NEWBIE GUIDE

SXSW Music for first-timers: Best bets for freeloaders, badgeholders andin-betweeners

When newcomers to Austin ask if you’re “going to SXSW,” it’s hard to know what they’re even talking about. Do they mean “are you buying a wristband?” A film pass? They’d probably know if you were going to have a badge – do they just mean “hang out somewhere that’ll have music”?

The way SXSW completely takes over so much of Austin means that it’s possible to experience the city this week in totally different ways, depending on your level of engagement. But no matter how into it you get, there’s loads of fun to be had. Here are some best bets for every type of person.

For the full-time festival freeloader:

If you haven’t got any credentials, but you’re really into SXSW, and want to have as much fun listening/watching/eating/drinking — this can be a blast of a week even if you’ve lost your wallet. Follow @SXShhh on Twitter for updated party/RSVP info; @southbyfreenoms for a steady stream of info about who’s got pizza/tacos/brisket left at their day party; and turn to showlistaustin.com for a searchable (CTRL+F style, anyway) guide to day parties in an easy-reader format.

You can pretty effectively plan your entire day around seeing the exact bands you want to see, getting free drinks, and not paying for lunch. Daytime SXSW, if you feel like running around and adhering to a firm schedule, can be just as great as night-time, badgeholding SXSW — but totally for free, with the opportunity to get into bed at a reasonable hour (or to just continue the fun at, say, the PureVolume House at night).

For the SXSW dabbler:

If all that sounds super stressful, cool — it kind of is. If you just want to check out some of the fun going on this week without printing out spreadsheets, you can take it pretty easy. Auditorium Shores continues to offer free nightly concerts with big-name headliners like Counting Crows and The Shins, and you can do it family-style — pack up the kids and some blankets and eat elephant ears and stuff.

If you’re not ready to strap on the fanny pack yet, give a thought to Transmission’s Mess With Texas. It’s an all-day pseudo-festival in one location, with multiple stages, that – if it happened any other week – would be worth paying a fair amount of money for. It’s cooler than Auditorium Shores, the food (warning: not free) is better, and you can camp in one location all day and still get three pretty great days of music.

For the wristband buyer:

Wristbands are a mixed bag at SXSW: They get you access to all of the night shows, technically speaking, but most of the marquee events get packed with badgeholders, who get priority. To make the most of it, look at the list of who’s playing each night, and cross a lot of the big-names off — you’re not getting in to Fiona Apple at the Central Presbyterian Church.

The best bet is to start lining up early, if there’s something you’re desperate to see — and to highlight a handful of options for every given timeslot, so you can bounce from venue to venue as necessary. You have to commit to one of two courses of action: Either you pick a venue, line up early, and camp for the entire evening, or you select a bunch of lower-hype acts and run around to catch as many as possible.

For the first-time badgeholder:

The best-kept secret at SXSW for badgeholders may be the Radio Day Stage on the 4^th Floor of the Austin Convention Center. Check it — the lineups include rising acts like Alabama Shakes, Gary Clark Jr., and Michael Kiwanuka, but there’s almost never a line, and the low-lit lounge makes for intimate performances.

If you can get over the cognitive dissonance that it’s bright and sunny outside (or, hell, maybe dull and rainy – this is a weird year), then you can convince yourself you’re catching on early for a club date by somebody awesome, even if they’re going to be playing a packed venue later that evening.

For everybody:

Don’t drive your car downtown, that’s ridiculous. Especially with the new street parking laws, it’s just going to break your heart. Every lot/garage/etc seems to double their prices this week, and if you’re going to be drinking for fifteen straight hours, driving home is never a great idea anyway.

If you absolutely must master your own destiny, Car2Go that ride home; otherwise, late-night buses, bikes, taxis, those free electric cabs with big ads on them, various shuttles — whatever, just don’t add to the nightmarish traffic jam that is downtown during SXSW unless you absolutely must.

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Movie Review

Jude Law faces white supremacy in The Order, inspired by a true story

Photo courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

Jude Law in The Order.

White supremacy has long been a stand-in for evil in movies, with the correlation easy to make with through well-known archetypes like those of Nazi Germany. Whether a film puts forth white supremacists as its main characters or supporting ones, their usefulness in a story is as people who are easy to hate and that deserve to be held to some sort of justice.

While that idea holds true in the new film, The Order, the nature of the group featured is somewhat muddled. The central figure is FBI agent Terry Husk (Jude Law), who essentially sets up a one-man task force in the Pacific Northwest to track a group known as The Order. Husk is convinced that the group, which is an offshoot of a larger white supremacist organization, is behind a series of bank robberies to fund anti-government schemes.

Husk recruits local police officer Jamie Bowen (Tye Sheridan) to help follow the group, which is led by Bob Mathews (Nicholas Hoult). The two, joined occasionally by FBI agent Joanne Carney (Jurnee Smollett), do their best to keep up with The Order’s increasingly bold crimes, which morphs from “just” bank robbery to murder.

Directed by Justin Kurzel and written by Zach Baylin, the film is at its best when it delves into the personalities of its characters. Husk’s monomaniacal nature is great for his job, but not so much for his family life. Bowen has a solid bond with his wife and kids, but his greenness in law enforcement leads to some questionable decision-making. Mathews, like many cult leaders, is a charismatic person with very misguided tendencies.

The filmmakers set up the plot (which is based on a real-life story) well, but the details get a little loose as the film goes along. While The Order has a hatred of Jews, a plot against radio personality Alan Berg (Marc Maron) doesn’t make much sense in the context of the film. The geography of the group’s operations is also confusing; they’re located in Washington, but they range out as far as Colorado and California to commit their crimes.

Still, the inherent appeal of good-vs-evil keeps the plot mechanics going, and the side stories of the main characters give them a depth that makes up for other faults. The filmmakers also make sure to demonstrate how the scourge of white supremacy has never been limited to one particular era, and continues to infect American society to this day.

Law commits fully to the lead role, giving a performance with a convincing American accent that is far from the suave British parts which have dominated his filmography. Hoult proves equally believable, giving his character a nuance that somehow makes him more detestable. Sheridan adds another interesting role to a career that would be enviable for any other young actor.

While The Order doesn’t rise to the level of an awards contender, its story is still relatively compelling with antagonists that, unfortunately, never go out of style. A great cast playing characters with engaging lives keeps the film watchable even when it goes into some odd detours.

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The Order is now playing in theaters.

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