Everybody Loves Rick Dept.: As the date for the Oscar nominations draws ever closer the question on everybody’s mind — at least in Austin — isn’t what sort of disastrous musical routine might we again be forced to endure in the name of “filler,” but instead, will Richard Linklater‘s Waking Life end up as one of the three films nominated in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences new Animated Feature category? Previous years have seen a direct correlation between earlier awards groups and eventual inclusion and success at the Oscars. With that in mind, this past weekend saw the Broadcast Film Critics Association name Linklater’s philosophical-musing-cum-film as one of three films in their Best Animated Feature category, alongside Shrek and Monsters, Inc. The winner will be announced Jan. 11 at the BFCA’s awards ceremony. As if that weren’t enough of a sign of good things to come, let’s not forget that Bob Sabiston, the man behind Waking Life‘s dynamic, trippy animation technique, was nominated for the American Film Institute‘s Digital Effects Artist of the Year; the New York Film Critics Circle Award bestowed on the film the title of Best Animated Film; and the National Society of Film Critics honored the film with its Best Experimental Feature Award from New York’s legendary Sardi’s on Saturday. Did I mention Waking Life‘s nomination for the Venice Film Festival‘s Golden Lion Award yet? Ah, well, there you go. It’s only a matter of time now before Linklater has to splurge on a new, industrial-sized mantelpiece… It’s last-minute news, but if you’re reading this on Thursday, Jan. 10, then there’s still time for you to make your way over to the Blue Theater (916 Springdale Rd.) by 7pm this evening, when, lucky you, AIGA Austin and the Austin Film Society are co-presenting a panel discussion “about the creative process behind the movie Spy Kids 2,” featuring production designer John Frick, storyboard artist Marc Baird, and conceptual designer Alex Toader. Tickets are available at the door, $5/AFS members and $10/everyone else. Directions to the oft-overlooked Blue Theater are available online at www.bluetheater.org/directions.html… Barna Kantor‘s Center for Young Cinema‘s second compilation tape of student short films — titled “Hole in the Head– — is now available at various independent video and music stores around town (i.e. Vulcan, Waterloo, I Luv Video), as well as from the CYC direct. All proceeds from the tape help fund tuition for low-income CYC students, natch, so toss that 11 th-generation dupe of Cutthroat Island on the slag heap where it belongs, and go support da kidz, already. And while you’re at it, check out the CYC’s brand-spankin’ new Web site at www.cyc-austin.org/.
This article appears in January 11 • 2002.