The Austin Film Scene
Hey, you. You grew up in Austin. How? ATX films and TV shows. Travel through time with me on a journey to discover what parts of your adolescence took place in Austin.
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974 & 2003) The first real Texas indie film. Anyone else find it interesting that this film was inspired by the real life aggressive backlash against the 70s counterculture movement sweeping into in our beloved city?
WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE (1993) Johnny Depp seems to specialize in finding roles that require much more than drop-dead gorgeous looks. As Gilbert Grape, he’s a small town lad buckling under the weight of caring for his morbidly obese mother and younger siblings. This was also a break-out role for Leo!
DAZED AND CONFUSED (1993) Party at the moontower, man. Only in our fine city can you still party at operating moonlight towers! This is a Richard Linklater film every Austinite should be ready to quote.
WALKER, TEXAS RANGER (1993-2001) One quote is all that's required here:
"You are under arrest for robbery, assault on a peace officer and for making me miss the rodeo!"
PHENOMENON (1996) My adolescent self just did a somersault (because I could do those as an adolescent) learning that this 90s John Travolta Sci-Fi was filmed at home. Absolutely magical.
HOPE FLOATS (1998) A Sandra Bullock & Harry Connick Jr. rom-com. This features the quintessential Texas fall in love two-steppin' scene and starry nights sky shots.
OFFICE SPACE (1999) A Mike Judge masterpiece. Work sucks. If you had older friends (or brothers) who got you hooked on R-rated films as a child, this had a huge impact on your expectations for joining the workforce. Nice.
VARSITY BLUES (1999) James Van de Beek meets Texas High School football.
MISS CONGENIALITY (2000) Sandra Bullock wins all the hearts. This film taught you a few things about our lovely home state:
"Of course he had a gun. This is Texas, everybody has a gun. My florist has a gun."
SPY KIDS (2001) Not Austin's biggest claim to fame, but I’m never upset when Antonio Banderas is in a film. This franchise also put out the first 3-D film I saw in theater... Spy Kids 3-D Game Over with Steve Buscemi and Elijah Wood!
THE ROOKIE (2002) Dennis Quaid plays a Texas baseball coach that's thrown into the major leagues. You might find this film riveting if you have a deep love of family-friendly movies with no surprises.
KILL BILL VOL. 1 (2003) Yes, yes, yes. Why don’t more ladies star in Tarantino films? Uma4lyfe
SECONDHAND LIONS (2003) A heartwarming Haley Joel Osment coming of age story with crazy grumpy grandpa/uncles Robert Duvall and Michael Caine.
THE ALAMO (2003) Dennis Quaid & Billy Bob Thornton, yo. You've essentially received a 7th grade Texas history education by watching this movie.
SIN CITY (2005) Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen starred in Sin City, my very non-traditional introduction to the film noir genre.
CAPOTE (2005) If you were really into Oscar contenders in your formative years, you may have watched this Phillip Seymour Hoffman film and marveled at one of the actors to have graced the silver screen. Rest in peace.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (2006-2011) Welcome to Dillon, Texas and all its football-related successes and messes. This TV show garnered a respectable number of Prime Time Emmy wins, but not enough to entice me into watching more high school football. But maybe you’re a die-hard FNL fan, that’s cool.
FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) In this film, some dude named Jason ruins a lot of good, clean teenage debauchery. C’mon, Jason, stop being like that.
What a trip! What’s your favorite film or TV show from Austin? I’d love to hear about it!
-LB
