November 2007
Still More Austin Film Blogging and Photos
In case you're not getting enough Austin film blogging here at Slackerwood, I thought I'd share some of my favorite recent photos and blog entries from other websites, all related to local movie stuff in one way or another.
- Slackerwood contributor Chris Holland took some excellent photos during opening night at the Alamo Ritz. I'm having severe camera envy right now -- my delightfully small camera is incapable of taking good photos in movie theaters. The photo with the confetti is amazing.
- Sarah (aka "sarah pants," "Sarah who's dating Henri," and "Sarah who's on a poster in my office for reasons too complicated to explain here") has blogged about Alamo's Blazing Saddles BBQ Tour. She also has a Flickr set from the event, as well as photos from Alamo's opening night -- I get the impression from these sets that she is fond of mac and cheese.
- One more Flickr set from the Alamo Ritz opening? Please? This one's from Wiley Wiggins and features action photos of the fighting gorillas. (A brief aside: I feel like I'm always linking to photos of one Alamo event or another. I would love to feature photos from other local theaters, but apart from the occasional Paramount premiere, I can't find any online. If I'm missing something, please comment with a link.)
Movies This Week: Horrorfest, King Corn, and Blazing Saddles
It's a movie-rific week, let me tell you. I don't know if it has something to do with the week before Thanksgiving or if everyone is simply in a movie-watching frame of mind, or what. Anyway, there's a wide variety of stuff going on, some of which is highlighted in the list below.
- After Dark Horrorfest is taking place at Regal Metropolitan this week. Eight horror films are being screened, usually 1-2 per day through Nov. 18.
- This week, Alamo Ritz is showing the documentary King Corn, which premiered at SXSW this year. The theater is also screening Michael Clayton and The Darjeeling Limited daily.
- Austin Cinematheque is showing Michelangelo Antonioni's 1975 film The Passenger on Monday night at the Texas Union Theater. Admission is free.
Blade Runner in Austin ... Only at Turkey Time
I was so happy to hear The Paramount would be showing Blade Runner: The Final Cut here in Austin, and looked forward to seeing the movie there. I haven't seen any version of Blade Runner in a movie theater since the late 1980s at LSU's little movie theater, and that was the original theatrical version with the voiceover. (I kind of liked the voiceover myself, which is weird because I usually don't like them, but that's another story.)
Then I checked the Paramount calendar and learned they are only screening the movie during the week of Thankgiving: November 18-23. We'll be out of town that whole time, and I know we're not the only ones. Perhaps this was the only time the theater could rent the print, but it's unfortunate that they are showing a college cult favorite only during a week when many students and other Austin moviegoers will be elsewhere.
Request to the Paramount: If you could bring the film back for a weekend at a later time, a lot of us would be truly grateful.
I know the Paramount is dedicated primarily to live performances, and it looks like that week was the only time in November/December not taken up with the latest Greater Tuna antics or various concerts (and then the inevitable annual Nutcracker). However, the film isn't playing anywhere else in Austin as far as I can tell. I don't know if the Paramount secured exclusive screening rights for Austin, or if other theaters were uninterested -- if it's the latter, I suppose I must also be disappointed with Alamo, Galaxy Highland, Dobie/Landmark, and the larger chains. (It's showing at a Landmark theater in Dallas -- the Inwood -- the week after Thanksgiving, if any Austinites want to make the drive.)
This is one case where I will be picking a home viewing over a theatrical viewing -- giving my money to a DVD rental or purchase instead of a movie theater -- thus advancing, in a small way, a trend I hate to support. But Austin's theaters have left me no choice, at this time. Too bad.
Ritziest Birthday Ever
I knew we were doing something special for my birthday today (although strictly speaking, it's tomorrow), but my husband was stubbornly silent about the details. "We're going to get socks for Rufus [our cat]," he kept telling me. I was pretty sure we weren't going to Alamo at the Ritz's opening-night triple-feature, because it didn't start until 7, and he picked me up from work at 4:30. Also, it included a mushroom feast and my husband has a dire dread of any kind of edible fungus. I imagined all kinds of scenarios: we were going to Tea Embassy, we would have drinks with a bunch of friends, my sister secretly flew into town ... I love a good surprise, because the guessing can be almost as fun as whatever eventually happens.
When I got into the car, he said, "I lied about Rufus's socks. We're actually going on a birthday picnic," and headed downtown. I started to have a slight suspicion when we parked awfully close to Sixth Street. But I still wasn't sure we were going to the new Alamo at the Ritz -- after all, he could be trying to trick me -- until we walked in the door and my husband said to Lars, "Tim's expecting us."