Local Theaters

I was digging around on Flickr this evening -- I'm working to get permission for a couple of very different sets of very cool photos to hopefully publish here next week -- and came across this picture. I like the use of a fisheye lens, very striking. It also makes the theater look oddly cozy.

Now, who can tell us which Austin theater we're seeing in the photograph? Bonus points if you can tell us which movie is playing, too. Post your guesses in the comments.

[Photo credit: "Movie theater" by Sara Robertson. Found on Flickr, used under Creative Commons license.]

Maybe you've seen the poster for Quentin Tarantino's mock-exploitation film Death Proof with the words "Burnet Road Drive-In, Austin, Texas" at the top. Well, Austin really did have a Burnet Drive-In, and today we have photographic proof. Paramount Theatre projectionist John Stewart recently posted a few pictures from 1973 to his Flickr account, and generously agreed to let me publish them here.

I can't find much info about the Burnet Drive-In. It was located in the 6400 block of Burnet Road, in the space where Burnet Road Self-Storage is now -- the one with the sign that looks like a movie-theater marquee. Now you know why. The storage facility's website says the theater was built in 1952. By the 1970s, it was featuring titles like the ones above, which look like they'd fit in perfectly at an Alamo Drafthouse Weird Wednesday. (Stewart says they're German soft-core movies.) The drive-in closed a year or two after Stewart's photos were taken. I've got a few more photos after the jump.

Last week I took a tour of the new Gold Class Cinemas, a movie theater in The Domain that officially opens this weekend. In addition, Jenn Brown and I went back to the theater this week for "mock service" -- as part of the process for training the theater staff, we watched Shutter Island (it actually improves on a second viewing) and ordered some of the menu items the theater offers.

Like the Alamo Drafthouse chain, Gold Class does have a menu -- it also has a full bar. In fact, it's an especially nice bar that could have fit perfectly in The Domain as a stand-alone. But Gold Class strikes me as unlikely to compete directly with Alamo, as it is a very different experience.

First of all, the point that everyone is discussing: the tickets for Gold Class are pricey. A full-price ticket costs $29, and no, that doesn't include any food or drinks. Hearing that a ticket for a regular first-run movie costs over $20 sounds shocking at first, and it's off-putting to many people I know, no matter what they learn about the theater afterward. This is the biggest hurdle that Gold Class has to overcome in Austin.

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.

"If movie ticket prices are $29, the recession must be over." That was the sentiment I heard on Twitter from several people as announcements about Gold Class Cinema opening theaters in Austin and Dallas hit the news yesterday. I have to say, I blinked at the ticket price myself.

The Gold Class Cinema announcement is just one piece of recent Austin news about local movie theaters. The landscape is changing around here. Is it because of the economy, because we have Alamo Drafthouse theaters, or because the ways in which we watch movies are changing? Probably a little of everything.

First of all, Gold Class Cinemas will open a theater in The Domain on May 7. The theater sounds very swanky, and very much in tune with the rest of The Domain: reclining armchairs (with pillows and blankets available), a menu of upscale appetizers and entrees, intimate theater size ... and tickets ranging from $22 to $29. There's also a bar that looks very nice from the photos we've received. We're hoping to check it out soon in person and will certainly report back.

You miss me yesterday? Wondering why I didn't write a dispatch? Well, I was home, watching DVD screeners, so I could get a couple reviews in. So now you know about two films you should catch on Thursday. And I mean that seriously; just because I wasn't overwhelmingly in love with a film does not negate its merit.

This afternoon, I headed over to Guero's for a Baghdad Texas party.  I couldn't stay long, but I did have a chance to talk about movies with co-writer Shaneye Ferrell (pictured above), who also plays Kathy, the FBI agent, in the film.  We talked about the disappointment in the "Hollywood happy ending" and the draw to complex, humanized villains. I wish I could have stayed longer, but only had time to meet actor Booka Michel before I dashed off to The Donner Party.

I thought we were having a slow news week, but the local film news really added up. Here are some of the highlights:

• The Statesman's Out and About blog released the results of the newspaper's "Best Austin Movie Theater" poll. No surprise: All four Austin-area Alamo theaters were in the top four slots, although we're a bit disappointed that Village and its snazzy 4K digital didn't rate a bit higher. Bigger surprise: Tinseltown Pflugerville tied for fifth place with the Bob Bullock IMAX theater. Jette saw a movie at the Pflugerville theater in June and found the picture and sound quality atrocious -- some of the speakers weren't working at all. Readers, what charms of Tinseltown Pflugerville are we missing?
• Richard Linklater's latest film, Me and Orson Welles (pictured at right), now has an Austin release date of December 4. If you want to see it sooner, the movie will play the Houston Cinema Arts Festival on Nov. 11, as the opening-night film, with Linklater attending.
• The first speakers for the SXSW 2010 Film Conference were announced this week: Argentine musician/composer Gustavo Santaolalla (Brokeback Mountain, Babel) and comic-book artist Gilbert Shelton, a former Austinite who is currently involved in adapting his Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers into a movie.
• Speaking of SXSW, if you didn't catch We Live in Public at the 2009 fest or during this week's limited run, it's playing in Austin for another week, daily at Alamo Ritz. Wish we'd thought of this sooner, but Alamo totally should host a Tweet-Along night for this documentary.

I was walking around the UT Austin campus recently and passed Hogg Auditorium. Hogg is used as a classroom these days, but when I went to UT, the student union showed movies there. I wish I had a photo of the inside for you -- it looks more like a movie theater than an auditorium, and even has balcony seating. It's lovely without being too fancy.

For some reason, some of the theater-I-mean-auditorium seats were outside of the building. Were they being sent off for cleaning? I have no idea. But I took advantage of the opportunity to snap a photo. I don't think the seats have changed much since I used to sit in them for movies.

Hogg was never what you might call the latest greatest high-tech theater. It was notorious for the bats that would fly behind the screen sometimes. But I had one of my most memorable moviegoing experiences there, my first semester at UT. My long-distance boyfriend had just broken up with me, it had been a miserable weekend with a lot of crying in the dorm-room shower (the only private place possible), and for whatever reason, I decided to go see a movie to cheer me up. Hogg was showing one of my favorite movies ... Brazil.

Have you recovered from Part One yet? If so, read on for more basic theater etiquette.

Personal Space. Just because you put your feet up at home does not mean that's okay in the movie theater. No one should have to share an armrest with your toes, or be forced to look at them in the seat next to them. If you put your feet on the tables at an Alamo, I hope the waitstaff puts theirs on your food.

Hats Off, AKA Bouffant Be Gone. Seriously, if your thinning hair makes you so self conscious that you can't remove your hat indoors, either sit in the back row or talk to your doctor. As for you, Big Hair, the 50's want their bouffants back, and no wants to get whiplash trying to look around you. If you don't sit in the back, pay for the seats that you block.

Dear Austin,

I love Austin, and it's film geek heaven. But apparently fewer and fewer of us know how to properly behave in theaters. It seems Austin's movie audiences are getting worse, even at the Alamo.

The theater is not your living room. And you are not alone in it. It's past time for a Theatergoers Primer.

Stop Talking. Shut it. When you arrive in the theater, stop using your outside voice. It is acceptable to talk, but quietly, not like you're at a nightclub. When the lights dim, so should your conversation. Stop talking during the trailers, as some people are actually trying to enjoy those, even if they are available online. When the film talks, no one should be talking.