The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 229

ARTS BOOKS Sunday, March 28, 1999 L7 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Offbeat films rule at South by Southwest SANDRA BUUOCK BENAFRECK THE MOVIE IN AMERICA "Bullock and Affleck ignite sparks in a smart, a appealing romantic romp" VOiVVVvS. LOS ANGELES TIMES "Unabashedly romantic and MM Chang, NEWSWEEK "Outrageously Jeffrey Lyons, WNBC-TV I FEATURING SOSGSBY; fAIMMDGO jC (OB makes. "EDtv" rolled up its sleeves, gritted its teeth and tried to be off-the-beaten path. However, it was not only following a course piloted last year by "The Truman Show," but one taken in 1979 when Albert Brooks released a movie on the American obsession with media and fame called "Real Life." (It, incidentally, was co-written by one of "EDtv's" players, Harry Shearer.) Though there were a few features that have been wrapped up for distribution, like the upcoming "Go," from "Swingers" director Doug Liman, and "A Walk on the Moon," most of the films were made to be explored by an audience looking for something not quite so major-release-ready. It's the great thing, and the bane, of most film festivals.

You have to rush out and catch everything that sounds interesting, because odds are, these movies may never run outside the festival circuit. SXSW is proving itself to be one of those festivals worth pursuing. ble shorts focused on show biz, such as "Script Doctor," a comedy about script rewrite teams that was staged like an episode of "ER." "Music Supervisors" was a brief, bitter and amusing look at the scamming and humiliation endured by people who put together the songs for movies. Best of all the shorts was probably "Mutiny," a deadpan comedy about a squabbling, white-boy slacker jazz band. No other short, and very few other feature films for that matter, create such a convincing and hilariously real glimpse into a world in brief strokes.

"More," a gorgeously animated Claymation short that was an Oscar nominee, also picked up an award. SXSW ended with a premiere screening of "EDtv," the new Ron Howard-directed comedy starring Matthew McConaughey as an amiable slacker goof who becomes a TV star when he allows a camera crew into his life to document every move he FORCES OFNARJRE the career, and span of influence, of one of baseball's few Jewish stars. And there was Jonathan Berman's "My Friend Paul," a fascinating short documentary about the filmmaker's relationship with a talented, rebellious boyhood friend who broke out of their middle-class existence and became a bank robber. The much smoother, but equally gripping "Return With Honor" by longtime documentar-ian Freida Lee Mock told the story of American POWs and their time of imprisonment in Vietnam. "Return" was most horrifying as the soldiers discussed having their illusions of invincibility dissipate under torture.

Following in the wake of "Sex: The Annabel Chong Story," the controversial documentary about the porn actresscollege student that also played at Sundance, was "Wadd: The Life and Times of John Holmes," a crude but watchable feature on the 70s porn star whose life was distilled into Mark Wahlberg's Dirk Dig-gler character in the drama "Boogie Nights." "Wadd" probably provoked the most animated conversations between men and women after it played. It also won the SXSW jury prize in documentaries. The shorts field was as strong as the documentary category. Another Sundance favorite, "Culture," an ironically titled one-minute short, won a jury prize, too. A number of the nota www.Hflurn.comlercMelnalun AOL Keyword: Forest if lalnre iPG-13 MKNTSSTpeurcwrratiEDw DCSTBBintO OBEAMWOBKS OKTSIBUTION LLC.

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Si Mount vimonHwy 4S38 Jonobox Rd. il I 770-814-8437 770-623-1120 404-872-6100 770-663-0770 770-48I-035S By Elvis Mitchell KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS i Austin, Texas If the Sundance Film Festival can be thought of as featuring earnest, well-meaning dramas that seek to improve the human condition, the films at South by Southwest are more in tune with a party here at which the entertainment was midgets, clowns and circus 1 freaks. "Yeah, this is South by Southwest, all right," one of the attendees said. The fare here is more unusual than you normally see at the multiplex, as the titles make more than clear: "Dill Scallion, Dead Pet, Frozen Hot" and "There's No Fish Food in Heaven." Eager audience members conduct ad-hoc seminars with the filmmakers in theater lobbies right after catching their work. (At least one person was heard complaining, "Do they pick up all of Sundance's rejects here?" Several movies had played at Sun-darjce in January, such as "A Slipping Down Life," which was filmed in Austin; "Happy, Texas," bought by Miramax in a bidding war; and "Drylongso," made by a UCLA student.) A few movies leaked the milk of humanity all over the serf ening-room floor, but even feature "The Book of Stars" was about a genius hooker (Mary Stuart iMasterson) trying to care for hersuffering little sister.

So you could safely say that the melodrama, too, made an effort to be different. There was lots of good stuff. "A Day in Black and White" was a socjal comedy satirizing and examining the never-quite-healed wounds of race in this country. It erred a bit on the side of didacticism, not trusting the acuity of the Junior to get its points across. Actressdirector Meredith Scott Lynn most recently, the woman who busts Ben Affleck in "Forces of Nature" submitted theienergetic comedy of marginal show biz called "Standing on Fishes," which she also co-wrote.

She seems to have a gift for characterizing people who get balled up In their thoughts and feelings buthave to confess exactly what's going on in their heads at all timfcs. The funky ambience of SXW and Austin is the perfect place for character comedy. This year, though, the documentary features got more attention: One of the big buzz films of SXSW was "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg," following If you want to see what's ahead in metro Atlanta, keep your eye on Horizon. J' ills STARTS FRIDAY. APRIL The, 2835 Peachtree Rd 404.266.2202 To subscribe, CQII404-S22-4I4I.

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