Other Worlds 2021 preview: Day Four

Posted on December 2, 2021 by The Geek Curmudgeon

Returning for an eight exciting year, Other Worlds, one of the premier SciFi Film Festivals in the US, features some of the best and unheralded genre films. Beginning on Thursday December 2 at Austin’s Galaxy Highland 10, the four day event includes over 25 feature films, a slew of shorts, a screenwriting workshop, and the Mary Shelley Award. This year also features an additional five days of virtual events.

After skipping last years virtual only event, I gladly return to the festival for another go around

Here’s what to expect at Other Worlds 2021

Sunday, December 5

10AM

2001: A Brunch Odyssey

¡Vamonos!
4807 Airport Blvd, Austin, TX 78751

Before the final day of films, discuss your favorites of the festival so far with other attendees and filmmakers. For the first time, this party is open to all attendees.

12PM

Other Worlds Shorts II

Includes:

Echo Pines

Stephanie Begg | Australia | 12 min

Newly-minted Detective Barnes takes the lead on a missing child case, only to encounter a one-two punch of unexplainable phenomena in a nearby forest and no support from her fellow officers.

Florence

Florian Thess | UK | 13 min

She’s the first of her kind: an AI therapist for human patients. But as she learns more about the human condition, Florence isn’t sure that she knows the answers an isn’t sure that she knows the answers any more than those she seeks to help.

Giselle

Emmanuel Shiu | US | 2 min

A micro-meditation on loss, grief, and new beginnings.

Killing Time

P. Patrick Hogan | US | 15 min

A mysterious figure slips inside an isolated home and forces an independent research engineer to confront her past.

The Name of the Prime Minister

Bizzy Thompson | UK | 10 min

In this political thriller, a psychiatrist interviews a man convinced Tony Blair is still the Prime Minister, while trying to get answers from agents in a secret government facility.

Pew! Pew! Pew!

Loren Dunn | US | 13 min

At a cosplay convention, Miles has got some explaining to do with his friends. And what’s worse, his archenemy has just forced him into “battle,” putting those same friends in mortal danger!

Smudged

Jack Muldoon | US | 10 min

DMV, the near future: Adam finds himself on a Dantean odyssey through the bureaucratic hell of license-renewal.

Transfer

Sage Mears, Aaron Pagniano | US | 11 min

Max is rightfully nervous for this interview, and Bridget is not going to make it any easier for him.

Voices

Jake Hart | US | 7 min

A telepathic intelligence operative is confronted by her handler for connecting with the minds of unsanctioned targets.

Homebody: The Haunt Of Guy Withers

**Zachary Endres | US | 2021 | World Premiere**

Stars: Jordan O’Neal, Ryan Sterling Smith, Gary Teague

When Guy retreats into the apartment he runs as a shared short-term rental, he finds himself at the mercy of a world that doesn’t even notice he is gone, and haunted by the prospect of what lies past his door.

https://vimeo.com/638450905

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Other Worlds 2021 preview: Day Three

Posted on December 1, 2021 by The Geek Curmudgeon

Returning for an eight exciting year, Other Worlds, one of the premier SciFi Film Festivals in the US, features some of the best and unheralded genre films. Beginning on Thursday December 2 at Austin’s Galaxy Highland 10, the four day event includes over 25 feature films, a slew of shorts, a screenwriting workshop, and the Mary Shelley Award. This year also features an additional five days of virtual events.

After skipping last years virtual only event, I gladly return to the festival for another go around.

Art by Lauren Kitching

Here’s what to expect at Other Worlds 2021

Saturday, December 4

10AM

Saturday Morning – Workshop
Storytelling In The Time Of Vr And Ar With Randal Kleiser

We’ve already left the age of just watching movies and have entered the age of being inside the movie. Unlikely as it sounds, Randal Kleiser, the director of Grease and Flight of the Navigator, has been at the forefront of this new technology for years, creating one of the first multi-episode VR series Defrost, adapting Grease’s “You’re the One that I Want” into a singing and dancing AR experience, and receiving a Lumiere Award for distinguished creative and technical achievements.

Join us for our annual screenwriting workshop to hear about crafting stories in new formats.

Esluna: The Crown of Babylon

**Denver Jackson | Canada | 2021 | Texas Premiere**

Stars: Grace Chan, Shawn O’Hara, Ariel Hack

After her mentor is abducted by a renegade monk, a relic hunter and her crew must find the Crown of Babylon, an ancient artifact rumored to have the power to bring back the dead.

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Other Worlds 2021 preview: Day Two

Posted on November 30, 2021 by The Geek Curmudgeon

After skipping last years virtual only event, I gladly return to the festival for another go around

Here’s what to expect at Other Worlds 2021

Friday, December 3

4:30PM

Keeping Company

**Josh Wallace | US | 2021 | Texas Premiere**

Writers: Josh Wallace, Devin Das

Stars Jacob Grodnik, Devin Das, and Ahmed Bharoocha

A fateful chain of events begins to unravel after two brash insurance salesmen go knocking on the wrong door, only to find themselves selling to a serial killer. (Also screens on Saturday, December 4 11:30PM)

The Turn of the Screw

**Alex Galvin | New Zealand | 2020 | Texas Premiere**

Writer: Alex Galvin and Henry james

Stars: Greer Phillips, Jane Waddell, Ben Fransham

Julia—a last minute replacement for another actress—arrives the night before open and is thrust immediately onstage to act the lead role in an evening of terror. Cast as the governess in a stage adaptation of Henry James’ Turn of the Screw, Julia, just like her character, begins to suspect that not just the fictitious house is haunted, but also the stage where she stands.

Lingering Visions Shorts

Includes:

Blue Fire

Nick Ronan | US | 21 min

A mysterious alien entity serves to reunite two ex-lovers and offer a new path forward, should they choose to take it.

Evie

Alex von Hofmann | Australia | 18 min

Teen Evie lives in a post-apocalyptic frontier rife with human scavengers and genetically modified dinosaurs. When her father is injured, she must venture out alone to get the supplies to save him.

Silver Age

Steve Makowski, Harrison Lees | US | 22 min

Does Elliot’s ailing grandfather have a secret past as a masked vigilante, or is he just senile?

Why Is It So Warm At Christmas?

Choi Woo Gene | Korea | 27 min

Eugene is a movie star and, thanks to a freak accident, a masked superhero. There’s just one problem: his stylish costume leaves him cold in winter months. Never fear: crafty superfans to the rescue!

(Also screens on Saturday, December 4 9PM)

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Other Worlds 2021 preview: Opening Night

Posted on November 29, 2021 by The Geek Curmudgeon

After skipping last years virtual only event, I gladly return to the festival for another go around

Here’s what to expect at Other Worlds 2021

Thursday, December 2

7:42PM

Madelines
OPENING NIGHT FILM

**Jason R. Miller | US | 2021 | World Premiere**

Writer: Brea Grant, Jason R. Miller

Madeline and Owen have invented time travel, but after discovering a mistake in the code that causes a copy of Madeline to appear every day, they must kill each new Madeline to prevent the universe from collapsing in on itself.

10PM

Launch Party

The Aristocrat Lounge
6507 Burnet Rd
Austin, TX 78757

Let’s gather together physically in one place in person. That’s odd to write but should be a good time. We can discuss Other Worlds of yore, and filmmakers can vie for your attendance at their films. Look forward to themed cocktails and party games involving killing Madelines.

From the trenches: Other Worlds 2019

Posted on December 15, 2019 by The Geek Curmudgeon

As always, Austin’s own Other Worlds delivered a fantastic collection of top notch films. Of the 20 or so selections for this years festival, I managed to see 10 of them plus the live recording of the podcast Science Vs Fiction.

Here’s my quick recap.

Thursday

Dreamscape (35TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING)
LAUNCH FILM

The flawed, pioneering film, a staple of late 80s/early 90s cable, has aged well despite some terrible acting by pretty much everyone not named Sydow or Plummer.

Friday

Afterlife

The powerful, intelligent Dutch film Afterlife ponders the choices we make and the very perceptions of what we know to be true, while confirming that parents often make the most unreliable narrators of all. Sanaa Giwa delivers a virtuoso performance as the tortured Sam.

Afterlife also presages a common thread throughout the festival: the usage of time travel tropes.

Time After Time (40TH ANNIVER. SCREENING)

Another staple of 80s cable, Time After Time details the first ever fictional meeting of H. G. Wells and Jack the Ripper. The tense, intelligent film, deservedly so, is often lauded as on the true classics of time travel cinema. Malcom McDowell in one of his few heroic roles, David Warner at his creepiest best, and Mary Steenburgen in only her second screen appearance, ground the film with their excellent performances. Perhaps the only flaw lies in neophyte Nicholas Meyer’s direction, which at times feels like TV movie-of-the-week. Thankfully, his near perfect script overcomes any of the firs time director’s shortcomings.

The film was screened to honor Meyer, who was in attendance, with the Defender of the Universe Award. In the q&a following the film, Meyer revealed that Jenz-Luc Goddard’s legendary Alphaville served as an inspiration and scenes that were cut from the original screenplay showed up in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Continue reading →

The Other Worlds 2019 preview Day 4

Posted on December 5, 2019 by The Geek Curmudgeon

Returning for a sixth exciting year, Other Worlds, one of the premier SciFi Film Festivals in the US, features some of the best and unheralded genre films. Beginning on Thursday December 5 at Austin’s Galaxy Highland 10, the four day event includes over 20 feature films, a slew of shorts, a screenwriting workshop, and the Mary Shelley Award. This year also features the return of Under Worlds, which brings the best of indie to Austin.

Not terribly surprising to anyone who regularly follows my writings, I’ll be there.

Here’s what to expect at Other Worlds 2019.

11:15AM AROUND THE SUN (Texas Premiere)

Oliver Krimpas | UK | 78 min

Writer: Jonathan Kiefer
Cast: Cara Theobold, Gethin Anthony

A film location finder is shown around a repossessed, crumbling French château. Over the course of the afternoon, he slowly falls for both the place and the owner’s flirtatious representative, as she recounts the story of a famous book set there. But is their present-day connection for real, or just a projection of the book’s 17th Century characters? As the scene plays over in different variations, the two almost lovers orbit around each other like a binary star system, forever circling but never quite reaching each other.

https://vimeo.com/337052806

11:45AM SciFi Shorts 1: Love in the Time of Robots

12PM The Old Dark House
(World Premiere OF NEW SCORE)

James Whale | USA | 73 min | 1932

Writer: J.B. Priestley (from the novel by) (as J.B. Priestly), Benn W. Levy (screenplay)
Cast: Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, Gloria Stuart

A precursor to the genre of renegade young people getting stranded among older (and far more degenerate) adults in a remote location, THE OLD DARK HOUSE is a “pre-code” film and features some language and sexually suggestive material that would be banned from American screens until the 1960s. Boundaries will be crossed, reality will fail, and mayhem will ensue. The family our kids come across, this time, can also be seen as the grandparents of THE ADAMS FAMILY. THE OLD DARK HOUSE, is FRANKENSTEIN director, James Whale’s follow up horror film that also stars the previously unknown Boris Karloff and is a precursor to their final film together, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Like many films of the day, it was released with a “library score,” music not specifically composed for the title. Award-winning composer Jay Woelfel has composed a brand new 52-minute music score, the first ever done for the film.

1:45PM Defender of the Universe conversation with Nicholas Meyer followed by a screening of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Nicholas Meyer | USA | 110 min | 1991

Writer: Leonard Nimoy and Lawrence Konner & Mark Rosenthal (story), Nicholas Meyer & Denny Martin Flinn (script), Gene Roddenberry (creator)
Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Jame Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei

Continue reading →

The Other Worlds 2019 preview Day 3

Posted on December 4, 2019 by The Geek Curmudgeon

Not terribly surprising to anyone who regularly follows my writings, I’ll be there.

Here’s what to expect at Other Worlds 2019.

Saturday, December 6

11:30AM SciFi Shorts 1: Love in the Time of Robots

**11:30AM Dementer (Texas PREMIERE)**

Chad Crawford Kinkle | USA | 80 min

Writer: Chad Crawford Kinkle
Cast: Larry Fessenden, Katie Groshong, Stephanie Kinkle, Scott Hodges

Katie begins to put her life back together after escaping a backwoods cult by taking a job in a home for special needs adults. Then the dark messages of her past tell her one of the sick patients needs more than just medicine. Dementer is an art house horror passion project that came to life when director, Chad Crawford Kinkle wanted to make a film with his special needs sister. Shot in an almost documentary style, the film embraces and properly represents the developmentally disabled, both in the script and in the actual casting, while still being both thrilling and disturbing.

11:45AM I Am Human (Texas Premiere)

Taryn Southern, Elena Gaby | USA | 90 min

I AM HUMAN explores the co-evolution of humans and technology, focusing on a small group of people with different ailments that choose to use robotic implants to cure themselves. Diving deep into the current technology and where science could take us in the future, I AM HUMAN fills its frames with heart-warming stories of real people and their process of deciding to accept technology as a part of their bodies.

Continue reading →

The Other Worlds 2019 preview Days 1 and 2

Posted on December 3, 2019 by The Geek Curmudgeon

Not terribly surprising to anyone who regularly follows my writings, I’ll be there.

Here’s what to expect at Other Worlds 2019.

Thursday, December 5

7:42PM Dreamscape (35TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING)
LAUNCH FILM

https://spartandog76.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/dreamscape-poster-1.jpg

Joseph Ruben | USA | 99 min | 1984

Writer: David Loughery, Chuck Russell, Joseph Ruben
Cast: Dennis Quaid, Kate Capshaw, David Patrick Kelly, Max von Sydow, Christopher Plummer

Psychic Alex Gardner escapes his life of petty crime to join a government research project in which he uses powers to enter dreams of those with sleep disorders. However, as his talents develop and he delves deeper into the experiment, he discovers not everyone on the team shares the same motives and he may be the only one who can stop a plot against the project.

Featuring a great cast and the perfect mix of SciFi, Horror, and Action, DREAMSCAPE was only the second film to receive a PG-13 rating. We are very proud to bring together Director and co-writer Joseph Ruben, Producer and co-writer Chuck Russell and Screenwriter David Loughery for this exclusive 35th Anniversary Screening care of 20th Century Fox.

David Loughery broke into television with a story for HART TO HART. After the success of DREAMSCAPE, Loughery wrote STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER. He teamed up with Rubin again for Wesley Snipes/Woody Harrelson buddy cop film MONEY TRAIN.

Joseph Ruben broke into film with sexploitation films like THE SISTER IN LAW and teensploitation films like THE POM POM GIRLS before achieving cult status with DREAMSCAPE and THE STEPFATHER. His greatest success came with the 1991 Julia Roberts thriller SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY and 1993 Macauley Culkin thriller THE GOOD SON.

Continue reading →

And here we go again: ArmadilloCon 41

Posted on July 31, 2019 by The Geek Curmudgeon

The mercury is hitting triple digits and we’re just passed the halfway point of the baseball season. It must be time for ArmadilloCon once again!

This year’s con, the 41st such affair, takes place this coming weekend, August 2-4.

Guest of Honor: Rebecca Roanhorse
Toastmaster: Marshall Ryan Maresca
Fan Guest: Dan Tolliver
Editor Guest: Patrice Caldwell
Science Guest: Moriba K. Jah
Special Guest: Martha Wellls

As I have done for roughly the past 25 years or so, I’ll be in attendance and because apparently the con organizers have learned nothing, I’ll be sitting in on several panels.

Best Comics You’ve Never Read
Friday 8PM
Rick Klaw (moderator), A. Lee Martinez, Alan J. Porter

What’s new, what’s surprising, and what are upcoming titles that have got you pumped?!

Godzilla in 2019
Friday 9PM
Don Webb (moderator), Aaron de Orive, Mark Finn, Rick Klaw, Lawrence Person

The big guy is back!

The Best and Brightest of the New Generation of SFF Short Story Writers
Saturday 3PM
Rick Klaw (moderator), Patrice Caldwell, Suyi Davies Okungbowa, David Afsharirad, Josh Rountree

The best and brightest of the new generation of SFF short story writers

Editing Anthologies
Saturday 8PM
Patrice Caldwell (moderator), David R. Stokes, Rick Klaw, Matt Cardin, Adrian Simmons, Paige E. Ewing

What are the goals? How do you put together a cohesive but representative collection? What is the difference between a collection and an anthology anyway?

Texas in SFF
Sunday 11AM
Rick Klaw (moderator), Joe R. Lansdale, Kenneth Mark Hoover, Don Webb, Josh Rountree, Juan Perez

What are some of the best, and most fantastical, re-imaginings of Texas in sff? What are the most dystopian places, things and people in Texas (present and past)? what are the most utopian?

Giants in the Earth
Sunday 12PM
Mark Finn (moderator). Paul Benjamin, Rick Klaw, Lawrence Person, Howard Waldrop

With the return of Giant Monsters, Kaiju movies, and of course, Godzilla and King Kong, it’s time to unpack what (if any) larger message these Earth-Shakers represent; nature striking back, mankind’s hubris, or simply big,. goofy fun? Our panelists will get to the heart of the matter with the usual amount of gravitas and snarkiness.

How to Work with Editors
Sunday, 1PM
Rick Klaw (moderator), David R. Stokes, Patrice Caldwell, Jacob Weisman, Adrian Simmons

What do editors bring to the the table? What should authors expect from editors? How do editors perceive the relationship with authors?

Hope to visit with you this weekend at one of my talks, at the Tachyon table, or just wandering the halls. Come by and say howdy.

The Other Worlds Austin 2018 preview Day 4

Posted on December 6, 2018 by The Geek Curmudgeon

Returning for a fifth exciting year, Other Worlds Austin, one of the premier SciFi Film Festivals in the US, features some of the best and unheralded genre films. Beginning on Thursday December 6 at Flix Brewhouse, the four day event includes 20 full length films, a slew of shorts, and a screenwriting workshop. Not terribly surprising to anyone who regularly follows my writings, I’ll be at there.

Here’s what to expect at Other Worlds Austin 2018.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9TH

12:00PM SCIFI SHORTS 2 – ELECTORAL COLLAGE

The Body Client

Alexander Frank | Germany | 21 min

Norman is in a lot of debt from student loans. He can pay it off by letting a client inhabit his body for 10 years. Alas, the transfer doesn’t go quite as planned.

Ovum

Cidney Hue | USA | 8 min

A woman is subjected to a horrifying virtual reality experience before making a difficult decision.
Alumni: ODESSA (2014).

Andromeda

Emily Limyun Dean | USA | 15 min

Amidst a changing world and growing tensions between humans and robot domestic workers, A.I. Andromeda discovers how far she’ll go to retain her hard-won humanity.

Biomass

Larry McKee | USA | 6 min
Writer: Robert Jauregui

Five minutes in the life of two salvage yard workers who provide a disturbing energy source to clients.

ExO

Hiroki Yokoyama | UK | 10 min

In this not-too-far-from-present-day social commentary, ex-cons are having a hard time getting a fair shake.

Nadine

Phil Bucci | USA | 3 min

The time has come for a young woman to escape the violence of her home life. But doing so is a little complicated.
Alumni: PAUL’S BAD DAY (2017); SPECIAL FORCES (2016).

The Adventures of Penny Patterson

Stephanie Donnelly | USA | 19 min

Penny’s boyfriend has been acting weird ever since he took a tour of the mysterious science lab in town. But she doesn’t have time for his changes or rumors of the “mysterious” new superhero in town – she has a science fair to win.

12:10PM ARTIST DEPICTION (WORLD PREMIERE)

Brett Ryan Bonowicz | USA | 82 min

Conceptual artists Don Davis, Charles Lindsay, and Rick Guidice have helped bring NASA projects to life. Their incredible pioneering artwork, which helped define the aesthetics of futurism and space travel, is ubiquitous; and yet these artists have always been hidden behind the scenes. Until now.
Alumni: CLOSER THAN WE HINK (2017);THE PERFECT 46 (2014).

Continue reading →

Here’s what to expect at Other Worlds 2021

Sunday, December 5

10AM

2001: A Brunch Odyssey

12PM

Homebody: The Haunt Of Guy Withers

Here’s what to expect at Other Worlds 2021

Saturday, December 4

10AM

Saturday Morning – WorkshopStorytelling In The Time Of Vr And Ar With Randal Kleiser

Esluna: The Crown of Babylon

Here’s what to expect at Other Worlds 2021

Friday, December 3

4:30PM

Keeping Company

The Turn of the Screw

Lingering Visions Shorts

Here’s what to expect at Other Worlds 2021

Thursday, December 2

7:42PM

MadelinesOPENING NIGHT FILM

10PM

Launch Party

Thursday

Dreamscape (35TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING) LAUNCH FILM

Friday

Afterlife

Time After Time (40TH ANNIVER. SCREENING)

11:15AM AROUND THE SUN (Texas Premiere)

11:45AM SciFi Shorts 1: Love in the Time of Robots

12PM The Old Dark House (World Premiere OF NEW SCORE)

1:45PM Defender of the Universe conversation with Nicholas Meyer followed by a screening of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Saturday, December 6

11:30AM SciFi Shorts 1: Love in the Time of Robots

11:30AM Dementer (Texas PREMIERE)

11:45AM I Am Human (Texas Premiere)

Thursday, December 5

7:42PM Dreamscape (35TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING) LAUNCH FILM

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9TH

12:00PM SCIFI SHORTS 2 – ELECTORAL COLLAGE

12:10PM ARTIST DEPICTION (WORLD PREMIERE)

Saturday Morning – Workshop
Storytelling In The Time Of Vr And Ar With Randal Kleiser

Madelines
OPENING NIGHT FILM

Dreamscape (35TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING)
LAUNCH FILM

12PM The Old Dark House
(World Premiere OF NEW SCORE)

**11:30AM Dementer (Texas PREMIERE)**

7:42PM Dreamscape (35TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING)
LAUNCH FILM