Letters to the Editor
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Has success ruined America's friendliest filmfest?
I'm not sure why Andrew asks the question when his answer is, "Who gives a shit as long as I'm having fun."
He's so quick to deny any possibility of negative effects, I'm sure he wouldn't notice what's been ruined if he spilled a drink on it.
One of the reasons I don't mind the financial and logistical obstacles which have kept me away from SXSW are all the journalist so intent on informing readers about the great party they can't attend the description of the cultural product come up short. It's sort of a Received Wisdom camp for the alt-press, where they get their liscense to employ "was all the buzz at SXSW" to describe some product for the rest of the year.
The effect is on full display here, with O'Hehir displaying nearly uncritical enthusiasm for a list of pictures he hasn't seen just because they're playing the festival. Including what is clearly a by the book "vegas true story" pic because "festival head and compulsive blogger Matt Dentler and his staff wouldn't have slotted it as the opening night film, now would they?" Or perhaps it's standard practice for smaller film festivals to screen big studio product for opening night in exchange for some underwriting of the event.