Free Movies

2010 Guide to Free (and Cheap) Summer Movies in Austin

in

Paramount's summer movies begin

Check out our 2011 Guide to Free (and Cheap) Summer Movies in Austin for the latest information.

Updated on July 5 with new Alamo Lake Creek series, on June 11 with details on Deep Eddy Pool Movies, and on June 9 with details on the new Cinema East series and specific films for the 101X series.

Last year's Guide to Free Summer Movies in Austin was Slackerwood's most popular article nearly every week through the fall, and one of our most viewed articles for 2009. Apparently everyone wants to know about free movies playing in town this summer -- well, why wouldn't you? So we're not going to wait for summer this year to bring you the 2010 edition, which we'll keep updating as more movies are announced.  

Austin is home to at least 16 film series this summer, 12 of which are free, so you can watch movies on a budget practically every weekday this summer, especially if you're looking for family fare. (If you liked Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, boy are you in luck ... it's playing in nearly every children's series throughout the summer.) Some of the series are outdoors -- be sure to bring lawn chairs or a blanket.

Only a few series haven't announced their schedules yet, so you can start planning now. In addition to the movies listed below, bear in mind that Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz still hosts Terror Tuesday and Weird Wednesday screenings each week that cost a whopping dollar to attend ($2 if you buy online). Also, keep an eye on our Event Calendar for free movies that aren't part of a regular series.

New Film Series: The Mexican Revolution Films of the 70s

Cine Las AmericasDid you know that 2010 marks both the 200th anniversary of Mexico's independence and the 100th anniversary of its Revolution? I didn't until this year's Cine Las Americas International Film Festival. 

To celebrate the dual anniversary, Cine Las Americas is programming related free movies and Mexican films in general for the rest of the year, starting with a four-film series co-presented by the Harry Ransom Center.

"The Mexican Revolution Films of the 70s" includes four rare features by influential directors that explorethe Mexican Revolution and other national realities from a period of unprecedented latitude. Here are the four films and the descriptions from the Cine Las Americas website:

  • El prinicipio (The Beginning), directed by Gonzalo Martínez Ortega. "Mexico is in the midst of Revolution when the protagonist returns after studying in Paris to find his native town in Chihuahua occupied by Francisco Villa’s revolutionary forces. He visits his deserted home and remembers people and events from his adolescence that provide glimpses of pre-Revolutionary society under dictatorship." (May 6)
  • Cananea, directed by Marcela Fernández Violante. "Colonel William Greene, in an expedition across the Sonoran desert, stumbles upon large copper reserves. Almost immediately he decides to set up mines and he quickly becomes one of the wealthiest men in the region. His ambition, however, leads him to mistreat and exploit the men working in the mines." (May 13)

Whole Foods Launches 'Let's Retake Our Plates' Film Series

in

I started poking around the web this week to see if details on any summer film series were up yet, and look what I came across ... the Whole Foods Let's Retake Our Plates Film Series

Apparently this isn't just a local event; Whole Foods is sponsoring screenings around the country. But unlike in the other cities, the movies in Austin are free. This is a perfect time to put thought into what you put on your plate, with the warmer weather making people crave fresher food.

The local schedule features three nights of provocative documentaries: 

SXSW 2010 Guide: Free Film Events During SXSW Week

in

George Carver Center

In conjunction with the Austin Parks and Recreation Department, SXSW returns to the George Washington Carver Museum & Cultural Center with several events open to the general public. This year's evening events include:

  • "Blacks in Technology" on Friday, March 12 (6 pm-9 pm) and
  • "Latinos in Technology" Sunday, March 14 (6 pm-9 pm)

Carver will also host the Texas High School Shorts on Saturday, March 13 at 5 pm. This showcase serves as a preview of the next filmmaking generation, as Texas high school students present shorts of 5 minutes or less.

Also screening for free at Carver is The Work of Alan Govenar: Part 1, Sunday, March 14 at 2 pm, featuring:

  • Little Willie Eason and His Talking Gospel Guitar (2005) takes the stage of the street and a House of God Church south of Miami to highlight the man who introduced the pedal steel guitar as an instrument to express his deep-seeded faith.

Celebrate "Texas Independents' Day" with Local Filmmakers

in

Sunshine

Texas Independence Day is March 2, and local PBS station KLRU will commemorate the day with "Texas Independents' Day," an event involving several local filmmakers whose work has reached a national audience. For the first time, three Austin-based projects have been selected for this season of the PBS Emmy-award winning series Independent Lens: The Eyes of Me (my review), Sunshine (pictured above) and The Horse Boy (my review). All three films premiered in the Lone Star States category at the 2009 South by Southwest Film Festival. PBS estimates that 2 million viewers will tune in to Independent Lens this year.

On Tuesday, March 2, UT professor/local documentary filmmaker Paul Stekler (Last Man Standing) will moderate a panel discussion at the Austin City Limits studio with directors Michel O. Scott (The Horse Boy), Karen Skloss (Sunshine) and Keith Maitland (The Eyes of Me). Following the discussion, KLRU will host a live screening of the Independent Lens broadcast of The Eyes of Me at 9 pm. Doors are at 7 pm, with the panel discussion at 8 pm before the screening. Space is limited, so be sure to RSVP here.

Screen Door Film's Texas Cinema Series Moves to UT

in

SXSW 2009

If you haven't heard about Screen Door Film, you've been missing out. This organization has been giving Austin audiences a chance to see lesser-known shorts and features, especially locally made films, for several years. They've partnered with St. Edward's University in the past on screenings and discussions about Texas films.

Screen Door Films has just announced its 2010 Texas Cinema Series, and this time, they're teaming up with the Documentary Center at The University of Texas at Austin. The first two screenings are in February:

  • Along Came Kinky ... Texas Jewboy for Governor on Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 7 pm. This documentary about Kinky Friedman played SXSW 2009. Read my interview from last March with director David Hartstein. That's Hartstein in the above photo with Friedman at the SXSW Q&A.
  • The Eyes of Me on Wednesday Feb. 24 at 7 pm. Keith Maitland directed this documentary about the Texas School for the Blind, which played previously in Austin last year during SXSW and the Cinema Disability Touching Festival. Read Debbie Cerda's review.

Tonight: Free Screening of 'Money-Driven Medicine'

in

Money Driven MedicineWith so much debate about the state of America's health-care system, the documentary Money-Driven Medicine: What's Wrong With America's Health Care and How to Fix It is quite timely. This documentary was produced by Academy Award winner Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) and based on Maggie Mahar's acclaimed book, Money Driven Medicine: The Real Reason Health Care Costs So Much.

Texan Lisa Lindell, a burn victim, is featured in the documentary. A kick-off screening of Money-Driven Medicine was held in late October at the U.S. Capitol for members of Congress and staff and health-reform advocates.  Lisa and her husband, Curtis Lindell,  traveled from their Houston home for the screening and received a standing ovation.

Tonight (Dec. 2), you can see the documentary for free in Austin at 7 pm, at the Millennium Youth Center Complex located at 1156 Hargrave Street. A Q&A with Consumers Union and the Center for Public Policy Priorities will follow the screening.

Free Classic Mexican Horror Movies at the Mexican American Cultural Center

in

The Living CoffinCine Las Americas has teamed up with Austin Parks and Recreation and the Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC) for another free film series. Earlier this year, during the Cine Las Americas film festival, all films shown at the MACC were free, including Crude, which is currently at the Arbor.

The new series is "La Hora Fria: Classic Mexican Horror," and will run from October 21 to November 6, 2009, with all shows starting at 8 pm. It's a great way to prepare for Day of the Dead. The series is part of the Mexican Bicentennial celebrations, and will showcase a collection of Mexican horror from the late 1950s. These six films reinterpret classic horror such as Dracula and Frankenstein as well as Mexican folk tales such as La Llorona.  All films are in Spanish with English subtitles. 

For more information about the "La Hora Fria: Classic Mexican Horror" series, visit the Cine Las Americas website.

Slackery News Tidbits and Treats

Austin Studios Open House, by leiabox on FlickrThe Austin film community news this week is dominated by the Austin Studios/Soundcheck Austin issue (see below), but a few other interesting bits of news are out there as well. If I missed anything, feel free to post news in the comments.

  • KXAN has a story about the Austin Studios lease for Soundcheck Austin, which is going before the Austin City Council on Thursday. Michael Corcoran also has a good thorough article in the Statesman. In addition, Austin Film Society has posted a Soundcheck Austin sublease fact sheet. The City Council meeting on Thursday should be interesting.
  • Check out Victor Diaz's story for News 8 Austin about the Texas Filmmaker Production Fund awards, which includes an interview with local filmmaker David Modigliani about his upcoming documentary, 61 Bullets.
  • The first official stills from Austin-shot horror film Red, White and Blue are now available on Fangoria. Debbie, were any of those pictures set in your house?
  • The South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery is now showing movies outdoors on selected evenings at 8:30 pm. Their schedule of upcoming movies includes a time-travel series: Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (Thurs. 8/27), the Back to the Future trilogy (8/28-30), 12 Monkeys (8/31), Time Bandits (9/1) and Groundhog Day (9/2). [via Austin360]

Slackery News Tidbits: The Musical

Danny Trejo, by Dana Gonzales on FlickrAustin film-related news does seem to have a definite musical theme going this week. Or maybe I'm just stretching the point to justify the above title? I do have a whole lot of movie news today, some of which has nothing to do whatsoever with music, but you can always sing while you're reading or play some nice show tunes in the background.

  • A small paragraph in the Arts: Casting Call section of the Austin Chronicle provides us with the news that Salvage Vanguard Theater and Doctuh Mistuh Productions are planning to stage Evil Dead: The Musical in Austin in the near future. They're still holding auditions this week, so contact Elle Mahoney at stylelle [at] gmail [dot] com for details. I'm looking forward to seeing this very curious theatrical production when it opens: Ash! He sings, he dances, he uses a chainsaw!
  • The celebrity-spotting related to Machete shooting in Austin has already started. Several people, including our own Jenn Brown, spotted Danny Trejo (pictured at right) catching a movie at Alamo Ritz over the weekend. In addition, Austin Metblogs' Tim Trentham got a peek at Tom Savini while at the Paramount watching Forbidden Planet. Obviously if you want to see the coolest cast and crew from Robert Rodriguez's production, you should go to the movies. (I know my audience: I bet most of you would rather see Savini than Lindsay Lohan.)
Syndicate content