“Black Francis’s GOLEM” a Starving Art world premiere art and film event in collaboration with Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow.

Black Francis, the musical-genius frontman of highly influential alt-rock band The Pixies, has created a new score for the German Expressionist silent masterpiece DER GOLEM. A recording of this new film score will be spun along with the movie at the Starving Art Drive-in. Accompanying the music/film presentation, Francis’s related art work will be on display at the Starving Art Gallery.

“A silent classic and an exemplary specimen of German expressionist cinema, DER GOLEM is set in 16th century Prague. A rabbi fashions a proto–Frankenstein’s monster, sculpted from rough clay and brought to life through sorcery, to protect the Jewish ghetto from a Christian emperor’s decree that it be dissolved. Through means both surprising and charming, the creature manages to stave off the wrath of the emperor and his court. But it eventually goes haywire, as the rabbi’s jealous assistant turns the golem toward evil. A true juggernaut, the golem destroys everything in its path.

The last in a trilogy of films on the golem myth, all cowritten and codirected by Paul Wegener, The Golem depicts the labyrinthine ghetto as a baroque and anxious world of secrets and magic capable of producing amazing discoveries as well as horrific power. Wegener, who had a long career as an actor, plays the title character with odd grace. Photographed by master cinematographer Karl Freund (METROPOLIS, THE LAST LAUGH, DRACULA), the film…remains visually stunning.” (Sean Uyehara, San Francisco Film Festival)

The location: Starving Art and EAT – 2326 East Cesar Chavez, Austin
Starving Art Studios and EAT Park and Eatery. A place where people can see, take part of, purchase and even eat, some of the unique creative aspects of Austin, Texas. We have brought together various aspects of our creative community into one place so that people can come and enjoy.

Check out this great article about STARVING ART in Austin360 this week!

Friday, September 3, Rolling Roadshow Presentation at Starving Art and Eat, 8pm. Be there.

King of the A/V Geeks, Skip Elsheimer, is our hero.  He’s your hero too, maybe you don’t know it yet, but he is.  As far as the entire Alamo crew is concerned, he’s living THE dream: he collects bizarro old films reels, watches them all day long, categorizes and catalogues little cinematic abnormalities and offers them up to weirdos in dire need of stock footage insanity. When he’s not living it up in his sanctuary of celluloid, he’s on the road bringing specially curated shows across the country to share with all of us fellow film geeks.

Well that train’s a-comin’ through, and if you’re not on it when it stops, you made some poor life choices.

He’s bringing his show ALCOHOL IS DYNAMITE! to four, count them FOUR, Alamo Drafthouses, so if you live anywhere within 100 miles of Alamo Park North in San Antonio, Alamo Lake Creek and South Lamar in Austin and/or Alamo Mason in Katy, GO SEE SKIP WORK HIS MAGIC! The educational value of his programs is always only slightly less than the pure entertainment value. So, whether you’re in it to learn or laugh, you are guaranteed satisfaction.

Check it:

8/22 at 7pm: Alamo Drafthouse Park North (San Antonio, TX)
8/23 at 7pm: Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek (Austin, TX)
8/24 at 7pm: Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar (Austin, TX)
8/27 at 7pm: Alamo Drafthouse Mason (Katy, TX)

This show of 16mm films about the drink that makes you crazy is hilarious.  Some of our favorites are:

Curious Habits of Man (1972) – A puzzling film where a Canadian party overlaps with a nature documentary.

A Case for Beer (early 1970s) – A guide for convenience store owners on how to cash in on beer profits while looking out for under-aged customers.

Alcohol is Dynamite (1958) – Tragedy-monger Sid Davis demonstrates to teenagers the slippery slope of alcohol and its ability to destroy lives.

At both of the Austin shows, there’s going to be a special beer bucket option for $25, including:
Satan Red Belgian Ale
Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout
Brooklyn Brown Ale
Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
Anchor Steam
and Blue Moon

And that’s not even all.  On 8/26 at 7pm at The Highball (Austin, TX), the Action Pack and AV GEEKS are partnering to do a special Highball Prom!

Skip will be showing his program YOUR PROM DATE, which includes the hysterically funny films:

As Others See Us – The Dairy Council shows us how to behave when at a social event.

Getting Closer – Will young Greg make it to the dance tonight or will his shyness keep him at home with his lizard?

It’s a Thought – A junior high girl imagines what it would be like to be a popular kid at the school dance.

And after the film show, starting at 8:30 we’ll be dancing the night away in our Highball Prom.  You’re encouraged to dress up in your best fluffy outfit/tuxedo, they’ll be a king and queen crowned by the end of the night, and spiking the punch is encouraged.

So come see some great, weird, funny, and bizarre films from some of the most forgotten corner of history:

ALCOHOL IS DYNAMITE!

8/22 at 7pm: Alamo Drafthouse Park North (San Antonio, TX)
8/23 at 7pm: Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek (Austin, TX)
8/24 at 7pm: Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar (Austin, TX)
8/27 at 7pm: Alamo Drafthouse Mason (Katy, TX)

YOUR PROM NIGHT w/Action Pack Prom

8/26 at 7pm at The Highball (Austin, TX)

Seldom do the Gods of the Internet shine down upon us with such radiating brilliance as they have with the video blog Everything is Terrible.  Countless hours have been spent making productivity sacrifices at the altar of video oddities our cultish leaders at EIT have culled from bargain bin VHS tapes around the country.  Cat massaging, magic crystals, soccer moms with guns, and erotic self-massage with Angela Lansbury have all been featured in EIT’s post-modern masterworks.  For those never exposed to the EIT treatment, let us take a moment to get to know Duane, who could perhaps be the unofficial mascot of the Everything is Terrible universe.

Don’t you just want to take this little guy home with you and make him dance on your coffee table for nickels?

Now, how about we change gears for a second and take a look at one of my personal favorite EIT videos: Knives vs. Cops.

I could go on and on posting videos, but they would all pale in comparison to experiencing Everything is Terrible LIVE.  The gang is hitting the road snatching up every VHS copy of JERRY MAGUIRE they can find and supporting their latest DVD release 2Everything 2Terrible 2: Tokyo Drift LIVE IN THE MELTED FLESH.  On Friday August 13th at Lake Creek (Austin, TX), Saturday August 14th at West Oaks (Houston, TX), and Sunday August 15th at Westlakes (San Antonio, TX) the EIT will present their latest DVD in it’s entirety (plus tons of extras!) and on Monday August 16th at The Ritz, they will be back in Austin to screen a wholly different show (plus deleted scenes from 2Everything 2Terrible 2!).

We can hardly wait to catch the new show and Friday seems like a lifetime away.  In the meantime, we wish the EIT crew a safe journey to Texas on The Great Carrot Highway.

Next Thursday, the Drafthouse and Ballet Austin have a monumental treat in store for your eyes, ears, and taste buds. On this night, we’ll present the stunning restoration of THE RED SHOES with an exquisite red-themed menu and wine pairings. It’s a classy, sensual affair with all proceeds benefiting Ballet Austin.

Michael Powell and Emerich Pressburger’s 1948 film about a young dancer and the all-consuming nature of life in the ballet is nothing short of cinema magic, inspiring many a young girl to put on ballet slippers and many a director to create a film as captivating. Martin Scorsese is fan. Such a fan, in fact, that he spearheaded the restoration project via his newly formed World Cinema Foundation.

To hear Robert Ebert tell it,  “You don’t watch [THE RED SHOES], you bathe in it.” If this is true, than we will be absolutely soaking in its magical beauty with this screening of the frame by frame, 4K digital restoration of the film paired with this menu created by Alamo Executive chef Trish Eichelberger:

- Kir royale champagne cocktail, Windsor red English cheddar, Texas plum gelee
- Roasted red pepper soup, rye crouton
- Baby red oak, strawberries, shaved sweet red onion, toasted pine nuts, blood orange vinaigrette
- Redfish en papillote, fresno pepper butter, honey roasted maroon carrots on roasted red rice cake
- Dark chocolate cake, cherry crème fraiche, bittersweet chocolate shavings

Attendees of this event will also have the first opportunity to purchase tickets to our Sept 11 screening of METROPOLIS with live score at the Seaholm Power Plant before they go on sale Friday, Aug 6. In addition, we’ll be raffling off two VIP passes to the show, as well as passes to Ballet Austin Fete10 “Party of the Decade” (9/10, value: $250 total)

In preparation for this night, we encourage you to check out the “Making Movies” exhibition at  U.T. Austin’s Ransom Center featuring RED SHOES set designer Hein Heckroth’s storyboards for the film. Go now, the exhibit closes Sunday!

This Sunday July 18 at 10pm, Monday at 7 and Wednesday at 10:15, we’re playing a film called DADDY LONGLEGS. You may not have heard of it. That’s ok. You’re here now, and you can thank us after you see this film that has been wowing audiences at the prestigious Cannes, Sundance, and Vienna film festivals. It’s a remarkably powerful and beautiful film, the kind of wonderful piece of art that comes to the cinema once every few years. This limited, Austin exclusive engagement could be your only chance to see what many are calling the best film of the year.

The film centers on a father, played by underground filmmaker Ronald Bronstein, who has a few weeks visitation time with his two sons. Michael Phillips for the Los Angeles Times tries to describe the character: “Scrambling through his own life like a human incarnation of Godard’s BREATHLESS, the protagonist of the terrifyingly funny independent feature… is a moth as well as a flame, a havoc generator with unlimited, unfocused energy and a staggering lack of reliable parental instincts.” This almost indescribable persona is at the heart of why this film is so provocative and lasting.

Roger Ebert tries to explain why this amazing character works: “Bronstein’s performance is crucial. It’s difficult to make a manic character plausible, but he does. He never goes over the top. His mania seems devoted more to lifting off from the bottom.”

It’s not just the character the makes the film so tremendous. Writers/Directors Benny and Josh Safdie (this is a semi-autobiographical film about their childhood) are master filmmakers, able to make their camera expose things no actor could.  Mark Feeney in the Boston Globe describes it: “DADDY LONGLEGS is all jangly and raw. The hand-held camera is almost as much of a presence in the film as Lenny is. He’s all edges and exposed nerves, and so’s the camera. The movie is one long explosion seemingly waiting to happen, and the camera’s the fuse.” J Hoberman of the Village Voice likewise expresses the power of the film’s style, “Naturalistically spontaneous, DADDY LONGLEGS is astute behavioral direction…But for all the vérité slam-bang, it’s more a grungy form of magic realism. Day and night are elastic concepts…the movie is filled with matter-of-factly absurd episodes.”

Most of all, this character study is going to shake you to your core. It questions the friend/authority balance so many young parents struggle with. Writes Jennie Yabroff in Newsweek, “DADDY LONGLEGS may shock you, but it will also make you reexamine your ideas about parenthood, and what it means to be a father.”

If you’re a parent, or if you’ve ever struggled with your parents, this film is a much-needed therapy session. It is one of the most provocative and beautifully-made films of our time, and any cinephile will feel great regret if she/he misses this film. Support independent filmmaking!

See DADDY LONGLEGS this Sunday at 10, and see it again Monday at 7 and Wednesday at 10:15. Advance tickets available here.

If the promise of a big budget flick starring pretty much EVERY notable action star of the past 30 years doesn’t appeal to your sense of nostalgia, then don’t even bother reading the rest of this post.  But for those who grew up on a steady stream of RAMBO movies interspersed with games of CONTRA on the Nintendo, you better listen up; drop whatever you are doing and head over to the Facebook page for THE EXPENDABLES movie and click the “I like” button.  Do it now; I’ll wait…..

If you followed my instructions, you are no doubt already transfixed with the awesome 8-bit arcade version of the upcoming movie and therefore unable to read the rest of this post.  It’s cool, I understand…To be quite honest, I’m having a hard time willing myself to finish writing when there are so many pixelated baddies that need killing.   Play as Barney Ross, Lee Christmas or Yin Yang as you head to South America to take out an evil dictator (just like in the movie!).  Beat the game as Yin Yang to unlock the bonus mode and for a chance to check out alternate endings and easter eggs.  Lionsgate is also giving up some movie swag for those who make it onto the Top 10 All-Time High Scores list.  Give it a shot and let us know what your high score is.

While the 8-bit version of the film is no substitute for the real thing, this should at least help to kill time until the August 13th release of THE EXPENDABLES.  And for those who feel like 8/13 is still waaaaay too far off, stay tuned for some exciting news on that front.

Tonight at the Alamo South Lamar, we’re opening a very provocative documentary that chronicles the controversial California vote that revoked the right for gays to be married. At the forefront of this crusade against same-sex love is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, known colloquially as The Mormons. 8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION examines the role of the Mormon Church on this historic and much-maligned civil rights reversal, and the ties and conclusions it draws will shock and disgust you.

Shedding light on the structure of repression and shame that the Mormon Church has practiced against homosexuals for years, the film is a strong case against religious involvement in legal affairs and its destructive influence on the lives of millions of gay men and women. Its a highly emotional film that is not afraid to take a much-needed stance on this issue. It passionately fights against prejudice, judgment, and hate to present an educational and forward-thinking film.

We’re very proud to co-present this film with the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival tonight at 7:40 at the Alamo South Lamar. Advanced tickets available here.

Cinema Club Presents: Two nights of film noir with film writer/noir expert Eddie Muller
Sunday July 11: THE PROWLER
Monday July 12: CRY DANGER

On Sunday July 11 and Monday July 12, the Alamo Cinema Club will be bringing author Eddie Muller to Austin to present two spectacular noir discoveries. In glorious black and white 35mm prints, the recently restored film noir classics THE PROWLER and CRY DANGER will surely wow all film fans and noir aficionados in attendance.

Muller is the authority on this genre we call film noir, he’s even earned the undisputed nickname “The Czar Of Noir”.  Not only does he know all about the films, the stars, the writers, directors and the production history of these movies; he also has a knack for surprising you with bits of insight that place the films and their social contexts in a surprising and enlightening focus. Plus, he’s funny.

This week the Austin Chronicle features an interview with Eddie about the genre and this week’s Cinema Club presentations.

Eddie’s also a pretty connected guy, and he has gathered his knowledge from many sources, including the people who made and starred in the films, as in this clip with Marsha Hunt:

Muller is the founder of the Film Noir Foundation, an organization that hosts the annual Noir City film festival and helps to restore old films noir like the two we’ll be showing this weekend. Here is an interview with Muller discussing the festival.

This piece from Twitch film, shows Muller’s remarks about restoring CRY DANGER and how, if we don’t celebrate these older films, our cinematic heritage may be lost.

This very cool video shows one of Muller’s books, a collection of Film Noir posters:

It demonstrates one of Muller’s many contributions to the literary world of this type of film. In addition to founding the Film Noir Foundation and hosting numerous events with Hollywood stars of yesterday, Muller is also a fantastic and prolific writer. Muller is the author of Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir, Dark City Dames: The Wicked Women of Film Noir, The Art Of Noir: The Posters & Graphics From The Classical Era Of Film Noir, and Tab Hunter Confidential.

He also writes short articles detailing minor histories of the genre. In this, one of his best, he argues that, no matter what the first film noir was, DOUBLE INDEMNITY is the most important.

Here is an article Muller composed about the origin of film noir and what exactly the genre is. His informative and funny style clearly carries over from his hosting to the written word.

This Sunday and Monday are sure to be some of the most memorable Cinema Club presentations of the year. Be sure to come early and often to see film noir expert-extraordinaire Eddie Muller chat with us about THE PROWLER on Sunday and CRY DANGER on Monday.

For those of you that actually get work done at the office as opposed to trolling the web for funny cat videos and celebrity sex videos, you might have missed The All-Mighty Oprah’s™ search for the next TV star.  Normally, we forgo watching Oprah’s wildly fluctuating weight loss/gain in favor of Maury reruns, but our ears perked up when we heard that local Austinite, and friend of the Alamo Zach Anner was racking up the votes with his hysterical audition tape.  We’ve been following Zach since his days of submitting videos to Open Screen Night and as part of the sketch comedy show “That’s Awesome”.  He is truly a funny dude and we are really pulling for him to get a chance to host his own show.

For a while it seemed like he was a shoe-in for the top slot in the competition, and there was much rejoicing on The Internet.  Even John Mayer offered his support to the Mighty Manchine with an offer to write and record the theme song to Zach’s show.  With over 6 million votes as of the time of this writing, Zach is currently in first place, but his lead has been dwindling.  We won’t get into the debate about whether or not vote tampering has been a factor in Zach’s slip in the polls, but we will take a moment to urge everyone to get off of their lazy asses and throw a vote his way.

Everyone needs to do their part to make this happen.  In the words of the wheelchair-bound lady magnet himself, “no obstacle is too big, no mountain is too high, no volcano is too hot, and no Atlantis is too underwater or fictional.”  Let’s make this happen Austin!  So, take a break from looking at the Hipster Puppies Blog and help a brother out.  It beats the hell out of working at any rate.

John Mayer; to douche or not to douche, that is the question.

Watch his tape audition and vote for Zach HERE.

Tomorrow, the Alamo South Lamar is opening a film called PLEASE GIVE. It’s one of those critically lauded films that comes out in the summer and is overshadowed by the bigger pictures like SEX AND THE CITY 2, THE A-TEAM, and GET HIM TO THE GREEK. Basically, it’s a much appreciated respite from the explosions and gut-laughs that the mainstream fare offers us in the hot months.

You should see this movie. Starring indie darlings Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Amanda Peet, and Rebecca Hall (who wowed us all in 2008’s VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA), PLEASE GIVE tells the story of a couple of New Yorkers who own two apartments. When they want to occupy one of their abodes, they realize that the current tenant standing in their way, an elderly matriarch, is a tough bird to defeat. Making matters worse, her two daughters are feisty and cynical, providing comic obstacles and guilt-ridden stumbling blocks.

The Austin Chronicle gives the film a very respectable three and a half stars. Marjorie Baumgarten sees the film as a feminist triumph from director Nicole Holofcener, “From the very opening images of Please Give, it is clear that Holofcener is determined to show us aspects of women’s lives rarely explored in feature films.” Ty Burr of the Boston Globe echoes this sentiment, writing, “It’s the rare film to be owned by its women, both before the camera and behind it, and its emotional barometer is one of infinitely fine gradations.”

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone calls the film “rare and remarkable.” He describes the pictures as “an unnervingly hilarious and heartfelt comedy of bad manners.” That’s a pretty good compliment, but nothing compared to the praise dished out by Ann Hornaday in the Washington Post, which honored the film with its “Critics Pick” distinction. She writes: “PLEASE GIVE is one of those movies that can be enjoyed simply for its funny portraits of human foibles and fumbling grasps at intimacy — but it’s also deceivingly profound. Holofcener has a knack for soothing viewers with the rhythms of quiet jokes and mordant moments and then ambushing them with scenes of breathtaking sweetness and meaning.”

Roger Ebert offers us a fine overview of the whole picture: “The movie is about imperfect characters in a difficult world, who mostly do the best they can under the circumstances, but not always. Do you realize what a revolutionary approach that is for a movie these days?”

Ok, you’re convinced to see it. Good. It starts tomorrow at Alamo South Lamar. Skip on work, take a long lunch break, schedule your date as a dinner and a movie, whatever, just see PLEASE GIVE.