Austin is a great city to explore and enjoy any time of the year, but when SXSW comes to town, it's a whole other level of stimulation: music, movies, cocktails, tech, mixers, parties, and celebrities. I was able to spend a few days in and around the capital city of Texas to take in the sights and sounds of this unique place. Regrettably, I couldn't get in as many films as I typically like at a film festival, but what I saw provided further proof of the talents out there. Celebrities were in evidence, including two former late-night hosts in town to provide thoughts on their next chapters

“A NEW KIND OF WILDERNESS” Director: Silje Evensmo Jacobsen

A tear-jerking documentary follows an Englishman living a pristine life in the Norwegian forest with his wife and family. However, when the matriarch succumbs to cancer, the family must decide how to honor her wishes to remain on the land as the children begin to come of age. A battle

James Ivory and Ismail Merchant were famous for their period costume dramas such as “Howard’s End” and “The Remains of the Day,” but the pair worked together for decades prior to those hits and Academy Award-winners—and they enjoyed an even more fascinating history and relationship off-set. Ivory, from Oregon, met Merchant, a Muslim from India, in New York (at the Indian embassy, no less), and soon they were making films together. By

If you like your martial arts movies fast, violent and brutal, then “Mayhem!” is for you. The new film from French filmmaker Xavier Gens (“Gangs of London”) stars Nassim Lyes (“Cardo,” “Overdose”) as Sam, a recently-paroled inmate trying to walk the straight line outside prison walls. However, an encounter with his former underworld friends turns violent, forcing Sam and his family to leave France for a peaceful life in Thailand.

If you've wanted to be a fly on the wall for a conversation in a theological vein between Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis, the playwright Mark St. Germain brings it to the stage in "Freud's Last Session," now a film directed by Matt Brown ("The Man Who Knew Infinity").

Anthony Hopkins achieves yet another pitch-perfect performance as Sigmund Freud

We’re used to watching Jeremy Piven be funny. His darkly humorous turn during eight seasons on “Entourage,” to say nothing of his earlier work in “PCU” and “Grosse Pointe Blank,” have made the Chicago native a favorite of directors seeking to realize edge, slightly (or more than slightly) dangerous obsessives fond of four-letter vocabulary.

Indeed, while appearing on

Sav Rodgers discovered Kevin Smith’s “Chasing Amy” at a crucial time in his life. Rodgers connected with Smith’s comedy about a straight comic book artist (Ben Affleck) who falls for a fellow artist (Joey Lauren Adams) who also happens to be a lesbian. Hijinks ensue, leading to a bittersweet ending not atypical of Smith’s work.

Rodgers watched the film dozens of times, if not more. However, as the fanboy came into adulthood, he began to see “Chasing Amy,” perhaps, as somewhat “problematic.” For one, the idea