Few places in the world embrace passion for anything the way The Alamo Drafthouse embraces the passion for all things film. This chain of movie theaters, the brainchild of loveable maniacs Tim and Karrie League, was founded in Austin, TX in the late 90s. Since then, it has garnered a reputation as one of the greatest movie houses on Earth; no hyperbole intended. For those unfamiliar, what sets The Alamo Drafthouse apart from so many paltry multiplexes is threefold. The Alamo boasts a full menu of tasty edibles from complex culinary triumphs to palate-pleasing comfort foods, and a wide array of beers and wines. These eats and drinks are delivered right to you as you watch the film. The Alamo has instituted an order-by-card system that ensures your movie experience will not be interrupted by the food delivery process. Furthermore, The Alamo has a strict no-talking policy stringently enforced by the management to further protect your film-going experience. But above all else, what drives hardcore movie geeks like me into the hallowed confines of The Drafthouse day after day is its plethora of signature film events and dedication to films of every conceivable ilk.
Thursday June 9th
Summer Kids Camp: Iron Giant
Alamo South Lamar 10:55am
The movie that proves that a boy's best friend is an enormous extraterrestrial robot. The first feature film by Brad Bird, who would later hit home runs with The Incredibles and Ratatouille, directs a cast of voice actors that includes Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr., and Vin Diesel as the voice of the gigantic, metallic pile of brawn; fitting.
Shepard Fairey w/They Live
Alamo South Lamar 7:00pm
Whenever there is a screening that represents another historic collaboration between Mondo News and The Alamo Drafthouse, it is no small draw. This time around, contemporary artist Sheperd Fairey, creator of the iconic bi-chromatic poster of President Obama, hosts a screening of one of my very favorite films. They Live is a bizarre fable about aliens using consumerism to subjugate mankind. It's a cinch that a limited edition poster from the master artist will be available to commemorate the event.
Tough Guy Cinema: The RockAlamo Lake Creek 7:00pm
If you don't like The Rock, your man card is forfeit. As if it weren't enough of a thrill to see Dr. Stanley Goodspeed chase an elderly, but still badass, Sean Conery as he makes a mess of San Francisco in a gigantic Hummer on the big screen, there will be cap gun fire and live explosions to set the appropriate ambiance. Arrive hungry, as there will be a VX gas-eating contest to kick things off.
Dumb & Dumber Quote-Along
Alamo Ritz 7:00pm
There are silly comedies, there are stupid comedies, and then there is Dumb & Dumber. I'm fairly certain the script for this Jim Carrey/Jeff Daniels vehicle was written on a drunken dare and the success of the subsequent film still a complete shock to everyone involved. But whether you love this mid-90s romp or find it incredibly insipid, the one thing that cannot be denied is its quote-ability. Enter the Drafthouse to provide a forum for celebrating the best, possibly only, redeeming quality of Dumb & Dumber.
Sing-Alongs: Totally 80s New Wave
Alamo Ritz 10:00pm
Can we all finally agree that the 80s trumps every other decade past, present, or future? Among its many, many accomplishments, the 80s gave us some of the best music in the history of human existence. Time to dust off the keyboard and come Depeche your Mode, Flock your Seagulls, and Talk to your…Heads.
Alamo Survivor's Tip: The Rock is among the premier tough guy movies and the opportunity to see it in such macho-tastic surroundings is not to be missed.
Friday June 10th
Summer Kids Camp: Iron Giant
Alamo Lake Creek (6/10-6/16) 11:00am
Master Pancake: Braveheart
Alamo Ritz 7:00pm; 10:00pm
Come watch the Alamo Drafthouse's signature comedy troupe launch arrows and axes at the previously invincible Mel Gibson and his astounding mullet. Just because it won the man an Oscar doesn't mean it can't be mocked torturously. Freeeeeedom!
Saturday June 11th
Master Pancake: Braveheart
Alamo Ritz 7:00pm; 10:00pm
Rolling Roadshow: HudThe Railroad Tracks, Claude, TX 9:30pm
"Paul Newman stars as Hud Bannon, the arrogant son of a Texas rancher whose family and livelihood are torn apart by circumstance and long-held resentments. Although well into adulthood, Hud is still sowing wild oats, spending most of his time drinking, fighting, seducing women and pulling reckless stunts in his Cadillac – usually while driving over the train tracks."—OriginalAlamo.com
Rocky Horror Picture Show
Alamo Village 11:55pm
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.
Alamo Survivor's Tip: Having attended the Texas Chainsaw Massacre screening last week, I am happy to report that the 10 Greatest Texas Films Rolling Roadshow series is a must for any movie-loving resident of The Lone Star State. Seeing Hud at those train tracks has the potential to be utterly sublime.
Sunday June 12th
Fantastic Fest: Love Exposure
Alamo Ritz 2:00pm
"Sion Sono's Love Exposure, [is] a picture that could quite possibly become the reigning film classic of 2009. This is a picture with a hell of a lot going on, and a lot on both its heart and mind, that it packs in so damn much and does it with admirable heart and drive that you just want to set up your own distribution company just to make sure this puppy gets seen by as many people as possible."—Matt Kiernan via OriginalAlamo.com
Video Hate Squad: Deadly Prey
Alamo Ritz 9:45pm
There are few things on this Earth that I lament more than mankind's refusal to remain technologically stagnant. Sure, it means safer cars and fancier phones, but we mustn't forget the castoff, the abandoned child of home entertainment: VHS. This new Alamo series will celebrate gems of dubious greatness that were only ever released on VHS. Curated by the Alamo's Lars Nilsen and Zack Carlson, this event promises to be a treat for those with an irresponsible love for videocassettes…like me.
Alamo Survivor's Tip: Love Exposure is a four-hour movie. It is an outstanding film that is more than worthy of your time, but a certain amount of mental and physical preparation must precede a screening of this magnitude.
Monday June 13th
Summer Kids Camp: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Alamo South Lamar (6/13-6/16) 11:00am
One of the best cartoon-to-live-action adaptations ever conceived. Thrill as the four heroes on the half shell struggle to fight the forces of evil and especially their well-sharpened nemesis Shredder. Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo, along with their rodent sensei Splinter, practice the art of ninjutsu and eating as much pizza as possible.
Summer Kids Camp: Ponyo
Alamo Village (6/13-6/16) 11:00am
All throughout the summer, the Alamo is offering kids, and parents, the chance to catch quality family fare on the big screen just as they were intended. Based on The Little Mermaid, Ponyo is a wild, beautiful fantasy directed by the celebrated Hayao Miyazaki.
Big Screen Classics: Taxi Driver
Alamo Ritz 7:00pm
Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me?! Well as long as you aren't talking inside the theater, you're welcome to enjoy one of Martin Scorsese's best and most unusual films.
Music Monday: Wheedle's Groove
Alamo Ritz 10:00pm
"A look back some thirty years before grunge music put Seattle on the map, when late 1960s groups like Black on White Affair, The Soul Swingers and Cold, Bold & Together filled airwaves and packed clubs every night of the week. Many groups started to receive widespread attention with invitations to perform on national television and collaborate with mainstream acts. Just as many of the groups were on the verge of breaking out, the fickle public turned its ear to disco, and Seattle's soul scene slipped into obscurity."—Northwest Film Forum via OriginalAlamo.com
The Big Lebowski Quote-Along
Alamo South Lamar 10:15pm
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.
Tuesday June 14th
Girlie Night: The Cutting Edge
Alamo Ritz 7:00pm
"It's high time for the world to embrace the magic of The Cutting Edge, and Girlie Night is here to prove it. This film takes the classic romantic formula of opposites attract, throws in some 90stastic casting (this is definitely the climax of D.B. and Moira Kelly's careers) and then puts it all...ON ICE! And not just any ice, nay, but potential Olympic ice! The stakes are incredibly high, which only increases the tension between our skating hero and heroine, resulting in enough fiery chemistry to generate about a hundred bad "melting ice" jokes. I'll spare you those, but I won't spare you the awesomeness of the film's tagline: 'The Ultimate Love/Skate Relationship.'"—Sarah Pitre via OriginalAlamo.com
AFS: Rififi (Du Rififi Les Homes)
Alamo South Lamar 7:00pm
"Highly respected for his film noir classics in the 1940s, but blacklisted by the studios during the Hollywood witch hunts, Connecticut-born Dassin finally revived his filmmaking career in Europe with this film. Starting over, Dassin created the prototype for many subsequent "heist films." Tony le Stéphanois, free after a five-year prison sentence, discovers his girl friend has been unfaithful, so he proposes to old friends that they commit "one last heist." This time it will be the burglary of a very elegant jewelry showroom. Drawing on the stylish chiaroscuro style of film noir, Dassin created a magnificent film full of tension, striking imagery, long dialogue-free scenes, sympathetic characters, and despair."—OriginalAlamo.com
Terror Tuesday: The (Original) Stepfather
Alamo Ritz 10:00pm
Long before he was John Locke on ABC's popular television show Polar Bear Island, Terry O'Quinn was an actor of great stature. In The Stepfather, O'Quinn plays a psychopath who gets his jollies joining up with recently-broken families, convincing everyone what a dandy guy he is, and then butchering as many people as he can before skipping town again. The concept may sound schlocky, but make no mistake, this is an absolutely superb film. The opening sequence is one of the most chilling moments in horrordom.
Wednesday June 15th
Dumb & Dumber Quote-Along
Alamo Lake Creek 7:00pm
Tough Guy Cinema: The Rock
Alamo Village 9:45pm
Big Screen Classics: Taxi Driver
Alamo Ritz 9:45pm
Weird Wednesday: Hooch
Alamo Ritz Midnight
"Here's a regional North Carolina moonshine movie that, by all rights, shouldn't be any good at all but amazingly it works. Gil Gerard, later famous as TV's Buck Rogers, plays a good old boy who loves the high-life, or what passes for it in his backwoods town. When he begins distributing moonshine, it stirs up trouble with the local godfather, who brings in a trio of New York mob enforcers led by Danny Aiello to put Gil out of business. There's your plot. It's nothing special. But there's a perverse sense of humor at the heart of this film. Writer/director Edward Mann was no dummy. He had a long background writing comic strips and directing theater. The gags he sets up are of a high quality and the film has a lighthearted charm that's never insulting or treacly. It's just pure hicksploitation goodness from beginning to end."—Lars Nilsen via OriginalAlamo.com
Houston
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead
6/9 7:30pm
"100 pounds overweight, loaded up on steroids and suffering from a debilitating autoimmune disease, Joe Cross is at the end of his rope and the end of his hope. In the mirror he saw a 310lb man whose gut was bigger than a beach ball and a path laid out before him that wouldn't end well- with one foot already in the grave, the other wasn't far behind. FAT, SICK & NEARLY DEAD is an inspiring film that chronicles Joe's personal mission to regain his health."—OriginalAlamo.com
Dumb & Dumber Quote-Along
6/11 10:00pm
Only at the Alamo: Anime
6/14 7:30pm
The Alamo Drafthouse provides a welcome haven for fans of Japanese animation. Samurai swords must unfortunately be checked at the door.
Dumb & Dumber Quote-Along
6/15 7:30pm
Mason Park
Free Family Fun: The Iron Giant
6/9-6/10 11:00am
Grease Sing-Along
6/9 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.
Free Family Fun: The Muppets Take Manhattan
6/13-6/17 11:00am
Girlie Night: The Cutting Edge
6/14 7:30pm
San Antonio
Blood Thirsty Thursdays: Re-Animator
6/9 8:00pm 10:30pm
"Blood Thirsty Thursdays isn't just a monthly "horror" theme movie night, it's an EVENT each and every month with the festivities starting about 15mins prior to the start of the film. There is always an introduction about the particular film title being shown, costume contests, trivia questions & an interactive game show we like to call "Kill It to Win It!" for participants/attendees to win exclusive items from many of our sponsors. It is held on the second Thursday of every month at the famous Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Westlakes & hosted by the creator Kelly Warren Hammond."—OriginalAlamo.com
Free Family Fun: The Iron Giant
6/11 11:30am
Grease Sing-Along
6/12 7:00pm 10:00pm
Only at the Alamo: Anime
6/13 7:30pm
Big Screen Classics: Roman Holiday
6/14 7:00p 10:00pm
"What a perfect title for our Big Screen Classics series! Audrey Hepburn delivers a performance that secured her a place in the pantheon of silver screen icons (alongside the wonderful Gregory Peck no less) in this warmly remembered classic romance. Both performances are standouts of not only their careers, but of film history overall. Come enjoy this delicious romantic comedy that is impossible to not be delighted by. It is also impossible to not look up flight information for Rome after the screening and seriously consider taking a quick trip overseas to ride a scooter around the coliseum!"—OriginalAlamo.com
Free Family Fun: The Goonies
6/12 11:30am
Girlie Night: The Cutting Edge
6/13 7:00pm 9:45pm
Grease Sing-Along
6/15 7:30pm 10:30pm
Grease Sing-Along
6/9 7:00pm
Free Family Fun: The Iron Giant
6/11 11:30am
Sing-Alongs: Totally 80s New Wave
6/13 7:00pm
Girlie Night: The Cutting Edge
6/15 7:00pm 9:45pm
Big Screen Classics: Roman Holiday
6/13, 6/15 11:00am; 5/14 5:45pm
Sing-Alongs: Totally 80s New Wave
6/15 8:30pm
