It’s been a number of weeks now since the yanks went back to New York City (say like the old Pace Picante commercials) and the streets of Austin have surely been turned back over to the masses of long horns lookin to hook it up by now. But that just gives us plenty of perspective to look back now at the films that caused a stir at the hippest fest of the year.

NATURAL SELECTION
Without a doubt, the big hit of the competition was old pal Robbie Pickering’s Rachael Harris starring middle-aged road tripper. The film picked up the awards for Best Narrative Feature, Best Editing, Best Score/Music, Best Screenplay, two Best Breakthrough Perfomrances, and the Audience Award for narrative feature. Jeeez. Huge congrats to Robbie! I can’t wait to see it.

ATTACK THE BLOCK
The other movie out of SXSW that I am most looking forward to seeing is Joe Cornish’s London hoodlum alien invasion comedy. Critics were in love with this midnighter and twitter has been awash with controversy on whether or not subtitles for the thick English accents will be necessary for us slow hearin American audiences.

DRAGONSLAYER
Tristan Patterson’s docu about some skateboarder kids in Fullerton, CA won both jury awards for Best Documentary and Best Cinematography. The trailer linked above definitely does look pretty.

CONAN O’BRIEN CAN’T STOP
Rodman Flender goes behind the scenes of Conan’s 32-city comedy tour to paint an intimate portrait of one of today’s most beloved celebrities. The film was picked up in a hybrid distribution deal by AT&T which will see it released later this year in some form of theatrical (Abramorama) & VOD/home video (Magnolia) as well as an obvious U-Verse exclusive run yet to be determined.

BEGINNERS
Ewan McGregor, Melanie Laurnet, and Christopher Plummer star in Mike Mills’s first narrative feature since 2005’s Thumbsucker. Focus bought the film at last year’s Toronto Fest and it is expected to hit theaters in limited release the first week of June.

DETENTION
Music video director Joseph Kahn’s feature debut is a teen slasher comedy that received mixed marks at the fest.

BELLFLOWER
Evan Glodell’s feature debut is a wild a ride through a post-apocalptic-ish southland that didn’t quite break through at Sundance but killed at Southby. The film was sold to Oscilloscope by the handsome team at CAA and should make its way to theaters in late summer.

ARMADILLO
Janus Metz’s Danish Afghan War Docu won the grand prize at last year’s Cannes International Critics’ Week and has been called by some the Danish Restrepo.

A MATTER OF TASTE
This competition docu takes a trip inside the haute cuisine kitchen of Paul Liebrandt as he struggles to regain his title of New York’s next hot chef.

THE SOUND OF MY VOICE
Brit Marling’s other Sundance film (as opposed to Another Earth) has gained a lot of popularity since that fest and that train hit SXSW at high speed. Directed by Zal Batmanglij, the film takes you into the crazy world of a San Fernando Valley cult.

BRIDESMAIDS
The of buzz over this Apatow produced Kristen Wiig maid-of-honor comedy was around whether it was indeed a “work in progress.” But when director Paul Feig (Freaks and Geeks) announced it was the final cut, the buzz switched to disappointment from the assembled critics that the film wouldn’t be getting any better. Look for it to be released by Universal on May 13.

THE INNKEEPERS
Ti West’s follow up to 2008’s The House of the Devil is a haunted inn comic-horror that Gabe Toro of The Playlist compared to Scooby Doo.

UNDEFEATED
This verite doc by Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin focuses on an inner city Memphis high school football team as they attempt to win their first playoff game in 110 years. The movie was bought by the Weinstein Company.

FLY AWAY
A final quick shout for Janet Grillo’s competition film Fly Away. I couldn’t quite get through the trailer, but my boy Matty was the APOC so here it is.

There were also a whole host of festival holdovers that played as part of the Festival Favorites or other programs. Some notables included NYT Doc Page One: Inside the New York Times, Steve James’s Chicago crime doc The Interrupters, Oscar nom’d French-Canadian fave Incendies, and everyone’s favorite Rutger Hauer as a hobo film, Hobo with a Shotgun.