Beyond the Rocks
I thought that listing all the movie-related events in Austin for the next week would be easy. After all, it's post-Thanksgiving recuperation, everyone's watching football or shopping, it's bound to be an off week. And I'm all full of Thanksgiving turkey and tacos, so I'm moving a little more slowly today and would have appreciated the slow week.

However, Austin is hopping this week, film-wise. It's a very good week for free movies, especially. Free is great when you're trying to budget for holiday gift shopping. Once I'm finished digesting all this Thanksgiving bounty I'm sure I'll be grateful.

  • The Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) is holding its annual international conference in Austin next week. This means free movies for all of us! Info on all the public events is available on the Austin Film Society site. The most notable offering is Beyond the Rocks, the 1922 film starring Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino, which was rediscovered and restored a few years ago. I didn't think we'd ever get to see this movie in Austin, but it's screening for free at the Paramount on Thursday, Dec. 1. Archivists involved in the restoration will be on hand to explain the process.
  • Other AMIA-affiliated free screenings will take place all day long at the Paramount on Dec. 1: Overlord, an obscure 1975 British film about WW2, and a collection of restored 70mm clips.
  • But wait, there's more: AMIA and Austin Film Society are co-sponsoring "Reels of Steel: 2005 Texas Showdown", in which film archivists compete by showing collections of obscure and bizarre films designed to captivate the audience. The event takes place on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown; visit the Alamo site to buy tickets in advance or to register to compete.
  • Austin Film Society is starting the film series "Hollywood Detour: The Independent Mind of Edgar G. Ulmer" this week, on Tuesday nights through December. The Nov. 29 screenings begin with a documentary about the B-movie director, The Man Off-Screen, followed by a Q&A with Ulmer's daughter, Arianne Ulmer Cipes. The Man from Planet X, Ulmer's 1951 film about alien invasion, will screen later that evening. I've never seen any of Ulmer's films, not even The Black Cat, so I'm looking forward to attending some of these screenings.
  • SXSW and Austin Film Society are co-sponsoring a special preview screening of Brokeback Mountain on Tuesday, Dec. 13 at Arbor Great Hills, with screenwriters Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana in attendance. This event is a fundraiser for the Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund. Tickets go on sale this Monday, Nov. 28 on the AFS site, and I bet they sell out quickly.
  • Another benefit: cicadas, local filmmaker Kat Candler's first film, will screen on Saturday, Dec. 3 at Alamo South Lamar. Proceeds will help fund post-production costs for Candler's latest film, jumping off bridges. Candler will hold a Q&A and also show some clips from jumping off bridges. 
  • The Austin Chronicle is giving away passes for sneak preview screenings of Syriana and Brokeback Mountain, as well as passes for an IMAX screening of The Polar Express. Visit their contest page for details.
  • Did anyone else grow up watching those silly Disney movies in which a very young Kurt Russell always had something bizarre happen to him, so he became super-smart or super-strong or super-Elvis? (Okay, the Elvis thing happened much later.) You can refresh your memory on Saturday, Nov. 26 at the Alamo South Lamar's Saturday Morning Film Club, where this month's selection is that 1975 classic The Strongest Man in the World. Free admission.
  • Alamo Downtown has decided it's time for another sing-along. This time it's Moulin Rouge, which ought to be great fun to try to keep up with. You can join the sing-along on Sunday nights: Nov. 27, Dec. 4, and Dec. 11.
  • I never realized our state's apples were so extraordinary as to merit their own documentary, but it seems to be so. Texas Apples will screen on Sunday, Nov. 27 at Alamo Downtown. The event is sponsored by the Texas Fruit Growers Association (surprise) and yes, they will provide apples and cider to accompany the film.
  • Ever seen the 1973 French animated film Fantastic Planet with live music accompaniment? I thought not. Now's your chance: Alamo Downtown is showing the movie on Thursday, Dec. 1 with a score performed live by Neil Michael Hagerty and the Howling Hex. Because it wasn't quite surreal enough on its own, right? Wow.