My Austin FIlm Festival, Part 3

Yesterday we attended the awards lunch. Our table mates included an older woman and a very young man who were (1) vegetarians; and (2) had been semi-finalists in the competition apparently. (They didn't appear to know one another.) Another guy (mid range in age...40?) was also a semi-finalist, apparently, and had written a book for children about screenwriting which he was promoting to Tom Skerritt who sat by me after mid-range age guy had rejected sitting there saying the view was blocked. He switched around by Tom when he showed up. Lastly, the table contained a couple who said they were guests and who apparently knew someone who was in the competition. After the man said he was a 'financial and estate planner' and had 3000 clients who'd 'never lost a penny,' we carefully avoided conversation with them. The rest of the seats at the table were empty (two or three). We enjoyed hearing about Danny Boyle and Gregg Daniels and seeing the reels about their careers. Lots of the competition winners weren't present to accept their awards. A sign of the economy, I suppose.

We decided to go home and do some chores (financial, not cleaning house which I do need to do) and then try to do a double feature at two different venues.

We queued up at the Paramount to see "Adam Resurrected." This movie was riveting and yet hard to watch. Only fantasy and looking away, the clown magician's sleight of hand, can really capture things like the Holocaust. Jeff Goldblum was incredible as were all the actors. Isn't it interesting that the only way we can get ourselves to look at some things is fleetingly in a misty haze with damaged people made endearing. "The Tin Drum" comes to mind in this vein.

We hustled south, peeking in bar windows to see the Horns running over the Missouri team in the first half of the football game that was going on at the University. We scooted across the lake to the Rollins Theater at Long Center. While waiting for the movie in Rollins, we saw people who were attending the Anton Nel concert with the Austin Symphony. We saw "I'll Come Running" and Spencer Parsons, the director, was there to answer questions. This tragi-comedy indie had much to like. We enjoyed the Austin scenes and the movie really dug into all the relationships people develop and how circumstances push us together and apart, in this case across the ocean to Denmark. (The Denmark scenes were cool, too.) I liked it while watching it and after but it grew on me even more today.

We ended the evening flying through the recording of the Longhorn game. I went out on the balcony to look at the tower to make sure Missouri didn't make a miracle comeback and then lost interest. But, yeah, we were up late. But it didn't keep us from getting up this morning and walking down to South First to El Mercado for a Mexican breakfast.