Short Cuts

Conventionally Speaking: A much-anticipated battle of the century failed to make much of an impression on Austin webmaster Harry Knowles of www.aint-it-cool-news.com. Two weekends ago Knowles was holding forth at the massive Comic Con International: San Diego on several panels, the most notable of which was "Caught in the Net: Movie Webmasters on Hollywood, the Internet, and the Future of Their Bastard Child," which also featured Chris Gore and Ron Wells of Film Threat, as well as Patrick Sauriol of the online film site Dark Horizons, Dave Poland of Roughcut.com, Nick Nunziata of Chud.com, X-Men producer Tom DeSanto, and indie auteur Kevin Smith. All of this would've attracted a lot less attention if it weren't for the ongoing accusations aimed at Knowles by the Film Threat/Dark Horizons camps, who have taken him to task for "unprofessional conduct" and possibly receiving preferential treatment from the studios. The extended feud has already been covered in detail (and can be accessed) at both the Ain't It Cool News site and on www.filmthreat.com and www.darkhorizons.com, but according to Knowles, the panel was about as riveting as a tube sock. "It went fine, really," says Knowles. "Film Threat and Ron Wells tried to be asses, and then Kevin Smith told Ron Wells that he was disgusting, and then Wells never said another word through the whole panel. Chris Gore sat there making goofy faces while other people talked. It was fairly pathetic, actually. Absolutely the most boring panel I've ever been on. Of the three panels I did, it was the least attended. There were no fireworks at all." Media biz site Inside.com had a different take on the event of the day, judiciously employing the words "attacked," "verbal brawl," and "bickering" in their related story (www.inside.com/ story/Story_Cached/0,2770,7192_10,00.html), but Knowles insists it was all much ado about nada. Nonmaterializing internecine Web warfare aside, Knowles spent much of his time signing autographs ("2,500 to 3,000") and trying to work the dealers' room while being barraged by fans. Somebody get that wrist a cold compress!... Meanwhile, back in River City, local femme film group Reel Women has slated their second annual Film Forum -- Reel Women Presents Reel Stories -- for Aug. 11-13 at the Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex (1165 Hargrave). The forum/fest will feature screenings of femme-related filmmaking (Katya Bankowski's Shadow Boxers doc, which screened at SXSW, among them), workshops, mentoring sessions, and, of course, parties. Tix are $5 per screening or $20 for a weekend pass. Call 282-9008 for more info or check 'em out online at www.reelwomen.org... Feeling midwifey? Yeah, me too. Here's your chance to "participate in the birthing" of a new film via Movie Midwifing, a new series from Alchemy Works designed to assist in the filmic creative process. Dallas screenwriter and playwright Vicki Cheatwood will read from her script The Swami, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 7:30pm, at Movements Gallery (211 E. Sixth). $5 gets you into the, uh, birthing chamber, and more info can be had at 443-8229 or by e-mailing moviemidwifing@yahoo.com... Finally, the small town of Mason will be hosting the International Wildlife Film Festival Aug. 1 and 2, 7pm, at the historic Odeon Theater in Mason. The theme will be "Urban Wildlife and Human Impact on Wildlife" and at $5/night, you couldn't beat the price with a dead salamander. Call 915/347-5970 for more info.