SXSW is upon us as of tomorrow, and we get two weeks of the best in tech, film, and music. The Interactive conference begins tomorrow and goes through Tuesday, Music kicks up after that, and film runs throughout.
SXSW is daunting. It’s so big it’s just literally impossible to see and do everything I want to. Were that I were Jamie Madrox from X-Factor I might be able to multiple myself to all the cool stuff going on. But here is just a quick rundown of what I’m looking forward to:
1- Marvel Comics’ Sunday announcement-
Excelsior, True Believers! The House of Ideas is invading SXSW’s Screenburn Arcade at 1pm Sunday with the promise of breaking the mold of what a multimedia company is all about. It’s vague, but I’m excited. We have no idea what they’ve got up their sleeve for the big announcement, but here’s what we do know: we’re going to get some exclusive Avengers vs. X-men lithographs, we’re going to see most of the first episode of Ultimate Spiderman, set to premiere on April 1st on Disney XD, and something else? I have high hopes that this includes some rollouts of Marvel Digital Comics so we can rea dour unlimited subscriptions on our ipads, kindles, nooks, etc.
This Spring, Marvel Entertainment takes Austin, Texas by storm in its inaugural appearance at the South By Southwest Interactive Festival with the Marvel: Digital House of Ideas panel at SXSW ScreenBurn! In this historic event on Sunday, March 11 at 1pm on the IGN stage at the Palmer Events Center, Axel Alonso (Marvel Comics Editor in Chief), Jeph Loeb (Head of Marvel Television) and Peter Phillips (SVP & GM, Marvel Digital Media Group) unveil Marvel’s bold new multimedia plans that includes the premiere of Marvel’s revolutionary new ways to read comics. Not only does this mark the first major appearance by a comic book publisher in SXSW history, but Marvel is coming armed with the big news—and exclusive animation footage—that can’t be missed by any fan in attendance! Best of all, this event is free and open to the public, so everyone can be on hand to see Marvel’s newest innovations.
“Marvel’s always been the industry leader in graphic fiction & digital media and with the announcements we’ve planned, we couldn’t have picked a more appropriate show than SXSW,” said Dan Buckley. Publisher & President of the Print, Animation & Digital Divisions, MarvelWorldwide, Inc. “We’re big believers that both print and digital can work hand-in-hand to bring more readers to comics than ever before—and if you’re at SXSW Interactive you’ll be the first to see just how we’re going to do that.”
2- Cabin in the Woods
I’ve been hearing rumors about this Joss Whedon produced horror flick for years it seems. I’m hoping this is this year’s Tucker and Dale vs Evil. . .or better.
3- Lollipop Chainsaw
Lollipop Chainsaw, one of 2011’s most highly anticipated video games featuring a sexy cheerleading zombie hunter and a killer line-up of undead rock lords. For the demo, which will take place in a kick-ass, custom-built Lollipop Chainsaw school bus, you will get to sit down with a producer of the game for a one-on-one demo.
4 – Indie Game
A film I heard great things about out of Sundance, this has to be a perfectly suited movie to SXSW’s film + interactive crossover– a movie about the development of independent video games!!!
5- Casa de mi Padre
The new film from Funny or Die and the guys who made Anchorman, it’s a big-screen telenovela almost entirely in Spanish and starring Will Ferrell. Who knew? I’ve actually seen this already but can’t review it until the premiere. Suffice it to say, this film is muy peligroso. It’ll be neat to see and hear the reactions from people as this is sure to divide audiences into lovers and haters.
Needless to say, there’s a ton more to be excited about. I’ll keep you apprised as things go along, but look for an article at least every couple days. . .assuming I don’t die.