AFF ’17: Time Trap

Being hippies, Prof. Hopper’s parents are by definition trapped in time. In their case, it is also literally true. After years of looking, the archeology professors will finally stumble into the rift in the space-time continuum that swallowed them up. When he subsequently disappears, some of his students will follow along behind him in Mark Dennis & Ben Foster’s Time Trap, which screens during the 2017 Austin Film Festival.

After years of searching the desert, Hopper finally turns up his parents’ hippy van. Naturally, he ventures into the nearby cave in search of any traces, even though he must pass through an invisible but tangible barrier. Obviously, he is not coming back anytime soon, so Taylor and Jackie, two of the biggest brown-nosers in his class, head out looking for him. They will need wheels, so they hit up poor Cara, who has long carried a torch for Taylor. To give the film a bit of a Goonies flavor (which it even references), Cara brings her little sister Veeves, who in turn invites along the obnoxious Furby.

Since Furby is useless, they leave above be the lookout while they explore the cave. However, he apparently plunges to his death shortly thereafter. When examining his GoPro camera, they inexplicably find hours of him whining about being abandoned without food or water. Meanwhile, Prof. Hopper exits and re-enters after finding his students gear outside. It soon becomes all too clear there are other parties lost in the cave, above and beyond the wild west gunslinger Hopper encounters in the alternate entrance.

Time Trap really proves how much a professional grade cast can elevate what is essentially a half-baked B-movie. There is a lot of scampering about caves and running from Neanderthals, but the game ensemble largely convinces us this is a cosmically serious situation. The screenplay (solely credited to Dennis) also manages to take the Interstellar-esque time warp Macguffin and follow it to its most mind-bending logical extremes.

Rather refreshingly, Brianne Howey, Reiley McClendon, and Cassidy Gifford all seem reasonably together and down-to-earth as Jackie, Taylor, and Cara, respectively. Frankly, the only character who causes serious acid reflux is the cringe-inducing Furby, but Dennis & Foster axe him early in the second act.

Time Trap a definitely a kitchen sink film that features both provocative far-future speculations and chaotic subterranean bedlam. It makes you wonder what cheesy favorites like Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone and Prisoners of the Lost Universe might have been like, if they had 2010s digital technology available to them. Granted, Time Trap is a more inventive and polished, but it has a similar eagerness to please. Affectionately recommended for science fiction fans, Time Trap screens Saturday (10/28) and Wednesday (11/1) during this year’s Austin Film Festival.

AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES FULL FILM AND CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

SLATE INCLUDES CLOSING NIGHT FILM CHAPPAQUIDDICK, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, THE DARKEST HOUR, THE UPSIDE, AND THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

Austin, TX – September 26, 2017 – Austin Film Festival & Screenwriters Conference (AFF), the premier film festival recognizing the writers’ contributions to film, television, and new media, announced today the full schedule of films and panels for the 24th annual event, this October 26-November 2. AFF’s feature film slate includes over 25 World, North American and US Premieres, a robust retrospective series, and highly anticipated marquee titles, including Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, WWII drama The Darkest Hour featuring Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill, The Upside starring Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart, and Armie Hammer romance Call Me By Your Name.

AFF has also announced Chappaquiddick as its Closing Night Film. A drama recounting Ted Kennedy’s infamous 1969 car accident resulting in the death of his campaign worker, Chappaquiddick will close out the Festival with writers Taylor Allen and Andrew Logan in attendance.Chappaquiddick will join already announced Opening Night Film Lady Bird with writer/director Greta Gerwig in attendance and Centerpiece Film The Current War with director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon in attendance.

A staple of the Festival, AFF’s retrospective series this year will feature Philip D’Antoni’s 1973 drama The Seven-Ups presented by David Simon and George Pelecanos (The Deuce, The Wire), Jack Fisk’s 1981 film Raggedy Man—a tribute to Sam Shepard—presented by writer William D. Wittliff in partnership with the Wittliff Collections, and seminal 1987 action film Predator presented by Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, The Nice Guys) who is currently working on the film’s reboot. Additionally, already announced Extraordinary Contribution to Film awardee Walter Hill will present his cult classic The Warriors.

In addition to the slate of 150+ films, AFF will present premieres and retrospectives of television programming, including the season 2 premiere ofHulu’s darkly comedic psychic drama Shut Eye with executive producers Mark Johnson, Melissa Bernstein, John Shiban and Amy Berg in attendance, the premiere of YouTube Red’s new comedy series Do You Want to See a Dead Body? with creator Rob Huebel in attendance, and the premiere of the Season Finale of HBO’s drama The Deuce with creators David Simon and George Pelecanos in attendance.

Also confirmed to attend is Dan Rather, who will help present the World Premiere of the documentary Fail State, chronicling the rise of predatory for-profit colleges. Writer/producer Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator, The Walking Dead) will also be in attendance for AFF’s screening of documentary Mankiller about barrier-breaking female Cherokee leader Wilma Mankiller.

Other World Premieres include Wild Honey (Francis Stokes’ comedy about a phone sex operator searching for love), Coming to My Senses (a documentary following a man’s journey to regain his mobility after an accident), and Transformer (chronicling the transition of world-renowned body builder Matt Kroczaelski into Janae after being outed as transgender). Making its US Premiere at AFF is comedy Don’t Talk to Irene, which also won AFF’s Comedy Screenplay Award in 2013. Written and directed by Pat Mills, Irene premiered this month at Toronto International Film Festival to a receptive audience.

Austin Film Festival also revealed today their full Screenwriters Conference schedule, which will take place the first four days of the Festival, October 26-29. The Conference features a roster of prominent screenwriters in film and television, including Kenneth Lonergan, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Noah Hawley, Courtney A. Kemp, Lindsay Doran, Misha Green, Michael Arndt, Mark Frost, Michael Green, Sarah Gubbins, Christopher Vogler, Scott Frank, Megan Amram, John August, Eric Heisserer, and many more

The full Film and Conference schedule can be found at www.austinfilmfestival.com.

Austin Film Festival’s 2017 slate:

Marquee Features:

Austin Film Fest Reveals Opening Night & Centerpiece Films

AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES LADY BIRD AND THE CURRENT WAR AS OPENING NIGHT AND CENTERPIECE PROGRAMMING FOR ITS 24TH ANNIVERSARY

Austin, TX – September 13, 2017 – Austin Film Festival (AFF), the premier film festival recognizing writers’ and filmmakers’ contributions to film, television, and new media, announced today its Opening Night and Centerpiece Programming for its 24^th anniversary, taking place October 26-November 2. A24’s Lady Bird will play as Opening Night selection and The Weinstein Company’s The Current War will serve as AFF’s Centerpiece Film.

The directorial debut by actress Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha, Mistress America), Lady Bird stars Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn, The Grand Budapest Hotel) as Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson, a young woman who fights against but is exactly like her wildly loving, deeply opinionated and strong-willed mom (Laurie Metcalf), a nurse working tirelessly to keep her family afloat after Lady Bird's father (Tracy Letts) loses his job.

The Current War, the latest film by director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), chronicles the race for marketable electricity in the United States between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse. The film also stars Tom Holland, Nicholas Hoult, and Katherine Waterston. Gomez-Rejon will present the film during the Festival.

Lady Bird and The Current War will join already announced titles An Ordinary Man, starring Ben Kingsley, 24 Hours to Live, starring Ethan Hawke, Please Stand By, starring Dakota Fanning and Toni Collette, and the premiere of the season finale of HBO’s new dramatic series The Deuce, with creators David Simon and George Pelecanos in attendance.

AFF will release its complete slate of film titles at the end of the month. For more information visit www.austinfilmfestival.com