SXSW Archives | MendoWerks

Fair Pay at SXSW: Please Pay These Brilliant Brits!!

31May

By Ambur MasenNo Comments

Features, Music

Fair Pay at SXSW: Please Pay These Brilliant Brits!!

Despite the fact that it’s held in March, SXSW is still on a lot of minds–especially right now. Before I dive into a recap of the incredible artists I saw live in Texas, I want to bring your attention to something important that is happening today: a protest outside of the Penske Media Corporation NYC Offices that is demanding fair pay for artists at SXSW. This protest is led by the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers, and is made up of a coalition of music workers organizations, music industry unions, local organizing groups, and more. Protesters are gathering in front of Penske HQ because the media conglomerate is the festival’s largest stakeholder, as of 2021; after similar protests were held in Austin during SXSW this year, the festival made a pledge to reassess the situatio...

THE HARA is Here to Get You Laid. [On Recent Updates, SXSW, & More]

23Feb

By Ambur MasenNo Comments

Features, Music

THE HARA is Here to Get You Laid. [On Recent Updates, SXSW, & More]

In case you missed it, THE HARA dropped some major announcements on social media recently, including their American debut at SXSW, some updates on their LP, an upcoming single... ... and their plans to get you laid. Need I say more? Read on. THE HARA to see their American debut at SXSW Get a taste of the best in UK alternative rock by heading out t0 Austin, TX, next month for SXSW. The Details: On December 8, 2022, THE HARA announced their acceptance into SXSW 2023, as presented by Scruff of the Neck. Their showcase will take place on 17th March at The Velveeta Room. Other artists featured at this showcase include Avalanche Party, GIRLI, and Lime Garden. You can witness the lads in a live environment through their "Live At Satan's Hollow" offe...

Go Behind The Scenes With ‘The Return of Tanya Tucker’ (Review)

13Jan

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Features, Film, Reviews

Go Behind The Scenes With ‘The Return of Tanya Tucker’ (Review)

Tanya Tucker is a legendary country singer who became a star when she was still a teenager, being named Most Promising Female Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music Awards in 1972. Her career has had its share of ups and downs over the years, with the end of the 1970s into the early 1980s being especially difficult. She had her first big comeback in the late 80s where she ended up not only selling strongly again, but by winning multiple awards again, including CMT's Female Video Artist of the Year in 1990. After multiple attempts at reinvention followed, Tucker was fairly off the radar again until her 2019 album While I'm Livin was released. Working with Brandi Carlile and Shooter Jennings, Tucker won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album in 2000 as well as Best Country Song for...

SXSW 2022 Film Dispatches, Vol. 3 (Reviews)

25Mar

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Features, Film, Reviews

SXSW 2022 Film Dispatches, Vol. 3 (Reviews)

After having a few days to recover, I'm finally ready to close out my look at this year's SXSW Film Festival by featuring the best film I saw. To say it's been a crazy week or so around here is an understatement. Things wrapped up on Sunday with the last few premieres from Saturday screening online. Right after the majority of out-of-towners headed out of Austin, we were hit with an intense storm system that found tornadoes ripping through the area on Monday night. Over the course of the event, I watched 20 feature films. That feels like a lot to me, but I also have friends who attended who got closer to 40. All I can say in my defense is that I was also working a full-time job and still making time for viewing. Ultimately, I really enjoyed almost everything I saw, but the foll...

SXSW 2022 Film Dispatches, Vol. 2 (Reviews)

18Mar

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Features, Film, Reviews

SXSW 2022 Film Dispatches, Vol. 2 (Reviews)

The 29th edition of the SXSW Film Festival has been back in-person (and online) this week in Austin, Texas, for the first time in three years. With nearly 100 feature films on the schedule and 76 World Premiere screenings happening over the course the week, there are plenty of opportunities to be entertained. With today’s dispatch, I'm going to cover a few more films that I really enjoyed this week. When it comes to festivals, I tend to gravitate to the documentaries. I already covered a few in my previous post, but here are some more to keep an eye out for in the months ahead. Kids In The Hall: Comedy Punks Five wild and crazy Canadian guys formed a comedy troupe in 1984. For this documentary, they head back to The Rivoli in Toronto where their earliest shows began and talk abou...

SXSW 2022 Film Dispatches, Vol. 1 (Reviews)

15Mar

By Matt Shiverdecker2 Comments

Features, Film, Reviews

SXSW 2022 Film Dispatches, Vol. 1 (Reviews)

The 29th edition of the SXSW Film Festival is back in-person (and online) this week in Austin, Texas, for the first time in three years. With nearly 100 feature films on the schedule and 76 World Premiere screenings happening over the course the week, there are plenty of opportunities to be entertained. With today's dispatch, I'll take a look at some of the best documentaries I've caught so far during the festival and I'll be back later in the week with more updates. The Pez Outlaw Before becoming obsessed with the wide variety of international Pez dispensers available overseas, Steve Glew had never been out of the country. Living with his family in rural Michigan and working in a factory as a machinist was a means to an end, but then his OCD manifested itself in collecting all ...

‘The Fallout’ Premieres on HBO Max (Review)

1Feb

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Features, Film, Reviews

‘The Fallout’ Premieres on HBO Max (Review)

Even with the pandemic shift to online learning in some locations, last year there were 34 school shootings in the United States. In Megan Park's directorial debut, a group of students struggle to cope after a fellow student guns down several of their classmates. While Fran Kranz's recent drama 'Mass' deals with parental grief several years after a school shooting, 'The Fallout' handles the immediate aftermath of survivor's guilt from the student perspective. Jenna Ortega gives a revelatory performance as Vada, a 16-year-old who just happens to be on a hall pass in the restroom when the tragic incident begins. Vada grabs Mia (Maddie Ziegler), another young student who happens to be in the restroom at the time, and they hide in one of the stalls, getting up to stand on the toilet ...

Udo Kier Gives An Unforgettable Performance in “Swan Song” (Review)

20Aug

By Matt ShiverdeckerNo Comments

Film, Reviews

Udo Kier Gives An Unforgettable Performance in “Swan Song” (Review)

Todd Stephens wrote, produced, and directed this new drama starring legendary German actor Udo Kier that had its world premiere earlier this year at the virtual edition of the SXSW festival. Older members of the LGBTQ+ community are not often given a chance to tell their stories or see themselves represented in popular culture, so it's a real treat to see Kier absolutely eat up every inch of the screen as Pat Pitsenbarger, an aging gay man who is miserably spending his final days trapped in a nursing home facility in Sandusky, Ohio. In a tale that is thankfully not as common now, we learn that Pat's long term partner David had passed away in the 90s due to complications from AIDS. At that time, before queer people could get married, many couples did not have legal protections. He l...