All week long we’ll be telling you about the coolest stuff to do and see at SXSW 2012. Topping our Friday, we’ve got info on one of our personally most-anticipated films of the festival – PAUL WILLIAMS STILL ALIVE.
Are you familiar with Paul Williams? Academy Award winner Paul Williams? Composer, musician, songwriter and actor Paul Williams? Star of PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE, Paul Williams? Bottom line – if you’re not, you should be. One of the most interesting entries at this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival has to be PAUL WILLIAMS STILL ALIVE, a personal look at the talented man and his work through the years from director (and narrator) Stephen Kessler. I can fully appreciate the effect one person can have on the life of a young man (or woman) and how someone’s fandom can be so meaningful that the only satisfying result is to share it with the world. Both Kessler and Williams will be attending SXSW to promote the film (we imagine just for the premiere on Sunday), and we’ve got info below on when you can see it yourself. Be sure to tell your friends about this one, I have a feeling it’s going to be a can’t-miss flick.
Premiere:
Sunday, March 11th at 3:45pm – Alamo Lamar B
Synopsis:
He won Grammys and an Academy Award; wrote many #1 songs from Barbara Streisand’s “Evergreen” to the Carpenter’s “We’ve Only Just Begun” as well as Kermit the Frog’s biggest hit, “The Rainbow Connection”; starred in a Brian DePalma movie; put out his own hit records and albums; was a guest on The Tonight Show fifty times; and is the president of ASCAP… and you might not have heard of him. In the 1970’s, Paul Williams was the singer / actor / songwriter that emotional, alienated teenage boys all over the world wanted to be, a sex symbol before MTV, when sex symbols could be 5″2 and sing songs about loneliness with the Muppets. One of those boys was Steve Kessler, a chubby kid from Queens. Thirty years later, Kessler discovered something amazing: Paul Williams didn’t die. And no one had ever tried to make a documentary about him. A wistful musical journey that will re-introduce a new generation to Williams’ soulful classics, Paul Williams: Still Alive is the charmingly self-narrated story of Stephen Kessler’s lifelong obsession with the former superstar-and what happens when the nostalgic filmmaker finally catches up with him.
PAUL WILLIAMS STILL ALIVE premiered to acclaim at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.
TRT: 84 minutes
SXSW Screenings:
Sunday, March 11th at 3:45pm – Alamo Lamar B (Premiere)
Tuesday, March 13th at 2:00pm – Stateside Theatre
Wednesday, March 14th at 3:30pm – Paramount Theatre
Born and raised in Dallas, Mark has been a movie critic since 1994, with reviews featured in print, radio and National TV. In 2001 he started the Entertainment section of the Herorealm website, where he contributed film reviews and celebrity interviews until 2004. After three years of service there, he started Bigfanboy.com, which has become one of the Dallas film community's leading information websites. Bigfanboy hosts several movie screenings in the Texas area, and works closely with film and TV studios and promotional partners to host exciting events and contests. The site also features a variety of rare celebrity and filmmaker interviews, and Bigfanboy.com regularly covers the film festival circuit as well. In addition to Hollywood reporting, Mark has worked for many years as an advertising and sci-fi/comic book artist. Clients have included Lucasfilm Ltd., Topps Trading Cards, The Dallas Mavericks and The Dallas Stars. From 2002 until 2015 he managed the Dallas Comic Con, Sci-Fi Expo and Fan Days events in the DFW area. He currently catalogs rare comic books and movie memorabilia for Heritage Auctions, and runs the Dallas Comic Show conventions, but remains an avid moviegoer and cinema buff. 
I’m down to see this when available. Huge fan of PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE.
PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE is one of my favorite films. Will definitely check this out when available.