TICK TOCK, tick tock, the time for Christmas shopping is running out. Hurry up and go out there and start buying Lexuses you can tie big red bows on and other expensive stuff like that so you can singlehandedly save the economy of the entire planet. Then reward yourself with some affordable entertainment and great times at the Alamo. You can feel like a million bucks no matter how much money you spend when you come down to the South Lamar theater for SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. You can feel the holidays all around you when you’re on a caroling sabotage mission after THE CHRISTMAS POPS SING-ALONG at the Ritz. And you can just say YES to Jim Carrey over and over and over again at the Alamo Village, just be careful what you say yes to.

- ALAMO GIFT CERTIFICATES -
: Mondo Tees : Any Alamo : drafthouse.com :

“Well, it’s that time of year again – crowds, shopping, lugging the presents around… I love it.” But what Lizzie Montgomery loves even more is getting Alamo Gift Certificates for her family and friends, because as she knows, it’s an investment in freedom. You can invest in that same freedom and set up your family and friends with movies and food and drinks for next year by picking up your own Alamo Gift Certificates either in one of our stores or online.

- AFTER THE THIN MAN New Year’s Eve Party! -
: Alamo Ritz : Wednesday, Dec 31 : 7pm

The response to our first Cinema Cocktails screenings of the classic screwball romantic mystery THE THIN MAN was so great that we just knew we had to return to the wonderful chemistry of Nick and Nora Charles, their adorable dog Asta, their crime-solving savvy and, maybe best of all, their love of distilled spirits. In addition to the film itself, we’ll be serving a multi-course feast, enjoying a champagne toast and a countdown to midnight, 1937!

- HENRI’S ROCKIN’ NEW YEAR’S EVE SING-ALONG -
: Alamo Ritz : Wednesday, Dec 31 : 10:15pm

Screw you, Dick Clark! This year, for the first time ever, we’re hosting our very own New Year’s Eve Sing-Along Extravaganza, and it promises to be the best movie theater dance party ever. Your ticket includes a champagne toast, and my promise to have the most official countdown to midnight EVER, because I hate hate hate it when you’re at some party and a dweeb with a watch that’s set wrong starts making everybody countdown early. Grr. Plus! I’ll be throwing out more confetti than anywhere else in town for sure… If you miss this, you’ll be stuck in 2008 foooorrreeeevvveeerrrrr.

:: FEATURED EVENTS AT THE ALAMO RITZ ::

- The CHRISTMAS POPS SING-ALONG! -
: Alamo Ritz : Sunday, Dec 21 :

Please Note: While the holiday season is a magical time for everyone, this show may not be. Some of the videos included in this collection are decidedly PG-13. Which is to say there may be some singing about private parts in boxes… We’ll have trivia, videoke, a host of new videos along with favorites from last year, and of course, carolling down 6th Street. Don’t be left out of our reindeer games this year; get your tickets early, and come on down to the Ritz for the greatest holiday party of the year. No matter your religion, the XMAS POPS SING-ALONG will have you holding your neighbor’s hands, singing in unison, and celebrating Festivus with the rest of us.

- Master Pancake Theatre CHRISTMAS SHOW -
: Alamo Ritz : Fri, Dec 19 : Sat, Dec 20 :

After a 2-year absence, it’s the return of the famous Alamo Christmas Clip Show featuring Master Pancake Theater! Join us as we channel surf A.D.D.-style through a blizzard of clips from your favorite holiday TV specials and some weird holiday programs you never dreamed existed. Owen Egerton returns to team up with regulars John Erler and Joe Parsons for all the fun. We’ll also have an audience sing-along, some holiday snacks, and who knows, maybe even a little pudding and butter! Come join us at the Alamo this December as THE HOLIDAYS GET SLEIGHED!!

- Hey Homo! Presents: WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF BRUNCH! -
: Alamo Ritz : Sunday, Dec 21 :

By popular demand, the fine folks at Hey Homo! are reprising WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? for a special Brunch show!! HEY HOMO! has decided to give ya’ll the very best Christmas Ham in the whole world to chew upon! What better way to ring in the holidays than with extreme alcoholism, disastrous verbal sparring, sexual retaliations, fried chicken and lonely fantastical seclusion! Top all that shit off with brunch, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and you’ve got one helluva morning! Sponsored by Austin’s best upscale gay lounge, RAIN!

- High For The Holidays: DARKSIDE OF THE RAINBOW -
: Alamo Ritz : Mon, Dec 22 : Wed, Dec 24 :

Did Pink Floyd intend to synch up the Dark Side of the Moon with the classic the WIZARD OF OZ? Some say VCRs were $10000 at that time and it would be impossible to synch a phonograph to the film, change sides on the album and keep synch. Regardless, come to the Alamo, get properly stimulated and maybe bring some earplugs, because when the tin man’s heart is thumping to the heartbeats in Eclipse (track 9), we’d like you to feel it in your chest as well.

- High For The Holidays: HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE-
: Alamo Ritz : Tuesday, Dec 23 :

TICKET INCLUDES OUR NEW AND IMPROVED ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT WHITE CASTLE-STYLE BURGERS! ** Please note regular food menu service is not available during these shows. It’s burgers or bust! ** To prove who REALLY has an excessive appreciation of fine cuisine, we’ll be having a WHITE CASTLE SPEED EATING competition before the screening! Yep, a select few bold ingestors from the audience will join each other on stage to shove down some burgers for fun/prizes/fun prizes!! We’d love to see you up there, but remember: if you wanna compete, pace yourself on the burgers beforehand. All’s fair in burgers and war!

- High For The Holidays: BEERFEST with BEERLYMPICS! -
: Alamo Ritz : Tuesday, Dec 23 :

How did this film become an Alamo holiday tradition? When brothers Todd and Jan Wolfhouse travel to Germany to spread their grandfather’s ashes at Oktoberfest, they stumble upon a centuries old underground beer games competition — “Beerfest,” the secret Olympics of beer drinking. To be honest, we can never really remember the ending because we’re always trying to keep up with the drinking onscreen. We’re starting this show with live Beerlympics, featuring Beer Pong and more, so come prepared to drink heavily!

- High For The Holidays: CHRISTMAS ON MARS -
: Alamo Ritz : Wed, Dec 24 : Thurs, Dec 25 :

ULTRA-RARE 35MM THEATRICAL SCREENING! NEW FEATURE FILM, NOT ON DVD! Psychedelic rock band the Flaming Lips present CHRISTMAS ON MARS: A FANTASTICAL FILM FREAKOUT FEATURING THE FLAMING LIPS, a glorious science fiction film that marks the directorial debut of the Lips’ visionary frontman Wayne Coyne. It’s Christmastime, and the colonization of Mars is underway. When an oxygen generator and a gravity control pod malfunction, Major Syrtis (the Lips’ Steven Drozd) and his team (including the Lips’ Michael Ivins) fear the worst. There’s a lot of crazy stuff going on in this movie – take the appropriate precautionary measures to prepare your mind…

:: FEATURED EVENTS AT THE ALAMO SOUTH LAMAR ::

- SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE -
: Alamo South Lamar : Now Playing :

From director Danny Boyle (28 DAYS LATER, TRAINSPOTTING) comes a surprising and brilliant excursion into Bollywood. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is the story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is just one question away from winning on India’s “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” Police arrest him on suspicion of cheating, so desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. With an all new Bollywood preshow, Indian menu specials and of course Indian beer favorites, the Alamo is the only place to see SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.

- Saturday Morning Kids Club: EMMET OTTER’S JUGBAND CHRISTMAS -
: Alamo South Lamar : Sat, Dec 20 :

Christmas is approaching in Frogtown Hollow, and Emmet Otter and his Ma hope to buy gifts for each other. Unfortunately, Emmet doesn’t make enough from the odd jobs he does, and Ma doesn’t make enough as a laundress. They decide to compete in the Frog Town Hollow Talent Contest in order to win money, but Ma will have to hock Emmet’s tool chest to buy a costume, and Emmet will have to put a hole in Ma’s washtub for his band! Kermit the Frog hosts this classic Muppet musical Christmas tale! WITH LIVE JUG COMBO THE ROGUE RIVER STRING BAND PLAYING BEFORE THE FILM!

- THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON -
: Alamo South Lamar : Opens Thursday, Dec 25 :

David Fincher and Brad Pitt team up for a third time with this adaptation of a F. Scott Fitzgerald short story. Pitt plays a man who is born 80 years old, but instead of aging, he grows young. Oscar winner Cate Blanchett costars, along with Taraji P. Henson and Tilda Swinton.

- YES MAN -
: Alamo Village : Opens Friday, Dec 19 :

This film marks the triumphant return of Jim Carrey to comedy! With Peyton Reed (MR. SHOW, UCB) in the director’s chair, YES MAN guarantees to be brilliantly sharp, with just enough drops of nonsense to make it fun for laughers of all thresholds. Oh, and if you’re one of the approximately 80 million people who currently has a total crush on Zooey Deschanel, she’s in the film too.

- PARENTS’ AFTERNOON OUT! -
: Alamo Village : Saturday, Dec 20 :

If finding a babysitter makes it difficult for you to come to the movies, The Alamo Drafthouse Village has a deal for you! Every third Saturday of the month (from 2:30 to 6:30pm), you can see one of our regularly featured afternoon movies without calling around town looking for someone to watch your children, thanks to our friends at BodyBusiness. Child care vouchers are $10 and good for one child each. VOUCHER DOES NOT INCLUDE MOVIE ADMISSION. REMEMBER TO PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS SEPARATE FROM YOUR VOUCHER!

- MARLEY AND ME -
: Alamo Village : Thursday, Dec 25 :

John Grogan’s bestselling book about his Labrador retriever bounds onto the screen with MARLEY AND ME. Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston star as a couple who adopts the badly behaved but much-loved dog.

- VALKYRIE -
: Alamo Village : Thursday, Dec 25 :

Just in time for Christmas comes the most anticipated, heartwarming film ever made about the attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler!

Helmed by the mighty Bryan Singer (USUAL SUSPECTS, X-MEN, SUPERMAN RETURNS) and starring Tom Cruise with an even mightier eye-patch, this true tale of treason and revenge is destined for acclaim-town. Best part – no fake German accents.

Holy SMOKES.

After the success of our Big Screen Sci-Fi Classics series at The Ritz, we wanted to top off our incredible pre-summer movie series with something COLOSSAL. And after the rousing reaction you all gave to our screenings of another John Carpenter/Kurt Russell masterpiece THE THING, we realized there was only one option…

The most SLAM-BANGIN’EST, GUN-BLASTIN’EST, ANCIENT CHINESE MYSTICISM-INEST ACTION ADVENTURE COMEDY THRILLRIDE EVER SEEN…

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA!!!!!!!!!

For those of you who’ve yet to experience this pulse-pounding foray into life-affirming entertainment, this movie ranks way up there with GHOSTBUSTERS and PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE as an ultimate distillation of PURE FUN. Kurt Russell plays two-fisted trucker Jack Burton, a gambling, beer-chugging schmoe whose macho heroics land him on the supernatural immortal kung-fu warrior shitlist. The lightning and magic lazerbeams fly through the streets of San Francisco as Jack and his fellow lowbrow adventurers face off against rampaging maniacs, elemental demigods, mythical beings and even prehistoric subterranean monstrosities!!

MAY 18 – 21 is your rare chance to catch this absolutely unparalleled movie in its enormous Scope 35mm widescreen glory, so don’t miss out! Get your tickets HERE!

Here’s the astonishing trailer!:

We also have special limited edition silkscreened posters made just for these shows available through the mighty Mondo Tees HERE! They glow in the dark and are soooo WOW. Look!:

…And as a special bonus, here’s director John Carpenter’s so-called rock band The Coup De Villes with a very uncomfortable MUSIC VIDEO for the film’s infectious theme jam!:

Doesn’t that keyboard player look exactly like the lovechild of Adam Sandler and Billy Joel?

Anyway, don’t let the music video fool you…BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA is an EARTH-SHAKING JUGGERNAUT of ADRENALIZED EXCITEMENT gone TOTALLY OVER THE MAX! See you there!!!!!!

We certainly have a plethora of special events coming your way this week, and with the summer blockbuster season heating up with this Thursday’s release of IRON MAN, we figured this would be a good time to debut a new weekly blog series – the THIS WEEK AT THE ALAMO series. We realize that some of you have graduated past emails and now exist solely on an RSS or Twitter feeds, so this series of entries will basically be here every week to take the information from the Alamo Guide email newsletter and repurpose it as a blog. You get to see more little pictures and showtimes grids if you read the email, but all of the other information about specialty shows we’re especially pysched for every week will be here in the THIS WEEK AT THE ALAMO blog entry. So here we go:

FEATURED SHOWS AND EVENTS AT THE ALAMO RITZ

- IRON MAN w/ SCOTCH FLIGHT -
: Alamo Ritz : Opens Thursday, May 1 :

In addition to being a skilled inventor and armor-clad warrior, Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, is also known to be quite the drinker. So at the Ritz we’re celebrating the release of IRON MAN with a special offering of a scotch flight – a full line of premium scotches delivered to your seat throughout the screening.

- MASTER PANCAKE: PLANET OF THE APES -
: Alamo Ritz : Fri, May 2 : Sat, May 3 :

“Damn you all to hell!” This April, Master Pancake reaches back to the 1960’s to mock the Charlton Heston classic Planet of the Apes (1968). Guest comedian Owen Egerton rejoins the cast to help mock the movie in which Charlton Heston plays against type: as a macho, chiseled-face everyman angrily fighting for survival in a world gone mad.

- BACKPACK PICNIC – DVD Release Party -
: Alamo Ritz : Sun, May 4 :

Backpack Picnic is the latest comedy troupe/flower to evolve/blossom from the creative minds/plants that fester/sprout in the brains/humus of Mitch Baker and David Bewley, who have been performing original comedy together for 11 years. Rene Pinnell joined the troupe when he directed their MTV pilot in 2005, and Shannon McCormick and Jeremy Lamb have been integral players since 2003. Though Backpack Picnic’s history is short, it comes from a long line of absurdist comedy incarnations dating back to HBO’s US Comedy Arts Festival in 2000.

- the THREE AMIGOS Feast-Along -
: Alamo Ritz : Mon, May 5 : 7pm :

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with the three of the funniest gringos to ever don sombreros with this special screening of THREE AMIGOS that will be part pinata party, part Quote-Along, and all glued together with a multilple course Mexican feast prepared by Ritz chef Trish Eichelberger. Just make sure your mouth isn’t full when you give the Three Amigos salute, cause you might choke yourself with that final pelvic thrust.

- AUSTIN ROCK BAND CHAMPIONSHIPS 2008 -
: Alamo Ritz : Tues, May 6 : 10pm :

The first Austin Rock Band Championships were INSANE. An entire drunk band, rockers throwing equipment around on the stage as if they were real instruments, and George Romero leading an all zombie band of dead rockers are just some of the highlights. This week we’ll be back for more, and you can still sign up to compete or just come out for the spectacle. Either way, click here for more info.

- SPACEBALLS: THE MOVIE: THE QUOTE-ALONG -
: Alamo Ritz : Thurs, May 8 : 7pm :

Mel Brooks’ STAR WARS parody is soooo much more than just a parody film, and filled with the sorts of jokes that the writers of all the recently (and horribly) made “spoof films” wish they could dream up. And ever since the BLAZING SADDLES Quote-Along we did in the winter, we knew that we had to come back for more Mel. If your Schwartz is as big as mine, you’re probably uncomfortably excited with just the prospect of this show happening. Somewhere in space, Dot Matrix’s virgin alarm is ringing loudly.

- NEW WAVE SING-ALONG – FINAL SHOW -
: Alamo Ritz : Thurs, May 8 : 9:25pm :

We really haven’t been able to get enough of the New Wave Sing-Along, and so it’s with a sort of regret that we’re retiring this show for the time being. If you haven’t been out to this celebration of all things keytar and eyeliner, Thursday, May 8 will be your last chance, and you definitely don’t want to miss it.

- WHEN IS TOMORROW -
with Eddie “CRABMAN” Steeples live in person!
: Alamo Ritz : Sat, May 10 : Sun, May 11 :

“WHEN IS TOMORROW is a brilliantly acted and photographed example of how the low-budget, DIY aesthetic can compliment a story when told by people who know what they’re doing. BUFF alum Kevin Ford (People Are Dead, 2005) and Eddie Steeples (TV’s My Name Is Earl) are a joy to watch in every scene they occupy together-vividly bringing to life characters that are both hilarious and heartbreaking.”
- 2007 Boston Underground Film Festival

Plus, we’ll have live comedy from Eddie Steeples himself before the Saturday show!

FEATURED SHOWS AND EVENTS AT THE ALAMO SOUTH LAMAR

- MILDRED PIERCE Coffee & Pie Social -
: Alamo South Lamar : Sun, May 4 : 2pm :

With an all-star pie flight featuring pies specially baked by the chefs of Chez Zee, Z’Tejas, Lambert’s, Woodland, and dozens of other restaurants and piemakers, who have generously donated their time and expertise for this screening. All the pie, coffee and Amy’s Ice Cream you can eat is included in the $30 ticket price.

- the SPEED RACER Road Rally -
: Alamo South Lamar : Sat, May 10 :

Watching people race around a track never excited us until we saw the trailer for this new film from the Wachowski brothers. Now we feel the need for speed ourselves, and we’re putting together a photo-scavenger hunt and road rally that will send us all racing (within the posted speed limits, of course) all over Austin to get the best Speed Racer moments and momentos before we collapse with joy, stop driving, and start drinking while we watch the new SPEED RACER movie at the Alamo Lamar.

- BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S : The Mother’s Day Feast -
: Alamo South Lamar : Sunday, May 11 :

This Mothers Day we’ll have three big feasts for you to treat your Mom (or the mother of your kids) to. At South Lamar, Chef John Bullington and company will be bringing back an old favorite – BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S – as a special brunch feast with the most extravagant, urbane, and effortlessly sophisticated menu they can devise. And don’t worry, there will be enough bubbly to go around, and if your mom lives too far away, feel free to treat yourself and then just tell her about all the food you ate in her honor.

FEATURED SHOWS AND EVENTS AT THE ALAMO VILLAGE

- TV at the ALAMO presents BATTLESTAR GALACTICA -
: Alamo Village : Friday : Midnight :

Beginning April 11th, we will show, commercial free, last week’s episode and the new episode back to back. THESE SHOWINGS WILL BEGIN AT MIDNIGHT. However, there are times when our film schedule may cause these midnight showings to start late.

- RAISING ARIZONA: The Mother’s Day Feast -
: Alamo Village : Sun, May 11 : Noon :

At the Alamo Village, we’re all excited to celebrate motherhood with the Coen Brothers’ hilarious RAISING ARIZONA. Expect chef Elijah Horgan to mix in expert touches of Southwest cuisine with all-American comfort food staples while Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter pursue their particularly cockeyed dream of familyhood. This is set to be the most down-home Mother’s Day feast the Alamo has ever thrown, so grab Mom and come join us for some baby-stealin’, biker-thwartin’, prison-bustin’ good times!

- TV at the ALAMO presents LOST -
: Alamo Village : Thursday, May 1 & May 8 :

The WGA strike ended a while back now, but it hasn’t been until the past few weeks that television finally started coming back to us. Oh sweet, sweet television, never leave us again! Join the celebration of worship this Thursday as we continue enjoying of our most popular TV at the Alamo presentations – LOST.

Hey folks, we just sent the calendar to the printer, but if you want to check it out before it hits the web and before it hits the street, you can download the PDF here.

Personal highlights for me in this calendar are the Alamo crawfish boil party, all of the amazing summer blockbusters, the SPEED RACER Road Rally, Eddie Steeples from MY NAME IS EARL live in person with his new film WHEN IS TOMORROW, the new Cinema Cocktails (yes cocktails!) series at the Ritz with GOLDFINGER, SEX AND THE CITY, THE THIN MAN and THE BIG LEBOWSKI, Round #2 of the Austin Rock Band Championships, the free summer kids movies and the TROLL 2 Celebration in Utah. We’ll be posting up full details on the web this week, but for those who just can’t wait, check it out now!

No, this is not a call out to find hot new “musical” talent. This is a call to Playstation 3 and XBox 360 owners. There’s a new breed of Rock Band and we may just wipe actual musicians off the planet. Since Christmas, we’ve been nothing less than ADDICTED
to Rock Band. But now we’re tired of keeping the party in our living room and the basement at our parents’ house, and we want to bring it out into public and see what you can do. So in the spirit of rock that started with AIR GUITAR, we invite you to form a band, come up with some costumes, and come down to the theater to show us how you rock.

It’s free to compete, but only the top 12 bands who apply will be invited to perform. Post a video of your band performing to the Austin Rock Band Championships Facebook Group or email a Youtube link to brad@originalalamo.com. We will notify accepted bands by March 16. We’ll also be posting updates, videos and photos to this Facebook group, so please join if you are a Rock Band enthusiast.

We’ll have great gear and prizes for the winning teams, who will be judged by an aggregate of actual game score with bonus points for stage presence and costumes.

The Rock Band Championships are sponsored in part by Coleandbobby.com. Not only are they obsessed with film, they are, like us, addicted to Rock Band.