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I am so unbelievably excited about SXSW this year...especially the Film conference. Just did the layout for a "guide" to the Festival for the magazine I work for. This is going to be the first year I'm actually in Austin for the darn thing (the past four years, Michigan State's spring break has fallen a week before). 

As a local Austinite I can get a film pass for $70 (versus the $400 badge that gets you into films + panels).

Plus, there will be tons of free informal music shows at bars around town. All the staff at the magazine is incredibly excited; we're going to try to get all our work done the week before so that we can attend everything we possibly can. 

Basically, this rocks.

Have you heard about The September Issue?

Every year, Vogue puts out an issue in September that's even thicker and more fashion-filled than all the others; the September 2007 issue boasted the most pages to date.  Filmmaker R.J. Cutler wanted to document all the effort that went into pumping this issue out--the phone calls, the photo shoots, the substitutions, the models, the clothes (they conveniently left out the part about the poor saps like me who have to design and lay out the page spreads, but hey, I guess that's not important).

But more than that, Cutler wanted to see if he could catch big bad Anna Wintour being, well, herself, on film. If you're not familiar with Wintour, she's probably THE most feared editor in the publishing industry. She's touted as a cutthroat, ball-busting despot of a boss, who rules not only her staff but the entire fashion world--and all its designers--with an iron fist.  If you've seen or read The Devil Wears Prada, Meryl Streep's character (Miranda Priestly) was based off of Anna Wintour. The book itself was written by a former intern for Vogue.

Since I was expecting something extreme, she actually didn't seem too bad in this documentary (in fact, a lot of the film centers around her brilliant but undervalued creative director, Grace Coddington). But the fact that she allowed herself to be filmed is momentous; Cutler is the only one she's ever allowed to document her and her staff while working on the magazine.  The motivation behind Wintour breaking her silence isn't clear (since she's rumored to not care at all about how she's perceived), but the film is great, nonetheless.

I saw the movie a few weeks ago with my magazine's art director and editor, and we all really enjoyed it. I think a lot of fashionistas will want to see the film for an inside look at fashion, but to be honest it's more about the process (and the chaos when the process falters) of throwing together a monthly magazine--something we were definitely able to relate to.  Even if people were uninterested in either subject, I think it's inevitable that they'd get sucked into the film by the human drama that's involved: the manipulation, the power plays, the frustration, and the sheer gall of some of the characters.

If you want to see The September Issue, you'll probably have to go to an independent or art theater unless you live in a big city (see where it's playing on the website). But check it out. It's worth it.

SIDE NOTE:  I checked the availability of the issue that was featured in the film (September 2007, Sienna Miller on the cover). E-bay had several copies up for sale...for around 100 bucks.

I know, I know, sorry for the third movie post in a row, but I keep forgetting to put this up and I'm pretty excited about it. 

Yeah, I left my Advertising roots behind for the time being (I got my B.A. in Advertising but decided before graduating that I was more interested in design), but it still fascinates me. The psychology, the art, and the pure luck involved in the Ad world is definitely worth making a non-fiction movie about. So they finally did.

The film was directed by Doug Pray, a guy who's also made documentaries about graffiti artists, hip-hop DJs, semi truck drivers, and the Seattle grunge music scene (all of which I now really want to check out!).

Here's the trailer for Art & Copy:

 

 

And here's hoping it'll give people a more realistic idea than Mad Men.

 

Missed the beginning of True Blood, but it's being recorded...have to wait until it's done before watching it. So to kill some time, I want to announce that Inglourious Basterds is freakin' amazing.

If you love Tarantino, if you hate Nazis, if you want to see Brad Pitt as a redneck, if you like to laugh and be totally grossed out by B-movie gore at the same time, see it! There were a lot of really great supporting characters, especially Austrian-born Christoph Waltz as a smarmy-yet-deadly Nazi Colonel and French actress Melanie Laurent as an escaped Jewish survivor with a taste for revenge. I won't ruin all the surprise cameos, but see if you can spot a minor character from Kill Bill: Vol.I (hint: French!) and a guy known for his role as a terrible British spy...

The "Basterds" themselves had a few familiar faces among their ranks, too: B.J. Novak (Ryan from The Office), Omar Doom (Butterfly's makeout partner in Death Proof), Michael Bacall (one of the guys from the bar scene in Death Proof, and, if you're nerdy enough, Perry from Free Willy), Samm Levine (annoying kid who makes fun of Putman in Broken Lizard's Club Dread), and Eli Roth (director of Hostel, also appeared in Death Proof--lovvve!).

In other news, we did pub trivia at Opal Divine's Marina last night (see Geeks Who Drink if you're thinking 'wtf')...it was a lot harder this time. Instead of 90's songs and commercial jingles for the audio rounds, it was Country music and Punk music (nothing remotely current--I'm talking '70's Brit-punk that no one had heard of. One team put down The Ramones for everything, which I thought was a fair strategy). And since we were in Texas but not FROM Texas, we were at quite a disadvantage with the Country... 

The round we did the best on was "Fashion and Fascism." Sad.  Hoping next week will be 80's music or "dirrty" rap from the year 2005. You can suggest categories for the different rounds, so we're thinking of voting for a When Harry Met Sally theme. Seriously, my mom and I would KILL that.  And hey, they did a whole round on a Jefferson Starship song, so why the hell not?

I hope everyone in Tixiss got a chance to go shopping this weekend (everything was tax free all weekend for back-to-school shopping). Brittnee and I went out today and made some nice finds, thanksverymuch.

Okay, now I'm gonna' go watch True Blood.  

 

Hey, remember how great Paris, Je T'aime was?  If you haven't seen it, do so immediately.

The same producers have now teamed up with a multitude of brilliant directors and actors to create a New York version. 

 

New York, I Love You will feature 12 separately-directed vignettes about different forms of love in the Big Apple. 

check out the trailer:

 

i'm excited!