Day one of SXSW 2012 was better than I could have ever dreamed. Well, in my dreams it’d be warmer and it wouldn’t be raining every five seconds, but hey, what are you gonna do?
On top of tons of delicious BBQ and even more delicious beers, I got to start the week off with two incredible films that the rest of this week will have a hard time living up to.
First off was the world premiere of The Cabin in the Woods, the latest genre dissecting film from Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon. I honestly can’t say enough good things about this film. There’s so much more to it than even the trailers would lead you to believe, and works in every possible way. I can’t urge you enough to see this movie.
I finished last night at the Alamo Lamar with a midnight showing of Paco Plaza’s [REC] 3: Genesis. Plaza shirked the previous stylings of his [REC] film series and created something altogether new and fresh that I also quite enjoyed.
Today’s films features quite a few documentaries, Italy Love It or Leave It, Girl Model, Dreams of a Life, and Beauty is Embarrassing. Each of these films brings their own unique voice to the documentary format and all seem to be telling compelling stories.On the narrative feature front, I’m hoping to take in director Austin Chick’s Girls Against Boys, billed as a psychological thriller about two girls going on a killing spree that also works as somewhat of a coming-of-age tale. Then, another midnight movie that is being billed as a super secret screening. No one knows what it’s going to be, and that kind of makes it all the more exciting.
– Matt Hardeman
