Dear Pillow
Dear Pillow is the latest addition to Austin's low-budget pantheon of movies that succeed against the odds.
It's a small film about a high school kid whose interest in porn takes a turn toward the obsessive under the influence of a couple of older neighbors. It's an unusual movie in that it deals very directly with sex without either glamorizing or demonizing it. It raises a lot of questions about desire and exploitation without being compelled to offer a pat resolution (unlike, say, the much less daring American Beauty).
The filmmakers shot Dear Pillow for $4000, which may show in the sets but not in the acting or the script. The three leads were all convincing and memorable (I want to rush out and see everything Viviane Vives has done) and it was especially good to see the role of a teenager played by someone who actually looks like a teenager.
The movie will be at the Alamo Village for the next week. Since it hasn't found a distributor, this run is its first chance to make a little money and start paying some of the Austin filmheads who put their sweat into making it. Now would be a good time to turn out and support the home team.