Film on Tap: A Drink Before SXSW

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Hey Bartender Production StillFilm on Tap is a column about the many ways that beer (or sometimes booze) and cinema intersect in Austin.

The SXSW Film Festival and Conference is less than a month away, and the lineup includes a couple of alcohol-related movies worth seeing. Unfortunately the documentary Crafting a Nation, which features several local breweries, wasn't accepted based on their rough-cut submittal, but they are optimistic that the improved final cut will screen in Austin soon.

Joe Swanberg (Hannah Takes The Stairs) will premiere Drinking Buddies, a tale of two co-workers in a Chicago brewery who may be better suited for one another than their current partners. Will love blossom at the brewery, when beer is a factor?

In Hey Bartender (seen at top), documentary filmmaker Douglas Tirola tells the story of "the bartender in the era of the craft cocktail." The documentary focuses on two bartenders -- one young, one old -- pursuing their dreams through bartending. After being injured, a former Marine focuses on being a mixologist at the most popular cocktail bar in New York City. The older bartender left his job decades ago to open a hometown bar, and now struggles to keep it open.On the subject of mixologists and craft cocktails, the Alamo Drafthouse Slaughter Lane is hosting the Drink Tank on March 6 with Master of Whiskey Teresa Menéndez Myers. Attendees will learn about the history, tradition and production of Irish whiskey at this special event, which includes a tasting flight from the Old Bushmills Distillery, first granted a license to distill by King James I in 1608. Myers is one of 15 Masters of Whiskey in the U.S., and will conduct a guided tasting of Bushmills Original, The Black Bush and Bushmills 10-Year-Old Single Malt . Following the seminar, folks can enjoy Bushmills cocktails curated by Alamo Drafthouse Beverage Director Bill Norris in 400 Rabbits, the bar adjoining the theater.

The Big Lebowski Quote-Along continues throughout the end of February and into March on varied evenings at Alamo Ritz and Slaughter. The screenings will feature $5 discounted White Russians -- check the event page for ticket and date details.

The Paramount Theatre hosts the Dazed and Confused Pub Run Event on Tuesday, February 26, which starts at 6 pm and includes a special screening of Linklater's period comedy classic at 7:30 pm at Stateside Theatre. The run/walk starts at the theater, with a 1.4 mile route to the Rattle Inn on Nueces Street where runners will enjoy a complimentary pint of Live Oak Brewing Company. Runners will receive a Moontower Comedy Festival special surprise when they return to the theatre from Rattle Inn. The special event benefits Creative Action and the historic Paramount Theatre.

Flix Brewhouse in Round Rock will hold Ladies Night Out on Wednesday, March 6, at 7:30 pm with the Lindsay Lohan movie Mean Girls. Tickets are only $5, and there are drink specials on margaritas, sangria and half-price bottles of select wine. Tuesday March 19, is their monthly Flix Fan-firkin-tastic Film Vault featuring Braveheart, paired with firkins of Whiskey Oak 10 Day Scottish Ale.

The Beer Diaries have finally launched their webisodes, and had three sold-out appearances at the Alamo Drafthouse within the last month, with featured brewers in attendance. The next screening will be held on Wednesday, February 27, at the Alamo Drafthouse Village, and will feature Real Ale Brewing Company, South Austin Brewing Company, and Hops & Grain Craft Brewery. Hosted by Dr. Greg Zeschuk, these webisodes document the great craft breweries in Central Texas. Check out his visit with co-founders and brewers Jim Sampson and Shane Boudreau of Twisted X Brewing below:

[Full disclosure: Debbie is a part-time consultant for NXNW Restaurant & Brewery, and is an active member of the Brewers Association, Texas Craft Brewers Guild, and The Master Brewers Association of the Americas. She serves on the Governing Committee for the American Homebrewers Association, and supports as many local breweries, brewpubs and homebrew clubs as her liver and pocketbook allow.]