





Thursdays, 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Host: Robert Sims
A fun and informative look at what's happening locally and nationally in film, including interviews with area and Hollywood filmmakers and industry figures such as festival programmers, authors, and other behind-the-scenes people. Also featuring an events roundup, reviews, news, and analysis.
Robert Sims has written for Hollywood.com, Miami New Times, the Palm Beach Daily News, Shock Till You Drop, Total Film Magazine, and What's On in London.
Email: lightscameraaustin@koop.org
Web site: lightscameraaustin.net
Twitter: @lightscameraaus
Lights Camera Austin and KOOP 91.7 FM has 25 passes, each good for 2 people, to see the new Danny Boyle thriller "Trance." Passes may be used Monday through Thursday, beginning April 15, at any Austin-area Regal Theatre showing "Trance."
Email lightscameraaustin@koop.org to request a pass. You must pick up your pass from KOOP Radio, 3823 Airport Blvd, Suite B Austin, during regular business hours.
Passes will be available after 3 p.m. Thursday, April 9.
Academy Award® winning director Danny Boyle crafts a wildly twisting mind puzzle exploringidentity, madness and perception via the altered state of hypnotic trance. Between the razor-thin lines of our dreams, desires and darkest impulses, our everyday realities vanish, leaving only the question of who or what can be trusted.
In "Trance," Simon (James McAvoy), a fine art auctioneer, teams up with a criminal gang to steal a Goya painting worth millions of dollars. After suffering a blow to the head during the heist, he awakens to discover he has no memory of where he hid the painting. When physical threats and torture fail to produce answers, the gang’s leader Franck (Vincent Cassel) hireshypnotherapist Elizabeth Lamb (Rosario Dawson) to delve into the darkest recesses of Simon’s psyche. As Elizabeth begins to unravel Simon’s broken subconscious, the line between truth, suggestion, and deceit begin to blur.
"Trance" opens Friday, April 12 in Austin. More information is available at http://www.trancethemovie.com/
Email lightscameraaustin@koop.org to receive your epass, good for 2, to see the new comedy Starbuck at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 9 at the Regal Arbor 8.
Here is the guest list for Lights Camera Austin's SXSW Film Festival 2013 preview coverage:
Feb. 21, 2013
SXSW Film Festival producer Janet Pierson
A Teacher director Hannah Fidell
Feb. 28, 2013
Loves Her Gun director Geoff Marslett and co-writer Lauren Modery
Pit Stop director Yen Tan
Before You Know It director PJ Ravel
March 4, 2013
The Retreival director Chris Eska
All the Labor director Doug Hawes-Davis
Prince Avalanche co-producer Berndt Mader
Rewind This! director Josh Johnson
March 7, 2013
Wiley Wiggins, Computer Chess
Grow Up, Tony Phillips director Emily Hagins
Zero Charisma co-director Katie Graham and writer/co-director Andrew Matthews
March 14, 2013
The Bounceback director Bryan Poyser
Good Night director Sean Gallagher
Note: Lights Camera Austin host Robert Sims serves as vice president of the Austin Film Critics Association.
December 18, 2012 (Austin, TX) – The Austin Film Critics Association announced its 2012 awards today, naming Zero Dark Thirty as Best Film. The drama about the search for Osama bin Laden also led the group's Top Ten list. AFCA named director Kathryn Bigelow's previous film, The Hurt Locker, Best Film in 2009.
The Master took home three AFCA awards this year. Paul Thomas Anderson was named Best Director, Joaquin Phoenix won Best Actor, and Mihai Malaimare, Jr. was honored with Best Cinematography. Anderson previously won the AFCA Best Director award in 2007 for There Will Be Blood.
The magical-realism film Beasts of the Southern Wild also won multiple awards. Best First Film went to director Benh Zeitlin, and young star Quvenzhané Wallis was awarded the Robert R. "Bobby" McCurdy Memorial Breakthrough Artist Award.
AFCA also decided to recognize actor and Austin native Matthew McConaughey with a Special Honorary Award, in light of his strong performances this year in four films: Bernie, Killer Joe, Magic Mike, and The Paperboy.
The dark comedy Bernie, directed by Austin filmmaker Richard Linklater, was named Best Austin Film. Linklater won Best Austin Film twice before: for Me and Orson Welles in 2009, and for A Scanner Darkly in 2006.
Looper, the time-travel drama written and directed by Rian Johnson, was named Best Original Screenplay, while Chris Terrio's script for Argo took home Best Adapted Screenplay.
Jennifer Lawrence was named Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook. Best Supporting Actor went to Christoph Waltz for his role in Quentin Tarantino's action/Western Django Unchained. Waltz previously won the award in 2009 for Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. Anne Hathaway won Best Supporting Actress for her role in the musical Les Misérables. She won the AFCA Best Actress award in 2008 for Rachel Getting Married.
AFCA members chose Holy Motors, from French filmmaker Leos Carax, as Best Foreign Language Film. Best Animated Film went to Disney's Wreck-It Ralph, and the suspenseful The Imposter was named Best Documentary.
The full list of winners, plus the AFCA Top Ten Films of 2012 list, is detailed below. You can also find details at the AFCA website, www.austinfilmcritics.org.
The Austin Film Critics Association is a group dedicated to supporting the best in film, whether at the international, national, or local level. AFCA members contribute to publications and outlets as diverse as Ain't It Cool News, the Austin American-Statesman, the Austin Chronicle, DVDActive, Film.com, Film School Rejects, KOOP Radio, MSN Movies, Movies.com, ScreenCrush, Slackerwood, Smells Like Screen Spirit, Spill.com, Twitch, and YNN Austin, among others.
Best Film: Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow)
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
Best Original Screenplay: Rian Johnson, Looper
Best Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio, Argo
Best Cinematography: Mihai Malaimare, Jr., The Master
Best Score: Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek, and Tom Tykwer, Cloud Atlas
Best Foreign Language Film: Holy Motors (Leos Carax)
Best Documentary: The Imposter (Bart Layton)
Best Animated Film: Wreck-It Ralph (Rich Moore)
Best First Film: Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin)
Best Austin Film: Bernie (Richard Linklater)
Robert R. "Bobby" McCurdy Memorial Breakthrough Artist Award:
Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Special Honorary Award: Matthew McConaughey, for his exceptional work in four films this year (Bernie, Killer Joe, Magic Mike, and The Paperboy)
AFCA 2012 Top Ten Films:
1. Zero Dark Thirty
2. Argo
3. Moonrise Kingdom
4. Django Unchained
5. Cloud Atlas
6. Holy Motors
7. Beasts of the Southern Wild
8. The Master
9. Silver Linings Playbook
10. Looper
Lights, Camera, Austin talks with former Friday Night Lights star Zach Gilford about his new film, In Our Nature, which opens Friday. Alamo Drafthouse programmer and Trailer War curator Lars Nilsen discusses the compilation of coming attractions for vintage genre films, which is available Dec. 18 on DVD. The Collection director Marcus Dunstan and screenwriter Patrick Melton talk about the sequel to 2009's The Collector. Also, host Robert Sims reviews The Hobbit. Thursday, 12/13, 2-3 p.m.
Lights, Camera, Austin talks with director Mark Potts about the Austin-made workplace comedy Cinema Six, which will screen Friday at the Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive-In. Also, director John Hyams discusses Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, which reunites Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. Shot in 3-D, this fourth entry in the Universal Soldier franchise opens Friday after debuting at Fantastic Fest. Finally, host Robert Sims reviews Killing Them Softly. Thursday, 11/29, 2-3 p.m.
Lights Camera Austin talks with director James Christopher about his locally shot thriller Abram's Hand, which is now on DVD. Director Scooter Downey and actor/writer Sean Elliot discuss their Austin-made chiller It's In the Blood, which stars Lance Henriksen and is now available on VOD. Plus host Robert Sims reviews The Sessions and Smashed. Thursday, 11/8, 2-3 p.m.
Lights Camera Austin talks with director Maria Sadowska and actress Katarzyna Kwiatkowska about Women's Day, which opens the 7th annual Austin Polish Film Festival (Nov. 1-4). Director Scooter Downey and actor/writer Sean Elliot discuss their locally shot chiller It's In the Blood, which stars Lance Henriksen and is now available on VOD. Writer/director Stephen R. Reynolds talks about his drama Triggered, which screens Nov. 3 at the Alamo South Lamar. Plus host Robert Sims reviews Wreck-It Ralph. Thursday, 11/1, 2-3 p.m.
Lights Camera Austin previews the Austin Film Festival (10/18-10/25) with the directors of four films with local ties: Pictures of Superheroes' Don Swaynos, Last Day at Lambeau's Michael Neelsen, Satellite of Love's Will James Moore, and Flatland 2: Sphereland's Dano Johnson. Thursday, 10/18, 2-3 p.m.
Lights Camera Austin talks with Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival executive director Lindsay Muse and film programming director Curran Nault about this year's AGLIFF, which runs Oct. 3 through Oct. 7. Cinema Touching Disability Film Fest executive director Dennis Borel and Blind Trip director Patrick Zimmerman discuss this year's festival, to be held Sept. 29, Oct. 5, and Oct. 6. Also, Looper director Rian Johnson breakdowns his new sci-fi thriller. Plus film reviews. Thursday, 9/27, 2-3 p.m.
Lights, Camera, Austin host Robert Sims previews Fantastic Fest with Alamo Drafthouse lead programmer Zach Carlson, the producer of the Halloween haunted house-themed documentary The American Scream, and directors Rafael Antonio Ruiz and Jennymarie Jemison of the Austin-made short The Quiet Girl's Guide to Violence. Plus reviews of 2 Days in New York, End of Watch, The Master, and Trouble With the Curve. 9/20, 2-3 p.m.
Lights, Camera, Austin host Robert Sims talks with Fantastic Fest founder Tim League about this year's genre film festival, which runs Sept. 20 through 27. Also, Austin Speech Labs director Neha Gupta and Grow.Share.Prepare. director Max Benitez and producer Kristin Benitez discuss their Lights. Camera. Help. Film Festival entries, which both screen Thursday, Sept. 13. Plus reviews of 2 Days in New York and Flying Swords at Dragon Gate. 9/13, 2-3 p.m.
Lights, Camera, Austin host Robert Sims talks with Elaine Hunt and Patrick Delagdo, the stars of director Emily Hagins' Austin-shot horror comedy My Sucky Teen Romance, which hits DVD and Blu-ray on Sept. 4. The Austin Film Festival film program director Stephen Jannise previews the festival's first 10 announced titles and the screenwriting panels. Plus reviews of The Ambassador and Lawless. Thursday, 8/30, 2-3 p.m.
Lights, Camera, Austin host Robert Sims talks with The Revenant director Kerry Prior about his Fantastic Fest 2009 horror comedy, which opens Aug. 24. The Austin Film Festival film program director Stephen Jannise previews the festival's first 10 announced titles and the screenwriting panels. Alamo Drafthouse programmer Sam Prime discusses the Amazing AlamoScope: 70mm At the Ritz series, which begins Aug. 24 with West Side Story. Plus reviews of Celeste & Jesse Forever, Cosmopolis, and Thunderstruck. Thursday, 8/23, 2-3 p.m.
Lights, Camera, Austin host Robert Sims talks with Austin-based film critic Scott Von Doviak about his new book, If You Like The Terminator..., in advance of his 7 p.m. Aug. 22 BookPeople signing. Also, the Austin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival's Lindsay Muse, Scott Dinger, and Curran Nault discuss AGLFF's 6 p.m. Aug. 18 Big Love party at the Dobie Theater and October's film festival. Plus reviews of The Odd Life of Timothy Green and Take This Waltz. Thursday, 8/16, 2-3 p.m.
Lights, Camera, Austin talks with Chris Ohlson, producer of the Austin-set Thank You a Lot, about scenes that will soon be shot at the KOOP 91.7 studios. The Laredo-raised Thomas Haden Church discusses Killer Joe, director William Friedkin's controversial psychosexual thriller that's now in theaters. Also, director Andrew Disney shares his thoughts on his Fort Worth-shot comedy Searching For Sonny, which will screen 7:30 p.m. Aug. 21 at the Violet Crown Cinema by Screen Door Film and the Austin Film Society. Finally, host Robert Sims reviews The Bourne Legacy, The Campaign, and Goats. Thursday, 8/9, 2-3 p.m.
Lights Camera Austin talks with Austin's Matthew McConaughey and his Killer Joe costars Gina Gershon and Emile Hirsch about director William Friedkin's controversial Texas-set psychosexual thriller, which opens Friday, Aug. 3. Also, Austin director Mark S. Hall discusses his documentary Sushi: The Global Catch, which will screen Wednesday, Aug. 8 at the Alamo South Lamar courtesy of the Austin Film Society. Plus host Robert Sims reviews The Queen of Versailles and Take This Waltz. Thursday, 8/2, 2-3 p.m.
Lights, Camera, Austin talks with Casper Christensen and Frank Hvam), the stars of the raucous Danish comedy Klown that opens July 27 via Austin-based distributor Drafthouse Films. Plus host Robert Sims reviews The Watch and Dark Horse. Thursday, 7/26, 2-3 p.m.
Lights, Camera, Austin talks with Troublemaker Studios vice president and Sin City producer Elizabeth Avellán (right) in advance of her July 22 Austin Film Festival Conversation in Film on her new films When Angels Sings and Blacktino. Also, director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo discusses his horror film Intruders, which premiered at this year's SXSW and will be available July 17 on DVD. Plus host Robert Sims reviews The Dark Knight Rises and Beasts of the Southern Wild. Thursday, 7/19, 2-3 p.m.
Lights Camera Austin has 20 run-of-engagement passes to give to KOOP listeners for Beasts of the Southern Wild, the acclaimed fantasy drama that won big at this year's Sundance and Cannes film festivals.
Each pass is good for two people, and can be used Mondays through Thursdays beginning July 16 at the Regal Arbor 8, 9828 Great Hills Trail, Suite 800.
To receive a pass, email lightscameraaustin@koop.org and include "Beasts Pass" in the subject line. Passes will be distributed to the first 20 listeners who email requests, and are good while supplies last.
Recipients will need to pick up the pass during regular weekday business hours from the KOOP offices, 3823 Airport Blvd, Suite B.
Beasts of the Southern Wild is rated PG-13. Here is the official synopsis:
"In a forgotten but defiant bayou community cut off from the rest of the world by a sprawling levee, a six-year-old girl exists on the brink of orphanhood. Buoyed by her childish optimism and extraordinary imagination, she believes that the natural world is in balance with the universe until a fierce storm changes her reality. Desperate to repair the structure of her world in order to save her ailing father and sinking home, this tiny hero must learn to survive unstoppable catastrophes of epic proportions."
Lights Camera Austin thanks Fox Searchlight for providing the passes to Beasts of the Southern Wild.