Tuesday, November 20, 2007
THANKSGIVING WEEKEND AT THE ALAMO
Thanksgiving week is always a huge week for new release movies, and this year is no different. You can come out this weekend to get ENCHANTED, you can catch THE MIST, or you can see the new Todd Hayne's Bob Dylan biopic, I'M NOT THERE. But I've already talked about ENCHANTED in a video blog entry in the "Alamo News" section of this website. And THE MIST is the first pairing of Stephen King and Frank Darabont since THE GREEN MILE and SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, so if you don't already know that you should go see that then you're probably suffering from some sort of tumor. So I'm going to use the rest of this space to tell you why you should see I'M NOT THERE this holiday weekend as well.
Reason #1 - Haynes's decision to cast multiple actors as Bob Dylan in various periods of his life. That's right, instead of doing the regular movie tradition of casting one talented actor and then putting old guy make up on him for scenes from his later years, I'M NOT THERE casts - count 'em - SIX different actors to portray Dylan as the story moves from his early folk beginnings to his electric period and beyond.
Reason #2 - The actors cast as Dylan aren't just a bunch of ho-hum TV stars. Instead, you get Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, and in the most talked about turn, Cate Blanchett.
Reason #3 - Sorry, but I'm still on the cast here, because maybe even more exciting than seeing Blanchett as Dylan, you also get to see David Cross (from MR. SHOW if you're a comedy nerd like me, or the Never Nude from ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT if you were late to the awesomeness of Cross) as Allen Ginsberg. Yes!
Reason #4 - Todd Haynes actually managed to get Dylan's permission for the film, and his permission to get song rights.
Reason #5 - Stop listening to my reasons, and check out NPR's interview with Todd Haynes instead.
So there you have it. ENCHANTED, I'M NOT THERE, and THE MIST. A cornucopia of new movies that will be a feast for your eyes and ears and every bit as filling as the turkey or ham or cranberry sauce that will soon be oozing out of your pores.
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1 comment:
I sent the following email to the comments dump for the Ritz a couple of weeks ago and recieved no reply so I'm going to try airing my grievance here.
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I am a regular Alamo customer - I attend showings on the average of twice a week and have been to more special events than I can count. I refer to the Drafthouse as my home away from home and have joked that I should have a mailbox there. I have participated in Bloodshots twice and have been to every Heroes show. I see Tim as a kindly father figure and Henri as the weird uncle no one likes to talk about. Your theatre is one of the reasons I moved to Austin from Chicago and is one of the highlights I always show out of town guests. Most of the time I am delighted to have the Alamo experience as a regular part of my life.
I'm sorry to say I'm writing not to praise but to register a strenuous objection to what became of my Thanksgiving this year. I have been going through a rough patch - I am recently separated and my kids were out of town over the holiday. My brother and I were trying to figure out what to do when we found the announcement of your Thanksgiving special. Perfect. My brother whipped out his credit card and made reservations. We were delighted that tickets were still available. Thanksgiving was saved! Alamo to the rescue!
When you advertise certain things there is an expectation that you will be able to deliver them. You can't have an Easter egg hunt with no eggs, a Burt Reynolds special showing with no fake mustaches and you can't have Thanksgiving with no turkey but to our shock and horror that is precisely what happened. We attended the 7:00 show and were told that all of the Thanksgiving meals had sold out during the first show. We were shit out of luck and with our tickets already bought we went in anyway and had burgers. Burgers!
I'm no sociologist but I have got to think that anyone who attends a special Thanksgiving show on Thanksgiving is going to want a Thanksgiving meal. Sure, you will get your share of vegetarians and anarchists who insist on ordering something else but it seems entirely reasonable to assume that half to two thirds of your audience will be having turkey. That being the case, with three shows that day you should not have run out of the good stuff by the start of the second show even if every single patron came to that first show horny for tryptophan. Your estimate must have been shamefully low.
My lust for traditional holiday fare rivals that of the father in A Christmas Story. When I was denied my yearly fix I nearly flew into a rage that would have demolished your brand new theatre and most of sixth street. It is only my abiding love for the Drafthouse and everything that it represents that kept me in my seat. My Spicy Bleu burned like ash in my belly and the bizarre ending of No Country For Old Men didn't help things any. I left a broken man. We rustled up a turkey breast the next day but it just wasn't the same. The magic had gone, like the first snow that breathes life into Frosty it is a fleeting moment that only comes once a year.
It has taken me several days to write this because I had to work with my therapist to get over my feelings of loss and betrayal. I'm still having trouble sleeping and I can't look at a can of cranberry sauce without weeping.
Alamo Drafthouse - you have let me down. It will take time to heal these wounds and to regain the trust that was lost that fateful day. I will work hard to see you as I once did but it won't be easy. Turkey deprivation can do awful things to a man.
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