DAY TWO: SATURDAY MARCH 13
HUBBLE 3-D
I awoke early to catch the press screening for HUBBLE 3-D at the Bob Bullock Texas State Museum IMAX Theater. The wonderful people running this screening provided breakfast tacos and some much needed coffee. As a huge fan of the IMAX experience, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to watch an official IMAX film depicting the tremendous work NASA has done to get the amazing Hubble telescope out in space and maintain it to study the far and currently unreachable places in outer space.
Narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, the film does not disappoint. The visual experiences of IMAX 3-D amazingly make one feel like they are witnessing the images on the screen in person. The movie follows the astronauts from their training sessions in an underwater tank practicing their work and repairs on the Hubble telescope, to their lift off, life in space, and the hard work and conditions the crew endures to improve the potential images of the telescope. As proven by the images shown on the screen, the work of the astronauts is not futile. The Hubble telescope is a truly amazing device which provides the human race with images of distant stars and galaxies, nebulae, the birth and death of stars. I recommend the movie for people of all ages. IMAX does some wonderful work in educational films and makes the 3-D experience like no one else. FOUR STARS (OUT OF FOUR)
CYRUS
I returned to the Paramount Saturday evening around 7:45 pm to get in line for yet another red-carpet premiere. This time the film would be the comedy CYRUS starring John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, and Marisa Tomei. The crowd once again grew immensely and the familiar flashes of the cameras indicated when the celebrities arrived. This time from where I was standing, I could see John C. Reilly as he slowly walked the press row as well as LEAVE OF GRASS (another SXSW film) star Edward Norton. It helped that these guys are very tall so they towered over the press crowd. I did get nervous as the lines continued to swell. What a relief it was when they started admitting my line.
CYRUS, written and directed by Jay and Mark Duplass (THE PUFFY CHAIR), tells the story and problems faced by lonely divorcee John (John C. Reilly). While coping with the new marriage of ex-wife Jamie (Catherine Keener) and trying to get back in the dating game, he meets the lovely Molly (Marisa Tomei) at a party. The two hit it off very well to put it mildly and become involved in a sweet but passionate love affair. John and Molly’s “relationship” hits a snag when it is revealed that she has a twenty one year old son named Cyrus who still lives at home. This poorly socialized and unusual young man soon becomes a threat to their relationship when he becomes jealous and plots to break them up. The film is very nicely written with some great comedic material for Reilly and Hill. Their rivalry and “war of words” exchanges are often hilarious but sometimes a little silly. Reilly, Hill, and Tomei, along with their supporting cast offer great performances in a film that doesn’t pull punches on the profanity but still has a big heart.
THREE STARS (OUT OF FOUR)
THE PEOPLE VS GEORGE LUCAS
As soon as I left the Paramount I hopped the convenient SXSW (only available March 12-15) to the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar theater to catch a midnight show. I hopped into the shortest line just at the right time too. A staff member was doing a head count of the line and stopped at me. He tells me, “You are the last one to be admitted.” The film is the documentary movie THE PEOPLE VS GEORGE LUCAS. This is another film that I had been highly anticipating. As a big STAR WARS fan, I was excited to see what exactly director Alexandre Philippe had in store in terms of George Lucas and what he has done with the STAR WARS film franchise. The movie chronicles the journey of George Lucas as a student filmmaker through his successes with the original STAR WARS trilogy and the reactions of die hard fans to his “Special Edition” tinkerings and the prequel trilogy. The movie is both informative and hilarious. Philippe not only celebrates the casual fans of STAR WARS but also lampoons some of the more obsessive and crazed followers. When it comes to some of the rantings and ravings critiquing Lucas’ more recent films, the film gets a bit long winded and redundant. I highly recommend this documentary for fans of STAR WARS. Those people who are not familiar with the saga probably won’t find much enjoyment in this.
THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FOUR)
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