Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Iron Man Happy Hour at the Ritz!

I'm still riding a cinematic high after seeing the sneak preview of IRON MAN at the Alamo last night. I can attest that this movie is nothing short of brilliant. IRON MAN is one of the all-time greatest comic adaptations, and the lynchpin of that perfection is Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. His portrayal of the booze-addled genius tycoon Tony Stark is spot-on, and the number of cocktails in the first 15 minutes of the film will make your head woozy from the contact high.

Because this film issues in the summer blockbuster season with a cocktail firmly in hand, we feel that it is appropriate to announce our programming decision to provide "happy hour" shows for summer blockbusters at the Ritz starting between 5:00 and 6:00 PM. We're adjusting our showtimes, starting with IRON MAN to include a screening at about 5:40 PM. Swing by the Ritz after work and enjoy discount admission to the movie as well as $3.99 Frozen Margaritas and $2 Tecate and Lone Star plus a rotating menu of movie-themed cocktail specials. For Iron Man, we'll feature a premium Glenmorangie Scotch tasting flight, a Whiskey Sour special (Stark's comic book drink of choice) and Scotch on the rocks (his cinematic cocktail of choice). Up next on the horizon, happy hour with SEX AND THE CITY, and yes their signature pink Cosmos will be on special.

The Alamo Ritz - we're your new happy hour bar!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

YOU MUST SEE THESE MOVIES!

I'm a huge fan of HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY and BABY MAMA looks to be a lot of fun. These both open at the Alamo this week, but I'm not here to talk about those films. This weekend, there is a moral imperative that has been issues. Two films are hitting the Alamo - 1 at the Ritz and one at Lamar that are so fresh and original that you simply must come out to support them. I don't often make a personal request, but I'm doing it today... twice.

Film #1: BIG MAN JAPAN opens Friday at Lamar. This film capped my list of personal top 10 cinematic highlights of 2007. The film stars Hitoshi Matsumoto, the biggest star in Japanese television. Imagine the headliner of a stranger Saturday Night Live and a kinder, sweeter Jackass crammed into one titan of comedy, that's him in Japan. BIG MAN JAPAN, his first feature is a mockumentary with the premise that the giant monsters that come down from earth and the men who electrocute themselves to super-human size to fight those monsters are real. Matsumoto plays the last in the legacy of the dying tradtion of giant monster fighters, and he's really bad at his job. Magnolia Films is testing the water and opening this film exclusively in Austin before the Los Angeles and New York release, to my knowledge a first for a non-Austin film. Check out the web listing for more reviews and quotes as well as details on the special Japanese menu. I've also added a Youtube Playlist of some of Matsumoto's TV clips from over the years to give you a little background. I've been championing this film for a long time and I would greatly appreciate it if you gave this film a chance. Matsumoto is one of the most creative stars of comedy alive today. Really try to make it out this week to see this.

Film #2: Don Hertzfeldt and Mike Judge teamed up with MTV to present the greatest, most wildly entertaining collection of animated short films of all time. We are world premiering the 2008 ANIMATION SHOW at the Ritz this weekend and it looks to be the strongest show ever. On Friday night, we'll have special guest animators, DJ manny will be spinning live between sets and after the 7:00 show we are all heading over to the Jackalope for the after-party.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Watch THE 11th HOUR or be responsible for the end of the world...it's your choice!

THE 11th HOUR (playing Tuesday 4/22 at Alamo South Lamar) describes the last moment when change is possible. The film explores how humanity has arrived at this moment; how we live, how we impact the earth's ecosystems, and what we can do to change our course. The film features dialogues with experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA R. James Woolsey and sustainable design experts William McDonough and Bruce Mau in addition to over 50 leading scientists, thinkers and leaders who present the facts and discuss the most important issues that face our planet. The film has countless high profile supporters, including its narrator Leonardo DiCaprio.



This show is brought to us courtesy of the fine people at Austin Green Art working hard to change to world and sponsored in-part by the equally fine people of Levelfield.

Tickets are $10, or you may purchase a $25 VIP ticket which ensures you have one of the best seats in the house!

Find out more about Austin's newest climate change initiative - Austin350! Born out of Bill McKibben's visit during SXSW, Austin responds to Bill's international climate change action 350.org, which focuses on reducing global CO2 levels to 350 parts per million.

The main environmental problem that Austin Green Art seeks to address is not EXACTLY environmental! To quote Bill McKibben, it is that "we believe too firmly that we, each of us as individuals, are the most important things on the earth." This cultural programming is driving the destruction of the planet.

It is perhaps only art that can shape culture, and without a cultural change, environmental policy and activism cannot stop the destruction of the planet. So, we call our mission 'The Sustainability Revolution' and we envision, inspire and manifest it.

Visit the official 11th HOUR website to find out more.

Mayor's Book Club tonight at South Lamar! Social Consciousness! Distinguished guests!

Each year in the City of Austin, the Mayor chooses one book of either critical or social importance for the city to get behind as part of the Mayor's Book Club and the 'Keep Austin Reading' program. The book selected this year by Mayor Will Wynn is A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah- an incredible, autobiographical account of Sierra Leone's civil war and the story of Beah's own experiences as a child soldier.

Beah was born in Sierra Leone in 1980 and at the age of 12 the war had infiltrated his home town. Beah's work stands out due to his unique role: child soldier turned memoirist turned children's rights advocate. The reader is powerfully reminded that the author is not merely reporting horrors, but describing the horrors that he survived. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier is an important- and needed -contribution to the discussion of war and child exploitation. Encapsulating hardship, toil, and eventual success, Beah combines the dire with the motivating. He survived, graduated from Oberlin College, and has funneled his horrific experience into a passionate advocacy for children throughout the world.

We are proud to be part of a week-long series of events the Mayor's office has scheduled to celebrate Beah's accomplishment and to shed light on the cause.

Join Mayor Will Wynn for a special free screening of two documentaries about civil war and the plight of child soldiers in Sierra Leone, followed by a panel discussion by distinguished guests. Seats are available first come, first serve tonight. The show begins at 7:00pm.

The panel, moderated by Mayor Wynn, will include:

Gilbert Tuhabonye- National Champion runner currently coaching young athletes at Run Tex here in Austin, Mr. Tuhabonye, a Tutsi refugee, narrowly escaped an unspeakable attack by Hutu tribesmen in his native Burundi. For a complete account of his incredible story and to see the impact he has made on our great city, visit the Gilbert's Gazelles webpage.

Catherine Boone- Professor of Government, scholar of territorial politics and rural property rights in contemporary Africa and the president of the West Africa Research Association.

Alan Kuperman- Professor of Public Affairs, an expert in ethnic conflict and military intervention and the author of The Limits of Humanitarian Intervention: Genocide in Rwanda.


CRY FREETOWN
Sorious Samura's CRY FREETOWN has become a phenomenon. A brutal portrayal of what happened in Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone in January 1999, the film has succeeded in making the horror of this country's civil war a matter of international outrage. Sorious Samura shot the film at great risk for his own life, keenly aware of the fact that the strong images he recorded were the only thing that could shake the world from its indifference to the plight of his countrymen, women and children. (note: This film, as marvelous as it is, is very brutal. Honest, but brutal. Please be advised.)

CHILD SOLDIERS IN SIERRA LEONE
Part of Showtime's WHAT'S GOING ON? series, this documentary follows Michael Douglas on a journey to discover the past, but more importantly, work towards a better future for child soldiers forced to fight in a brutal civil war.



Thursday, April 17, 2008

YOUNG AT HEART is here! Senior Choir Rocking out in the theater Friday and Saturday Nights!

That's right, the movie you've been waiting for is almost here. Only a few more days to pace endlessly, smoking cigarette after cigarette, because YOUNG AT HEART - the documentary where the old folks sing punk songs - will open at the Alamo South Lamar this Friday. It has made a huge splash on the festival circuit and critics have been beside themselves:

" One of the most delightful movies to come along this year." - NY Daily News

"You won't believe the world of YOUNG AT HEART, but you'll have a hard time resisting it." - Kenneth Turan, LA Times

"A heartening and poignant affirmation of the transformative power of music." - USA Today

And not only will we be playing the film, we will be joined at the Friday and Saturday 7:05 screenings by Senior Sing Along, a local group who can rock out with the best of them, performing a song or two just for you.

Buy those tickets NOW, so you won't be on the outside looking in. Here's the helpful link.

More about YOUNG AT HEART:

Since 1982, Young@Heart, a chorus composed of senior citizens, has entertained audiences at home and abroad with unique renditions of punk, rock, and rhythm-and-blues songs by musicians as disparate as the Clash, Coldplay, and James Brown. With a new show titled "Alive and Well" six weeks away, Young@Heart's taskmaster choral director has six new songs for these inspiring elders to learn, from Sonic Youth's discordant "Schizophrenia" to Allen Toussaint's tongue-twisting "Yes, We Can Can."

This is no mere novelty act for its members. Young@Heart is at once a serious musical undertaking, a supportive community, and a way to stay active and engaged when society often expects seniors to be passive and quiet. The group's eclectic and entertaining repertoire shines a spotlight on taboos about old age—the Clash's "Should I Stay, or Should I Go?" becomes an amusing meditation on life and death, while Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" serves as a haunting ode to lost youth and fallen friends.

While the chorus prepares for the concert, some members struggle with serious health problems, impressing us even further with the special challenges the group faces. Funny, poignant, and inspirational, Stephen Walker's intimate documentary demonstrates that the Young@Heart chorus only gets better with age.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Quote-Along - Final Show Tonight!

There are all sorts of reasons that I am most triumphantly excited for tonight's reprisal of the non-heinous BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT QUOTE-ALONG, and the fact that it gave me an excuse to put an animated .gif on the Alamo's homepage for a second time is only one of those reasons. Let's take a look at some of the other excellent reasons to party on, dudes:

1) The movie itself, obviously. I could go on and on about how the two surfer dudes who never seem to surf but do love to jam out on their instruments that they don't know how to play are OBVIOUSLY the kinds of heroes the world needs in order to achieve world peace, but you've seen the movie, and you know how most excellent it really is.

2) The quote-along aspect. Just hearing a room full of people saying "Be excellent to each other," and answering themselves with a robust "Party on, dudes," should bring us one step closer to the world peace that Bill and Ted are trying to bring us toward.

3) The inflatable air guitar props. We're giving everyone who walks in the door an inflatable air guitar so we can jam out with the invisible air guitar that Bill and Ted use, and they just arrived in my office yesterday. Words can not express the joy that you feel when you open up a delivery from UPS in the afternoon only to find 300 uninflated guitars.

4) The free Dippin Dots. While Napoleon is becoming a Ziggy Piggy, we'll all get to enjoy the official ice cream of San Dimas, 2687, and it's DELICIOUS.

5) The video trailer for the show. Basically, just having the excuse to cut this thing together, and then to get to watch it before every movie I see at the theater, that's reason enough to be excited about the show. In case you haven't seen it yet:



Your ticket includes your inflatable guitar and Dippin Dots, and if you want to join us, you can get your ticket right here. Party on, and be excellent to each other.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Gogol Bordello doc: PIED PIPER OF HUTZOVINIA Tonight Only at The Ritz

If you missed the outstanding documentary about Eugene Hutz and Gogol Bordello, PIED PIPER OF HUTZOVINIA, when we played it a couple of weeks ago, you can be excused - after all the GB show at Stubbs was taking place just a couple of hours after the screening and you were probably busy making sure none of your clothes matched. So we have added this one extra show tonight.

The movie's fantastic, you get to follow Eugene all over Europe stopping at various Gypsy camps, exploring Gypsy music and of course playing his guitar and singing - the film wraps up with a fantastic Gogol Bordello performance that's as wild and great as it gets.

Buy those tickets now, HERE.

And check the trailer:

Monday, April 14, 2008

VALLEY OF THE DOLLS Stephen Moser benefit!

This Tuesday, the Alamo Ritz will be presenting a special screening of the classic trash opera VALLEY OF THE DOLLS to benefit our friend and colleague Stephen Moser.

Barbara Parkins, Sharon Tate and Patty Duke share the limelight in this searing and cautionary tale of youth gone wrong. Anne (Parkins) leaves her upright New England home for the bright marquees and dark temptations of Broadway, encountering an endless array of spiraling debutantes and self-loathing social climbers. See strong young women rendered helpless by the cruel clutches of false emotions, bitter rivalries and prescription drugs! A brash, thunderous tale of loss and redemption unfolds in the most notorious studio exploitation film of its era...perhaps ever. We're pleased to welcome Stephen Moser to the Ritz to present this gargantuan cinematic experience.

Tickets are available HERE!

Friday, April 11, 2008

THE APOCALYPSE IS NIGH! So nigh!

You always wanted to be in the band but didn't have the time, the energy or the talent. You wanted the chicks, the drugs, the booze, but you just couldn't get it together. Friends, you don't have to suffer your lame ass life anymore!

Get instant rock-star-fantasy gratification with KARAOKE APOCALYPSE. Live band backed karaoke for indolent rock stars!

You get to lead the band through your own rendition of a classic punk rock or heavy metal number. Choose from over 80 timeless headbanging, fist pumping songs!

We'll provide a lyric sheet with easy to read lyrics and directions on the arrangement of the song, but you shouldn't need them...because this ain't your granddad's karaoke, this shit is for real. Winners will become gods, and losers will be cast aside, back into rockless, starless obscurity!

The 'contest' roster is in, registered with the State Comptroller of Karaoke Competitions- and these Rock Gods are ready to devour worlds. But that doesn't mean you won't get your chance in the ninth circle!

Get you ticket here.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

TONIGHT - The New Wave Sing-Along!

To some of us, "Flock of Seagulls" is what Samuel L. Jackson calls the kid lying on the couch before he shoots him in PULP FICTION. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I break your concentration?" But while Tarantino movies and their awesomeness can sometimes be debated between geeks, the New Wave hits of the 80s are pretty much the established anthems for all of our pain and joy (divisions), and where we all come together in a world of Tainted Love and Bizarre Love Triangles and Love just sort of tearing us apart.

Tonight's NEW WAVE SING-ALONG is full of songs you can blare loudly and dance along to at house parties, matched right along-side the songs you'd have to listen to alone in your car after that special someone didn't dance with you all night long, even though you were wearing your best new clothes from the mall. But mostly it's the party music, so if you want to really get a good cry going you'll have to bring your own mix tape for listening to on the drive afterward. Speaking of the drive, though, who's gonna drive you home tonight?

There are still tickets available to both the 9:45 and Midnight shows at the Ritz tonight, and you can get your tickets right here. Once you've done that, put your headphones on, turn the volume way up, and watch the trailer for the show to help get you warmed up:

Monday, April 7, 2008

Thursday - BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT QUOTE-ALONG!

There are all sorts of reasons that I am most triumphantly excited for tonight's reprisal of the non-heinous BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT QUOTE-ALONG, and the fact that it gave me an excuse to put an animated .gif on the Alamo's homepage for a second time is only one of those reasons. Let's take a look at some of the other excellent reasons to party on, dudes:

1) The movie itself, obviously. I could go on and on about how the two surfer dudes who never seem to surf but do love to jam out on their instruments that they don't know how to play are OBVIOUSLY the kinds of heroes the world needs in order to achieve world peace, but you've seen the movie, and you know how most excellent it really is.

2) The quote-along aspect. Just hearing a room full of people saying "Be excellent to each other," and answering themselves with a robust "Party on, dudes," should bring us one step closer to the world peace that Bill and Ted are trying to bring us toward.

3) The inflatable air guitar props. We're giving everyone who walks in the door an inflatable air guitar so we can jam out with the invisible air guitar that Bill and Ted use, and they just arrived in my office yesterday. Words can not express the joy that you feel when you open up a delivery from UPS in the afternoon only to find 300 uninflated guitars.

4) The free Dippin Dots. While Napoleon is becoming a Ziggy Piggy, we'll all get to enjoy the official ice cream of San Dimas, 2687, and it's DELICIOUS.

5) The video trailer for the show. Basically, just having the excuse to cut this thing together, and then to get to watch it before every movie I see at the theater, that's reason enough to be excited about the show. In case you haven't seen it yet:



Your ticket includes your inflatable guitar and Dippin Dots, and if you want to join us, you can get your ticket right here. Party on, and be excellent to each other.

Tuesday - SON OF RAMBOW with filmmakers live!

GARTH JENNINGS AND NICK GOLDSMITH BRING SON OF RAMBOW TO AUSTIN

If you happen to be in the Austin area, Fantastic Fest and Ain't It Cool News are hosting a special sneak preview screening of SON OF RAMBOW at the Alamo South Lamar on April 8 at 7:00 PM with director Garth Jennings and producer Nick Goldsmith live in person.

This was one of my absolute favorite films of Fantastic Fest 2007. If you missed it then, please make a point to check it out during this special screening and tell your friends when it opens at the Alamo in May.

About SON OF RAMBOW
A runaway audience smash at the Sundance Film Festival, SON OF RAMBOW is a hilariously fresh and visually inventive take on friendship, family, film heroes and the death-defying adventures of growing up in the video age. It all begins in 1980s Britain, when young Will Proudfoot, raised in isolation among The Brethren, a puritanical religious sect in which music and TV are strictly forbidden, encounters something beyond his wildest fantasies: a pirated copy of RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD. His virgin viewing of the iconic thriller blows his mind – and rapidly expanding imagination – wide open. Now, Will sets out to join forces with the seemingly diabolical school bully, Lee Carter, to make their own action epic, devising wildly creative, on-the-fly stunts, not to mention equally elaborate schemes for creating a movie of total commitment and non-stop thrills while hiding out from The Brethren. But when school popularity finally descends on Will and Lee in the form of, oui, the super-cool French exchange student, Didier Revol, their remarkable new friendship and precious film are pushed, quite literally, to the breaking point. Filmed in a creatively mad-cap, homemade style with a mostly amateur cast and a wry, comic-tinged nostalgia, creative visionaries Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith, AKA Hammer & Tongs (HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY), manage to capture both the agony and the giddy ecstasy of a camcorder childhood with humor, poignancy and a rousing dose of cinematic panache.

Check out Harry Knowles' review of SON OF RAMBOW.

You can RSVP for the show on the Fantastic Fest Facebook Group, or you can come down to the the South Lamar Alamo at 6:15 on Tuesday. Please try to make this show if you can. It's absolutely charming and suitable for all ages. You will not be disappointed, I guarantee. The filmmakers will host a Q&A after the screening.

Show details on the Alamo Website.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

TONIGHT! SUPER HAPPY FUN MONKEY BASH 2008!


Each year around this time, we roll out a new volume of Super Happy Fun Monkey Bash, a 90 minute compilation of mind-boggling insanity from Japanese television. You'll see A-list American celebrities pimping themselves out for cheap Japanese products, bawdy situation comedies, unexpected nudity, extreme pro-wrestling, bizarre anti-flatulence products, nonsensical English phrases, supreme goofiness, and lots and lots of foam rubber costumes! We will also be featuring plenty of excerpts from the Japanese CNN (Chimpanzee News Network). Most importantly, however, the 2008 edition is a tribute to veteran TV funnyman Hitoshi Matsumoto. He's the best-known comedian in Japan today, sort of an Asian Will Ferrell but with an even stronger tendency towards humiliation and rubber costumes. We'll be featuring extended scenes from his long-running series DOWNTOWN as well as more recent spin-off shows such as Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ and no Subera nai Hanashi. All of this leads up to the U.S. theatrical premiere of Hitoshi Matsumoto's theatrical debut: BIG MAN JAPAN on April 25.

As with past editions of Super Happy Fun Monkey Bash we'll have a special Japanese menu and feature prizes and giveaways at every show. Check online for teaser clips and trailers from this and past Monkey Bash shows, and start marking the days in your pocket calendar until the happiest time of the year, Super Happy Fun Monkey Bash Day!

Get your tickets here, and watch the trailer now!