Day 6

No missing post.

I stayed in yesterday to recover since there were no film offerings that caught my eye.

Today, I ventured into Austin and hung out with the cool people at B-Side, checked out some stores and restaurants, then caught two flicks.

The first was "Trail of the Screaming Forehead": Spoof of every 1950s B horror movie there ever was in color. Creeping alien foreheads attach themselves to and possess the unwary folk of a small town--as a prelude to an invasion from space.

Helped pass the time for what I really came for: "Rebel." A Vietnamese martial arts epic.

I went to the scheduled theater, got my seat, and had a pleasant chat with another festival goer. Then when the local Austin Film Festival rep announced the film was moved to another theater at the last minute, I hightailed it to catch a shuttle to the new location. Got in just when the opening credits were through. :-)

A major player American audiences may recognize is Dustin Nguyen ("21 Jump Street"), starring as the baddie. The 1920s. Nationalist uprisings against French colonial rule begin to rack Vietnam. The French respond by having loyal Vietnamese agents infiltrate the leading rebel group, except one agent develops feelings for a comely young woman revolutionary and comes to question his loyalty to his French superiors.

The film is sure to touch heart strings with Vietnamese and Vietnamese-Americans. IMHO, some bugs in the plot and character development may keep nonaction audiences at a distance. Interesting flick, though.

Must rest up for today now.