July 31, 2008 11:00AM EST

Austin Filmmakers Have Some Things In Common

In this week's New Yorker, Anthony Lane has an affectionate review of former Austin resident Alex Holdridge's In Search of a Midnight Kiss—he doesn't love it, per se, but he certainly likes the talent behind it. He has a couple of good barbs in there, too, that I can't steal for my piece; commenting on one character's masturbatory mishap, he writes, "In its sad, filthy solitude, this may be an all too credible précis of modern movie love: we started out with Rudolph Valentino, and we wind up with Onan the Barbarian."

He also has a little dig towards (let's be honest here) my favorite band, Okkervil River, whose music is featured prominently in the film, soundtracking an emotional scene for one character: "do droning, off-key vocals and a picky guitar [in the background] really make her less of a spoiled brat?" Oh, Anthony! So witty! So British! Anyways, Okkervil River are a wonderful band out of Austin, who write catchy, wordy songs that can be folky or anthemic, featuring a host of fascinating characters. Frontman Will Sheff is exactly as erudite and well-read as you'd expect, and he's also a big film buff, as well. If you fancy yourself the sensitive writer-type, if you're a lyrics nerd, if you like The Mountain Goats, you owe it to yourself to check Okkervil out. (And if you can't get past the voice, which has definitely improved through the years, that's cool, but even my poptimist friend loves them. If I may quote David Berman, "All my favorite singers couldn't sing." TRUTH!)

"Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe," the first single from last year's critical breakthrough The Stage Names, has an absorbing, visually kinetic video done by Austin-based documentarian Margaret Brown, whose new film, The Order of Myths, is cruising at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Here you go.



If you like what you heard, go to La Blogotheque and check out this awesome live version of rare track "Love to a Monster," a song that comes off like a troubador interpreting Hitchcock's Vertigo, with Joni Mitchell references getting in the way.

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