So we bought SXSW film passes, because I’m not established enough as a journalist to get ‘em for free (or, if I am, I’m not confident enough about it to ask for them). You’re probably aware of SXSW as a music festival, but it’s a bit more than that – here’s a brief description, if you’re not familiar with it as more than just a rock festival:

It’s a music, film, and “interactive” (web stuff, mostly) conference – each of these is a separate thing, and while they cross-over a bit, attending one doesn’t mean that you’re attending the other. SXSW music is the marquee thing, and during the four days of its run, pretty much every space within 3 miles of downtown Austin turns into a live music venue, and your favorite band plays nine times for free at day-parties hosted by big corporations who, competing with one another for your attention, also ply you with free food and beer. Which is awesome, yes. Then, at night, the whole thing costs money and gets more crowded. This dynamic – the “free, daytime show” vs. the “officially-sanctioned nighttime showcase” is relatively recent – a development of the past six or seven years (SXSW has been going on forever). It’s gotten to the point now where spending $160 for a wristband, which grants you access to the full run of nighttime showcases (depending on capacity, and people who pony up an extra $500 for a conference badge also buy the right to cut in front of wristband-holders in line), is pretty much a waste of money, unless you’re desperate to se someone who isn’t playing a day show anywhere, or if you work a job that keeps you away from the fun until six o’clock. SXSW film, meanwhile, is a pretty laid-back film festival. There’s still a badges/passes thing – badges are $350, and they grant you attendance to the conference (essentially a trade-show with panels – kind of like Comicon) as well as line-jumping ability over the people who only possess mere passes. We bought the passes, which are $70 (though I snagged a pair off of Craigslist for $120 – thrifty dan) and that’s usually sufficient. Odds are we won’t get in to 500 Days of Summer or the new Seth Rogen movie, but everything else will probably work out.

Anyway. So we have passes to see a bunch of movies during a ten day film festival. The pass is good for all-you-can-eat movies, and the thing started last night. We went to see a movie called The Snake.

This was one of those gems that will only ever play film festivals, but it was pretty remarkable. It’s billed as “a romantic comedy without the romance”, which is about right. It’s really, really funny, and no one ever learns a valuable lesson. It’s shot on very cheap digital equipment that never even attempts to look like film, and certain scenes have street noise and wind and stuff that really cements the fact that this isn’t destined for theatres. Which isn’t the point – the filmmakers were clearly creating a fucking amazing business card, demonstrating their ability to produce a feature on no money, and with the heavyweights pulling for it – Patton Oswalt was at the theater last night to introduce the picture, and he name-dropped Joss Whedon, among others, as people who loved the picture – it’s likely they’re going to get a budget for their next project. Which is great – they put together a really funny movie in which cast themselves and their girlfriends in most of the lead parts and shot it on equipment that looks just a few notches better than a cell phone camera. I’m fucking stoked to see what they do with a budget.

I’m sure it’ll hit the rest of the film festival circuit, and if it does, definitely go see it. It’s the sort of insensitive comedy about a funny jerk with no redeeming qualities that you’re meant to despise, but the movie, while never getting self-righteous about it, successfully condemns Ken (“the snake” of the title) in a way that lets you know that it’s okay to laugh – he’s not the good guy here. Neat movie. I can’t wait to see what they do next.