In the new movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall, lead dork-o-hunky everyman Jason Segel shows his wanger no less than 72 times. It's integral to the plot. Really. It's a nice device. (…) I like Jason Segal. He's like Judge Reinhold. Or Albert Brooks. With junk. And less back hair. In poking around the internet for pics of the Seeeg, this manly man site kept popping up. Oooh ahhh ooooh.

With no athletic scholarships to offer and extremely stringent academic requirements for admittance, there really isn't much room for recruiting when it comes to fielding a basketball team at egghead central, aka the California Institute of Technology. If you are the coach of the Caltech Beavers (nature's engineers), your team consists of those who show up for the first practice and dedicate themselves to the team. This is not a minor issue considering the daunting amount of classwork these student/athletes take on. Quantum Hoops: The Caltech Basketball Story follows the Caltech basketball team during the final week of their 2006 season not in an attempt to chronicle a conference championship or any other such athletic accomplishment, but to document a team that has 240 consecutive conference losses. Two hundred and forty games without a victory equals 21 years of continuously losing, usually by about 60 points or more. For most typical athletes, this losing streak would be unbearable, and while it is frustrating for the young men who make up the Caltech squad, the lessons learned on the court, in practice, and from their coaches over the years do much to inform their scientific research, which is also fraught with constant failure until … eureka, success. Do the not-so-mighty brainy Beavers finally break that losing streak? You can find out Thursday, April 24, 7:30pm at the Alamo Lake Creek theatre. Director Rick Greenwald will be in attendance, and a Q&A will take place following the feature. Click here to visit the Quantum Hoops website.

Nothing like a Monday noontime bombshell to kick off the week. South by Southwest Film Festival announced today that SXSW Film Festival Producer Matt Dentler will be moving on to the cement pastures of NYC, where he'll head the marketing and programming operations of Cinetic Digital Rights Management, a film sales agency founded by indie powerhouse attorney John Sloss, among others. SXSW didn't have to look far for his replacement: Local film fixture Janet Pierson takes over the reins. Along with her husband John Pierson, Janet has been an instrumental figure in independent film; more recently, she's been heavily involved with the Austin Film Society. Able hands, to be sure, but we're sorry to see Matt go. A savvy programmer, an artful networker, and a champion of quality films that otherwise might never have found a home, Matt stewarded SXSW Film into a new era – not just of relevance, but of international recognition. We wish him the best of luck.

Last session, there was much hooping and hollering around the Lege about the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive program, a tax-rebate fund meant to break the film industry talent drain out of the state. Ten months after House Bill 1634, which filled the fund, was signed into law there still hasn't been a check cut. But good news: on March 10, the Texas Film Commission had its rules for implementing the program adopted. Which at least means they can start assessing applications. According to commission director Bob Hudgins, there's been 95 applications received:
72 commercials (44 made in Dallas, 15 Austin, seven Houston, three San Antonio, and three elsewhere)
13 film and TV projects (including Friday Night Lights and Prison Break)
10 video games That's $110 million in eligible production spending in Texas. If everything goes through the audit process, this means $6 million in rebate of the $22 million in the pot for the biennium. Of course, since the program is a refund on money spent by eligible projects, that revenue for Texas is secure. But there has to be a concern that, if the comptroller doesn't OK all the applications, producers may be twice shy about coming back to the Lone Star State.

Austin America-Statesman film critic Chris Garcia has incurred the wrath of "cult favorite" Bud Cort after Garcia ran a not exactly positive profile of him. Choice bits: Garcia referring to the Harold and Maude actor's eyes as "moist with complaint" and describing his singing voice as "[w]ith a lisp and quivering high notes that create the unnerving noise of an emphysemic Munchkin." Cort was in town a couple of weeks ago for an Alamo Drafthouse appearance; by all accounts, he's a very particular sort of guy. Our own Marc Savlov also interviewed Cort and fielded no less than eight followup calls from him. (He also requested of us final approval of the profile; we, as did Garcia, declined.) But Cort's last call was a very gracious thank you to Savlov for the piece.