karrie league Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Tim League founded the Alamo Drafthouse with his wife Karrie in Austin, Texas back in 1997, and since then it's become a mainstay for mainstream films with a brisk sideline business for film geeks who require a steady diet of sci-fi, horror, fantasy, Asian, cult and ... the plain weird flicks. They've become known for their offbeat programming as much as they are for the fact that you can get a cheeseburger and a pint of beer during the movie, and this week marks the start of their fifth annual Fantastic Fest film festival.

Besides being the owner of the Alamo Drafthouse, League founded the fest with Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News, Matt Dentler, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, and Tim McCanlies. These days, League is usually busier than "an octopus with hives," as my uncle used to say, but we caught up with him during the relative calm before the hurricane of film geekery and all-day screenings begins. Read on after the break for the full interview, and of course stay tuned to Cinematical for all of your Fantastic Fest news.

Although circumstances dictate that I don't attend nearly as many film festivals as my colleagues do, it soon became clear that my last-minute decision to head out for last year's Fantastic Fest was a wise one. FF veterans were quick to note that the event had grown in proportion to its popularity, and the relatively young festival has similarly changed things up in its fifth year out of hopes of accommodating even more attendees than ever before.

However, this is not a think-piece about a mid-level film festival struggling with the limitations of stardom. No, this will merely be a list of seven reasons why we at Cinematical and the Squads are about to very much dwell on Fantastic Fest for the week to come -- well, seven reasons other than the movies.

We'll get around to those in due time.

Talk about a "bad news / good news" situation! I'll just give you a little recap and then turn you over to Tim League, the mega-movie-nerd who, along with his lovely wife Karrie, created what became known as "the best movie theater in the country." (I said it first, Entertainment Weekly agreed with me a few years later.) Anyway, the Original Alamo Drafthouse, that blissful oasis of movie geekery that's been wedged in downtown Austin for almost precisely a decade, is closing its doors later this year. Yep, the one that started it all (there are now numerous locations, my favorite being the Drafthouse South Lamar, because they offer the Alamo Magic combined with first-run movies) is about to close its doors forever.

But before you start weeping uncontrollably (as I did before reading the whole letter), you should know that the downtown location will soon be located only a few blocks away ... in an old movie palace ... and they'll be adding a second screen! Awesome! So while it's obviously very sad that the original Drafthouse (which I fell in love with five years ago while covering my first SXSW) will be disappearing, this new venue represents a very big and very exciting step forward for the Alamo posse. They'll be moving into a theater known as The Ritz, and I'm told it's a very classy building that could really use a fresh coat of paint and a whole lot of movie-love.

Frankly I think this is seriously awesome news. The Alamo Downtown is (of course) a phenomenal venue, but it's wedged right between a few rather bombastic night clubs, plus I think it's probably a little too small these days. 80% of the time I've spent at the Alamo Downtown has been in mega-packed houses, and I know from personal experience that Mr. League really hates turning patrons away because of capacity restraints. Even when they're showing free midnight movies, this guy HATES turning people away.

Bittersweet news, of course, but onwards and upwards, right? Everyone here at Cinematical wishes the Leagues nothing but great success as they switch over from "Downtown" to "Ritz" -- and if you plan to be in Austin any time over the next few months, I heartily recommend you head to 4th and Colorado and enjoy the original Drafthouse before it's (sniff) gone forever. If you see me there and you're a female, I'll probably buy you a beer. (Tim's press release / goodbye letter is included after the jump.)