SXSW - South by Southwest Music & Film Festival

The doc "Second Skin" explores the world of MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) games, and the people who's personal relationships have all but been enveloped into World of Warcraft, Everquest, etc. 

The filmmakers have started to vlog their SXSW experience.  Much like online gaming, instead of actually attending the fest, you can watch these:

Karina @ SpoutBlog has a short interview with actress Greta Gerwig, star of the Duplass' Bros. "Baghead" and colaborator with Joe Swanberg on "Nights and Weekends," debuting at SXSW.  What is she excited about re: the upcoming fest?

I’m all about the delicious free food they serve at SXSW. In 2006, my first year, there was an an event that served Atomic Tacos. There were three options of taco spiciness: mild, medium, and atomic. Because I live in New York, I think I’m really hard, so I decided to go for the atomic strength. I started crying in thirty seconds. By two minutes, I had to throw up. Tragedy + Time = Comedy. Isn’t that what they say?

Here's the "Nights and Weekends" trailer:

ZZ Top, Mike Judge, and Morgan Fairchild will be honored at the Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards in Austin on March 7.  Dan Rather will emcee the evening, which coincides with the opening night of SXSW.  Dallas native Luke Wilson will present the award to ZZ Top trio, Billy F. Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard, who were also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 as "Texas's foremost cultural ambassadors."

Continuing their tradition of honoring films shot in the state, Debra Winger will accept the award for the 1980 honky tonker "Urban Cowboy," shot at the famed Gilley's Club in Pasadena, Texas.  Previous film honorees include the Archer City-set "The Last Picture Show" and "Giant," shot in Marfa, TX. 

The Texas Hall of Fame Awards is a fundraising event for the Austin Film Society.  Under the artistic direction of Richard Linklater, the org puts on regular screenings throughout Austin, distributes funds to through its Texas Filmmakers' Production Grants, and runs the Austin Studios which is currently hosting the shooting of "Will," Walden Media's high school comedy starring Vanessa Hudgens ("High School Musical").

Panel updates from SXSW put Cuban next to Eisner:

HDNet co-founder and media mogul, Mark Cuban, is confirmed to interview fellow mogul Michael Eisner during a “Conversation with Michael Eisner” on Tuesday, March 11. In addition, acclaimed journalist Elvis Mitchell is scheduled to moderate our “Conversation with Billy Bob Thornton."

Ain’t It Cool News founder and chief Harry Knowles will moderate the “Conversation with Harlan Ellison” on Sunday, March 9.

Perhaps the highest form of flattery for a festival is to have its own angry spinoff.  As Sundance has Slamdance, SXSW has SouthSlam. 

Yet we wondered what festival in their right mind would accept and screen every film submitted to them. 

A closer investigation reveals a not-so-hidden agenda -- namely a logo (pictured) that we've dissected as representing some sort of Irish-crested, Palm-winning organization that's certainly targeting world domination.  And they've harnessed some kind of unnatural blue lightning.  Are they are building an army of unwatchable films? 

Lord help us all.