SXSW: Day 6
This is unknown territory for me, he wrote, cross-legged on the lovely D's couch. See, South by Southwest is a festival of two parts. Days 1-5 are the joint domain of the computer nerds and the film geeks, when William Gibson and Conan O'Brien walk amongst the mortals and the Stomp Tokyo film blog is everyone's favorite schmooze buddy. (I love days 1-5.) But this year I had to work, and missed it all. The Old Timers Ball for primordial bloggers has come and gone; Bruce Sterling, "moot" of 4chan, and Felicia Day have given their speeches; the OKC Film Festival organizers are back north on I-35, their hands still warm from when they shook with Dave Foley. Now,... Music. Now hipsters and scenesters and the race to be the next Vampire Weekend.
But, and here's me, Film isn't over. The Awards were last night; the various fans and industry types that can't afford to spend a whole damn week swanning around Austin (especially at Music hotel prices, whoof) are departed, but they're still going to be showing films through Saturday. And here I am, to see the back half of the film festival, under the shadow of Music. Will the lines be shorter? Will there be any celebrities still lurking about? (There will not be any celebrities still lurking about.) Will I get to see a bit of the legendary Music experience? Stay tuned!
Oh, and I had this really yummy pear, bacon, and gruyere cheese sandwich last night. Mmm, sandwich.
***
"So they put me on the green room, and this girl I know who's also volunteering was on the green room and she got Ellen Page (she's super nice), and I got there and they gave me the guy who made, like, Opera?"
"Encryption over fiber-optic adds a dimension to encryption, though, because you can just..."
"Check the eigenstate to see if it's been intercepted, yes, fairly trivial."
Interactive over, survivors scatter to Animated Shorts.
***
Chilean romantic-comedy Chenga Mi Vida (Have Intercourse with My Life) (It was at a convenient time, okay?) is 60% American indie rom-com about a hipster man-child who needs to grow up; 40% American big-budget rom-com about a slapstick man-child who needs to grow up; and 0.003% the vibrant details of life in Santiago, Chile. The opening narration is "People think Santiago is a crap city. I love it... even if it does have a river of crap running through town." (All the Santiagans in the house: "Oo-OOOH! No he din't!"). And then at about the three-quarters mark, our hipster hero makes reference to a Latino boy-band (subtitles: "The Jonas Brothers"), and how they should go fuck themselves. The rest of the film is pretty much a constant stream of Corona beach blasts, Facebook deletions, discussions on whether to rent "The Fast and the Furious", and jokes about how the guy on Lost is still fat after six months on the island - so basically I'm glad to have seen this movie because I've learned American cultural imperialism can check Chile off its to-do list.
***
"The second showing of Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, the documentary about Conan O'Brien and his unstoppability, is coming right up, but first let's welcome our very special guest, microsecond pause, the director, Guy Lastname! And stick around after the screening, when he will be answering your questions about what Conan O'Brien is like!"
But, and here's me, Film isn't over. The Awards were last night; the various fans and industry types that can't afford to spend a whole damn week swanning around Austin (especially at Music hotel prices, whoof) are departed, but they're still going to be showing films through Saturday. And here I am, to see the back half of the film festival, under the shadow of Music. Will the lines be shorter? Will there be any celebrities still lurking about? (There will not be any celebrities still lurking about.) Will I get to see a bit of the legendary Music experience? Stay tuned!
Oh, and I had this really yummy pear, bacon, and gruyere cheese sandwich last night. Mmm, sandwich.
***
"So they put me on the green room, and this girl I know who's also volunteering was on the green room and she got Ellen Page (she's super nice), and I got there and they gave me the guy who made, like, Opera?"
"Encryption over fiber-optic adds a dimension to encryption, though, because you can just..."
"Check the eigenstate to see if it's been intercepted, yes, fairly trivial."
Interactive over, survivors scatter to Animated Shorts.
***
Chilean romantic-comedy Chenga Mi Vida (Have Intercourse with My Life) (It was at a convenient time, okay?) is 60% American indie rom-com about a hipster man-child who needs to grow up; 40% American big-budget rom-com about a slapstick man-child who needs to grow up; and 0.003% the vibrant details of life in Santiago, Chile. The opening narration is "People think Santiago is a crap city. I love it... even if it does have a river of crap running through town." (All the Santiagans in the house: "Oo-OOOH! No he din't!"). And then at about the three-quarters mark, our hipster hero makes reference to a Latino boy-band (subtitles: "The Jonas Brothers"), and how they should go fuck themselves. The rest of the film is pretty much a constant stream of Corona beach blasts, Facebook deletions, discussions on whether to rent "The Fast and the Furious", and jokes about how the guy on Lost is still fat after six months on the island - so basically I'm glad to have seen this movie because I've learned American cultural imperialism can check Chile off its to-do list.
***
"The second showing of Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, the documentary about Conan O'Brien and his unstoppability, is coming right up, but first let's welcome our very special guest, microsecond pause, the director, Guy Lastname! And stick around after the screening, when he will be answering your questions about what Conan O'Brien is like!"