am probably in a chilly movie theatre, maybe packed and maybe painfully empty, and I am sitting in one of the following positions: slumped way down with my feet up on the chair in front of me or sitting Indian-style, which for some reason, pleases me. My shoes are on the floor. It's cold.
I'm reporting on the SXSW Film Festival for "The Weekly Cynical." So in three days I have seen about 10 movies, and while I cannot and would not give you a full report, let me tell you about the following three films.

1. Journeys With George is a documentary made by NBC producer (and lifelong Democrat) Alexandra Pelosi during the year and a half she spent on the campaign trail as part of Bush's press corps. If you haven't already heard about this documentary, you will (it's sure to get picked up for national distribution, if it hasn't already). The amazing thing about this is how Bush comes off. He's quick-witted. He's flirty. He's disarming. For anyone smug in their hatred for the man, it sucks. You might still dislike him, but Bush -- as it turns out -- is not stupid. By reporting on the reporters themselves, Pelosi shows how news gets shaped and spun and twisted. In what is sure to be one of the film's most-quoted lines, Richard Wolffe of The Financial Times says, "I have this nagging feeling that the [Bush] pack has not always done the right thing. The Gore press corps is about how they didn't like Gore, didn't trust him, and that kind of filtered through to their stories. Over here, we were writing about trivial stuff because he charmed the pants off of us."

2. Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother Too) is a Spanish-language film by Alfonso Cuaron, director of the gorgeous but kinda melodramatic and hollow Great Expectations, with Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow. Y Tu Mama Tambien, though, is gorgeous and affecting, and is the highest grossing film in Mexican history. The set-up sounds pretty lame: Two teen boys take a roadtrip with an older woman, who teaches them about sex and love. But it's unpredictable and hilarious and super-erotic. It also stars Gael Garcia Bernal, who I developed a crush on last year when he starred in Amores Perros (which this film did nothing but worsen. The crush, that is.) This one will be at your local arthouse, if it's not already.

3. Spellbound, however, may never be at your local arthouse, which is a damn shame. It's classic high American drama, following eight kids competing in the National Spelling Bee. It is the sleeper hit of the festival for me, folks. I cried. I cheered. I was absolutely riveted. I fucking loved this film, and here is the most frustrating thing about these festivals -- that so many people might never get the chance to see it. But I'll find out and report back.

Until then, you know where I'll be.