A Samurai Film Destined to Become a Classic

Take Up Your Sword:
13 ASSASSINS
Starts Friday 4/29 @Ritz
Advance tickets available here

Cult director Takashi Miike delivers a bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a war-torn future.

Get your tickets for this great show now.

Zzang!!! THE DARK CRYSTAL in 35mm this Sunday!

Zzang!!!:
THE DARK CRYSTAL
Sunday 4/24, 7:00 @Ritz
Advance tickets available here

Before computers took over the universe, longtime collaborators (and Muppet-makers) Henson and Oz rolled up their sleeves and created the most beautiful otherworldly film to ever zoom across an '80s audience's eyeballs.

In an unnamed land, a pair of young, elf-like Gelflings must battle the evil Skeksis to bring their world back to the power it once held. Though this may sound like fantasy silliness, the sheer power and ingenuity of THE DARK CRYSTAL is unmatched. It's a pure-hearted, imagination-powered journey into unexplored ideas, with the most memorable characters this side of another dimension. From the graceful Land-Striders to the looming crab-like Garthim to that wily, one-eyed heroic priestess Aulghra, the colorful creatures create an entirely unique experience at the movies. There really hasn't been another movie like it, and it holds up better than any other fantasy film of the last 50 years!

If you watch only one thing during your time on this planet, make it THE DARK CRYSTAL. In fact, I hereby declare it waaaaay better than stupid old STAR WARS.

That's right. I said it.

Get your tickets for this great show now!

The Ultimate Bicycle Movie

MS 150 Fundraising Film & Feast:
BICYCLE THIEVES
Saturday 4/23, 8:00 @Ritz
Advance tickets available here

MS150, the branch of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society that challenges riders to bicycle from Houston to Austin to raise money and awareness for MS, is holding a fundraising screening of the most celebrated bicycle film, Vittorio De Sica's BICYCLE THIEVES.

On the lawn of Tim & Karrie League's home, on what is surely to be a beautiful April evening (it's Texas, after all), join your fellow bikers for a journey through this neo-realist classic about a poor man whose future is threatened by the simple act of a bicycle theft.

On hand will be Chief Executive Chef John Bullington, who has prepared a feast of Italian cuisine and will be pairing wines to go with it. Check out the menu:

Primo - Pasta Puttanesca with Seared Scallop

Insalata - Boggy Creek Giardiniera and Greens Salad

Secondo e Contorno - Richardson's Farms Ribeye Milanese with Baby Artichoke and Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Dulce - Grilled Strawberries With Ravioli Di Ricotta And Zabaglione

Support a good cause! For more info, visit ms150.org.

Get your tickets for this great show now!

PAN'S LABYRINTH at the Ritz!

A Lonely Girl Creates A Vivid World in:
PAN'S LABYRINTH
Tuesday 4/19 and Wednesday 4/20 @Ritz
Advance tickets available here

Guillermo del Toro's masterwork is a fanciful and chilling story set against the backdrop of a fascist regime in 1944 rural Spain. The film centers on Ofelia, a lonely and dreamy child living with her mother and adoptive father, a military officer tasked with ridding the area of rebels.

In her loneliness, Ofelia creates a world filled with fantastical creatures and secret destinies. With post-war repression at its height, Ofelia must come to terms with her world through a fable of her own creation.

Get your tickets for this great show now.

Cinema Club Presents RED RIVER with UT Prof Don Graham

The Cinema Club and Don Graham Present:
RED RIVER
Sunday 4/17, 7:00 @Ritz
Advance tickets available here

Next Sunday April 17, join us at the Ritz for a true Texas classic, Howard Hawks’ RED RIVER, on the glorious big screen. After the movie, we’ll talk about the film’s history and meaning with our special guest, Don Graham. If you happened to catch our Texas Show a few years back with Don and Joe Bob Briggs, you know you’re in for an informative and fun evening.

Cinema Club is an interactive series that highlights the appreciation and discussion of classic films from cinema history. At each screening a prominent expert will introduce an essential film classic. Following the film, the speaker and members of our programming team will lead a discussion of the film, offering insight into the film’s production, history, and artistic qualities. This month our guest will be Don Graham, University Of Texas Professor of English and author of “Cowboys And Cadillacs: How Hollywood Looks At Texas” and the new book “State Of Minds: Texas Culture and Its Discontents”, which will be available for sale after the show.

Though RED RIVER was Howard Hawks’ first western, it rides easy in the saddle as one of the great American classics. No less an eminence than John Ford, when erroneously credited with RED RIVER by a fan, responded, “Thank you very much.” As a drama it has real heft, the scale is as vast as the cattle country and the conflict between father (John Wayne, never better) and adopted son (Montgomery Clift) is primal. Along the way there is also lightness and humor (which thankfully is not so Fordian) as well as the most beautiful and iconic cattle drive scenery ever captured.

Get your tickets for this great show now!

Off-Centered Film Fest: STRANGE BREW Beer Party!

Off Center Film Fest Kicks Off With:
STRANGE BREW
Thursday 4/14, 7:00 @Ritz
Advance tickets available here

Join us downtown for a special outdoor Rolling Roadshow screening of STRANGE BREW! We’re taking over Republic Square Park, inflating the giant screen and inviting some of our favorite local breweries to serve up their most badass beers right alongside Dogfish Head.

At this amazing, gigantic beer event, we'll be serving beers from: (512) Brewing Company, Circle Brewing Company, Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales, Independence Brewing Company, Jester King Craft Brewery, Live Oak Brewing Company, Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling, Real Ale Brewing, and Thirsty Planet Brewing.

So, while Bob & Doug McKenzie are chugging LaBatts on screen and wolfing down jelly donuts, you’ll be able to partake in the best possible beers Central Texas has to offer and enjoy the best possible Canadian food specials the Alamo can whip up. After the screening, the owners and brewers from our booming hometown scene will participate in a dynamic discussion with Dogfish Head founder, head brewer and boundary pusher Sam Calagione.

Get your tickets for this great show now! Only $5!

Harry Shearer Comes to South Lamar

Film & TV Legend Legend Harry Shearer Presents:
THE BIG UNEASY
THIS IS SPINAL TAP
Thursday 4/14, 7pm and 10pm @Lamar

When you think Harry Shearer you immediately think of his voice, deep, resonant and authoritative on his NPR program Le Show and shockingly varied in his voice-work on the Simpsons (he voices Mr. Burns, Smithers, Principal Skinner, the Reverend Lovejoy, Dr. Hibbert, and many more characters). It’s a fine instrument and he knows when and how to use it.

With his newest film THE BIG UNEASY, he is using that voice to tell a true story. The catastrophic 2005 flooding of his beloved New Orleans was preventable. The system of levees designed by the Army Corps Of Engineers was badly flawed, and many knew about it. Other disasters are waiting to happen due to the same faulty designs in other cities. Worst of all, the new system created to replace the one that failed colossally in New Orleans incorporates many of the failings of the earlier model.

In THE BIG UNEASY, Shearer conducts his own investigation of where they system went wrong, and why it continues to go wrong. He speaks with the investigators, first responders and whistleblowers who know the story best. This is (literally) muckraking in the cause of good.

Check out these great shows! THE BIG UNEASY and
THIS IS SPINAL TAP. All with Harry Shearer Live!

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S Brunch at Lake Creek

Brunch with Audrey Hepburn:
BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S
Saturday 4/9 & Sunday 4/10 @Lake Creek
Advance tickets available here

This weekend at Lake Creek, we’re having a special Brunch screening of the classic Audrey Hepburn romance BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S. Presented in glorious 35mm, the screenings are a final send-off to the great writer/director Blake Edwards, whose recent passing left a great cavity in the film.

Chef Chris Kincaid has prepared a menu of sublime treats for your early-afternoon noshing. Each of these items are priced separately and are theoretically optionally, although practically necessary:

Spiced apple danish with whipped cream

Strawberries and cream topped with local honey and pecan granola pieces

Smoked salmon and goat cheese on toasted bagel crisps with lemon, chives, dill and capers

Freshly poached farm egg (over medium) on toasted ciabatta with country ham and hollandaise

Do not skip your chance to see BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S on the big screen. With these brunch specials to tempt you, there’s no choice.

Get your tickets for this great show now.

Sommelier Cinema: JULES AND JIM

Four Glasses of Wine and a Film:
Sommelier Cinema: JULES AND JIM
Tuesday 4/5, 7:00 @Ritz
Advance tickets available here

Sommelier Cinema is a new series that couples films with wine experts who curate a series of wines paired perfectly to the movie of the evening. We are excited to present JULES AND JIM, the French masterpiece that celebrates the bohemian lifestyle and the passion that can corrupt it.

Our guest sommeliers are Rachel Wilson, educator from Wine for the People, and Darcie Fromholz, from the great Austin restaurant Wink. Rachel and Darcie have chosen a selection of European wines that will accompany you on your journey through one of the most lasting torrid romances in cinema history:

Theo Minges Riesling Halbtrocken 2008

Jean-Marc Burgaud Beaujolais 2008

Domaine de L'Ameillaud Vin de Pays de la Principaute d'Orange 2009

Renardat-Fache Cerdon de Bugey N/V

To read more about these wines, please read our blog post.

Get your tickets for this great show now! Only $26!

Fantastic Fest Favorite RUBBER at the Ritz

The Killer Tire Movie:
RUBBER
Friday 4/1-Thursday 4/7 @Ritz
Advance tickets available here

RUBBER is the story of Robert, an inanimate tire that has been abandoned in the desert, and suddenly and inexplicably comes to life. As Robert roams the bleak landscape, he discovers that he possesses terrifying telepathic powers that give him the ability to destroy anything he wishes without having to move.

At first content to prey on small desert creatures and various discarded objects, his attention soon turns to humans, especially a beautiful and mysterious woman who crosses his path. Leaving a swath of destruction across the desert landscape, Robert becomes a chaotic force to be reckoned with, and truly a movie villain for the ages.

Get your tickets for this great show now.

Legendary actor Wings Hauser in Person tonight for VICE SQUAD and RUBBER Premiere!

Mind-blowing Cinematic Insanity!

VICE SQUAD & RUBBER Double Feature with Wings Hauser

Thursday 9:45pm Ritz

Buy Tickets Here

The great, the legendary WINGS HAUSER will be joining us tonight, screening his immortal classic VICE SQUAD and a midnight advance screening of his newest film, the modern classic RUBBER, opening this weekend at Ritz!

This is an ultra-rare opportunity to spend some time with one of the most intense men on planet Earth and enjoy hours of cinematic rage with the screen's greatest beast.

Only double feature tickets will be available in advance, but individual show tickets will be on sale at the door for each film if any are available.

Special perk for Fantastic Fest 2011 badgeholders: If you have pre-purchased your 2011 badge (any badge), bring in your ID and receive a $5 food and beverage voucher good at these shows.

Special thanks to Magnet Films and the great Wings Hauser for making this show possible.

You can find out more information about this great double feature here. And don't miss RUBBER starting Friday at the Ritz!

Found Footage Festival Tonight!

Unbelievable Video Oddities:
FOUND FOOTAGE FESITVAL
Wednesday 3/30, 7:00 & 9:35 @Ritz
Advance tickets available here

For years, FOUND FOOTAGE curators Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher have sifted through garage sales, thrift stores, and even dumpsters mining for bona fide VHS tape gold. And friends, they have struck paydirt time and again.

We're excited to welcome them back to Austin for a one-night only showcase of their latest and greatest finds (plus a few longtime favorites too). From the curiously-produced industrial training video to the forsaken home movie donated to Goodwill, witness the resurrection of these forgotten treasures served up with Pickett and Prueher's informative (and damn funny) observations and commentary.

Get your tickets for this great show now.

Korean Vengeance-fest I SAW THE DEVIL Now Playing at Ritz!

I SAW THE DEVIL
Now Playing at the Ritz
Click here to buy tickets

I SAW THE DEVIL is a shockingly violent and stunningly accomplished tale of murder and revenge from Korean genre master Kim Jee-woon (THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD and A TALE OF TWO SISTERS). OLDBOY's Choi Min-sik plays Kyung-chul, a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. The embodiment of pure evil, he has committed horrifying and senselessly cruel serial murders on defenseless victims, successfully eluding capture by the police.

On a freezing, snowy night, his latest victim is the beautiful Ju-yeon, daughter of a retired police chief and pregnant fiancée of elite special agent Dae-hoon (THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD's Lee Byung-hyun). Obsessed with revenge, Dae-hoon decides to track down the murderer, even if doing so means becoming a monster himself. And when he finds Kyung-chul, turning him in to the authorities is the last thing on his mind.

The lines between good and evil fall away in this diabolically twisted game of cat and mouse. Pushing the concept of revenge to its most extreme limits, Kim Jee-woon brilliantly transcends the police procedural and serial killer genres in surprising and thrilling new ways.

Alamo Iron Chef: Barry Lyndon

Alamo Iron Chef:
Barry Lyndon
Thursday 3/24, 7:30pm @Lamar
Advance tickets available here

This Thursday, we will present the latest installment of our long running Alamo Iron Chef competition, in which our chefs face off against their kitchen counterparts from Austin’s finest restaurants. Each chef prepares a meal of half-courses. At the end they are judged by a panel of experts and a winner is crowned by our own Chairman Kaga, Alamo founder and CEO Tim League. We never know which chef will emerge victorious but we can be certain that the audience will win every time.

This time, our chefs led by Chief Executive Chef John Bullington will face off against the highly acclaimed Julio-Cesar Florez Zaplana of La Sombra. It will be an epic battle. Are you ready for it?

Atanley Kubrick's BARRY LYNDON presents the story of 18th century Irish adventurer Redmond Barry, and his rise and fall within the aristocracy of the United Kingdom. Shot gorgeously and with a cast full of the greatest character actors of the 1970s, LYNDON is a period piece without match. Roger Ebert describes it as "one of the most beautiful films ever made." That says it all.

Get your tickets for this great show now.

SXFantastic Titles at the Ritz All Week

A Taste of SXSW:
SXFantastic Films at the Ritz
Sunday 3/20-Wednesday 3/23 @Ritz
Advance tickets available here

At the Ritz all next week, we're bringing back four of the SXFantastic films that have been some of the highlights of this year's SXSW! In case you don't know, SXFantastic is Fantastic Fest's sidebar of the film festival, a series of cutting-edge midnight movies selected by our programming team.

We're also bringing back two of our favorite short films from this year's festival, SATAN SINCE 2003 and DENMARK. These films were so perfect that we couldn't resist holding onto them and sharing them one more time, and you're going to absolutely love them.

KILL LIST
Sunday, March 20 - 9:00

THE FP w/ SATAN SINCE 2003 (short)
Monday, March 21 - 9:00

JEZ JERZY w/ DENMARK (short)
Tuesday, March 22 - 9:00

COLD SWEAT
Wednesday, March 23 - 9:35

These screenings are absolutely open to the public, no badge or any special jewelry required. Fantastic Fest badgeholders will get a discount if they buy their tickets at the door.

Get your tickets for these great shows now.

Announcing HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN: THE GAME

Hey folks! Good news – we’re officially in the gaming business!

We’ve just launched a game for the iPhone in celebration of Jason Eisener’s HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN! Just in time for SXSW, you can now clean up the streets (one shell at a time) as the loveable hobo that just can’t stand those punks and criminals. Witness the brutal beauty of 8-bit gore!

We just launched this bad boy last week, so be among the first to blow the brains out of some scumbags (via your iPhone of course). You can find out more information about the game here (including screen shots and awesome 8-bit graphics) or you can purchase the game directly from the iTunes store for $2.99 here! Now load up on ammo and protect your fair city (again… via your iPhone…).

SXSW Presents: MARS

Looking for Life and Love on:
MARS
Monday 3/7-Wednesday 3/9 @Ritz
Advance tickets available here

Austinite and University of Texas film professor Geoff Marslett's new feature, MARS, is a marvel of technological innovation and free-spirited filmmaking. Marslett, who in 2009 was named one of the "25 New Faces of Independent Film" by Filmmaker Magazine, wrote software and invented a new style of animation for MARS. The result is a whimsical blend of live action and animation imagery.

The new film, which premiered at the SXSW Film Festival 2010 and has since been playing at dozens of fests around the world, is a pensive adventure film set on Mars. Mark Duplass (Star of TV's THE LEAGUE and Writer/Director of CYRUS, THE PUFFY CHAIR, and BAGHEAD) stars alongside newcomer Zoe Simpson in a love story that blooms during an interstellar adventure. Along the way they question the very nature of exploration: Why do we want to know what is out there? How do we react to what we find? Is it really that important? And where does love fit into the whole thing?

Presented by SXSW

Get your tickets for this great show now.

FOUR LIONS DVD Release Party!

Drafthouse Films' First DVD Release:
FOUR LIONS
Tuesday 3/8, 7:40pm @Village
Advance tickets available here

You supported us. When the Alamo Drafthouse decided to start a distribution arm, we came out of the gate running with the awesome and original British comedy FOUR LIONS. It was a gamble, but you made it a huge success! FOUR LIONS has been one of the best received and highest grossing foreign comedies of the year, and it was in large part due to the overwhelmingly positive support of the Austin community.

This hilarious film, named one of the Top 10 Films of 2010 by Time Magazine, is finally ready to be released on DVD; the street date is March 8. And to celebrate, we're giving back to the city that made this all possible. On March 8, we're having a special screening of FOUR LIONS. This will be the last chance to see this film on the big screen.

The best part: it's free! And that's not all. Not only will we have the newly minted DVDs and Blu-rays to sell, but we'll be raffling some limited edition shirts and posters as well.

So make sure to come support the Alamo Drafthouse and Drafthouse Films by attending the DVD Release Party at the Village this Tuesday. It'll be a night to remember.

Get your tickets for this great show now.

AIGA Presents: HANDMADE NATION

Crafters Unite!:
HANDMADE NATION
Sunday 3/6, 7pm @Ritz
Advance tickets available here

HANDMADE NATION documents the new wave of art, craft and design that is capturing the attention of the nation. Filmmaker Faythe Levine traveled to 15 cities and covered more than 19,000 miles to interview artists, crafters, makers, curators and community members. Today’s craft world has emerged as a synthesis of historical technique, punk culture, and the DIY ethos, also influenced by traditional handiwork, modern aesthetics, politics, feminism and art.

Levine captures the tightly knit community that exists through websites, blogs, and online stores that connect to the greater public through independent boutiques, galleries and craft fairs.

Interviews were conducted on location in artist studios, homes, boutiques, offices and craft fairs, giving the public an exclusive and rarely seen look into the lives of these creative individuals.

Get your tickets for this great show now.

CARMEN 3D Saturdays at the Village

The Royal Opera House and RealD Present:
CARMEN 3D
Every Saturday from 3/5-3/26 @Village
Advance tickets available here

There is perhaps no greater cultural outing than a trip to the Opera. Every year our friends at Austin Lyric Opera produce some of the greatest shows in the US, staging classic operas and new works for our community. But when Opera season is over, you're left with few options.

Thankfully, RealD has partnered with one of the premier opera companies in the world, the Royal Opera House of London, to tour with a filmed version of one of the most loved operas, Georges Bizet's CARMEN. And that's not all - they're presenting it, for the first time in history, in 3D! Yes, that's right, a 3D Opera.

And while you probably won't see the melodies flying towards your head, you will experience this magnificent opera in the most crisp, gorgeous, state of the art quality imaginable.

It's like having a front row ticket to the greatest opera performance in the world. How could you skip that?

Get your tickets for this great show now.

Oh, hi, Austin... The Room is baaacckkk

The Room returns to Alamo Village with a new weekly slot!
Thursdays at 10 pm starting March 3!
Buy Tickets

You asked for it, Austin, and now you've got it... The Room in all its craptastic glory will make a triumphant(!?) return to Alamo Village starting Thursday, March 3. And there it will stay at 10 pm each week so can indulge weekly in this masterpiece of cinematic WTF-ery and induct new members into the cult -- We're thinking the time is especially right to induct those who've always given the excuse that midnight is too late.

Intentional "black comedy"? Completely inept filmmaking? A completely inept attempt at making a black comedy? Did Tommy Wiseau really direct "the Citizen Kane of bad movies"? Or was is it actually the script supervisor? Does it matter? Probably not, 'cause nothing really trumps the 100% pure god-awful/awesome entertainment that is The Room.

So stock up on plastic spoons, inflate those footballs, get your tux dry cleaned, and get ready to make the Village your new home on Thursday nights.

Oscar Winners at the Alamo!

See Oscar Winners on the Big Screen!
THE KING'S SPEECH (Lamar)
BLACK SWAN (Lamar)
THE FIGHTER (Village)
SHORT: GOD OF LOVE (Lamar)
SHORT: THE LOST THING (Lamar)

Even before THE KING'S SPEECH won a handful of Academy Awards last night, the MPAA announced that there will be a re-release of the film. The re-release will be an edited PG-13 version. We would like to say that this is silly, and that you should see the R-rated version (only rated R for a few very entertaining scenes of swearing) while you can. We're not sure if they'll be pulling this version, but just in case!

That said, KING'S SPEECH earned Colin Firth the Best Actor Award, Tom Hooper the Best Director Award, and the highly sought after Best Picture of the Year award. BLACK SWAN (still screening at S. Lamar) earned the adorably prego Natalie Portman the Best Actress award. THE FIGHTER, still screening at the Village pulled in both Supporting Actor & Actress (Christian Bale and Melissa Leo). Lastly, if you haven't seen the Oscar Nominated Shorts, we highly recommend popping into the theater to see the two winners on the big screen. GOD OF LOVE and THE LOST THING will both be screening for one more week!

Then, do yourself a favor and watch Luke Matheny's acceptance speech. It's pretty great.

And you thought you knew everything about robot action movies...

ENDHIRAN: THE ROBOT

Special One-Week Engagement, Feb 25 - March 3

Late Nights at Alamo South Lamar

Get Tickets Here

Like most people, our first awareness of ENDHIRAN: THE ROBOT came via this YouTube post.

In just 589 ridiculous, CGI-laden seconds, we were hooked. We knew we had to have the movie. The American distributors were a little surprised to hear that a mainstream theater was interested in the film but after a wary negotiation, we got it, all 9 reels of it. It's now playing at the Alamo South Lamar.

For us it was just business as usual, keeping our eyes open and finding cool things for our audience. We hadn't realized it was newsworthy, but WIRED thought it was, so much so that they wrote it up today, with quotes from Alamo honcho Tim League and links to other Bollywood (and Kollywood: note the difference) excess.

We even got an unexpectedly glowing review from the Austin Chronicle, whose Marc Savlov called it the "best apocalyptic sci-fi-romcom-melodrama-dance-off date movie of the year." In your face, Bieber!

As if all that weren't enough, the US Official site of the movie is like a trip back to 2002, in a good way. Don't miss the "Press Section." Most people have to eat lead paint to see such wondrous sights! I especially like the fact that the robot is powered by Pentium. I wonder if it has a hotmail account and a CD-ROM.

Beer Party + Birdemic = Birdemic Fest

1 Year Anniversary of BIRDEMIC:
BIRDEMIC FEST
Friday 2/25, Midnight @Village
Advance tickets available here

Birdemic is the greatest cult film of recent memory. It's so hilarious, so insane, so misguided that Vice Magazine describes it as "The Kennedy assassination of jokes.“

We played the pants off of it last year, and even had the film's eccentric creator (who's a personal friend of David Lynch) to the Ritz. Now, it's 1 year later, and director James Nguyen has issued a call to arms that he calls BIRDEMIC FEST!

What is Birdemic Fest, you ask? It's quite simple, really. As Nguyen explains in this absolutely brilliant video, it's a mathematical equation: Birdemic Fest = Beer Party + Birdemic. We're going to be hosting the best Birdemic Fest in the world, right at the Village, this Friday at midnight. Watch the video, get in the mood, and HAPPY BIRDEMIC!

Get your tickets for this great show now.

Celluloid Handbag presents ALL ABOUT EVE
with live performance by Rebecca Havemeyer
Wednesday, February 23
Alamo Ritz 7pm

In honor of the impending Oscar night Celluloid Handbag is bringing you a movie that was nominated for 6 Academy Awards (in 1950). Rebecca Havemeyer will be on stage before the movie singing and dancing and giving out her own very special type of awards. Come on down to the Ritz tonight so we can all celebrate with a movie that embodies all the great traditions of the Oscars from the beautiful women in designer dresses giving quotable speeches, and also the scratching and gouging your way to the top to satisfy that insatiable ego!

Got Something to Share? Come to Open Screen Night!

YOU Control the Screen:
OPEN SCREEN NIGHT
Wednesday 2/23, 9:20 @Ritz
Advance tickets available here

OPEN SCREEN NIGHT is one of our favorite, and most bizarre, Alamo traditions. At this event, we give YOU control over our screen. For this night only, you choose the programming, and we will project absolutely anything you bring. Want to show off the new short film you just made? Perfect, bring it in. Wanna make everyone watch a particularly uncomfortable clip on YouTube? Just give us the URL and we’ll put it up. Have a favorite home movie or super embarrassing clip of your college roommate? Bring that in, too!

And even if you don’t have anything to show this time, come on out to have your mind blown. You never know what you’re going to see at OPEN SCREEN NIGHT, but somewhere in there you’ll definitely get a special treat. And if anything crappy gets shown you’ll only have to suffer through two minutes of it before our gonger can respond to your boos and get that garbage off the screen with one mighty bang on his gong.

Here’s a special note of encouragement from Chris Trew, the emcee of the evening: “The Stand-up comedy open mics in Austin are always packed with hungry performers looking for stage time in hopes of meeting new people to collaborate with or impressing people-in-charge to get some paid gigs. OPEN SCREEN NIGHT isn’t that different. If you’re a filmmaker (especially a comedic filmmaker) then you should be here with your DVD or YouTube link. It would be silly not to. Sure, you might get gonged, but if you do then take the note and come back next month with something better.”

Trew will be joined by his comedy theater The New Movement, who will be bringing their own special videos and will engage in entr’acte antics.

Get your tickets for this great show now.

The Dude Abides!

The Action Pack presents
THE BIG LEBOWSKI QUOTE-ALONG
Get your tickets HERE
Monday Feb. 21 at South Lamar

"I am not 'Mr. Lebowski'. I'm the Dude. So that's what you call me. You know, that or, uh, His Dudeness, or uh, Duder, or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing."

The Action Pack is bringing The Big Lebowski Quote-Along back and better than ever. How can it get better you ask? Well first off, we're bringing THE BIG LEBOWSKI QUOTE-ALONG BACK! Complete with highlighted lines for you to quote-along with, karaoke style, inflatable bats to beat each other with as you yell out, "This is what happens when you..." ah you get the idea. We'll also have Hotel California in Spanish for you to sing, over-sized men's underwear to toss in the air, and last but not least...the Jesus.

If that wasn't enough to drag you out of the house tonight maybe this little gem will, ANY TIME two hours before or after the show, you can stroll into the Highball for $3 White Russians and 50% off your first hour of bowling.

So slide on that Little Lebowski Urban Achiever shirt and head on down to S. Lamar early or stay late, because it's going to be totally far out, at least that's just... like our opinion...man.

Get your tickets HERE.

5 Best Picture Nominees, 1 Awesome Sunday

Your last chance to see these gems on the big screen:
Academy Award Best Picture Nominees, Part 2
Starting Sunday 2/20, 11:30am @Lamar

Last week we did our first round of five Best Picture Nominees, in one marathon session. This coming Sunday is round two, where five of the best films of the year will be playing back to back for you to catch-up or relive their magnificence.

TRUE GRIT, BLACK SWAN, WINTER'S BONE, THE KING'S SPEECH, and THE SOCIAL NETWORK. That's one darn good line-up. You can get individual tickets for each show, but the real film lovers will choose to get all of them. That's a day at the cinema!

While you can still see TRUE GRIT, BLACK SWAN, and THE KING'S SPEECH in regular showings at Lamar, the real gems are WINTER'S BONE, the stark indie that won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance last year, and THE SOCIAL NETWORK, the stunning and gorgeous story of Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg. These two films are truly fantastic, and the experience of seeing them on the big screen is a privilege you shouldn't let pass you by.

Get your tickets for these great shows now.

Are you down with OCP? Master Pancake is...

Master Pancake mocks
ROBOCOP
Feb 18 & 19 at Village Tickets Feb 24 at Lake Creek Tickets Feb 25 & 26 at Ritz Tickets

This weekend, Master Pancake kicks off its run mocking the sci-fi classic ROBOCOP (1987). Directed by insane genius Paul Verhoeven (SHOWGIRLS, BASIC INSTINCT) and featuring Peter Weller (BUCKAROO BANZAI) as the cycloptic robo-hero and Kurtwood Smith (THAT ‘70S SHOW) as his evil nemesis.

Set in a dystopian future when arms corporations control the government and Detroit has gone to hell (who could have predicted any of that?), ROBOCOP tells the story of a how one man’s death, rebirth, and second coming as a kick-ass Robo-Jesus can make a real difference.

This show features ultra-funny guest mockers Mac Blake and David Jara of Mascot Wedding and the costume designs of insane duct-tape genius Joe Parsons. Join the Pancake crew as they mock the most thrilling machine to come out of Detroit since the Pinto.

CEDAR RAPIDS Opens at the Ritz Friday!

Ed Helms and John C. Reilly Star in:
Cedar Rapids
Starts Friday 2/18 @Ritz
Advance tickets available here

If you're making good decisions in your life, you know that a good comedy is your friend. You also know that John C. Reilly and El Helms are some of the funniest people working in TV and films right now. You love THE OFFICE - Ed Helms plays "The Nard Dog," Andy Bernard. And if you've seen it, you adore John C. Reilly's Dr. Steve Brule character from CHECK IT OUT! and TIM AND ERIC AWESOME SHOW.

Cedar Rapids pairs these great comedians with Anne Heche, Isiah Whitlock Jr., and Stephen Root (yes! The stapler guy from OFFICE SPACE) in the funniest, smartest comedy to come out of Sundance this year.

So come on down to the Ritz this weekend and see CEDAR RAPIDS before it blows up. Because it is going to blow up and become a sensation, and you don't want to be behind the trend.

Get your tickets for this great show now.

Cry 'til you laugh! A VERY SPECIAL EPISODE! All new!

All new content!
A VERY SPECIAL EPISODE
Wed at The Ritz - Only 5 bucks!

Sure, life can be a barrel of giggles. But it’s mostly a crushing steel fist of dehumanizing agony. And sometimes — especially in the ’80s for some damn reason — we need our favorite TV clowns to guide us through the treacherous darkness of life’s difficult issues.

How does Alf deal with alcoholism? What are the Golden Girls’ policies on suicide? Does Designing Woman Delta Burke consider blackface an acceptable form of entertainment? These burning questions (and many others) will be answered AT THIS SCREENING! Yep, the primetime morality squad is poised and ready to hold your hand while slapping your face with more inhuman indignities than you can shake a wet hanky at.

Our last show covered child abuse, a police shooting and other delights. But the top secret contents of THIS round of A VERY SPECIAL EPISODE are going to shame/degrade/entertain you straight through the back wall of the theater. 90 minutes of ALL NEW EPISODES and clips from over 12 (!) of your favorite basic cable crusaders, running the gamut from the space shuttle explosion to pharmaceutical-induced blowouts to complete global annihilation!!!

This is by far the most hilariously heart-wrecking show in Alamo history. If you’re the type who laughs at other people’s misfortune, you’re gonna chuckle up your entire respiratory tract! THIS SHOW IS NOT TO BE MISSED!…and it’s only 5 MEASLY BUCKS!!!

Tickets HERE. Do it for the children.

Happy Anti-Valentine's Day!

The Action Pack presents LOVE BITES: The Power Ballad Sing-Along

Get your tickets HERE
Monday Feb. 14 at the Ritz and Lake Creek

"Can ANYBODY, find ME, somebody tooooo LOVE?"

Oh Valentine's Day, you always sneak up on us at our most vulnerable. We made it through the hustle and bustle of the "real" holidays, suffered through our families, snuggled our cat on New Years while everyone else was out having a good time, and now you show up and let us know just how alone we are in the world.

Well that stops tonight! We are alone NO MORE! The Action Pack is celebrating Valentine's Day by banding together as we hunker down with some alcohol and power ballads so we can drown our sorrows and sing out our pain together.

So if you can't fight this feeling anymore, DON'T! If you're having a total eclipse of the heart, I really need you tonight! And if you need more than words to show me how you feel, show up and prove it!

What are you waiting for? Get your tickets HERE now! Because tonight is anti-Valentine's Support Day but tomorrow is only another lonely Tuesday.

Oscar Mania at the Alamo!

Get Ready for the Oscars at the Alamo:
Academy Award Best Picture Nominees Part 1
Academy Award Best Picture Nominees Part 2
2011 Oscar Shorts: LIVE ACTION PROGRAM
2011 Oscar Shorts: ANIMATED PROGRAM
Shorts Start Friday @Ritz, Marathons Sunday 2/13 & 2/20, 11am @Lamar

The Oscars are not until February 27, and while that wait is excruciating, it's also an opportunity to catch up on the things we may have missed over the last year. The Academy as come out with its nominee list, and we'll be going through the major nominations over the next few weeks, making sure to see everything so we can be informed come Oscar Night.

The most exciting program we're doing are two Oscar Best Feature Marathons! On Sunday 2/13, we're showing five of the ten Oscar Nominees in a row: TOY STORY 3, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, 127 HOURS, THE FIGHTER, and INCEPTION. The next Sunday, 2/20, we're going to show the other five nominees: TRUE GRIT, THE KING'S SPEECH, WINTER'S BONE, THE SOCIAL NETWORK, and BLACK SWAN. Each 10+ hour marathon screening costs only $40, and you can see some of the best films of the past year on the big screen where they belong!

We're also going to be continuing our ongoing tradition of showing the nominees for Live Action and Animated shorts. Starting this Friday at the Ritz, we're staggering showings throughout the day, so you can see one program after the other (if you're so inclined), or just catch one. Expect to see some really awesome short form moviemaking.

Check out these great programs! Academy Award Best Picture Nominees Part 1, Academy Award Best Picture Nominees Part 2, 2011 Oscar Shorts: LIVE ACTION PROGRAM, 2011 Oscar Shorts: ANIMATED PROGRAM. Check individual pages for details.

Nobody puts Baby in a corner!

Girlie Night presents DIRTY DANCING
Weds, Feb 9 at Alamo Lake Creek
Get tickets HERE!

When DIRTY DANCING came out in 1987, it changed my life. Partly because I realized that my parents would never take me to a family summer camp, which meant that I would never be able to fall in love with Patrick Swayze in a "Hungry Eyes" montage, which obviously meant that my life was basically ruined.

While that was sort of a short-term impact, the film's more permanent legacy is its role as the mother of all dance movies. As I breathlessly watched Baby and Johnny stun the country club set to the soaring notes of "Time of Your Life," I realized that dance had the power to CHANGE things! Dance could overcome social and racial barriers; it could break down prejudice; it could even transform a really annoying person like Baby into someone awesome!

Thanks to DIRTY DANCING, I came to understand the power of dance, and consequently discovered my favorite genre of film: the dance movie. Baby and Johnny paved the way for future silver screen amalgamations of love on the dance floor; in other words, without DIRTY DANCING, there would be no STEP UP 2: THE STREETS (a horrifying thought, I know).

With such a monumental legacy, DIRTY DANCING deserves our utmost respect, as well as a high amount of romantic mega-sighs. Obviously, there's no better place to celebrate it than Girlie Night, where chair dancing is encouraged and absolutely no one will be put in a corner. (Sarah Pitre)

Exploitation/horror/action filmmaking demigod WILLIAM LUSTIG at The Ritz!

MANIAC / MANIAC COP 2 / VIGILANTE with Lustig Live!
Tues and Wed at The Ritz!

William Lustig is one of the most fearless filmmakers in exploitation history, and he'll be at the Ritz in person THIS WEEK for rampaging 35mm screenings of his three most brutal masterpieces!:

MANIAC (1980)
Screening Tuesday at 7PM
BRAND NEW 35MM PRINT!
Lustig's savage action and horror films tore through the screen to assault the audience with blood, bullets and sheer hatred burning through every frame. And with this – inarguably his exploitation masterpiece – he plumbs the depths of the cinematic sewers like never before.

Terror Tuesday: MANIAC COP 2 (1990)
Screening Tuesday at 10PM
Let’s look at the facts: MANIAC COP 2 is quite truly The Greatest '80s Horror-Action Movie Ever Made. Violent, whiplash-paced, supernatural and completely insane.

Weird Wednesday: VIGILANTE (1983)
Screening Wednesday at 11:55 PM
Unfairly dismissed as a DEATH WISH ripoff by people who never got past the title and poster, VIGILANTE is a tremendous, gritty masterpiece of revenge cinema.

...If you miss a single one of these historic screenings, we will hunt you down, set you on fire, beat you with a lead pipe and then break your smoldering torso in half over your mother's corpse. Have a nice day!

Film Score Focus Presents CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

Film Score Focus: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

Monday 7:00 pm at the Ritz

Buy Tickets here

For years, Brian Satterwhite’s Film Score Focus program on KMFA FM has been a must listen. Not only does he play film music, he explains the way film music works. And that’s exactly what he does live onstage as part of our Film Score Focus screening program.

Last time he dissected and explained Bernard Herrman’s NORTH BY NORTHWEST score and gave us a whole new level of understanding of the film and the way the music complements the drama, builds character and forms part of the dramatic architecture.

This time, Brian will present one of the most famous scores yet, John Williams’ CLOSE ENCOUNTERS. First Brian will give a lecture and musical presentation, then we will play a beautiful 35mm print as a treat for your eyes and ears.

WOOOOO - PIGSKIN PARTY on Sunday!!!

The Alamo Turns into the #1 Sports Bar for:
THE PIGSKIN PARTY
5:30pm Sunday, 2/6 @Ritz, Lake Creek and Village

Finally, February 6 is just around the corner. And you know what that means - the biggest game of the year! We're going to cheer our teams on with the largest TV Party you could ever imagine. We've got the biggest screens, the best drinks, and the service is better than you'll find at any sports bar in the country.

We're also offering some food specials created by our Executive Chef John Bullington! Supplies are limited, though, so be sure to order right away:

Pig Skin - $4.99
Basket of freshly fried, spicy pork rinds

Green Bay Cheese Curds - $5.99
A basket of Wisconsin's favorite, deep fried cheese curds

Ben Roethlis-burger - $10.99
A half pound burger forged of Italian pork sausage and beef topped with bacon, provolone, cheddar on a toasted bun with fries


This show is free, but you may reserve your seat online by purchasing a $5 food and beverage voucher good during the game for food and beverage within the theater. Reserve now @Ritz, Lake Creek or Village

Someday Love Will Find You

The Action Pack presents

LOVE BITES: The Power Ballad Sing-Along

Thursdays, Feb 3, 10, 14, & 17 at the Ritz

Advance tickets available here

"And I should've been gone, after all your words of steel." Steve Perry sure knew a lot about love and heartbreak.

February is one of those stupid romantic months that comes along and lets us know just how crappy we should feel if we're single. Well, The Action Pack will not stand for that! We have an entire video catalog dedicated to songs of heartbreak and unrequited love, so we're all going to band together and sing passionately until we feel better.

From hair bands to mustachioed men, (and even some choice ladies of the 80s) no one was free from this ailment of the heart and we're busting them all out for Love Bites: The Power Ballad Sing-Along. So go on and grab your tickets already because you can tell yourself and everyone else you feel better, but really you won't be over that good-for-nothing significant other until you've rocked him or her out of your system. Because it takes "more than words to show you feel!"

We will have prizes courtesy of Pink Kisses for audience volunteers with the best breakup stories shared before the show as well as complimentary Love Bites lighters for everyone to wave in the air as they wail out their favorite tunes.

Get your tickets HERE!

WE'RE OPEN!

WHAT IS HAPPENING TODAY???

If we wanted to live in the winter, we'd move up north where there are mountains and snow and things like that. But we don't - we're in Texas, because we know that tubing is much more fun when it's hot out and you're lazily floating down a river with a Lone Star in your hand than it is when you're all bundled up and just falling down a mountain into a pile of frozen rain. Yuck!

But it's cold today anyway, and apparently it's so cold that even electricity didn't feel like getting out of bed this morning, resulting in all sorts of rolling blackouts throughout central Texas.

For some of you, that means a Texas Snow Day and you didn't have to go to work. For others, it means that the power went off while you were trying to take a shower this morning and you just now made it back out of the pitch black bathroom and don't know what to do with your day. Well, good news for all of you - each and every Austin area Alamo Drafthouse will be staying open throughout the day!

We can't guarantee that there won't be some problems caused by a random rolling black out, but our theaters are warm and if we *do* lose power for more than a few minutes we promise to take good care of everyone.

So screw you, winter.

SXSW Presents: TINY FURNITURE

SXSW Presents:
TINY FURNITURE
Sunday 1/30, Tuesday 2/1 & Sunday 2/6 @Ritz
Advance tickets available here

We're thrilled to bring the SXSW sensation TINY FURNITURE to the Ritz. A humble film from New York, TINY FURNITURE is the little indie of 2010, and it's got the SXSW Award, as well as two nominations from the Independent Spirit Awards (Best First Film and Best First Screenplay), to back it up.

Much attention has been brought to the film's creator, Lena Dunham. Dunham has made it clear that this is an intensely autobiographical film. As a 24-year old girl from a privileged background, she is able to "simultaneously embarrass and endear us to her," according to Miranda Siegel in New York Magazine. TINY FURNITURE is an honest, poignant, and very funny exploration of twenties malaise; Betsy Sharkey in the Los Angeles Times goes so far as to call Dunham "a soulful artist with a gift for intimacy both in front of and behind the camera." She also crowns her "one of the promising new voices in the independent film world."

Presented by SXSW

Get your tickets for this great show now.

IP MAN 2 Opens at Village and Lake Creek

Fantastic Fest Favorite:
IP MAN 2
Opens @Lake Creek 1/28 and starts @Village 2/4
Advance tickets available here

IP MAN 2 Premiered at Fantastic Fest this year to huge acclaim. We're bringing back one of our favorite films from the fest for select screenings at Lake Creek and Village - on 35mm!

No knowledge of IP MAN 1 is necessary. Driven out of Foshan by the Japanese, we pick up the Ip Man story in 1949 as Master Ip (Donnie Yen) arrives in Hong Kong. Wife pregnant, money short, friends scarce, he sets up a martial arts school but no Hong Kong people want to study with the weird, tea-sipping dude from China. It doesn’t take long to figure out the problem: Master Hung (Sammo Hung) runs the martial arts schools in Hong Kong with an iron fist, extorting “fees” and paying off the corrupt British cops.

But nobody puts Donnie Yen in the corner, and soon enough he’s standing on a rickety table in a tea house, putting down masters one by one in order to purchase his right to teach wing chun with payments made in nothing but knuckles. Wing chun is the sissy kung fu, invented by a Buddhist nun and long derided in the martial world.

Fluid and graceful, IP MAN 2 makes the case that while wing chun may have been invented by Buddhist nuns, these particular Buddhist nuns were not fooling around.

Get your tickets for IP MAN 2: Opens Friday at Lake Creek, and Starting at Village on 2/4

One Gong to Rule Them All

The Alamo Drafthouse presents

OPEN SCREEN NIGHT

Wednesday, Jan 26th at the Ritz

Advance tickets available here

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, OPEN SCREEN NIGHT is back! We're letting you guys take over the Alamo Ritz's screen Wednesday night to aid in your quest for fame and fortune. All you have to do is bring in the most entertaining and weird stuff you can find, and we will literally play ANYTHING you bring.

Want to test out your new short on a discerning audience? Bring us your best. Know of the craziest video ever made online? Give us the URL and do your worst. One of you will be elected to the hallowed position of mighty gonger, and after the two minute grace time is up, the audience's boos will dictate whether they want to watch more or if the gonger must do his most excellent task and end our suffering.

Even if you don't have something to bring in, OPEN SCREEN NIGHT always promises something truly hilarious (and/or, most likely, completely disgusting). So, crack open your old home movies, start scouring the Internet, or get to some filming today because when the "OPEN SCREEN NIGHT" light is on anything goes.

What are you waiting for? Grab your tickets HERE already!

Documentary Feature GERRYMANDERING Tonight!

GERRYMANDERING
Post-film discussion with special guests:
Steve Bickerstaff, U of T professor and author of LINES IN THE SAND
Linda Curtis, Independent Texans
Guillermo Garcia, San Antonio Express-News
Monday, Jan 24 at Ritz
Tickets here!

Right now, politicians are gearing up for the once-a-decade battle to decide who will control Congress for the next ten years or more. Behind the scenes, and away from the prying eyes of their constituents, they are jostling for control of the ultimate political weapon - the ability to directly determine the outcome of elections. Why bother with stuffing ballots when you can just draw your own districts?

In GERRYMANDERING, filmmaker Jeff Reichert exposes the most effective form of manipulating elections short of outright fraud. District lines are re-drawn to suit the interests of a few and manipulated for political gain. Democrats and Republicans collude to ensure their own re-elections while our whole democratic process is threatened. GERRYMANDERING covers this important facet of our political process, and does so in a way that is both informative and easily digestible.

Get tickets for this show tonight!

Sommelier Cinema: VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA

Sommelier Cinema:
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
Wednesday 1/26, 7:00 @Ritz
Advance tickets available here

Sommelier Cinema is a new series that pairs fine wine with the films that make us want to drink them. We are inviting guest sommeliers to come to the theatre, be inspired by a film, and come up with a dream menu of wines that will sweep you through the film. To kick off the series, we are excited to present VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, the idyllic trip through Spain that celebrates love, passion, and the wines of Catalonia. We'll be joined by guest sommelier Claudia Alarcón.

Claudia has chosen four wines from the Catalan region, the location VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA romanticizes so well. Catalonia also happens to be one of the greatest wine-producing regions in the world, and the wines she's chosen are exquisite.

The menu is below, and you can read more about it here:

Raventós i Blanc L’Hereu Reserva Brut 2007

Clos del Pinell Blanco 2009

Mas Igneus - Barranc dels Closos Blanc 2009

Clos Figueras “Serras del Priorat” 2008

All audience members will get the four wines and a short introduction from Claudia about the history/characteristics of the wines, what to look and taste for, and how to become closer to the wine snob you want to be. Then we'll watch the fabulous film and sip passionately.

Get your tickets for this great show now.

Nukin' the Fridge

The Action Pack presents
INDIANA JONES & THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
IN HECKLEVISION
Sun, Jan. 23 at Alamo Ritz
Advance tickets available here

Presented in HeckleVision - your texted jokes appear live on the screen with the movie!

Sure, it's easy enough to suspend your disbelief when you're watching a fantastical adventure fantasy (outrunning boulders IS pretty outrageous, after all), but when that disbelief jumps out of a Jeep and starts swinging with monkeys from trees, escaping from nuclear explosions in refrigerators, and pursuing crystal skulls in an attempt to unlock alien secrets? Well, that's when it's time for you to tell that disbelief you've had it with him and move on 'cause you're too good for him, girl.

Listen, we're all a little hurt about this one. We expected great things out of the latest Indiana Jones, but it just didn't come together. And the only way we're going to overcome this tragedy is for all of us to band together and laugh...because laughter cures everything. Except cancer; I'm pretty sure that one is still best cured with traditional medicine.

Indy's still got it. Crazy Russians are after him, and Shia Laboeuf is threatening to take over the franchise. WE NEED YOUR HELP! Hecklevision offers the latest in heckle technology that allows you to mock the film right from your seat with the power of your cellular telephone. No one will know if you laugh at your own jokes, so it's OK to have a stupid smug face of satisfaction when an audience erupts with laughter at your doing because the gloves come off and the funny flies freely as our battle of wits is streamed LIVE onscreen for everyone's enjoyment.
Sure it's a hodge-podge of self-parody, phony nostalgia, and constant winks to the audience. But it's OUR hodge-podge of self-parody and phony nostalgia . Even though we deserved better, we keep coming back to this latest chapter of a once perfect trilogy and staring into its dead, soulless eyes searching for some clue as to where it exactly all went wrong.

So come on, what are you waiting for? Grab a ticket and let's vent these frustrations together.

Tickets available HERE.