Thursday, July 30, 2009

THE COLLECTOR opens South Lamar


THE COLLECTOR
Opens July 31 at Alamo South Lamar
Get advance tickets here

This is one of those movies that would have played Fantastic Fest had the timing worked out. Horror at it's finest. Rage-fueled, high-impact psychotic celluloid. The kind of movie you'll grab the arm of the stranger next to you to hang on for dear life, apologize after the movie then realize you two have actually have a lot in common then spend the rest of your life together. Because you're too afraid to go it alone. Go through all the motions- birthday parties, anniversaries, raise a family just because THE COLLECTOR freaked you out that much.

The story of a handyman and ex-con named Arkin, who aims to repay a debt to his ex-wife by robbing his new employer's country home. Unfortunately for Arkin, a far worse enemy has already laid claim to the property - and the family. As the seconds tick down to midnight, Arkin becomes a reluctant hero trapped by a masked "Collector" in a maze of lethal invention - the Spanish Inquisition as imagined by Rube Goldberg - while trying to rescue the very family he came to rob.

Get those tickets here

Monday, July 27, 2009

The KNOW YOUR MUSHROOMS Feast


The KNOW YOUR MUSHROOMS Feast!
Wednesday, July 29, at the Alamo Ritz
Get you tickets here

Inspired by a chance conversation with fellow filmmaker and mushroom buff Jim Jarmusch, director Ron Mann (GRASS, GO FURTHER) sets off to the annual Telluride Mushroom Festival in Colorado. It was there he encountered the unique sub-sub-subculture surrounding fungi that includes an unlikely assortment of nerds, nuts, hipsters, tripsters, artists, chefs, musicians, foodies, foragers, and seekers all paying homage to the mighty mushroom.

Combining material filmed at the Mushroom Fest with animation and archival footage along with a neo-psychedelic soundtrack by The Flaming Lips, KNOW YOUR MUSHROOMS opens the doors to perception, takes the audience on a longer, stranger trip and delivers them to a brave new world where the fungi might well guide humanity to a saner, safer place...with extra cheese. This 2008 SXSW favorite comes back to Alamo for this once-in-a-lifetime mushroom-inspired, consciousness-expanding feast prepared by Alamo chef Trish Eichelberger!

The Menu

I
Mushroom and goat ricotta galette with a micro green salad and bell pepper confetti

II
Hanger steak with mushroom demi glace, asparagus and morels with porcini wild rice pilaf
Vegetarian option will be stuffed Portobello in place of the steak

III
Black truffle dark chocolate truffles, sea salted shortbread and meringue mushrooms

Each course will be paired with the perfect wine!

Note: "Consciousness Expanding" used here metaphorically.

Click here for tickets

Double Dose of Music Monday TONIGHT!


Music Monday: SLEEPWALKING THROUGH THE MEKONG
10:35PM at the Alamo Ritz
Music Monday: BJORK: VOLTAIC
10:00pm at the Alamo Ritz
Just $2!

By popular demand, VOLTAIC: THE VOLTA TOUR LIVE IN REYKJAVIC AND PARIS returns for one encore screening tonight at the Ritz! A remarkable, multi-media document of Björk's visually dazzling Volta tour you're required to see to remain culturally relevant! If you missed it last week, go see it tonight!

But who just wants one Music Monday option? If you really want a kick in the rock 'n balls, check out DENGUE FEVER: SLEEPWALKING THROUGH THE MEKONG. Los Angeles based band Dengue Fever has become a critical and audience favorite, playing authentic Cambodian garage and psychedelic music a la the legendary and mysterious "Cambodian Rocks" compilations. SLEEPWALKING THROUGH THE MEKONG follows them on their recent journey to Cambodia to perform 60s and 70s Cambodian rock 'n' roll in the country where it was created and very nearly destroyed. The odyssey is a homecoming for singer Chhom Nimol and a transformation for the rest of the band as they perform with master musicians and record new songs along the way. Get your tickets here!

The only problem is choosing. Decide already!

Monday, July 20, 2009

DEADGIRL Now on Sale!


Fantastic Fest Presents: DEADGIRL
Friday and Saturday at the Ritz
Advance tickets available here

Director Marcel Sarmiento in attendance on July 24!

DEADGIRL earned a special prize and distinction from Fantastic Fest jury-member Chris Gore last year because he believed so strongly that the film deserved to win Best Picture...but ultimately, it did not- a testament to this film's equal measures of brilliance and cringe. Love or revulsion, you can't take your eyes off of it. This is genre filmmaking at its finest and we couldn't be happier to bring it back to the Alamo for one more go.

Here's the write up from Fantastic Fest 2008...

"Many horror films feature teenage characters but these people are generally nothing more than corpses in waiting and might as well be replaced by showroom mannequins. This is a shame as teenagers face unique psychological and physiological disruptions that are ripe for tales of horror. Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel apparently understand this; their film DEADGIRL mines the recesses of the hormone-wracked adolescent mind to create one of the most original American horror films in recent memory.

Shiloh Fernandez (RED) and Noah Segan (CABIN FEVER 2) portray high school stoners who ditch school in favor of drinking beer in an abandoned sanitarium. The pair make their way into the bowels of the building, and stumble across a vicious dog. The ensuing chase leads them to a barricaded door. Upon entering the adjoining room, they find an incapacitated woman wrapped in plastic and strapped to a table. As time passes, the teens make a series of questionable decisions that put them, their friends and the audience on the spot."
(Rodney Perkins)

Get you tickets here

Thursday, July 16, 2009

NOT seeing Harry Potter this weekend?


THE ROOM
Saturday at the Ritz
Hey Homo! presents the SAVED! Brunch
Sunday at the Ritz
Zach Galifianakis in VISIONEERS
Sunday at the Ritz

HARRY POTTER & THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE fever is sweeping the nation, making us break out in cold sweats. If you caught the fever, there's only one prescription- see HARRY POTTER & THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE! You'll feel great afterward. If you didn't catch the fever, though, you're not out of luck for entertainment this weekend. This week is your last chance to catch Tommy Wiseau's infamous THE ROOM is glorious 35mm! Get SAVED! by Hey Homo! And see Zach Galifianakis as George Washington Winsterhammerman in Jared Drake's VISIONEERS!

Oh, and if you haven't seen BRUNO yet? See it.

So what if you're not into wizards?

Friday, July 10, 2009

BRÜNO Now Playing!


BRÜNO
Now playing Alamo Ritz & Village
Advance tickets available here

"Like Swift's Gulliver's Travels, BRÜNO defies you not to see yourself in its funhouse mirror. 3 1/2 Stars."
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

The day we've been waiting for all Summer is here. BRÜNO has arrived. And there is no better way to wash down the cultural toxicity than with stiff BRÜNO cocktail and taking a bite of BRÜNO's Weiner Schnitzel only at the Alamo.

The Velcro Jumpsuit
Do NOT try to enjoy one of these at a fashion shoot in Milan, as we guarantee you'll be arrested. Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka with our house-made Lemonade. (Ritz only)

The Vassup!
For when you just want to be fabulous! Frangelico and Vanilla Vodka shaken over ice and served in a shot glass. (Ritz only)

The Gayby
Madonns's got one, Brangelina's got one, and now you can get one too! Kahlua, Bailey's and cream (shot). (Ritz only)

And since this week also marks the beginning of Fashion Week here in Austin, join us at the Sunday night Ritz show for a contest of Fashion Do's and Don'ts! Time to dust off those Z. Cavaricci's.

Tickets to BRÜNO at the Ritz

Tickets to BRÜNO at the Village (in gorgeous digital projection!)

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

SPACEBALLS: THE QUOTE-ALONG



SPACEBALLS: THE QUOTE-ALONG
July 9, 23 & 30 at the Alamo Ritz
Advance Tix available here

Mel Brooks' STAR WARS parody is soooo much more than just a parody film, and filled with the sorts of jokes that the writers of all the recently (and horribly) made "spoof films" wish they could dream up. If your Schwartz is as big as mine, you're probably uncomfortably excited with just the prospect of this show happening. Somewhere in space, Dot Matrix's virgin alarm is ringing loudly.

We did a version of this show last year, but we've updated it this time around with all new props, all new quotes, all new drink specials, and all new all newness!

SPACEBALLS: The Quote-Along


SPACEBALLS: The Quote-Along
Thursday at the Alamo Ritz
Advance tickets available here

Mel Brooks' STAR WARS parody is soooo much more than just a parody film, and filled with the sorts of jokes that the writers of all the recently (and horribly) made "spoof films" wish they could dream up. If your Schwartz is as big as mine, you're probably uncomfortably excited with just the prospect of this show happening. Somewhere in space, Dot Matrix's virgin alarm is ringing loudly.
(Henri)

Get your tickets here

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

OBJECTIFIED only at the Alamo Ritz


AIGA Design Series: OBJECTIFIED
Tuesday & Wednesday at the Ritz
Advance tickets available here

From Gary Hustwit, the director of HELVETICA!

This feature-length documentary explores our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. It's a look at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets. It's about the designers who re-examine, re-evaluate and re-invent our manufactured environment on a daily basis. It's about personal expression, identity, consumerism, and sustainability. Through vérité footage and in-depth conversations, the film documents the creative processes of some of the world's most influential product designers, and looks at how the things they make impact our lives. What can we learn about who we are, and who we want to be, from the objects with which we surround ourselves?

For tickets, go here.

Friday, July 3, 2009

TONY MANERO at South Lamar


TONY MANERO
Sunday & Monday at Alamo South Lamar
Advance tickets available here

“A surprising, challenging, engrossing film, TONY MANERO marks Pablo Larraín as a serious talent.”
-Todd Brown, Twitch Film

“Holding it all together is an unnerving lead performance by Alfredo Castro, who looks nothing like Travolta, and a lot like Al Pacino marinaded in embalming fluid. I can recall few screen presences as off-puttingly ratty, but [Castro's] opaque, tight-lipped sullenness is hideously, inscrutably magnetic.”
-Johnathoan Romney, The Independent

4th of July weekend usually means huge 100 million dollar CGEye-sores that star Will Smith. Luckily, we dodged the Big Willie bullet this year, but there are still plenty of no-expense-spared behemoths roaming the theaters to satiate even the most spray-on of appetites. But I’d like to suggest an altogether different way to celebrate America this year.

With an independent film from Chile.

The title of Pablo Larrain’s darkly comic psycho-thriller references John Travolta’s disco-sick lead from SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, and you can not get any more American than that. In the hierarchy of Americana, it goes Tony Manero, bald eagles, 0% financing, apple pie and then that scene in RETURN OF THE JEDI when the speeder bikes are going through trees (sorry baseball). The fact that our culture has spread so far as Santiago to be used as allegory for a foreign sociopolitical climate should be worn on all of us like a badge of goddamned pride. I may be reaching, probably am, but just because this one doesn’t have robots doesn’t mean it should be sloughed off as un-American, okay McCarthy? At the very least, we should celebrate the free society we live in where great films from around the globe are so readily available for our enjoyment.

TONY MANERO plays 5th & 6th at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. To read more about it and to get tickets, click here.