The Alamo Drafthouse has quickly garnered a reputation as one of the greatest movie theaters in the history of mankind…or at least the history of movie theaters. With their signature events, ample food and drink selection, and strict no-talking policy, they make obsolete all tawdry multiplexes and completely redefine the movie-going experience. Here’s what they’re up to this week!
Alamo Ritz, Austin
The Princess Bride Quote-Along, 8/23 7:00pm
If you wish to see one of the greatest romance stories ever told, that also features an appearance by Fred Savage and a six-fingered man, look no further than Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride. It’s a classic love story, it’s a swashbuckling adventure, and it’s a wry comedy all rolled into one and peppered with the all-consuming charm of the 80s. One of The Princess Bride’s strongest attributes, apart from Andre the Giant of course, is its blisteringly witty script. The dialogue flows and punches at precisely the right moments all while remaining as crisp and light as a glass of fine wine…without iocane powder of course. Come down to the Alamo and call out the lines you truly love as they flash across the screen. All the members of the audience will be given their own sword with which to fight; changing hands at the appropriate moment of course. To miss this event would be inconceivable.
Alamo Ritz, Austin
70mm at The Ritz: West Side Story, 8/24-8/28 Check Daily Times
The Alamo Drafthouse continues to put together special film series that further demonstrate their commitment to the artform of cinema. This summer we were treated to The Summer of 1982 reparatory series, and now the Drafthouse presents Alamoscope. This series will offer screenings of classic and cult films alike projected in 70mm. This wide-screen, high-res format perfectly captures the larger than life quality we have come to love about our favorite movies. Kicking off the series is the legendary West Side Story. Come fall in love with one of the all time musical greats in its ideal format.
Alamo Mason Park, Houston
Badass 101: Roadhouse, 8/26 6:30pm
Patrick Swayze, you left us far too soon. We had so much more to learn from you. You taught us how to wear jeans so tight as to defy science. You taught the importance of kicking and of throat ripping, and to always be nice. Swayze may have been too badass to remain on this planet, but you Houstonites can enjoy the benefits of his teachings by attending this fantastic 35mm screening of Road House. The movie is so immensely manly as to make his characters from Dirty Dancing and Ghost seem exponentially more macho just by association. What? You don’t agree? That’s ok, we can take it outside.
Alamo Ritz, Austin
Terror Tuesday: Lady Terminator, 8/28 10:15pm
The culture of plagiarism was thriving in foreign genre films of the 1980s. But while the Italians satisfied themselves ripping off the likes of Escape from New York and The Road Warrior, the Indonesians decided to spectacularly bastardize James Cameron’s landmark sci-fi opus The Terminator. If you’ve ever watched The Terminator and noticed a frightening lack of demon possession and mystical vagina snakes, you’re in luck! Lady Terminator is a thrown-together porridge of unbridled weird served in a bowl of low-budget action with a side of nudity. It is the kind of film you think of when you contemplate so-good-it’s-bad cinema. There are few theaters in the world that would’ve played 35mm prints of Lady Terminator when it opened, much less twenty-three years later. Woe betides those who miss out.
Alamo Mason Park, Houston
Graveyard Shift: Nightmare on Elm Street Triple Feature 8/25 7:30pm
One of the great things about the 1980s was its horror cinema. Fans were so bloodthirsty, so ravenous, and so passionate that they would not allow their favorite monsters to die. Jason made Crystal Lake, and even outer space, dangerous ground into the late 90s. Michael Meyers tore through babysitters like tissue paper, and the master of nightmares, Freddy Krueger, gave us a new bad dream practically every year. The Alamo Drafthouse Mason Park is putting together a marathon of NoES sequels from the meaty middle of the franchise. Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, long considered the best of the sequels, followed by Renny Harlin’s Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master and the supremely nonsensical Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child. Come revisit the heyday of horror, when even the crappiest sequels were great, on the big screen in glorious 35mm.
Follow along on Twitter @drafthouse @moviesdotcom and @Briguysalisbury.
