The Best and Worst Films at SXSW 2017
The 2017 edition of South by Southwest wrapped up its film program last night, and the 10 days of premieres produced some welcome hits (with five films scoring 81 or higher) as well as some surprising misses.
Below, our editors have picked out the most notable films debuting at the festival, and sampled the critical consensus for each one. You can also find bonus reviews for a handful of television shows that premiered at SXSW (though not the highly anticipated upcoming series American Gods, since Starz has embargoed reviews until April 17th).
Showtime's upcoming drama series focuses on the stand-up comedy scene in Los Angeles during the 1970s. Jim Carrey is among the producers, while Melissa Leo and Ari Graynor head a big ensemble that also includes Jake Lacy, Clark Duke, RJ Cyler, Sebastian Stan, Michael Angarano, and Andrew Santino, plus plenty of real-life comics in cameos.
The Jonathan Levine- (50/50) directed pilot episode screened Wednesday, and early impressions appear to be slightly positive, with some reservations. Ben Travers of Indiewire warns, "There’s a lot of clutter here, and it distracts from whatever the show’s main focus will become." But Dino-Ray Ramos of The Tracking Board (a site we don't typically use in our TV section) liked the opener a bit better in his "B+" review, though he too found it "crowded." The Playlist's Erik Childress, in another "B+" review, seems the most optimistic, writing, "The pilot has the production value of 'Vinyl' and the ensemble make-up of 'Roadies,' but offers up greater potential from its first hour than either of those hyped one-and-done series."
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