“Where’s the Horizon?!!!” When 15-year-old Steven Spielberg Met John Ford
It’s a story with something of the complexity (and wit) of a Zen koan. Listen to Steven Spielberg recount his childhood meeting with his lifelong hero John Ford. It’s one of the best stories of any kind you’ll ever hear, and if you love Ford, you’ll cherish this story. It’s a moment of tremendous film-historical […]
Please Be Silent: Archival Photos of Silent Screen Performers & Directors
Recently we scanned some silent photos from our library here at the Austin Film Society. Here are some gems from the collection. Clockwise from seated: Josef von Sternberg, Maximilian Fabian, Conrad Nagel, Matthew Betz, Renee Adoree Lillian Gish, circa WAY DOWN EAST (1920) Lillian & Dorothy Gish in ORPHANS OF THE STORM (1921) Clarence […]
These Mysterious, Privately-Produced Diana Rigg Short Films Are Crazy
Dame Diana Rigg is a great actress who has been thrilling audiences for a long time, from her beginnings on the stage through her run on the silly but fun AVENGERS TV series and on through her many excellent performances and now on GAME OF THRONES. In THE AVENGERS she played no-nonsense genius secret agent […]
Selected Shorts: Todd Rohal Presents More Madness from Matthew Silver
Portrait of the artist as a madman Last month, filmmaker Todd Rohal shared the impossible-to-mentally-or-spiritually-digest short SMASHIN’ IT UP with us. As soon as we were out of traction and were peering cautiously out the front door, Rohal threw this at us – another masterpiece of “I no know” called MOTHER & SON, made by […]
Watch this Great Austin-made Horror Short From 1964
The Texas Archive Of The Moving Image was founded in 2002 by the University Of Texas Professor Dr. Caroline Frick with the intention of preserving, archive and educate the public about Texas film. TAMI has rescued hundreds of hours of film from basements, school warehouses & elsewhere. Along the way they have uncovered some special treasures. […]
Jack Benny’s Comic Legacy is Alive & … Well!
To those of you who are fortunate enough to be in Austin on Monday December 8, don’t miss the free-for-all History Of Television show. We do these every other month and this month we pay a long overdue tribute to a man who, pretty much more than anybody else, created the sitcom as we know […]
Happy 90th Birthday to Illustrator Jack Davis
Jack Davis’ caricature style is instantly recognizable. He has been a highly prolific illustrator for most of his 90 years. He has done EC horror comics, Mad Magazine, many magazine covers and also some pretty significant movie posters. Enjoy this small gallery of some of Jack Davis’ poster work.
Watch Maya Deren’s Unfinished 1943 Occult Movie
Maya Deren was an experimental filmmaker probably best known for her dreamlike first film MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON and the unforgettable documentary DIVINE HORSEMEN: THE LIVING GODS OF HAITI. Here are the shots taken for an unfinished film called WITCH’S CRADLE (1943). The silence, repetition of takes, and slates between shots add an element of […]
We’re Thankful for A/V Geeks: Here are 5 Reasons Why
I saw my first A/V Geeks show in the rec room of a Durham church in 1992 or so. Skip Elsheimer had two projectors and was overlaying the two images on one screen as I recall. It was an interesting experiment and Skip was even more interesting to talk to. It turned out that the […]
Selected Shorts: Louis Black Presents THE SUNSHINE MAKERS
Austin Chronicle editor (and AFS founding board member) Louis Black contributed a pretty special Selected Short a few weeks back, so we asked him for another and he obliged with this jaunty little number.Here’s Louis:This 1935 commercial for Borden’s Milk is the only really interesting film I’ve ever seen from Van Beuren Animation Studios but it […]
Cool Movie Resource: The Spaghetti Western Database
For those who have an interest in the seemingly boundless subject of European Westerns, the Spaghetti Western Database is an invaluable resource. Spaghetti Westerns (or Euro-westerns or Westerns All’Italiana) are among the most interesting subjects of genre film study. The sociological and artistic climate which produced these often violent, often poetic films is mirrored in the […]
AFS Viewfinders Podcast Episode 1: Jerry Lewis: Total Filmmaker with Special Guest Bryan Connolly
This week we sat down with “Destroy All Movies” author and Jerry Lewis Club founder Bryan Connolly to talk about the phenomenon of Jerry Lewis, the many modes of Jerry (Malfunctioning Jerry, anyone?) and the peculiar directorial style of Jerry Lewis. Then we get into who the present and future hope for screen comedy might […]
