Short Cuts

News about several films with Austin connections have been filtering in over the recent weeks. Teenage Catgirls in Heat, made in 1991 by Austin filmmaker Scott Perry with his writing and producing partner Grace Smith has just been released on video by Troma Team Video. Although the campy, low-budget comedy has already had a run on Cinemax and the USA Network (in addition to a limited theatrical run), the home video format seems like it should be a perfect fit for Teenage Catgirls. Troma is a distribution company with a clear idea of their market niche. Titles include the recently released Tromeo and Juliet and Chopper Chicks in Zombietown (on whose video box I'm quoted). Meanwhile, Smith has moved to L.A. where she continues with her screenwriting, and Perry is currently developing another comedy to be shot in Austin next year...

We read that an Oct. 15 start date has been set for shooting on Hangman's Daughter, the prequel to From Dusk Till Dawn. The prequel was written by Dusk director Robert Rodriguez and his cousin Alvaro Rodriguez (who some of you with long memories may remember from his earlier stint as a writer for the Chronicle). There's also a sequel, Texas Blood Money, that's being penned by Quentin Tarantino, Scott Spiegel, and Boaz Yakim that's due to begin production as soon as the prequel wraps. P.J. Pesce will be directing Hangman's Daughter and Spiegel is scheduled to direct Texas Blood Money. With a franchise like this, it seems they oughta change the sign on the Titty Twister to read, "We Never Close"...

Also due to begin shooting this fall is Rushmore, a new movie by the Bottle Rocket team of Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson. The Touchstone movie tells the story of a high-schooler who becomes president of just about every club on campus while neglecting the most popular of all teenage hobbies: dating. As with Bottle Rocket, UT grads Anderson and Wilson will be scripting and executive producing, with Anderson directing. Unlike Bottle Rocket, Wilson will not star; following that film, his acting career rocketed into high gear with roles in Anaconda, the upcoming Permanent Midnight with Ben Stiller and Janeane Garofalo, and many others...

Four new episodes of Split Screen, John Pierson's funny and irreverent cable television series about the world of independent filmmaking, will appear on Bravo's (channel 52) "IFC Fridays" this Fri. Aug. 15, 9-11pm. The show generally airs on the Independent Film Channel, although the exclusive cable outfit occasionally tries to whet viewer appetite by screening its fare on its more generally accessible sister network, Bravo...

The August meeting of Reel Women is scheduled for Wed. Aug. 20, 7:30pm at Movements Gallery, 211 E. Sixth. Call 280-8706 for more info...

The Austin Film Society's Summer Free-for-All delivers its second dose of Budd Boetticher Westerns with a screening of a new 35mm print of 1960's Comanche Station, starring Randolph Scott. Showtime is Tue. Aug. 19, 7pm, at the Texas Union Theatre...

And in a rare theatrical treat, the Alamo Drafthouse will be screening blaxploitation relic The Mack as a midnighter Aug. 14-16.