Terrence Malick's Oklahoma film gets a new name

Formerly The Burial, it's now To the Wonder according to The Playlist, and, who knows, this completed film about a love triangle and shot in Bartlesville, Oklahoma,  featuring Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Rachel McAdams, Rachel Weisz, Javier Bardem, Barry Pepper, Michael Sheen and Amanda Peet, may come out soon. First it has to find a U.S. distributor. But, hey, it's rated R for tasteful nudity and is said to have a similar tone to The Tree of Life!

Meanwhile, we're still awaiting more info on Terrence Malick's Texas-set (and to be Texas shot?) films whose names may or may not at this moment be Lawless and King of Cups and what this all has to do with pal/mentee David Gordon Green moving to Austin.

The Note Bob Stoops’ Brother Should Have Sent, but Didn’t Dare*

My latest Austin Chronicle sports blog begins thus:

Dear Bob,

I love you like a brother, man. In fact we are brothers, aren’t we? That’s why it pains me to write this note. I’m proud of you, Bob. You do our Stoops family name proud. Your Oklahoma Sooners are No. 1 and we’re not, dammit.

Just kidding, bro, but I harbor no ill will for your 23-13 win over my boys at Florida State this past Saturday. You did it with pounding defense, the kind Dad taught us in his 30 years at Cardinal Moody High back in dear old Youngstown, Ohio (round on the ends and high in the middle!). Dad was all about the D. You’re all about the D. Heck, after growing up sharing a bedroom with you as an older brother, I had to be all about the D. Same with Mike. You two were terrors and taught me a lot. I was proud to bear the bruises of brotherhood. I’m proud to be the Seminoles’ defensive coordinator. I’m proud to be a Stoops.

That’s why it pains me to say this, Bob. My team would have taken the lead in the first half if Kenny Shaw could have held onto that ball. Heck, at this point I’m glad he can hold onto anything. Your boys Javon Harris and Tom Wort rammed their helmets into Shaw’s helmet and soon Kenny was looking like roadkill shaking on his back there in the end zone with his paws curled toward the heavens. He was back on the sidelines by the third quarter, thank the Lord above.

Read the rest here.

Oh,and it's worth noting that Stoops at his weekly post-game press conference honored Harris and Wort for their play against FSU. Nuf said.

Bob Stoops is on line one!

The following message was left on my 1980's-era answering machine:

Joe! How they hanging, my scribbling bubba? Coach Bob Stoops here, if you want to be all formal. Just wanted to touch base before the big hoedown, my friend. You know I love the Texas State Fair and all that fried crap. Have you seen my gut lately? The wife is starting to complain.

I bet they’re complaining in Austin, too. Those surfers from UCLA pulled a number on the fellas in Burnt Orange again. I haven’t seen anybody do that since, well, me!

(read the rest on my Texas Longhorns football blog for The Austin Chronicle.

Malick's next film in Oklahoma?

Reports are surfacing that Terrence Malick will shoot a "romantic drama" in Oklahoma starting in October, but he may already be shooting in Bartlesville, the town where he grew up (he went to high school in Austin).

Thewrap.com sez Ben Affleck and Rachel Weisz have joined the cast, which is also said to include Christian Bale, Javier Bardem, Rachel McAdams and Olga Kurylenko (though Affleck may be replacing Bale in the picture). Affleck has been spotted in the area and talked about playing a fisherman.

Talk of the film first began at the Berlin Film Festival in February.

Just like the cloud of secrecy that surrounded Smithville-shot Tree of Life (no one would talk for the full year of rumors and casting), this one is getting the big denials in Okie-land.

As for Tree of Life's future, it's as weirdly up in the air (no, don't look for it at the Toronto International Film Festival) as any Malick release, but word of the Oklahoma activity does hint that Malick is finally close to an end of tinkering with the very personal film. The folks at ThePlaylist.com have a nice rundown of a 2007 script of the film.

Burning down the Ags: it's never enough

This is the first few paragraphs of my Austin Chronicle blog about going to the Texas Longhorns football game last night. You can read the full post here. I should make it clear that I am a major UT football fan, and this shouldn't be taken as a slam of them. I've been thinking a lot of what New Yorker writer Susan Orlean does in writing about cultures, and this is what came out...

Reveille dangles limply from a string attached to a long stick as a Longhorn fan tries repeatedly to ignite the sad dog. Finally the spark takes, and the Texas A&M mascot turns into pure flame lifted aloft as an offering to the gods of football.

This is tailgating taken to the monied extremes. Like fajitas once were the meat that only poor people ate (and fajitas were never chicken), like punk rock was once rebellious, the University of Texas tailgate—some outdoor grilling you did to while the time with family and friends after assuring yourself of an early and reliable parking spot—has gone corporate. State employee lots that once were seen as prime game-day parking are now Austin’s Disneyland complete with corporate sponsors. It works like this: put up the banner of Bland Light and get 25 cases of tasteless corporate beer to hand out to your friends and coworkers. Entire areas are roped off for a jumbo party that spills, beer can in hand, to near the refurbished, expanded, corporate-box-added stadium where Sports Illustrated has its tent offering free copies of the latest special issue.

Power, fun, safety and belonging. Those are the four basic human emotional needs, and all are for sale here today, Longhorn Inc. says. Wear our team colors, drink some more Boring Light. Come to the stadium food court (now open during the school week!) for a $6.50 chopped barbecue sandwich or two chicken tenders for $10. Yell from your seats at the idiots from College Station. Revel in how much better your team is. They are fools and losers. Today is Thanksgiving. We give thanks that we are not you.