News from Slackerwood: Superbowl to Valentines
Filed under: SXSW, News From Slackerwood
I searched this week for special screenings taking place at the same time as the Super Bowl, for Austinites who aren't into the football thing. There are a few alternatives: Alamo Drafthouse Downtown is screening the UT Film Loop monthly movie, The Man with Two Heads, and then the Spike & Mike animation fest that night. The Paramount has scheduled a double-feature of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. Meanwhile, if your TV simply isn't large enough, the Alamo theaters at S. Lamar, Lake Creek, and Village each are dedicating a movie screen to showing the big game, with various food/drink specials and entertainment extras.
- The SXSW schedule of feature films is supposed to go public on Monday 2/6. You can view a list of world premieres on the Web site, but I'm looking forward to finding out about all the smaller films. The Austin Chronicle nabbed an advance list that contains more titles than the SXSW page. One they missed: local filmmaker Kat Candler's feature jumping off bridges.
- Austin Film Society seems to have taken over the Dobie Theatre: three AFS@Dobie films currently occupy the theater's screens this week. Darwin's Nightmare (photo above) is being held over for a third week, perhaps because it was nominated for a Best Documentary Oscar; Bubble is floating around for a second week; and Before the Fall, a 2004 German film about a teen at a Nazi academy, opens this week.
- This Land is Your Land, a documentary about the increasing corporate influence in America, will play nightly at Alamo on S. Lamar all week long.
- If you're in the mood for a bizarre evening of animated short film, Spike & Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival 2006 will be playing most nights this week at Alamo Downtown.
- Alamo Village is bringing back the animated musical about the Mansons, Live Freaky! Die Freaky!, for another weekend midnight run this Saturday and Sunday, 2/3 and 2/4. I very nearly went last weekend and was sorry I didn't, so you may see me there if I can stay awake that late. And if you don't like the Mansons, they're also showing Hostel at midnight.
- Free coffeehouse movies: Cafe Mundi is showing Mr. & Mrs. Smith on Monday 2/6 at 8 pm. And if you hurry you can catch The Upside of Anger at Austin Java (on Barton Springs) tonight at 8.
- Alamo Downtown's Music Monday this week includes New York Doll, the 2005 documentary about musician Arthur "Killer" Kane reuniting with the band New York Dolls. If you go on Monday 2/6, admission is a mere dollar. However, if you can't make that date, you can see the movie on Tuesday or Wednesday, 2/7 and 2/8, at regular admission price.
- The series "Marching On: Independent African American Films from 1935-1950" continues this week with Midnight Shadow, a 1939 murder mystery, which screens three times on Tuesday 2/7 at the Carver library complex. (The library complex does in fact have a theater in it, which I've seen movies in and found quite pleasant.)
- The Battle of Algiers is this week's film in the ongoing Austin Film Society "Official Evil: Political Thrillers in Cinema" series. The 1965 classic film plays Tuesday 2/7 at Alamo Downtown.
- The Paramount is puzzling me with this month's film programming. I can understand showing two Wes Anderson films, Bottle Rocket and Rushmore, Wednesday through Friday, 2/8-10. Anderson's films have the kind of prestige and reputation one generally expects from movies at the Paramount. But on Saturday 2/11, the historical theater is showing a double-feature of Troma films: The Toxic Avenger and Tromeo and Juliet. The Toxic Avenger is arguably a classic of its type, but I am still surprised. (I can't say anything about Tromeo and Juliet because after I snarked on Rad last week, my little brother yelled at me for picking on films I haven't seen. Judge for yourself, then.)
- I saw the documentary The Outdoorsmen: Blood, Sweat, and Beers on a whim at Austin Film Festival and got a kick out of this movie about a long-running weekend beer-and-sports competition among friends. B-Side Entertainment has picked up the film for a tour around the country, which kicks off in Austin on Thursday 2/9 at Alamo Drafthouse on S. Lamar. I notice that most of the venues for this film are theaters that serve beer, so you can tip back a cold one along with the guys on screen (do not attempt to match them beer-for-beer, however).
- To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, Alamo Downtown is showing Amadeus on Sunday 2/12. But wait, there's more: live performances of Mozart's work during pre-screening and intermission. It sounds like a long evening's entertainment (the show starts at 6, and the next event doesn't start until 10) but certainly a worthwhile musical evening.
- Alamo is getting ready for Valentines Day with movie-and-feast events scheduled in several theaters for Feb. 14. The South Lamar theater is showing Gone with the Wind with a menu that incorporates both aphrodisiacs and scenes from the film. Alamo Village is showing Like Water for Chocolate with a menu that mirrors the food served in the film. And Alamo Lake Creek is showing Titanic, with a menu that they claim was actually served on the Titanic.
- Contests: This week's Austin Chronicle sneak preview giveaways include Date Movie and Freedomland. Check the Web site for deadlines to sign up.
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