Subscribe to the RSS feed
View tag cloud
View archives by date, by category
" size="15" onclick="this.select()"/>

Recent Posts

Today in YouTube Leaks: Todd Haynes' Bob Dylan Movie
Eight Things
ComicCon Coolness Round-up
Introducing The Micro 5

People changing films and films changing people is what we're all about here.

Community

Today in YouTube Leaks: Todd Haynes' Bob Dylan Movie

by Karina Longworth on July 16, 2007
Piracy be damned, it's hard to have moral qualms about spreading a meme this good. (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (0)

Eight Things

by Karina Longworth on July 13, 2007
"I NEVER respond to blog memes" is the new "I don't even OWN a TV." (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (0)

ComicCon Coolness Round-up

by Karina Longworth on June 27, 2007
A couple of newsbites that might send you running to San Diego. (read more)
   Comments (1)    TrackBacks (0)

Introducing The Micro 5

by Karina Longworth on June 25, 2007
There's a lot of list-making and counter-list-making going around, and it's starting to give me a headache. But since I can't beat them... (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (0)

Film Critic Anderson Jones Dies

by Karina Longworth on June 25, 2007
A veteran goes down in the line of duty. (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (0)

Four Eyed Monsters: Have You Signed Up Yet?

by Karina Longworth on June 23, 2007
There's still time to help Spout help Arin and Susan get out of debt. (read more)
   Comments (1)    TrackBacks (0)

When novelty engulfs nostalgia

by Kristin on April 16, 2007
Watching movies outdoors is appealing for the nostalgia and novelty. But if you throw too much money at it, the novelty can quickly overpower everything else. (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (0)

Teach your children well

by Kristin on March 06, 2007
Is the movie industry really facing a crisis as their future audiences grow less interested in traditional entertainment? (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (0)

Trusted voices in a sea of content

by Kristin on March 02, 2007
Spout's Rick DeVos tells an Austin Chronicle reporter how community, non-Hollywood style, works. (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (0)

Essential community yields essential films

by Kristin on November 30, 2006
When we asked spout.com experts to tell us what they considered "essential" films, they gladly shared their wealth of information and opinions. That's the Spout community at its best. (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (1)

What we want

by Kristin on October 16, 2006
More than perhaps anything, we long for shared experiences. (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (0)

"SXSW Presents" puts its discussions online

by Kristin on October 11, 2006
For a weekly taste of film life in Austin, check out these PBS panel discussions... (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (0)

A little experiment (and what we learned)

by Paul on October 04, 2006
Our first film event, like the best of experiements, suceeded in moving us and teaching us. (read more)
   Comments (1)    TrackBacks (0)

51 Birch Street: post-event sidewalk conversation

by Paul on October 02, 2006
One of our favorite things about really great films is the conversation afterwards. Listen in on one. (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (0)

Share your story

by Kristin on September 29, 2006
Filmmaker Doug Block reminds us we all have stories to tell, and that telling our stories brings people together. (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (0)

The big night

by Kristin on September 28, 2006
We really like the film 51 Birch Street, but there's also a bigger goal behind tonight's community film-watching event. (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (0)

Global village film parties

by Kristin on September 21, 2006
Getting people together around great films is one of Spout's main goals. Maybe the Battlestar Galactica party-planners are on to something... (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (0)

Spout's having an event

by Paul on August 29, 2006
Certain films require fellow viewers and follow up conversation. Hence, our first Spout film event. (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (0)

Snakes on a Plane

by Paul on August 18, 2006
Finally Hollywood gives it to us straight, marketing a film based on what it actually delivers. (read more)
   Comments (1)    TrackBacks (0)

51 Birch Street

by Paul on August 13, 2006
Films, of course, depict images of life--some right on, some misleading. Maybe more should take the 51 Birch approach. (read more)
   Comments (1)    TrackBacks (0)

Portland postcard 3: Powell's and farewell

by Kristin on August 13, 2006
Powell's proves it's possible to get the selection you want and an experience at the same time. (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (0)

Portland postcard 1: city of theaters

by Kristin on August 07, 2006
Are Portland-style theaters really not viable in other parts of the country? (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (0)

Can "entertainment guilt" breed better discussions?

by Kristin on July 26, 2006
Do "difficult" films spur better discussion than purely entertaining films, or can we have the best of both worlds? (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (0)

Treasure in the basement

by Paul on June 20, 2006
What's a huge collection of old 16mm films worth? What should be done with them? And what are the odds of finding gold on the beach or a Van Gogh in the attic? (read more)
   Comments (2)    TrackBacks (0)

Buzzing issues need a place to land.

by Kristin on May 30, 2006
SpoutBlog is back. We missed the stimulation of ideas generated here. We missed hearing from all of you. And the issues are out there, buzzing around, looking for somewhere to land. (read more)
   Comments (0)    TrackBacks (0)

Keep the theater, lose the multiplex

by Paul on January 23, 2006
So typically the buzz at festivals has to do with films. This year at Sundance and Slamdance the buzz includes all sorts of new experiments to keep independent and foreign films in the "black box" without pandering to the multiplex.... (read more)
   Comments (3)    TrackBacks (0)

Groups.

by Spout on January 16, 2006
Conversations are important- they keep a marriage alive, a business running smoothly, and whole countries intact. Unfortunately, conversations with yourself are not very fulfilling. They require a community, and they're at the heart of what makes Spout a community. In... (read more)
   TrackBacks (0)

Films. People. Groups.

by Spout on January 13, 2006
A guy and a girl are sitting in a bar. They're discussing general things like work and mutual friends. She makes a film reference, he picks up on it, then the bartender, who has just come over to see if... (read more)
   TrackBacks (0)

Brainstorm: Movie theater as neighborhood hub

by Paul on December 19, 2005
Most people have heard and experienced in some way shape or form that going to the movies is not nearly as popular as it once was. Industry analysts say sophisticated Home Entertainment systems, DVDs, gasoline price hikes and popcorn price... (read more)
   Comments (5)    TrackBacks (0)

The Keepers of Public Knowledge

by Paul on December 15, 2005
My wife works for a non-profit organization that is slowly but steadily planning and rebuilding one neighborhood of our city. I love hearing her talk about her work. To grow my knowledge about what she does a bit more, I... (read more)
   Comments (3)    TrackBacks (0)

My Front Porch

by Paul on November 01, 2005
Yesterday was Halloween. A day when it is acceptable to have perfect strangers knock on your door and ask for candy. I love it. My wife and I had so much fun handing out candy last year, we decided to... (read more)
   Comments (4)    TrackBacks (0)

A Sermon on Community

by Paul on October 20, 2005
The comment Summer left in the last Manifesto statement got me all worked up to start preachin' on community. Before I start humming soulful-like, I need to check myself. Now first, Summer you said "the 'old-fashion' communities and neighborhoods I... (read more)
   TrackBacks (0)

Manifesto Statement 5

by Spout on October 19, 2005
Old-fashioned community-building is underrated. We each probably have one or two close friends we could happily spend all our time with, but we think bringing together a broader community-many different people with different strengths, opinions, and backgrounds-is where we can... (read more)
   Comments (1)    TrackBacks (0)

What Spout will do.

by Paul on October 17, 2005
I've been asked the same question a lot lately. The question is, "So what is it Spout will do?" First off, I have to say that it was finally David Lowery from Road Dog Productions asking the question that got... (read more)
   Comments (1)    TrackBacks (0)

Manifesto Statement 2

by Spout on October 15, 2005
It takes a village to watch a film. Maybe we've been conditioned by the multiplex to believe the movie experience starts when the movie starts and ends when it ends. Imagine, instead, sitting around a campfire that's playing The Godfather.... (read more)
   TrackBacks (0)

Independent films love independent librarians

by Dave on October 14, 2005
Considering what Rick post from the other day, DVD Wars, and today's manifesto statement, I found it ironic when I ran across this article by Danielle Sherry about some film lovers who are getting together at their local Public Library to... (read more)
   Comments (2)    TrackBacks (0)

Manifesto Statement 1

by Spout on October 14, 2005
To help us better understand what we are doing here at Spout, we came up with an incomplete manifesto. Incomplete because there is always room to add more. It's a series of statements that sum up what we really believe... (read more)
   TrackBacks (0)

Blockbusters

by Rick on October 12, 2005
Blockbusters are sweet. I saw every single one of the Star Wars prequels. I saw Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I saw, and enjoyed, Ocean's 12 because European locations look amazing on film. And yes, you can mock me. I enjoy... (read more)
   Comments (3)    TrackBacks (0)

For Harriet

by Paul on October 05, 2005
Yesterday was a banner day for Spout.com. On the day Harriet Miers was nominated to be a Supreme Court Justice, she had a moment to take a break and check an email or two then (obviously) zip over to check... (read more)
   Comments (3)    TrackBacks (0)

Chatter vs. Community

by Paul on September 30, 2005
I want to throw this out there and see what you guys think. I've written about people finding films and how lacking in nuance that process can be. I've written that humans are the best source for an educated suggestion... (read more)
   Comments (1)    TrackBacks (0)

Real Blood, Not Bambi

by Paul on September 24, 2005
When I was six years old I got lost in the grocery store. I went off to look at toys or something and suddenly it felt like I was in that giant military warehouse in the closing shot of... (read more)
   Comments (2)    TrackBacks (0)