Grandma’s Boy Quote-Along

Alamo Ritz 7:00pm

 

"We've had TONS of requests for this 2006 stoner classic ever since we first started doing Quote-Alongs over at the Colorado Street Alamo location. Most of those requests came from people with really red eyes who smelled like they'd just come from a Phish concert, so we were sure this would be the perfect Quote-Along for this year's High for the Holidays fun. If you missed its three day long theatrical release, here's the film's story: a coming of age story about a guy too old to be coming of age. Alex (Allen Covert). age 35, lives with his grandmother (Doris Roberts) and her two roommates (Shirley Jones and Shirley Knight). He's a stoner who makes money by testing video games. If this awkward hilarious synopsis doesn't sell you, you must be un-high."—Drafthouse.com

 

 

The Sing-Along Mix Tape

Alamo Ritz 9:45pm

 

"We are carefully selecting some of our favorite music videos from all of our shows as well as videos we've been keeping to ourselves and then assembling them in such a way to hopefully make you fall in Middle School love with us. That's right...The Action Pack is making a Mixtape Sing-Along just for you!  We'll belt out some ballads, slow it down with some sex jams, and let you know just how much we want to dance with you via subliminal hip-hopping. So prepare for anything and expect the unexpected in this free form love letter to you, our Action Pack faithful (Action Packers?). Anything goes...but one thing you can count on, there will be plenty of dancing. Circle one: YES/NO"—Greg MacLennan via Drafthouse.com

 

 

  

Alamo Ritz (also showing 1/1) 10:00pm

 

"When American brothers Todd and Jan Wolfhouse travel to Germany to spread their grandfather's ashes at Oktoberfest, they stumble upon a super-secret, centuries old, underground beer games competition. The brothers receive a less than warm welcome from their German cousins, the Von Wolfhausens, who humiliate Todd and Jan, slander their relatives, and finally cast them out of the event. Vowing to return in a year to defend their country and their family's honor, The Wolfhouse boys assemble a ragtag dream team of beer drinkers and gamers. They train relentlessly, using their hearts, minds and livers to drink faster, smarter and harder than they ever have before. But first they must battle their own demons... as well as a bunch of big, blond, German jerks who want to destroy the team before they can even make it back to Munich."—Drafthouse.com

 

 

  

Food & Film: The Apartment New Year’s Eve Feast

Alamo Ritz 7:00pm

 

"Join us as we ring in 2012 with the flat-out greatest New Year's film in the world: Billy Wilder's 1960 masterpiece The Apartment, a brilliantly written, fast-paced, heartbreakingly hilarious adventure of a poor schlub (a young, bumbling Jack Lemmon) who just can't steer things right to fall into the good graces of the most wonderful woman in town (a young, unbelievably charming Shirley MacLaine). In his way are an innumerable number of comic obstacles, including the great Fred MacMurray and Ray Walston as self-serving high-rollers content to kick dirt in the face of anyone who crosses them. It's a gorgeously shot, perfectly constructed, fun-as-hell monument to filmmaking at its very best (in AFI's Top 100 films!), and we're pleased to bring it back to you along with a very special menu with drink pairings for that special night."—Drafthouse.com

 

 

Sing-Alongs: New Year’s Eve Mix Tape

Alamo Ritz 10:30pm

 

"Featuring a true and official countdown based on the world atomic clock, a champagne toast, and the most confetti per square foot of any other party in town! Oh 2011, we hardly new you. This year has come and gone and left us with more pop culture-y goodness than we could have ever hoped.  There was a new Gaga album, we met a sassy gay honey badger, Katy Perry tied Michael Jackson's hot 100 record of number one singles, Rihanna released countless new sexy videos and Britney officially came back! And as we ring in 2012 we will be dancing till the world ends as we sing-along to all the greatest music videos this past year had to offer, from Adele to LMFAO. No only that but we'll have enough confetti in the building to make even Ke$ha jealous. So screw you, Dick Clark! Suck it, Carson Daly! We're hosting our very own New Year's Eve Sing-Along Extravaganza Party, and it promises to be the best movie theater dance party ever. Or at least since last year's New Year's Eve Sing-Along."—Drafthouse.com

 

Alamo Survivor’s Tip: I can think of absolutely no better way to ring in the New Year than by belting the year’s poppiest tunes at the Alamo. The Alamo Ritz, where the event is being held, is the only Alamo with a full bar so there will be no shortage of liquid party fuel.

 

  

The Big Lebowski Quote-Along

Alamo Ritz (thru 1/2) 7:00pm

 

If you love the Cohen Brothers’ tribute to shiftless losers with mad bowling skills and penchants for Creedence Clearwater Revival, this is the place to be. All your favorite one-liners from The Dude will flash across the screen to prompt your collective vocal worship of this masterful comedy.

 

  

Music Monday: Control

Alamo Ritz 10:35pm

 

"Before there was Daft Punk, before there was Blink 182, and before there was any electro pop/punk music you've heard in the last thirty years, there was Joy Division, one of the most influential post-punk bands to come out of Factory Records. As their short success continued to rise, they were hit with a mondo tragedy: frontman Ian Curtis committed suicide. In 2007, Avant-garde auteur Anton Corbijn released a fictional biography (shot in black-and-white) on Curtis' life from 1973 to 1980, covering his personal struggles with marriage and infidelity, the rise of Joy Division, and his battle with epilepsy, which is an alleged contribution to his suicide in 1980. Control is one of the better fictional biographies about a musical legend."—Drafthouse.com

 

 

The Big Lebowski Quote-Along

Alamo South Lamar 9:45pm

 

 

  

Fantastic Fest: Cold Sweat

Alamo Ritz 7:30pm

 

"When Roman’s girlfriend disappears he expects to find her in the arms of another man. And find her he does but there is no lover on the scene, only a pair of crazy old men keeping her locked away in the basement of their crumbling mansion. Armed with wild-eyed political ideals and case after case of decades-old and highly unstable dynamite. The villainous duo are conducting illicit experiments on a string of young women lured to their home via the internet and if Roman cannot free his young love she is likely to end up in pieces, thanks in part to a generous slathering of nitro-glycerin. A delirious old school horror picture with the most memorable villains in years at its core, Adrián García Bogliano’s Cold Sweat was a huge hit at SXSW thanks to its creators wild imagination and sense of showmanship. Loaded with memorable characters and stylish action, Cold Sweat is a shocker that never fails to entertain."—Drafthouse.com

 

 

Terror Tuesday: Demons

Alamo Ritz 10:15pm

 

"Italians are a hateful and bloodthirsty race. This fundamental aspect of their species is apparent in everything they touch, but is possibly best exemplified in this unchallenged masterpiece of rabid, hellish possession. Co-written by iconic eurosadist Dario Argento and directed by the son of Italy's apocryphal horror auteur Mario Bava, Demons is an unrepentant vomit-geyser of torn digestive tracts and anti-human plague sewage. A panorama of stereotypes - punks, preppies n’ pimps - are trapped in a run down cinema by a man with a metal face, and soon the ungodly events unspooling on the silver screen erupt into an actual harvesting of shrieking mutilated victims. The demon virus spreads through the theater like a lightning bolt with a switchblade, and no opportunity for repugnantly gratuitous violence is left untaken. In fact, just watching this movie is a second degree felony."—Zack Carlson via Draftouse.com

 

Alamo Survivor’s Tip: Cold Sweat is a phenomenal film; one of my favorites from last year’s SxSW. If you like nerve-twisting, nail-biting, drive-you-to-the-brink-of-insanity suspense, this Argentinean gem is for you. 

 

 

Dionysium

Alamo South Lamar 7:00pm

 

"The Dionysium offers a unique, innovative program of debate, lecture, declamation, theatrical presentation and music in a salon-like atmosphere on the first Wednesday of every month at the Alamo South Lamar. Audiences enjoy offerings not to be found elsewhere in Austin, including the recitation of famous speeches, participatory discussion in a formal, moderated context, and the opportunity to participate in the recreation of Ancient rituals."—Drafthouse.com

 

 

Girlie Night: Sixteen Candles

Alamo Lake Creek 7:00pm

 

"I’m pretty sure that John Hughes is responsible for my survival of high school. Beneath the comic exaggerations and sweet romanticism, the ordinary geeks in his films all gave me the same life-changing advice: “Prepare for the worst, but don’t stop hoping for the best.” And no character exemplifies this wisdom better than Samantha Baker in Sixteen Candles. Whenever I had a particularly rough day in school, or an extremely awkward encounter with my unrequited crush, I always reminded myself that Samantha had it worse. Like, did a freshman guy ever try to dance with me while spastically yelling, 'Very hot! Very hot!' Um, no. Did my entire family ever forget my birthday? No way! Did my grandmother ever feel me up? HECK NO. Samantha, on the other hand, endured all of that crap (and more!) and she STILL got to kiss the hottest senior over a tasty birthday cake in a super posh house. In celebration of those tiny (yet monumental) teenage triumphs over adversity and awkwardness, I invite you to join me for Girlie Night, where we’ll pass sex test notes, stare obsessively at Jake Ryan and toast to the wonderful legacy of John Hughes."—Sarah Pitre via Drafthouse.com

 

 

Alamo Ritz 7:15pm

 

"Austin High is a coming of age comedy for the young at heart, featuring an ensemble cast right from the source. Knowing there's more than just fun at stake, Samuel's daughter and crew of oddball friends try to keep him honest along the way. In the city officials’ ‘war on weird,’ Samuel and the rest of the blazed faculty, students and staff of Ladybird High School will have to conform or pay the price. The fight is under way, and everyone must find the courage to stand up and defend the city they love, before it’s stripped of its unique essence and mutated into the latest American strip mall: a drab monument to consumerism."—Drafthouse.com  

 

 

Weird Wednesday: Human Tornado

Alamo Ritz 10:05pm

 

"As the poster says: ‘Nerve-shattering ...Brain-battering ...Mind-splattering ...A ONE MAN DISASTER!’ If you want an argument from me you’ll have to change the subject. Rudy Ray Moore is without a doubt one of the most idiosyncratic talents ever to light up the silver screen. He first achieved fame as a nightclub entertainer reciting ‘toasts’ (basically proto-raps) about a mythical black pimp/avenger named Dolemite that had been handed down in various forms through years of African American oral tradition. With the advent of blaxploitation action movies in the ‘70s Moore took the next logical step, starring as Dolemite in his own films. This is the second and possibly funniest. This time the bad guys are rednecks and mobsters. We also get to see the mature, somewhat pudgy Rudy Ray Moore naked on more occasions than we might wish. Throughout, Moore displays his half-speed martial arts chops and amazing one liners. The Human Tornado also foreshadows the giant step into surrealism Moore’s films would take, culminating in Petey Wheatstraw and Avenging Disco Godfather. Devastating!"—Lars Nilsen via Drafthouse.com

 

Alamo Survivor’s Tip: Any opportunity to see a Rudy Ray Moore film on the big screen is certainly not to be missed. As much as Human Tornado harbors Moore’s signature absurdity, it’s also arguably the closest he ever came to making a legit movie. Compliment!

 

 

Houston

 

 

 

 

            Only at the Alamo: Anime

            1/3 7:30pm

           

The Alamo Drafthouse provides a welcome haven for fans of Japanese animation. Samurai swords must unfortunately be checked at the door.

 

 

 

 

            Grease Sing-Along

            12/29 7:30pm

 

If you love the 50s, if the idea of poodle skirts and jukeboxes really revs your engine, then why not come together like rama lama lama and ding a de dinga a dong and sing along with your favorite moments from this musical smash hit? Complimentary combs and candy cigarettes will complete the illusion that you've traveled back in time to the 50s…as represented in the 70s.

 

 

            Kid’s Club: The Rocketeer

            12/31 11:45am

 

"This month the Alamo Kids Club goes back in time to 1938 — a simpler period where the bad guys where ugly and the good guys flew through the sky on rocket packs. Billy Campbell stars as Ciff Secord, a stunt pilot who discovers a jet pack that enables him to fly and engage in acts of daring-do. Too bad, Cliff's plans to become Los Angeles' newest superhero are complicated when the FBI, the Nazis (hiss!) and Howard Hughes enter the fray. With a supporting cast that includes the lovely Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton and LOST's Terry O'Quinn (!), The Rocketeer is a movie that deserves to be rediscovered by today's youth. It's fast-paced, a whole lot of fun and features some of the coolest retro-styled aesthetic you're likely to see in a comic book movie. Joe Johnston (who brought audiences Captain America: The First Avenger this summer) is responsible for this great piece of throwback entertainment. Bring the whole family and strap in for a rocket-propelled matinee of fun, fisticuffs and flying men."—Drafthouse.com

 

 

San Antonio

 

 

 

           

12/29 10:30pm

 

Thrill to all the cheap laughs, cheap women, and cheap production values of one of the world’s premier bad movies. Watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show in-and-of-itself is an event, but it takes on a whole new life when witnessed within the walls of The Alamo Village with loads of audience participation, dressed-up patrons, and general wickedness that has become a vital component to the film’s meteoritic rise to cult film legend. 

 

 

Spurs Game

            1/2 7:00pm

 

"Come see the San Antonio Spurs on the biggest Sony HD screen in town! Admission is free and all ages are welcome. Enjoy $3 domestic draft special and full at your seat service throughout the game!"—Drafthouse.com

 

 

            Only at the Alamo: Anime

            1/2 7:30pm

 

 

 

 

            Last Words Premiere

            12/29 7:30pm

 

"Scrooge meets Tombstone! Following the real life history of Bat Masterson and other western legends, Last Wordsweaves a tale somewhere between history and fable, proving that for every person, 'The choices you make define your life.' Director and actors live in attendence.”—Drafthouse.com

 

 

            The Big Lebowski Quote-Along

            1/3 7:00pm; 9:45pm

 

 

           

 

            Action Pack: Aliens

            1/4 7:00pm

 

"Before Avatar, before Titanic, before The Abyss,James Cameron made the sequel of all sequels: Aliens. A decades-long war has raged between fans of the series, a holy battle with one unanswerable question: Alien or Aliens? The fact that there's even a question of any sequel improving on Ridley Scott's stunning original speaks to the immense entertainment value of Aliens. Aliens is loud where Alien is quiet; Aliens is fast-paced where Alien is deliberate.Aliens has aliens where Alien has just the one. Aliens has explosions, firepower, cryogenic pods, space marines, Newt, Bishop, Paul Reiser, Michael Biehn at his Biehniest, an even more awesomely badass Ripley and a strangely iconic performance from Bill Paxton. Wait, did I mention the explosions? With an Action Pack joint, you know what that means! It means actual explosions in the theater. Game over, man. Game over."—Meredith Borders via Drafthouse.com

 

 

 

 

            Sing-Alongs: New Year’s Eve Mix Tape

            12/31 9:30pm

 

 

            Totally 80s New Wave Sing-Along

            12/31 9:45pm

 

"It's time to feather that hair or flock it out like a seagull because we're layering on the guy-liner (waterproof of course, there could be tears) with a skinny tie for The Action Pack's 80s New Wave Sing-Along. We're busting out our best Depeche Mode, A-Ha, OMD, Erasure, Smiths, New Order, and so much more as we aim to wail our hearts out and dance the night away 80s style. Everyone will get a free champagne toast at midnight (or cider for the kids), confetti, party hats and more. And as always, we will have live microphones and on-screen lyrics for maximum audience participation!"—Drafthouse.com