I'm really looking forward to SXSW this year. Due to the fact that I'm not unemployed, I will probably get to see less than 20% of the films I'd really like to. Here are some of the films that sound interesting to me. It's not much of a "short" list because as usual there are way too many excellent films for just a few short days!

Documentaries:

7th Street - I like documentaries that follow subjects over significant periods of time. This one covers 10 years of life of people living on one block in NYC.

Cinemania - documentaries about people whose obsessions coincide with my interests usually make me feel uncomfortable. But I also find them very interesting.

Flag Wars - interesting subject matter if it's not done too heavy-handedly.

Go Further - aka The Wacky Adventures of Woody Harrelson

Growin' A Beard - short doc about a beard growing competition... how can it go wrong?

Off the Charts: the Song-Poem Story - I have read about the song-poem "industry", most of which is a semi-scam similar to vanity publishing. Should be an interesting subject. And I'm sure the poems will be worth some laughs.

Only the Strong Survive - about former-great soul singers in the late 90's and how they kept playing as their genre fell out of favor.

Rebel Without a Pause - standup about September 11. I like humor about things people never joke about.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - this team hit docu-gold when their filming of Hugo Chavez coincided with a coup against him. Should be interesting.

Sex: Female - ordinary women talking about ordinary sex!

Speedo - Demolition Derby documentary? Awesome!

Stevie: I've got to see one powerful/depressing documentary at SXSW. This will probably be it.

Features:

Assassination Tango - from the accounts I've seen not a great film, but ya gotta love Duvall.

Assisted Living - sounds wacky enough to be enjoyable.

Dancer, TX Pop. 81 - I've never seen this and heard it's good.

Deprivation - interesting synopsis, same production team as last year's Manito, and from the photo on the SXSW site it looks like it might be Super-8.

Dummy - one word: ventriloquist.

Full Time Killer - I'll see just about any Hong Kong action movie, but this one is supposed to be especially good.

Happy Here And Now - unusual sounding film set in New Orleans with Ally Sheedy, whom I like, and Shalom Harlow, whom I like in an entirely different way.

The Hard Word - haven't heard terrific things but I think Guy Pearce and Rachel Griffiths would be an interesting screen combo.

The Hired Hand - Peter Fonda's directorial debut of 1971, and not available on tape.

Melvin Goes To Dinner - this film got some good buzz at Slamdance, including a rave writeup at AICN (not from Harry Knowles, who lost all credibility with me after his overly positive writeup of one of SXSW 2002's worst movies, Master of the Game).

A Mighty Wind - I'm lining up WAY in advance for this one! The premiere of Christopher Guest's latest mockumentary, featuring all the usual suspects from Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman. I hope he is there to answer audience questions.

Phone Booth - Schumacher's low-budget film which has gotten a bunch of good press. I think Colin Farrell is way overrated but the film looks pretty interesting.

Realm of Fortune - a film in Spanish about cock fighting and gambling in small-town Mexico. Another interesting-looking Ripstein film being shown is Man's Downfall.

Robot Stories - I like robot/tech themes and this film has a bit of that going on. It's by the same guy who did Asian Pride Porn which I didn't get a chance to see but heard very good things about.

Security - follow-up effort from the guy who did Suckerfish which got a lot of praise. Sounds good and weird.

Spun - I'm not a drug dude but I like drug movies, and I also like Jason Schwartzman. Unfortunately this film also includes people on my "don't like" list: John Leguizamo, Mena Suvari, Mickey Rourke and Brittany Murphy. But if you put all those crackheads together and throw in Deb Harry and Ron Jeremy, that sounds like one cast I've gotta see to believe!

Where's The Party Yaar? - a film about an Indian kid who comes to college in the US and gets integrated into the college scene. Having had a lot of Indian friends in college, and being one of those people who was involved in their integration/corruption I think I'll like this one.

You'll Never Wiez In This Town Again - I can't stand Pauly Shore any more than the next person can, but I find something pathetically hilarious about a guy trying to revive his career by making a movie about himself and how his career has gone way downhill. And he really packed the cameos into this one, including some that interest me: B-Real, Tommy Chong, Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre, Heidi Fleiss, Clint Howard, Kato Kaelin, Jay Mewes, Chris Rock, Verne Troyer and Montel Williams!

Super-8: as a budding super-8 dude, I try to watch as many super-8 films as possible.

All Girl Summer Fun Band 'Car Trouble' - S8 music video screening in the competition.

It's Impossible To Learn To Plow By Reading Books - I am not a Richard Linklater fan, but this, his first film, sounds interesting and was shot entirely on S8.

Super-8 Mom - a short doc about the director's mom and the S8 movies she makes.

Shorts:

A Ninja Pays Half My Rent - this one wins the name competition, and the synopsis sounds just as hilarious.

This is John - a short about perfecting your answering machine message, something I can identify with.

Wedding Night - the description of this short hooked me: "...on an evening when most people want everything to be just right, a couple explores the allure of doing something that's just plain wrong."

Panels: great names this year! Robert Duvall, Robert Rodriguez, Joel Schumacher, Peter Fonda and Tony Shalhoub. I'm more excited about the panel lineup this year than I was last year, although they did have one of my heroes, Lloyd Kaufman. Other interesting-sounding panels include Case Study: Melvin Goes To Dinner, The Role of the Internet, and Affordable Effects.

Also worth a mention is Fray Cafe 3, not a movie but a storytelling event. I haven't been to any of the past ones but I have a Fray CD and it sounds like it will be a great evening event.

Any suggestions (or warnings) about any SXSW film events highly welcome.