Yen Tan’s gift for long takes and his comfort with silences makes demands on the audience that films ought to make — and pays them back with a surprising happy ending.

The Bounceback (trailer via Entertainment Weekly)

Saturday, March 9, 2PM Paramount Theater (Buy Tickets)

Sunday, March 10, 9:45PM Alamo Drafthouse Slaughter Lane

Friday, March 15, 9:15 PM Stateside Theater (Buy Tickets)

Saturday, March 16, 4PM Rollins Theater at the Long Center

Pit Stop (teaser trailer via IndieWire):

Friday, March 8, 9:15PM Alamo Drafthouse Slaughter Lane

Monday, March 11 , 9:45PM Stateside Theater

Thursday, March 14 , 1:45PM Stateside Theater (Buy Tickets)

Pit Stop offers fully realized characters, and soft-pedals Lone Star State stereotypes. Never pulling emotional strings, the pic’s unwavering understatement pays off in a well-earned ending rich in possibility.

Read the full review here.

A bunch of my projects have ended up on some “Best of 2012″ lists.

Mark Bell at Film Threat called Cinema Six the second best film of the year (only after Django Unchained) and Don Simpson at Smells Like Screen Spirit listed it as one of his favorite narrative films of 2012.  Don also mentioned Cinema Six and Pictures of Superheroes as two of the best undistributed films of 2012 for IndieWire and the best Austin films for AdobeAirStream. Also, Matthew Odam at the Statesman named Pictures of Superheroes one of his favorite Austin movies of the year and Corey Mitchell at Bloody Disgusting listed Spencer Parson’s Saturday Morning Massacre as one of the best horror films of the year.

Pictures of Superheroes premiered at the Austin Film Festival. A lot of people saw it and then said nice things about it:

“I have never seen a movie like Pictures of Superheroes… It is unlike anything I have ever seen before; its unique and its going to stick with me.”
– Todd Berger, Writer/Director It’s a Disaster

“The film is as absurd as it sounds, but it does not feel haphazard or meaninglessly silly. It’s like an extended Mr. Show sketch with a sloppy heart.”
– Matthew Odam, Austin American Statesman

“Maybe it’s a film about the existential ennui of Marie’s dull grind of a life, or possibly a celebration of adults who eat ice cream for breakfast; mainly, though, Pictures of Superheroes is a terrific, and odd, ensemble piece with what seems like at least half of Austin’s best actors popping up in every other scene.”
– Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle

More after the jump…

“Pictures of Superheroes delves deeply into interpersonal relationships, specifically focusing on the disconnections and selfishness that seem to have become inherent in our oh-so-hectic modern society.”
– Don Simpson, Smells Like Screen Spirit

“Four Stars… The film seems to operate on cartoon logic, which is where everything that is said or happens is just accepted as the way things are, regardless of how insane it all is. Or, to quote from the film itself, Pictures of Superheroes makes “sense like a goddamn Gremlin…””
– Mark Bell, Film Threat

“Pictures of Superheroes, a local movie that not only showcases great comedic talent but congeals their multiple personalities in a humorous and insightful tale written and directed by Don Swaynos.”
– Debbie Cerda, Slackerwood

In addition, I gave interviews to Film School Rejects and Slackerwood.