Short Cuts

He's back. Quentin Tarantino is returning to Austin with his new film Jackie Brown for a premiere screening that will benefit the Austin Film Society (AFS). Due for national release on December 25, this local premiere is scheduled for Saturday, December 20 at the Arbor Theatre. The film is Tarantino's first writing and directing project since 1994's Pulp Fiction, and seems likely to become one of the highlights of the holiday season. Adapted by Tarantino from the novel Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard, Jackie Brown also marks the return to the screen of blaxploitation star Pam Grier and Medium Cool figure Robert Forster. Co-starring in Jackie Brown are Samuel L. Jackson, Robert De Niro, Bridget Fonda, and Michael Keaton. This benefit event also demonstrates the type of advantages that come with membership in the Film Society: AFS members will get first dibs on purchasing tickets to the screening that will have Tarantino and local luminaries in attendance and admittance to the post-screening gathering. Info is in the mail to AFS members, who will have the exclusive opportunity to purchase the $25 tickets between December 8-12. After that, tickets will go on sale to the public. We'll fill you in next week with more details about this benefit for one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite causes...

The Texas Documentary Tour continues its monthly presentations on Wednesday, December 10 at the Alamo Drafthouse with the screening of two short films, Letter From Waco and Game Day, by Don Howard. Both films are saturated with Texas color. Aired on PBS and winner of the documentary award at SXSW Film Fest 97, Letter From Waco provides an idiosyncratic look at the filmmaker's hometown, while Game Day investigates the rituals of Friday-night football in Texas. Doors open at 6:15 and Howard will introduce the films and conduct a post-screening Q&A...

Speaking of the SXSW Film Festival, it's time for all procrastinators to gets their butts in gear because the deadline for submitting films for consideration in this year's fest (scheduled for March 13-21) is Friday, Dec. 12. For registration info call 467-7979 or access their website at http://www.sxsw.com...

Going out with a bang is how you might describe the final week of regular screenings at the Texas Union Theatre on the UT campus. A restored version of Fritz Lang's timeless masterpiece M will be playing in addition to film innovator Wong Kar-Wai's new work Happy Together (see "Film Listings" for details). The University Film Society, the group dedicated to seeking solutions to the University's sudden and one-sided decision to shut down the film program, has also arranged two exciting benefit screenings in the theatre on Thursday, Dec. 4 at 7pm and Saturday, Dec. 6 at 5pm. Presentations of Jean Cocteau's The Blood of a Poet and Man Ray's Emak Bakia will screen with live accompaniments of original scores written and performed by Quintet Lumiere. Admission is $5 ($4 students); for more info call 471-6657. In the meantime, I'd like to extend my personal thanks to Union Theatre programmer Steve Bearden and all the countless semesters' worth of students and other personnel who have made my 20-plus years of attending movies in that theatre such a difficult pleasure to relinq