Monday, February 28, 2011

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.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

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



Special One-Week Engagement, Feb 25 - March 3
Late Nights at Alamo South Lamar

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.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

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.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011


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!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

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.

Monday, February 21, 2011

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.

Friday, February 18, 2011

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.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

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.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

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.

Monday, February 14, 2011

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.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

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)

Monday, February 7, 2011

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




Monday 7:00 pm at the Ritz

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.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

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

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

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.