and the winners are… actually, i really don't abide by the "great man" theory of saying this is the best at that or this or that. i do want o list this imaginary top 5 that i have been ranting and raving about. they are all equals, so pay no attention to their order. like i said before, it really depends on what day of the week you ask me and what i had for dinner the night before as to what film is my favorite from sxsw. and the only reason i do not feel guilty making this list is that i just finished the book high fidelity that is just top 5 and 10 lists for everything given by the characters of the book which really works well with the story (but this is not a book review, nor a music web page, the book is about avid music lovers- a very quick broad synopsis). so here is my list for the record books:
dancer, texas pop. 81
six string samuari
scrapple
little shots of happiness
pigeon egg strategy
but like i have said a million times, the entire festival blew me away. how many times did i use surprise, great, phenomenal, etc,? so many i cannot even keep track. i know this will have an effect on how seriously you take my reviews, but none of these films deserved any negative comments. they were all great, some in different ways than others. and to put these newcomers up against john sayles, michael moore, the demme's and linklater is tough. but most of them fought the battle, and some even came out ahead, notice none of the big guns are on my list. what does that say about independent cinema today.
austin has to be the most amazing american city, and a fitting place for a festival this great. maybe next year i will be living in austin, hopefully making some films, maybe still writing for this web page with harry, maybe working with some other filmmakers in the area (there seems to be enough of them). to me, right now, austin seems to be to filmamkers what san francisco was to the beat generation (does that sentence make sense? hopefully you know what i mean).
well i will be writing again soon. and hopefully harry will print it. he does not know how much it means to me to be on a web page like this. thanks harry. and to all you loyal readers of my ramblings it is now time to "fly away little butterfly…fly away." -vertov
