corpse run is premiering cinequest on feb. 27th.

here’s a schedule for the whole festival. here’s details about corpse run and corpse run’s page is www.corpserunmovie.com. contact info is on that page for interviews. also, you can email at corpserun@gmail.com.

(from the movie corpse run)

from the cinequest page:

Kei is Nick’s first lasting relationship. She is real, tangible, and Nick has a real shot at happiness. Yet, Nick finds comfort in a virtual world, where he is a champion; a true rock star in a world that needs rock stars. He knows what to expect in the virtual world, so when faced with the chance at something real, can he accept the unknown? Only one way to find out.

Sharp-witted and fast-paced, John-Michael Thomas’ coming-of-age tale features a hip style and cast (including Thomas himself and Brea Grant from the hit TV show Heroes). Corpse Run is a hilarious take on the maturation of the video game generation and how they choose to come to terms with the life that exists outside of their multi-colored pixel window to the World. And no, Thomas admits he is not a hard core gamer, he just plays one in the movies!

if you didn’t pick up this month’s geek magazine, you should. it’s a good magazine full of stuff that you probably like if you’re reading my website and i’m in it. in case you can’t pick up a copy, the article looks like this.

this month’s guest post is by john gross who writes/created partyends.com – a favorite website of mine both because i miss austin, tx terribly and i love finding out about new bands. also, the links to mp3s every day gives me something to listen to while i’m reading my morning rss feeds. thanks to john for doing the guest post!

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What an honor it is to be included in the great chronicles of BreaGrant.com.  I wanted to use this platform to share some of my favorite Austin bands with you today.  It should be noted that our fair city of Austin claims to be the Live Music Capitol of the World and as such you can’t throw a Lonestar Beer without hitting someone who is a band.

I feel these bands are representative of the wonders of current Austin rock and/or roll music.  I find myself writing about these bands a lot and working with them on various shows that we help put together via the website PartyEnds.com. Time after time I am impressed.

I am leaving off the big stuff you already know about like 13th Floor Elevators, Okkervil River, Stevie Ray Vaughan etc.  Let’s look at some of the bands that are pushing Austin music to the next level, keeping live music fun, and living by the commendable (if not overused) mantra: “keep Austin weird.” I hope you will give them a chance and at the very least take the time to add them as your “friends” on this brand new social networking site called MySpace.

The Laughing-

The Laughing is a band that has a strong vision of thematics, raw musicianship and a plays a genre of music they self describe as “jungle smut core.” It is always interesting to watch and see how they pull off their huge recorded sounds. (Their limted edition EP ‘Jungle’ is riddled with the layering of clarinets, djembes, chants, glockenspiels and on and on and on.) The Laughing is equal parts Q and Not U and Animal Collective and it somehow REALLY works. Check it out.

MP3: The Laughing- Canopy

Mothfight-

Mothfight is another awesomely thematic group that practically defines controlled noise. Every member of the 7-piece incarnation of the band is an extremely talented musician.  Frontman Kevin Adickes knows more than anyone how to nail high notes with the ever so gentle help of a reverb pedal Beach Boys style. They continually walk the line between Panda Bear noise and Neutral Milk Hotel innovative rock.  In the “blogosphere” there is a lot of tongue in cheek talk about finding “the next Arcade Fire.”  Mothfight will end this search as soon as more people see their live show and lose their shit.

Neiliyo

One of the more exciting acts in town is Neiliyo, a man who armed only with a MacBook, a Telecaster and a microphone manages to have as energetic of a stage show as a group of Mick Jagger clones hopped up on Red Bull.  He is a self-aware alter ego that wears clothes straight out of Yacht Rock and is totally fun to watch. Why is it fun?  He takes himself with a grain of salt, he mocks facebook’s role in dating, needing a ride home, and drops a mean obscure Frank Zappa reference all while bouncing up and down and smiling.  Check out his FREE mixtape: Copywriting 101 via Zshare HERE.

La Snacks

Lastly, is one of my favorite bands to sing along to and perhaps more importantly drink beer to- La Snacks. This group is straight up rock and roll but without any annoyingly hip haircuts or complicated shoes that are commonly (unfortunately) associated with the genre. In fact, at some shows you might spot a pair of sweatpants on stage.

MP3: La Snacks- Kristen Was A Meteorologist

Try these performers on for size and impress your friends!  If you live in Austin or not you should bookmark PartyEnds.com for all sorts of free MP3s, links to nerdy videos and the occasional gushing rants about graphic novels and zombies.  Thanks again to Brea for letting me share some of my favorite Austin music with you all.

here’s the link to the stuff specifically about me.

but more importantly, here’s the link to the stuff about rootclip.

from their site on how it all works:

Rootclip.com was created to give filmmakers, writers, actors and anybody who just likes to watch movies the ability to collaborate on a video project. Our goal is to be the catalyst that gets people thinking and being creative with video in such a way that it infects the masses and brings a new life to the art of filmmaking. Get creative and show us what you’ve got!

We create a short video clip or “Rootclip” to start the story. You watch our video, then shoot your own rendition of what should happen next in less than 2 minutes. Once you’ve created your video, upload it to Rootclip.com during the submission period and compete for votes against the videos from other users. Gain the highest percentage of user and judge votes during the voting period and your video becomes the next chapter in the story.

i think it’s a very cool idea for creative filmmakers. if you haven’t quite grasped what it is – go to rootclip.com or follow rootclip on twitter. you’ll figure it out.

link to people watching obama montage on the la times.

see the entire heroes crew watch the swearing in. pretty cool video.

like i said, i have the coolest fans. daphne, the flash and quicksilver.

from erikredin’s blog, drawingpower. thanks for sending me the link.

i can’t believe it’s already almost the end of january. hope this year is going well for everyone. here’s this week’s brea list.

inauguration of barack obama – need i say more? and yes, i did link to his twitter page.

totality’s list of favorite horror comics in 2008 – this is a very complete list and i was very impressed with it. i have a lot of 2007 comic-reading to catch up on. (this is also my brother’s website for those of you who don’t know.)

the slumdog millionaire soundtrack – as some of you know who read my fav movies of 2007 list, slumdog millionaire was one of my favorite movies last year. conveniently, m.i.a. (who i also love) was prominently featured. here’s a video with scenes from the movie with a remix of m.i.a.’s paper planes.

the sartorialist – i think everyone in the world knew about this website before me. but i love it. a fashion blog with photos of people’s street style.

example below -

love is a mix tape: life and loss, one song at a time by rob sheffield – this book broke my heart and made me love old music all over again. it was not what i thought it would be going into it but i ended up really liking it. i’m not completely sure it will hit home with anyone born past 1987 (unless you LOVE 90s music) but it’s worth a try anyway.

life on mars – okay – i’ve only seen the american version (sorry to any british readers) but i love this show. just caught up on all the episodes they’ve shown so far and i can’t wait for more. i can’t believe the ending of the last episode i watched… plus, the soundtrack is amazing.

i did a guest spot on this week’s valley peaks.

Valley Peaks Episode 8 from Valley Peaks on Vimeo.

you can watch the whole series here. (look for @cathybaron on twitter.)

also – ust a heads up that laura (guest posted for me here) just started a new program with weekly tips on promoting yourself online. it’s free and you can sign up at getthedash.com. she’s pretty smart so i’d listen to her.

i’ve had a little time off so trying to get through some of the mail bag questions. here’s a few more. thanks for the questions! sorry if i haven’t gotten to yours yet.

What did you do before you went into acting?

- John

before i went into acting, i was getting my degree in American Studies from the University of Texas in hopes of becoming a professor or writer. i finished my MA but decided to try the acting thing instead.

Is there any role  that you would absolutely not take or play?

- Mary

there are roles i’d prefer not to play – specifically roles that are extremely sexist. but i would turn down a role that didn’t interest me as well. one of the great things about moving ahead in my career is that i get to be a little more picky with the roles i choose to play.

How do you gather up the courage to go in front of people for an audition….what was your best one ..what was your worst one…etc.

- Karl

it’s hard for me to audition. i get very nervous. my worst one was one where i got so nervous, i couldn’t speak correctly. the words wouldn’t come out of my mouth and i just had to quit. my best audition so far was probably for heroes. i walked out of that audition like i was on a cloud.

I saw in one of the pics on your website that you were dressed up as a zombie. The eyes look like those from “Dead Set,” a 5 episode zombie series set in the Big Brother house made by Charlie Brooker. Is that why you’re dressed like that? Did you star in it? If so, how did you like it?

- Martin

that particular picture is from a movie i did called Trance. i play a killer on rollerblades. not really sure when it’s coming out though.

Ok, after just watching “It’s Coming”, and seeing your performance on there in Matt’s mind mojo sequence, I have to ask: What was it like playing “Good Daphne” and “Evil Daphne” in the same scene? Which one did you like playing better?

- Brett

it’s always fun playing a villain and getting to switch up daphne’s personality. but it’s hard to choose which i like playing better.

What shows (that have probably ended now) did you watch before breaking out onto the scene, like Buffy or Six Feet Under or something?

- Mike

i was a huge Buffy fan. i also loved the X-Files (still do), Angel, and Alias.

How did you forget SERENITY when talking about TV shows turned into movies?

- Erik

(i put these back to back because they’re along the same line.) i can’t believe i forgot it!

Is there anywhere that is on your list of place you would like to go?

- Darren

only about a million places. i’ve actually been very few places. i’ve never even been to Canada! i’d really love to travel to Asia, South America and Australia – i have a lot of places to go to.

i have the coolest fans. this is a drawing from Stephenie of me as daphne.

original link is here.