SPECIAL GUEST ADRIAN AND THE SICKNESS WILL BE THERE THURS, AUG 6TH WITH A LIVE SPINAL TAP COVER SHOW!

In 1984 Rob Reiner created a film that documented the comeback tour of one of the loudest bands of all time: Spinal Tap. Even though the film was clearly a documentary, it has come to our attention that many people still think of the film as a work of fiction and that some of you may believe that Spinal Tap isn’t even a real band…

To those haters I ask:
Do they have songs? Yes.
Have they appeared on national television? Yes.

So Spinal Tap is a real band, this is a real rockumentary, and we know almost every line of dialogue in it. We’re going to subtitle our favorite lines karaoke-style for the audience anyway, and we’ll provide inflatable guitars and every amp in the building will be turned up to 11 the entire time because tonight we will rock you tonight, all night. (Henri)

Alamo Quote-Alongs on Facebook

May I please first direct your attention to the picture on this this page? Is that Academy-Award winning actress Meryl Streep playing
culinary legend Julia Child? Yes it is. And it is good.

Director Nora Ephron (SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE, MIXED NUTS) brings us this big screen adaptation of two different books- Julie Powell’s
bestselling memoir Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, and Julia Child’s memoir My Life in France. Powell (played in the film by Amy Adams, otherwise known as Meryl
Streep: The Next Generation) embarks on a year-long culinary quest to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The film intertwines the lives of the two women who, though separated by time and space, are both at loose ends…until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.

Wanna watch this movie in style? Check out our Julie & Julia French Feast! The first two sold out super fast! Get your tickets now for Wednesday, August 12th.

The Menu

I Amuse Bouche

Oyster on the half shell with aged sherry vinegar mignonette, thinly sliced rye, butter

II Sole “meuniere”

Seared sole on boggy creek farms arugula with lemon and brown butter vinaigrette, seared heirloom tomato

III “Hot as a stiff…”

Manicotti stuffed with a spicy lobster “thermidor” filling, petite braised cucumber soup

IV “Piece de’ la résistance”

Boneless duck breast, stuffed with pate en croute, potatoes lyonnaisse, endive grilled drizzled with black truffle oil

V “Raspberry Bavarian cream”

Crepe filled with chevre raspberry cream, fresh raspberries, shaved dark chocolate

Five courses, five glasses and one of the best film’s of the Summer for only $75! Get tickets here!

By popular demand, the Hey Homo! crew’s coming out to save us all. The last show sold out. Don’t miss this!

Have you been “Saved” yet? If you haven’t, then you cannot miss
this opportunity to open up your heart and let the good word in. Being raised Catholic, I grew up with the good book down my throat and a hard nun scrutinizing all I did. Now, I am older and wiser, and have realized that no book or any nun would know me better than I know myself. When watching this movie I could see a part of my life
projected on the screen. An epiphany occurred that giving people a chance, despite feelings of hesitance, will many times surprise you. So, come on out and testify because aren’t we all just a bunch of Homos any way?

In a Christian school, the fanatic Hilary Faye and Mary are best friends. However, their friendship explodes when Mary gets pregnant, after having sex with her gay boy-friend in attempt to “save” him. This inevitably questions the will of Jesus. Enough said. (Chivonn)

NOLLYWOOD BABYLON was about to be accepted to the 2009 edition of Fantastic Fest before the distributor decided to move up the film’s theatrical release. It’s a truly extraordinary film, and while it’s not technically playing Fantastic Fest, it deserves the distinction.

Nigeria’s film industry, Nollywood, is the third-largest in the world- an unstoppable economic and cultural force that has taken the
continent by storm and is now bursting beyond the borders of Africa.

This film is an intimate look into this exploding international popularity from the perspective of those within the industry. The film drops viewers into the chaos of Lagos’ Idumota market. Here, among the bustling stalls, films are sold and unlikely stars are born. Unfazed by low budgets, enterprising filmmakers create a brash, inventive and
wildly popular form of B-Movie that has Nigerians Nollywood-obsessed. In these films, voodoo and magic infuse urban stories, reflecting the collision of traditional mysticism and modern culture that Nigerians experience every day.

Propelled by a booming 1970s soundtrack of African underground music, this film presents an electric vision of a modern African metropolis and a revealing look at the powerhouse that is Nigerian cinema.

FROM THE PRODUCER OF SUPER HAPPY FUN MONKEY BASH

Now with 50% more harry Egipt! Over the years we’ve become
hardcore video junkies, connoisseurs of the strangest and most extreme video oddities we can lay our paws on. And some of the best clips we’ve found have been television commercials from other countries. Before we realized what happened it became our latest obsession, as if we needed another one. So in order to feed the monkey we’ve scoured the planet looking for the greatest, weirdest, most offensive and adrenaline-charged commercials in the world. The result is a kind of
large-scale psychoanalysis of Planet Earth. If commercials are the dreams of a culture, we’re seriously worried about Latvia. And all the spicy food they eat down in Argentina has driven the kinky sex content of their commercials into overdrive. There’s not much we can do for Japan now, except try to make sure it doesn’t pose a threat to itself or others. And North Korea… tragic. As we plowed through the mountains of tapes and DVDs the total picture that evolved is of a planet on the brink of madness, sex obsessed, image conscious to the point of mania and very very thirsty.

This compilation features over 140 ads, from all over the globe, from the bizarre, the sublime, the sexual, the low-brow to the truly inexplicable. Also look for commercials directed by the likes of David Lynch, Michel Gondry, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and more!

Hey Homo! and Rain on 4th Present

Picture it, Chickens! Breathe it in, my little lamb-chops! A glorious
cornucopia of dazzling colors, pastel skylines, elegant women, and
poisoned gazpacho for all my little film queers and cinema freaks in
the city of Austin! HEY HOMO! is so very stanked to present our first
choice from the unpredictable, delectable spanish gaywad saint, Pedro Almodóvar ! …..it’s WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN!

Have a hot seat in the pink chair and witness Antonio Banderas and Carmen Maura climb through a script involving burning beds, adulterous putas, caged chickens and psychopathic broads shooting pistols off the backs of motorcycles! Nobody does it better than Almodóvar when it comes to this shit, and to miss this film would be a mistake only an idiot would make! Join your ever lovin’ hostess, REBECCA HAVEMEYER, as I thrill you with a pre-show hotter than Kirstie Alley’s inner thighs! It’s gonna be one hell of a spicy night, ya’ hear! Booya on it and slap my culo! (Rebecca Havemeyer)

FREE SCREENINGS!

This hilarious and poignant BBC series is about to get a big-screen make-over called IN THE LOOP which opens at the Village on August 14. To celebrate the release, we’re going back to the brilliant source material for a few special screenings. Hey, American television, watch and learn.

This BAFTA-winning series follows the inner-workings of the fictitious Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship (DoSAC) in London. It’s crude, unnerving and funny as hell. That’s all you need to know for now. Come.

Also check out our showing Thursday, August 13th at Lamar.

AIGA Design Series Presents:

For many, Milton Glaser is the personification of American graphic design. Best known for co-founding New York Magazine and the enduring I HEART NY campaign, the full breadth of Glaser’s remarkable artistic output is revealed in this documentary portrait, MILTON GLASER: TO INFORM & DELIGHT. From newspapers and magazine designs, to interior spaces, logos, and brand identities, to his celebrated prints, drawings, posters and paintings, the documentary offers audiences a much richer appreciation for one of the great modern renaissance men. Artfully directed by first time filmmaker Wendy Keys, the film glances into everyday moments of Glaser’s personal life and capture his immense warmth, humanity and the boundless depth of his intelligence and creativity.

For more information about AIGA, visit www.aigaaustin.org.

Three seconds after seeing Armando Iannucci’s IN THE LOOP at the
European Film Market, Tim League booked it for the Alamo.  Tim gets excited about a lot of movies, but this little UK import made a HUGE impression on him.  Subsequently, we’ve all had the chance to see the film and we can assure you, it’s not just hype.  This movie kicks so much ass it starts wars.  Required viewing for anyone ages born to dead.  See it as soon as you can.

Incidentally, the soonest you can see it is also the free-est you
can see it, ’cause we just booked an advance screening! And it cost zero dollars to go!  That’s less than $.01.

And anyone can go!  Well, almost anyone.  Anyones on facebook can.  To attend this screening you have to rsvp on the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Facebook Event Page.  Each rsvp is good for one admission, but seating is limited so be sure to show up early.

If you miss this unmissable film for free, you’re not out of luck. It opens for a full run at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar starting August 14.  But, and let me be perfectly clear, this one is free.  So you should go to this one if you can.

IN THE LOOP is based on Iannucci’s groundbreaking BBC series THE THICK OF IT.  To get pumped for the film, we’re also having a special free screening of the show at the Alamo Village on Monday, August 10, and a free screening of the two-hour BBC special at South Lamar on Thursday, August 13.

In the 1980s, video killed the radio star. In the 2000s, videos took
over Thursday night programming at the Alamo Drafthouse, but it hasn’t been until this month that we’ve finally come around and put together a show that will let us play The Buggles and mix them in with everyone’s favorite phone number of all time – 867-5309 (god, if only we knew the area code for Jenny, too).

That’s right, after nearly three separate volumes of One-Hit Wonders of the ’90s shows, we’re finally coming around and giving the 1980s their One-Hit dues. Because though the decades have changed and the music has evolved, these bands all managed to create at least one song that will be part of our lives forever. And they probably wrote a few other songs, too, but no one really remembers those anymore…

For us, though, the future is still so bright that we’ve gotta wear shades, so we’ll have some Timbuk 3 right along side the high pitched screaming of A-Ha. Believe it or not, we’re walking on air!

Alamo Sing-Alongs on Facebook

Okay, I’ll admit it: when they played We Are the Champions as
the last song last dance of my senior year in high school and all the
seniors made a big circle the middle of the dance floor as we linked up arm-in-arm and swayed, I got teary-eyed. And that summer as we drove around from 7-11 to a coffee shop to some party at a kid’s house with a pool and a trampoline, my friends and I listened to Bohemian Rhapsody and pretended like we were in WAYNE’S WORLD. Why am I confessing to all this? Crying in high school and imitating WAYNE’S WORLD isn’t cool at all. But then, that’s the thing about Queen – as pioneers of arena rock, their hits have a way of making you feel cool no matter what you’re doing, I’m listening to We Will Rock You as I’m writing this, so I feel invincible.

This is one of our favorite Sing-Along shows to do, partly because we painstakingly took the time to edit live performances and videos together with scenes from some of the movies that have made generous use of Queen songs in the soundtrack, and partly because we like coming up with new prop ideas every time we do it. But mostly it’s because people tend to get dressed up, and we LOVE having an army of Freddie Mercurys come up to the stage to show off their mustaches and microphone poles.
(Henri)

Alamo Sing-Alongs on Facebook

The Downtown Austin Alliance is one of the producer/creators of the EMMY Award winning television series DOWNTOWN. Years ago, when our little home on Colorado St. still existed, before the Alamo S. Lamar was even a theater, DOWNTOWN did a feature on Tim & Karrie League and their Alamo Drafthouse baby. That clip is now available online at DowntownAustinTV.org, so if you’re feeling a bit nostalgic and wanna see if you’re in the video, check it out HERE!

This summer, the Alamo Drafthouse will give kids and parents a chance to take a relaxing break with Free Movies every week at the Alamo South Lamar and Village. Movies screen at 11 AM.

Seating is on a first come first served basis so be there early for the best seats.

SPEED RACER plays at South Lamar this week!

Based on the classic animated series, this dazzling live-action adaptation from the mind-blowing spoon-bending Wachowski Brothers (THE MATRIX, V FOR VENDETTA) will stop your heart and melt your sole with unrelenting over-drive.

Hurtling down the track, careening around, over and through the competition, Speed Racer is a natural behind the wheel. Born to race cars, Speed is aggressive, instinctive and, most of all, fearless. His only real competition is the memory of the brother he idolized, the
legendary Rex Racer – whose death in a race has left behind a legacy that Speed is driven to fulfill.

THE PRINCESS BRIDE plays at the Village this week!
Visit HERE for details!

The Austin Film Society, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Ain’t It Cool News and SXSW are pleased to present the World Premiere of Miramax Films’ EXTRACT, a new film by Mike Judge starring Jason Bateman, on August 18 at The Paramount Theater

(713 Congress Avenue). Judge and Bateman will attend the screening, which is a benefit for the Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund.

EXTRACT is the latest comedy from writer/director and Austinite Mike Judge (OFFICE SPACE, KING OF THE HILL, IDIOCRACY). Joel, played by Jason Bateman (JUNO, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT), is one step away from selling his flavor extract factory and retiring to easy street when a freak workplace accident sets in motion a series of disasters that puts his business and personal life in jeopardy. The film also stars Kristen Wiig (SNL, GHOST TOWN), Mila Kunis (FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL) and Ben Affleck (HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU). Miramax Films will open this film nationwide on September 4th, 2009.

Ain’t It Cool News, Fantastic Fest and SXSW will conduct ticket giveaways via their websites - must be a 2010 SXSW or Fantastic Fest badge holder to win. Remaining tickets will be available through the Austin Film Society. AFS members will be able to purchase tickets during a preview window starting Tuesday, July 28th at Noon at www.austinfilm.org.

Tickets for the general public will go on sale at Noon on Monday, August 3rd through GetTix (866-443-8849), gettix.net or The Paramount Theatre box office.

Pricing as follows:
$100 VIP seating and official after-party with Judge and Bateman
$30 (Mezzanine) and $17 (Upper Balcony) for the screening including a Q&A

How to win tickets from Fantastic Fest!
Fantastic Fest has been allocated a small number of ticket pairs to this event. To win tickets, visit the Fantastic Fest Facebook Page and RSVP to win. Winners will be announced on Monday, August 10 at noon CST on the Fantastic Fest Facebook Page and on the Fantastic Fest blog. You must be a 2010 SXSW or 2009 Fantastic Fest badge holder to win tickets.

Last year’s Fantastic Fest bumper contest was such a raging success, we simply cannot wait to get moving on the 2009 edition. The runner up film I LOVE YOU JEAN CLAUDE was featured on G4’s Attack of the Show and subsequently went on to become something of a viral video sensation. The winning film REPORT CARD by HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN auteur Jason Eisner still brings a smile to my face with each viewing.

The 2009 competition is very much like last year’s contest, but the
theme is more narrow in focus. The short still needs to be no longer than 30 seconds long, has to feature a child under the age of 18 in some way, shape or manner, and the last line of your video has to end with the word “fantastic.” The refinement this year is that each film must contain…. a monster. Other than that, we want to see anything and everything you can come up with.

The top Fantastic Fest 2009 Frenzy videos we get will be screened in front of an unsuspecting audience during Fantastic Fest (September 24-October 1). Each of those audiences will include visiting filmmakers from around the world, press from the likes of IFC TV, G4, Fangoria, Film Threat, Spout, Ain’t It Cool News, Variety, and USA Today, plus a legion of the most devoted and intelligent genre film fans on the planet.

If that isn’t enough for you, there will be other prizes as well:

Our top ten favorite films, as picked by the Fantastic Fest programming staff, will each win $100 Alamo prize packs that can be redeemed anytime for movies, merchandise, food or drinks.

And the number one film as picked by the voting members of the Filmmaking Frenzy community will receive two VIP badges to this year’s Fantastic Fest – badges that will allow you to meet and mingle with the stars of Fantastic Fest. These badges sold out before the end of Fantastic Fest 2008, but we held a couple just for you.  If you are a filmmaker outside of Austin who can’t make it in for Fantastic Fest, you can swap out the goodies above for $250 cash. But you should really just find a way to get here if you win, because it’ll be soooo worth it.

If you’ve been following any of our news at all for the past few months, you probably know how excited we are about this project. I’m talking, of course, about THE HIGHBALL: bowling, private karaoke rooms, skeeball, dining, drinking and more, more, more! We’re currently in the process of converting the old, abandoned Salvation Army space next door to the Alamo South Lamar into this fantastic space, and you can follow the progress at our HIGHBALL BLOG! Right now there’s a bunch of construction photos taken by Afsheen Nomai so you can get a feel of the space a little bit. As the work continues, we wanna keep you updated so you can get excited along with us! We’re aiming for a soft open for the start of FANTASTIC FEST for our guests and badge holders, with a full, public open soon to follow. So check out THE HIGHBALL BLOG or add it to your RSS FEED and we’ll keep you in the loop!

Also! We purchased the contents of the Legendary ROCK N BOWL in New Orleans, Louisiana.  These lanes will be lovingly restored and installed in THE HIGHBALL. Check out those pictures here!

Follow THE HIGHBALL on Twitter! @HighballAustin

We here at the Alamo love the internet. It’s got all sorts of cool things on it! Sometimes we want to share that stuff with you! Also, we like to let you know when shows are on sale, surprise screenings, and about general fun things that we do. Follow us to get up-to-date and instantaneous Alamo news (and general personal information about our fantastic Programming Dept.). All the cool kids are doing it!

Tim League: @TimAlamo (Founder/Owner)

Henri Mazza: @HenriMazza (Creative Director/Programmer)

Lars Nilsen: @LarsAlamo (Programmer/Weird Weds Coordinator)

Brad Parrett: @AlamoBrad (Programmer/Booking)

Zack Carlson: @ZackAlamo (Programmer/Terror Tues Coordinator)

Caitlin Stevens: @CaitlinEStevens (Programmer/Promotions)

Alamo Drafthouse information: @Drafthouse
Fantastic Fest information: @FantasticFest
The Highball information: @HighballAustin
MondoTees information: @MondoNews

Wanna know what you absolutely can’t miss in the next couple months? Hate the feel of paper in your hands? Well we got something for you! Check out our July/August Alamo Guide in PDF form. We worked long and hard on it. And there’s like, a million things in here that are going to be a-ma-zing. Check it out online and download a PDF of the July August Guide right here!

Whether it’s a company outing or a get-together with friends, forget standing in line to buy tickets or waiting outside for everyone
in your group to arrive! Instead, rent your very own private theater – let us handle the details and sit back, relax and enjoy the show!

When renting a private theater to watch a new release movie you can also request custom pre-show entertainment, have a short presentation if you’d like, make announcements, select your own menus and much more! Private theater rentals are available at any time, and for groups of all sizes!