Short Cuts

JEAN-PAUL BELMONDO, IN BREATHLESS, IN THE FINAL SCENE DEPT.: "What?!" I hear you say. That's what I look like right now. Exactly. And yeah, that's how I'm walking, too, so no comments from the peanut gallery, if you please. La Nouvelle Vague, that's me. Actually, as I mentioned in last week's column, I'm recuperating from surgery on my back, which -- thanks for asking -- is healing nicely. If you're one of the seemingly countless friends/acquaintances I've run into downtown on my forced daily strolls to get my gait back, well, you know the Breathless metaphor is anything but forced. That said, I'd like to cough out a grande merci beaucoups to the readers of this column who've e-mailed and, yes, called after 1am to offer their condolences on my spinal wipeout. Every day, in every way, it's getting itchier and itchier. Thanks for the pie, Neil at The Movie Store, and the wiped late fees on the three-week overdue Mr. Ripley, Chuck and Valli at Encore Movies and Music. You've no idea how few films you have on tape and LaserDisc and DVD until you actually have to watch them all -- again and again and again, while laid up. Kudos to Columbia/TriStar, by the way, for finally releasing Luc Besson's director's cut of Léon/The Professional, which, frankly, made my afternoon last Saturday. Go! Now! Rent it! And now, on to other news... QT Quattro is over, and judging from Alamo Drafthouse Cinema owner Tim League's harried phone call the other day, a well-deserved rest is in order for each and every member of that fine establishment. No such luck, though, as Thursday, September 14, begins round two in what appears to be an annual Alamo event, the Cannibal Film Festival. Last year, you may recall, members of the Travis County Health Department showed up at the Alamo after League spoke on John Aielli's Eklektikos KUT radio show, humorously cracking wise on the benefits of eating human flesh in hopes of drawing attention to the first flesheater-fest. Much ado about carrion, if you ask me, but League and company are going ahead with yet another notable entry in the No Such Thing As Too Gross sweeps. That's thigh with me, of course, and this year's fest kicks off with the 1924 Buster Keaton film The Navigator, featuring live music by Shorty Long at 7pm and 9:45pm. From there on out things will only get gooier -- look for the usual inspired Alamo menu to reflect the carnivorous films ("veggie handburgers?!"). For more information, hit their Web site at www.drafthouse.com or call 476-1320... Got an unproduced script taking up space in the bottom of your closet, or maybe want to connect with other Austin screenwriters? Check out www.egroups.com/group/austinscreenwriters to hook up with a comprehensive database of who's stuck in development hell and whose passionate coming-of-age story has been manhandled by the studio brass of late. More information can be had by e-mailing the group/mailing list at [email protected] ... That aforementioned script gathering dust just because you think the term "character arc" means your protagonist has a bad back? Alleywood Studios at 1902 S. Congress is offering a series of fall workshops on everything from intro to screenwriting to how to be a production coordinator, beginning September 16. Call 441-3738 for more information.

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