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From Director Matt Dunnerstick comes an award-winning tale of love, lowriders and the cloning of Christ, The Custom Mary available now on DVD, Digital Download and VOD from H770 Films. To start the weekend off right Wamg has decided to give away The Custom Mary to a few lucky readers on DVD. So, what are you waiting for? Enter the contest!

This different kind of L.A. story features newcomers Alicia Marie Sixtos (The Avengers, Quinceañera) as a benevolent young Mary navigating her way in a dream-like state through this modern age, and James Jolly (The Scenesters) as Joe, who reluctantly supports her on a tumultuous journey of piety and doubt.

This counter-culture romance seamlessly blends fantastical allegory and philosophical musings with the harsh reality of how many Americans live today. Featuring breath-taking cinematography and surreal characters, The Custom Mary is a must-have DVD for anyone who has ever wrestled with...

We last saw Julia Stiles in David O. Russell's sleeper hit "Silver Linings Playbook," although most of us remember her from her teen movies days when she starred in "10 Things I Hate About You" and "Save the Last Dance." Her latest offering, the hilarious end-of-days black comedy "It's a Disaster," has moved her into the indie film realm and affords her one of her best parts yet. In the ensemble comedy, written and directed by Todd Berger ("The Scenesters"), Stiles stars as the lone single gal in her group of friends, who shows up for couples brunch with a new date (a hilarious David Cross). The gathering takes a turn for the absurd when the group learns that outside the world's been subject to a widespread attack. All signals point to the end of the world. Stiles sat down with Indiewire's Managing Editor, Nigel M. Smith, for an Apple...

This is an edited reprint of our interview from the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival. "It's a Disaster" opens on in New York and La on April 12th. It's currently available on VOD.Julia Stiles has had a long and varied career since her breakout role opposite Heath Ledger in "10 Things I Hate About You," the '90s high school adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew." Since then she's been a Jason Bourne accomplice, danced with death on TV's "Dexter," delivered David Mamet dialogue on stage, and currently has a spate of new high profile film roles coming up. We caught up with the New Yorker on the phone on the eve of the world premiere of her latest flick, "It's a Disaster." "It's a Disaster" is the creative project of comedy troupe The Vacationeers (director Todd Berger and cast members/producers Kevin M. Brennan, Jeff Grace and Blaise Miller,...

Like almost all films that depict the end of the world, It’s a Disaster opens on a mundane morning – though this one seems to be more painfully awkward than most.

A newly dating couple are at a brunch when a friend’s painful divorce is announced, only to become trapped there when a series of dirty bombs explodes across the city. And yet this is a comedy.

It’s a Disaster is written and directed by Todd Berger (The Scenesters) and stars David Cross (Arrested Development), Julia Stiles (Silver Linings Playbook), and America Ferrera (Ugly Betty). Frequent Berger collaborators Blaise Miller, Jeff Grace, and Michael Brennan (all of The Scenesters) also make up the principal cast.

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A New Orleans native, writer-director Todd Berger moved to Austin to attend The University of Texas. After graduating from Ut’s Radio-Television-Film program, Berger was quickly swept away to the always sunny shores of Los Angeles. With The Scenesters (2009) and It’s a Disaster (2012), Berger has become yet another success story to come out of Ut’s film program; and even though he did not spend very much time in Austin, Berger has maintained very strong ties with the Austin film community. So, when we heard that Berger was coming to Austin for the regional premiere of his latest directorial effort, It’s a Disaster, at the 2012 Austin Film Festival we thought it would be fun to get his outsider perspective on the Austin… What prompted you to move to La after you graduated from Ut? That wasn’t originally my plan. I was going to move to Chicago and do Second City. But...

The comedy It's a Disaster will be one of the Marquee Screenings at this week's Austin Film Festival, screening Saturday, Oct. 20 at the Paramount. This the first time at Aff for filmmaker -- and former Longhorn -- Todd Berger. His documentary Don't Eat the Baby: Adventures at Post-Katrina Mardi Gras (Jette's review), played Aff in 2007, and he returned in 2009 with the hipster-noir comedy The Scenesters (Jette's review). In 2010, you might have seen him onstage at the script reading for The Hand Job. 

I asked him a few questions via email about It's a Disaster, which premiered at Los Angeles Film Festival earlier this year.

Slackerwood: How did you conceive of the idea for this apocalyptic comedy?

Berger: It all started when I read an article about how George Romero's Night of the Living Dead is public domain. I came up with an idea to shoot new footage, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid style,...

It’S A Disaster stars Julia Stiles (Dexter), David Cross (Arrested Development), America Ferrera (Ugly Betty), Erinn Hayes (Children’S Hospital), Jeff Grace and Rachel Boston.

Below, we have the exclusive synopsis, director’s statement, a few promotional photos of star Erinn Hayes, a still from the film, and a Q&A with director Mitch Berger.

Synopsis

In this doomsday comedy, four couples meet for Sunday brunch and find themselves stranded in a house together as the world may be about to end. When Tracy Scott (Julia Stiles) decides to introduce her new beau Glenn (David Cross) to her three friends Hedy (America Ferrera), Emma, and Lexi and their significant others, her biggest fear is whether or not her friends will approve of her new relationship, little does she realize that’s the least of her worries. Before long the couples find themselves in the midst of an apocalyptic disaster,...

Todd Berger, the director behind The Scenesters and It’S A Disaster (more info forthcoming), discussed his upcoming animated film Happytime Murders. The film takes place in a world where puppets and humans live together, but not so much in harmony. Puppets are seen as inferior beings. In an interview with Berger (found by Dread Central), he revealed the tone of the film would be a dark one:

“I want to try to make the Heat of puppet movies. I want to be The Dark Knight or Heat but in a world where puppets and humans coexist. Brian was like, ‘This mystery actually needs to be interesting so that even if you took all the comedy out of it, it’s still going to be interesting to watch. It is full-on R. There is swearing, there’s sex, violence, murder. There’s no way… maybe with some work it could...

Todd Berger's comedy drama about four couples spending their last night on earth together deserves a wide audience

At the after-party for the Los Angeles film festival's premiere of Todd Berger's comedy drama, It's a Disaster, at the Hotel Figeuroa, the blue drinks tickets are being handed over at the bar faster than you can say "not another apocalyptic couples brunch movie". Around the pool, actor David Cross, is being asked for possibly the 100th time if there's going to an Arrested Development film. "We were supposed to shoot in the next few days," he'd told the audience at the post-screening Q&A. "But I have yet to see a script or a contract." So that's that sorted. For now.

It's a Disaster is an absolute gem of a doomsday movie, about four couples who meet for brunch and find themselves in the middle of a chemical warfare attack,...

Character studies set during the advent of the apocalypse are so common these days they practically form their own genre, but "It's a Disaster" manages to stand out from the crowd by having as much fun as possible with the grim scenario. A largely uneven satire set entirely within the confines of a suburban home, "It's a Disaster" may have flowed better on the stage. However, writer-director Todd Berger, improving his technique with his second feature-length credit following "The Scenesters," combines enough energetic performances with charged wit to make this one doomsday comedy that earns the right to its familiar backdrop. The movie begins rather clumsily as a relationship comedy that unfolds with little to amuse beyond the material for an average episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." The newly dating Tracy (Julia Stiles) and Glenn (David Cross) arrive at the home of Tracy's married pals Emma (Erinn Hayes) and Pete (Blaise.

Julia Stiles has had a long and varied career since her breakout role opposite Heath Ledger in "10 Things I Hate About You," the '90s high school adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew." Since then she's been a Jason Bourne accomplice, danced with death on TV's "Dexter," delivered David Mamet dialogue on stage, and currently has a spate of new high profile film roles coming up. We caught up with the New Yorker on the phone on the eve of the world premiere of her latest flick, "It's a Disaster," an apocalyptic dramedy that will debut next week at the Los Angeles Film Festival.

"It's a Disaster" is the creative project of comedy troupe The Vacationeers (director Todd Berger and cast members/producers Kevin M. Brennan, Jeff Grace and Blaise Miller, whose previous efforts include many web videos and the feature film "The Scenesters"). Stiles appeared in the...

Fans who’ve been following development of Brian Henson's comic drama The Happytime Murders, an adult take on a Sesame Street world where humans and puppets co-exist, received exciting news today with Variety reporting extended talks with Katherine Heigl to play the lead. Heigl looked to replace one-time lead Cameron Diaz, who was offered the part more than a year ago. Brian Henson remained committed to directing the movie, described as a film noir puppet comedy about a private eye puppet investigating the murders of puppet cast members from an ‘80s kids show. Todd Berger, who won the Rosebud Award at the 2010 Slamdance Film Festival for his debut feature The Scenesters, co-wrote the script with Dee Austin Robertson.

Fans who’ve been following development of Brian Henson's comic drama The Happytime Murders, an adult take on a Sesame Street world where humans and puppets co-exist, received exciting news today with Variety reporting extended talks with Katherine Heigl to play the lead. Heigl looked to replace one-time lead Cameron Diaz, who was offered the part more than a year ago. Brian Henson remained committed to directing the movie, described as a film noir puppet comedy about a private eye puppet investigating the murders of puppet cast members from an ‘80s kids show. Todd Berger, who won the Rosebud Award at the 2010 Slamdance Film Festival for his debut feature The Scenesters, co-wrote the script with Dee Austin Robertson.

Fans who’ve been following development of Brian Henson's comic drama The Happytime Murders, an adult take on a Sesame Street world where humans and puppets co-exist, received exciting news today with Variety reporting extended talks with Katherine Heigl to play the lead. Heigl looked to replace one-time lead Cameron Diaz, who was offered the part more than a year ago. Brian Henson remained committed to directing the movie, described as a film noir puppet comedy about a private eye puppet investigating the murders of puppet cast members from an ‘80s kids show. Todd Berger, who won the Rosebud Award at the 2010 Slamdance Film Festival for his debut feature The Scenesters, co-wrote the script with Dee Austin Robertson.

Slamdance A scene from ‘Holiday Road’

Named after the Lindsey Buckingham song featured in “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” “Holiday Road” brings 13 varied directors together to create a dark- humored 72-minute feature film about national holidays.

The film opens and ends with a New Year’s Eve party countdown and in between, segments range from a band shooting a sex-fueled Labor Day music video to a Christmas Eve crime drama starring Wendi McLendon-Covey of “Bridesmaids” fame.

The only rules for the...

Here's the latest Austin film news. And if you read all your news, you get a treat ... a video embedded at the end.

Sundance Film Festival has announced much of its 2012 lineup. So far, one Austin movie is included -- Kid-Thing, the latest feature from David Zellner and Nathan Zellner. The cast includes not only the Zellner brothers but also Susan Tyrell, who now lives in Austin. In addition, former Austinite Mark Duplass (who once participated in a filmmaker "wrestling match" with the Zellners) has scripted a thriller in the Park City at Midnight category: Black Rock, directed by and starring Katie Aselton. Aselton and Duplass are married. (If you haven't seen Aselton before, Bryan Poyser's short The Fickle is a fun place to start -- it's available online, and the gentleman who leaps is David Zellner. Full circle.)Ut alum Todd Berger has been signed to write an...

Maya Entertainment Group, Inc., a leading independent multi-platform content and distribution company based in Los Angeles, has acquired the international rights to the apocalyptic comedy It's a Disaster from writer/director Todd Berger (The Scenesters). The film stars Julia Stiles (The Bourne Identity Trilogy, Dexter), David Cross (Arrested Development, Kung Fu Panda), and America Ferrera (Ugly Betty, Real Women Have Curves).

In this doomsday comedy, four couples who meet for Sunday brunch find themselves stranded in a house together as the world may be about to end. When Tracy Scott (Julia Stiles) decides to introduce her new beau Glenn (David Cross) to her three friends Hedy (America Ferrera), Emma, and Lexi and their significant others, her biggest fear is whether or not her friends will approve of her new relationship, little does she realize that's the least of her worries. Before long the couples find themselves in the midst of an apocalyptic disaster,...

An apocalyptic comedy starring Julia Stiles, David Cross and America Ferrera is moving forward. Maya Entertainment Group, Inc. has picked up the international rights to It's a Disaster from writer/director Todd Berger (The Scenesters).

The doomsday comedy focuses on "four couples who meet for Sunday brunch find themselves stranded in a house together as the world may be about to end. When Tracy Scott (Stiles) decides to introduce her new beau Glenn (Cross) to her three friends Hedy (Ferrera), Emma, and Lexi and their significant others, her biggest fear is whether or not her friends will approve of her new relationship, little does she realize that’s the least of her worries. Before long the couples find themselves in the midst of an apocalyptic disaster, catching them all off guard. One thing is clear; these four couples aren't going to let the potential end of the world get in...

Maya Entertainment Group, Inc. has acquired the international rights to the apocalyptic comedy It's a Disaster from writer/director Todd Berger ( The Scenesters ). The film stars Julia Stiles ("The Bourne Identity" trilogy, "Dexter"), David Cross ("Arrested Development," "Kung Fu Panda" films), and America Ferrera ("Ugly Betty," Real Women Have Curves ). In this doomsday comedy, four couples who meet for Sunday brunch find themselves stranded in a house together as the world may be about to end. When Tracy Scott (Stiles) decides to introduce her new beau Glenn (Cross) to her three friends Hedy (Ferrera), Emma, and Lexi and their significant others, her biggest fear is whether or not her friends will approve of her new...

Is there anything more amusing than the end of the world? Improv comedy troupe The Vacationeers believe not, making it the hook for their second feature It's a Disaster, set to star Julia Stiles and America Ferrera.The film sounds a bit like Couples Retreat with an armageddon-y twist. The premise is that four couples meet for a nice quiet Sunday lunch, but end up stuck in the house indefinitely as the apocalypse apparently looms outside. "It's a crazy story and I was convinced Julia and America would think I'm crazy too, but I'm thrilled they get my sense of humour. I'm excited to have them on board," says Vacationeer Todd Berger. Stiles has just been working with Neil Labute; she probably needed a laugh.The Vacationeers are Berger, Kevin Brennan, Jeff Grace and Blaise Miller. They've been performing together since 2006, but are all reasonably successful under their own steam too.

Julia Stiles and America Ferrera are set to star in It's a Disaster , a comedy about four couples who meet for Sunday Brunch only to discover they are stuck in a house together as the world may be about to end. A film by Vacationeer Productions, It's a Disaster will be directed by Todd Berger, who also wrote the script. Kevin M. Brennan, Jeff Grace, Blaise Miller, and Todd Berger of comedy troupe The Vacationeers will also star in the film, which will shoot in Los Angeles in early fall and is currently in pre-production. Todd Berger is the writer behind the Lionsgate/Jim Henson Co. film Happytime Murders and also wrote and directed The Vacationeers' first feature film, The Scenesters . The Scenesters won the "Rosebud Award" at the 2010 Slamdance Film Festival,...

To promote the new indie comedy/whodunit The Scenesters, Collider has been provided a pretty cool swag bag to give away to one of our readers. The prize pack includes: the DVD of the film, a T-shirt, a hat, and a button. The movie stars Sherilyn Finn (Twin Peaks), Blaise Miller (Lapse), Suzanne May (Gentlemen Broncos), Jeff Grace (Mad Men) Kevin Brennan (The Lake House), Todd Berger (Southland Tales) and Monika Jolly (Entourage) and centers on a team of wannabe filmmakers in L.A. who are taking advantage of a series of murders in the area targeting hipsters. The flick has been making the festival rounds, and recently won Most Interesting Film at Slamdance. Hit the jump to find out how you can win the prize pack, and to check out the synopsis, trailer, and a couple of clips from the film. First up, here’s the synopsis of The Scenesters...

Since 2009, crowd funding site Kickstarter has funneled a total of $60 million to over 24,000 projects high on creativity but low on cash. Since 2008, crowd funding site Indiegogo has helped raise awareness and millions of dollars to over 24,000 campaigns in 159 countries. With thousands seeking funding and thousands of thousands of dollars exchanging hands in exchange for credits, cameos, and signed copies of DVDs of upcoming projects, it’s time for some savvy comedy troupe to spoof the whole crowd funding phenomena. And the The Vactioneers recently did just that. You may know the crew comprised of Todd Berger, Kevin Brennan, Jeff Grace, and Blaise Miller from their work on the original web series The Googling (where the search, cloud computing, and internet technology giant actually does do some evil), their indie flick The Scenesters, or that time when they rejected Julia Stiles’ autograph. Related News:Crowd Funding for an Audience, Not Cash...

Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: I celebrate all levels of trailers and hopefully this column will satisfactorily give you a baseline of what beta wave I’m operating on, because what better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? Some of the best authors will tell you that writing a short story is a lot harder than writing a long one, that you have to weigh every sentence. What better medium to see how this theory plays itself out beyond that than with movie trailers? One Hundred Mornings Trailer You'll have to excuse the tardiness of bringing this gem to light as those living on the Emerald Isle had this...

Monterey Media will release the indie dark comedy The Scenesters on DVD on May 24.

Crimes are committed in The Scenesters.

In The Scenesters, a serial killer starts picking off beautiful young hipsters on the East side of Los Angeles, prompting a group of crime scene videographers to hatch a plan to catch him. While the bloody trail is cold for the detectives, Charlie (Blaise Miller), a crime scene cleaner, begins finding some unusual clues. Problem is, nobody is really sure that Charlie isn’t the serial killer! Meanwhile, the dead hipsters are piling up like pancakes in thrift-store flannel…

Written and directed by Todd Berger, the 2009 film also stars Sherilyn Fenn (TV’s Twin Peaks), Jeff Grace, Suzanne May and John Landis as Judge Paxton B. Johnson.

Monterey is currently taking The Scenesters on a theatrical tour across the country, playing it in over 50 cities in theaters and on college campuses.

Brian Henson is to direct a dark adult puppet detective film noir titled 'Happytime Murders,' which is set to go in to production in 2011. The Todd Berger (The Scenesters) scripted project had been in development limbo since 2008.

‘Happytime takes place in a world where humans and puppets co-exist, with the puppets viewed as second-class citizens. When the puppet cast of an ’80s children’s TV show called ‘The Happytime Gang’ begins to get murdered one by one, a disgraced Lapd detective-turned-private eye puppet — with a drinking problem, no less — takes on the case with his former human partner. Think ‘Avenue Q’ meets ‘L.A. Confidential.’...

If everything goes according to plan, The Muppets may be on the verge of a major comeback over the next couple of years. We already know that Jason Segel is starring in a new Muppet Movie that he also co-wrote (tentatively titled The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made), and there has been a lot of talk about a potential Jim Henson biopic [1] based on an acclaimed screenplay that topped the 2009 Black List. But wait, that's not all! A couple of years ago The Henson Co. picked up a spec script for an adult-oriented Muppet murder mystery [2] in development from Jim Henson's son Brian. It turns out that project is now also finally moving forward, with Lionsgate announcing this week that they have officially acquired the rights. It's time to play the music and time to light the lights! According to The Hollywood Reporter [3], Lionsgate will team up with The...

Muppets have been all over the blogosphere lately as buzz builds for Jason Segel’s The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made and Sesame Street draw adults back in with sharp True Blood and the Old Spice parodies. Audiences can’t get enough of these lovable yet subversive balls of fluff. So it makes sense that Happy Time Murders has finally found a backer.

The puppet-infused noir has been in development over at Jim Henson Co. since 2008, when Todd Berger (The Scenesters) first sold his spec script. Sadly, the Muppets had fallen out of fashion, and Jim Henson Co. had trouble finding backers for the project. But with Muppet mania on the rise again, Lionsgate bought the project, which has Brian Henson (son of Jim and director of Muppet Treasure Island and The Muppet Christmas Carol) attached to direct. THR reports production of the film could begin as early as January...

Lionsgate have picked up a new comedy thriller by The Scenesters writer Todd Berger. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Happytime Murders will be directed by Brian Henson, the son of the legendary puppeteer Jim Henson. The project had reportedly been in development limbo at Jim Henson Co. but has now been picked up by the studio and is rumoured (more)...

There's a new horror/comedy web series, Co-op Of The Damned, winging it's way to you, with the launch of its online presence series trailer and the premiere of its newly designed web portal (www.coopofthedamned.com). This announcement comes as the creative team gears up for the release of the first episode on Monday, October 4th, 2010. Three subsequent episodes will debut every Monday during the month of October.

Co-op Of The Damned marks the directorial debut for series creator Ned Ehrbar (Hitler Vs. Lincoln) who collaborated with entertainment executive Chad Steers (The Spiderwick Chronicles). The pair filmed the episodes along with cinematographer, Rudy Valdez (Brick City), and noted makeup artist and stunt coordinator Ian Marshal Hicks (The Green Hornet).

Additional members of the ensemble include Liz Bohnsack (Conan), Steve Cell (24), Jake Fleisher (Intercourse With A Vampire), Marcus Jones (The Scenesters), Grace Para (Jonas La) and newcomer Melissa Cueva.

”Co-op...

The B-Movie, Underground and Trash Film Festival is an annual celebration of the most outrageous, most exploitative, craziest and downright weird cinema that the world has to offer. The latest edition will unspool in the heart of the city of Breda in The Netherlands on Sept. 8-12.

This is truly a global exploitation fest with films from Spain, Indonesia, Canada, the U.S., Australia, Italy, Japan and more countries. Also, each year Butff celebrates the work of a particular living legend. This year, their guest of honor is German extreme filmmaker Jörg Buttgereit who will be present at screenings of his classic necrophiliac film Nekromantik, Schramm, a program of his short films, plus his latest shocking effort, Captain Berlin vs. Hitler.

There will also be a few Bad Lit favorites on hand, such as Spanish underground filmmaker Carlos Atanes‘ newest surreal masterpiece, Maximum Shame; the dark Australian drama Hole in...

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

Check out my new column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp

Toy Story 3 Footage Preview

So, I was able to see the first 70 minutes of Toy Story 3 this week.

Watching the movie begin, hearing the reactions of the college students who literally grew up with this franchise, I was worried something wasn’t going to be right. That there was going to be something there on the screen I could no longer identify with a decade after Toy Story 2 debuted in the theaters. I was shocked that it’s been fifteen years since the first installment came out, the number 95 pasted on the runaway train in the opening sequence feeling like a tender callback to that time.

I was worried, fraught with nervousness that somehow I made the wrong choice...

Slamdance Film Festival has just released their list of competition features for the 2010 fest, and two titles popped out at me. These are both films that Slackerwood reviewed (and liked) during Austin Film Festival 2009, and both of them have Austin connections.

Cummings Farm is a comedy about several couples planning an weekend orgy outing on a farm. Actor/screenwriter Ted Beck is from Austin, and actress Yasmine Kittles was also in the Austin-shot 2006 film Gretchen. In her review, Jenn Brown called Cummings Farm "raunchy and insightful" and was impressed with Beck's performance.I called The Scenesters a "noir-mumblecore-l.A. homage comedy" in my review. The film is about some would-be auteurs who are shooting crime scenes and stumble across what they think is a serial killer murder mystery. Actor/writer/director Todd Berger and actor Kevin Brennan are both former University of Texas at Austin film students.

read more...

Sundance isn't the only festival in Park City, Utah that brings in the audiences every January. There's also Slamdance, the small fest "by the filmmakers, for the filmmakers," for first-time feature directors making the most of limited budgets. It's full of a lot of fun indie entertainment, and some great documentaries like 2008's Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father. As Variety reports, this year there are ten narrative and eight documentary features, which will run from January 21-28.

This year has the usual new filmmakers, plus an added bonus of premiering Steven Soderbergh's And Everything Is Going Fine. On top of that, the director will participate in their new Filmmaker Summit inviting "all filmmakers, both in Park City and virtually, to collectively craft a new charter for filmmaking, storytelling and content distribution, with and by the global filmmaking community."

But the big news is the list of films.

Slamdance, which runs concurrently with Park City’s Sundance Film Festival, has announced its 2010 line-up, and there are several choices that look to make genre fans sit up and take notice.

Variety provided the names of the ten narrative and eight documentary feature films that are, in the spirit of the fest’s motto, “by filmmakers, for filmmakers.” Although not all of them are horror related, in the interest of keeping you guys fully informed on all the latest indie happenings (and because some of the docs just sound so damn interesting with topics like William Burroughs and Bolivian women wrestlers!), the full list follows:

Narrative Competition:

Cummings Farm (Andrew Drazek) - Comedy about three couples who try group sex at a lakeside strawberry farm, naively hoping it will lead to enlightenment; with Laura Silverman.

Drones (Amber Benson & Adam Busch) - A man discovers a universal threat to his life,...

What's that? You can't wait to hear about the Irish post apocalyptic film One Hundred Mornings? Well you don't have to because we already have a review of it right here! Our own Alan Maxwell called it an "uncomfortably realistic vision of the breakdown of society." Yeah, it's good.

So continuing, part of the Slamdance lineup has been announced and it's got quite a few films we've featured.

Want something horrible in the forest? How about YellowBrickRoad?

Or maybe some William Burroughs? How about William S Burroughs: A Man Within?

Yup, the lineup for one of my favorite festivals is looking mighty fine as usual, and we'll be bringing you more shortly.

Partial lineup after the break!

Narrative Competition

Cummings Farm (Andrew Drazek) Comedy about three couples who try group sex at a lakeside strawberry farm, naively hoping it will lead to enlightenment; with Laura Silverman.

Drones (Amber Benson...

Slamdance, Sundance’s indie little brother, has announced the 18 films that will be playing in competition next month. While the economy might be slowing down, there was no shortage of submissions, as Slamdance reports they had 5,000 films vying for a spot in the Festival. Of the 18 films in competition, ten are narrative, eight are documentaries, and eleven are world premieres.

“The quality of indie filmmaking is getting higher while productions costs are getting lower,” said Slamdance prexy and co-founder Peter Baxter. “Far apart from the apparent industry downturn, there appears a great sense of what is possible rather than impossible with our submissions.”

Of course this year will be very interesting at Slamdance after the success Paranormal Activity. If you didn’t know, Activity screened at the 2008 Festival and has since made over $100 million at the domestic box office. It wouldn’t surprise me to see a few more buyers looking for a repeat performance.

The competitive lineup for the 2010 Slamdance Film Festival (of which Fangoria is a media sponsor) has been revealed via an announcement on Variety. "As in years past, competing films are by first-time feature directors working with limited budgets and without domestic theatrical distribution in place. Among the 18 titles, 11 are world premieres." the trade reports.

Fright fans may recall that Oren Peli's recent hit Paranormal Activity played the fest in 2008. As always, Slamdance will run side-by-side with the Sundance Film Fest in Park City Utah, January 21-28, 2010. While there's plenty of genre fare to be seen, we've got the entire list of films for you to browse below.

Narrative Competition

“Cummings Farm” (Andrew Drazek) Comedy about three couples who try group sex at a lakeside strawberry farm, naively hoping it will lead to enlightenment; with Laura Silverman. “Drones” (Amber Benson & Adam Busch) A man discovers a universal threat to his life,...

I knew Todd Berger as a filmmaker who'd grown up in New Orleans and made the 2007 documentary Don't Eat the Baby about post-Katrina Mardi Gras, a movie that I quite liked. But since that was the only film of his I'd seen, I always thought of him as a documentary kind of guy. I didn't know that he's a member of comedy troupe The Vacationeers -- I would never have imagined that he would write and direct a noir-mumblecore-l.A. homage comedy, The Scenesters.

The Scenesters opens with a fake trailer that spoofs "mumblecore" films mercilessly, then shifts to a jury trial, then flashes back to tell the main story of the film. The filmmakers behind the mumblecore movie are having financial troubles, and director Wallace Cotten (Todd Berger) is forced to take a job filming crime scenes for the Lapd. However, Wallace and his producer Roger (Jeff Grace) can't settle for straightforward work,...

Love movies and want to make a short road trip this weekend? Head to Fort Worth for the Lone Star International Film Festival (Lsiff), which runs from Wednesday, November 11 through Sunday, November 14. Lsiff kicks off on Sunday night with The Scenesters, which played Austin Film Festival last month. The noir-ish comedy is about a group of mumblecore-ish filmmakers trying to find a serial killer who's been murdering L.A. hipsters. Writer/director Todd Berger and actor Kevin Brennan both attended Ut in Austin.

Other films with an Austin connection scheduled for Lsiff include the quirky comedy Artois the Goat, which was shot in Austin and played SXSW this year (Jenn Brown's review); local filmmaker Kat Candler's short Love Bug, which won the Narrative Short Audience Award at Aff; and the Coen brothers' first feature, Blood Simple, which was shot in Austin, Hutto and Houston. Lsiff is also screening Tender Mercies,...

The Austin Film Festival and Conference, which runs Oct. 22-29, released a sampling of its feature lineup Wednesday.

The 16th annual screenwriter-focused fest will screen several documentaries, including Peter Hanson's "Tales From the Script," Barry Levinson's "PoliWood" and Robert Townsend's "Why We Laugh."

World premieres will include Gary Lundgren's "Calvin Marshall," Todd Berger's "The Scenesters" and Mark Potts and Cole Selix's "Simmons on Vinyl."

The centerpiece film will be Oren Moverman and Alessandro Camon's "The Messenger."

Also screening are Robert Byington's "Harmony and Me," Peter Bratt's "La Mission" and Gregori Viens and Henry Phillips' "Punching the Clown."

This year's fest will honor Steven Zaillian with the Distinguished Screenwriter Award and Ron Howard with the Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award.

The rest of the program -- including competition titles, shorts and the opening- and closing-night films -- will be announced mid-September.