Reel World

\ Feb 10, 2005

3 min read

Cast Me!—Warner Brothers is combing our fair state for extras and stand-ins for its new drama (formerly titled Class Action) starring Charlize Theron, Sissy Spacek, Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson and Sean Bean. The film, directed by Niki Caro (Whale Rider), will be filmed in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Vegas from March 21 to April 29. Casting will take place on Saturday, Feb. 12, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Garson Studios/Stage A on the College of Santa Fe campus (1600 St. Michael's Drive). Casting directors are looking for Anglo males and females ages 18-60. Photos and resumes are welcome. Remember me when you make it big.

Reel World

Early Birds to Austin—Indie film fans take note: Feb. 11 is the last date to register early for the South By Southwest Festival in Austin and still get the early bird discount.

Sure, you can go to the music festival (March 16-20) and hang out with all the hipsters who actually know who Damon & Naomi are (thank you very much, Gwyneth); but, me, I'm going for the Film Conference and Festival (March 11-19). It's not as big an “industry” film festival as Sundance and it's not quite as cram-packed as SXSW's infamous music portion (although last year's premiere of Hellboy by local fave Guillermo Del Toro was as big a movie madhouse as I've ever seen).

The lineup is still being finalized, but it looks like Todd Solondz (Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness) will be among the guests of honor and will be unveiling his provocative new movie Palindromes. Among the films I'm looking forward to checking out at this year's fest are Drop Dead Sexy (a heist flick starring the likes of Jason Lee and Crispin Glover), Jesus is Magic (a concert film from comedienne Sarah Silverman), Unleashed (the new martial arts flick starring Jet Li, Morgan Freeman and Bob Hoskins) and The Wendell Baker Story (written by, directed by and starring Luke, Owen and Andrew Wilson).

If you wanna look into heading out to this year's SXSW Film Conference and Festival, log on to www.SXSW.com for complete info. Remember, you've got until Friday to get those cheap(er) discount passes.

Reel World

Play It Again—In case you missed it in this week's “Lucky 7” listing, the Big Screen Classics series at the Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe is getting all mushy on us. In a special Valentine's Day (night?) screening, the Lensic will feature the 1942 Humphrey Bogart/Ingrid Bergman classic Casablanca. The screening gets underway at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 14, and will set you back a mere $5 per ticket. (Perfect for you cheap daters.) Tickets are available at the box office (211 W. San Francisco), online at www.tickets.com or by calling (505) 988-1234.