When I was telling people that I was excited to see Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, everyone looked at me like I was fucking nuts. “That animated owl movie?! Really?” Sure, a 3D animated film about owl battles sounds ridiculous, but the trailers made the film look like a beautiful epic almost akin to Lord of the Rings but, you know, with owls. While the film occasionally feels slightly sluggish and doesn’t quite live up to its aesthetic beauty, Legends of the Guardians is indeed a beautiful epic.

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The 17th annual Austin Film Festival & Conference, the premiere film festival recognizing writers’ and filmmakers’ contributions to film, television and new media, announced today the full feature-length film lineup with the exception of Opening, Centerpiece and Closing night films, which will be announced soon. Also, this year’s short film lineup is available now on the Austin Film Festival website. AFF will run October 21-28, 2010 in Austin, TX.  

This year’s lineup includes independent and bigger budget films as well as over 60 feature world, U.S., and regional premieres in many genres including drama, comedy, horror, documentary and more. Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours, along with Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, Meek’s Cutoff, and Every Day are all among this year’s regional premieres. Many world premieres including Main Street, Bloodworth, A Savior Red and Exporting Raymond are scheduled to screen this year as well as U.S. premieres like Peep World, Raging Boll and others. Also included are several outstanding local Austin titles like Paradise Recovered and Ultimate Guide to Flight.   

Along with more than 170 exciting film screenings and events, AFF will include a recently announced conference lineup with over 100 panelists participating in 90 plus panels and roundtable discussions.

The conference offers unparalleled access to some of the best writers, filmmakers and industry personnel in film and television in a personal, laid back atmosphere. For the full conference schedule, go to www.austinfilmfestival.com. 

The Town, which is directed by what the trailers call “the acclaimed director of Gone Baby Gone, is being hailed as the next The Departed. Although The Town has much in common with the Academy Award-winning Martin Scorsesee film, such as Boston accents, violent crime, and potentially ill-advised romances, the Ben Affleck directed flick opening this weekend is missing a couple key components that made The Departed a truly exceptional film: tension and emotional core. While The Town is a great movie, there is still that wish that it could have been better.

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While watching Going the Distance, I was having a good time. The movie made me laugh, the two leads were cute, and the movie was entirely enjoyable. However, once I left the theater, I started to think more about the flick and decided that perhaps it wasn’t greater than the sum of its parts. The problem is that Going the Distance doesn’t know what TYPE of movie it wants to be. Is it a rom-com for ‘tween girls who love Drew Barrymore? Is it a foul-mouthed Apatow-esque buddy comedy? Or is it a quirky and hip love story a la (500) Days of Summer?

It has NO clue. And while I enjoy everyone involved with this film, including the greatly underappreciated Justin Long, Barrymore, Charlie Day, Christina Applegate, and Jason Sudeikis, the movie isn’t necessarily one that will grab your attention past getting up from your theater seat. But, in a summer of pretty terrible movies, Going the Distance is a welcome diversion with some well-earned yuks.

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