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The Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas, doesn't show ads before the movie, using the time to instead show tangentially-related interesting or funny video. For District 9, the pre-film reel included:
1. A Halo live-action short.
2. Alive in Joburg, the short upon which District 9 was based.
3. The Alien Nation trailer.

I think it was a good introduction for the non-geeks in the crowd to the history of the genre.

Those guys in Austin should demand a refund! They paid for a ticket for The Wrath of Khan, but that's not what they got. If it were me I'd be raising hell.

The story I heard via word of mouth was that they were actually going to play Wrath of Khan, with ten minutes of sneak-preview footage from the movie that hadn't been seen before as a bonus. However shortly after Wrath started playing, the old and damaged film caught fire and was destroyed. Then Nimoy revealed himself, and instead of showing the 10 minute teaser, they showed the whole film.

linky I found on a Drafthouse blog, btw.

I can't imagine (though I guess it's possible) even Spock himself would dare show the full movie without authorization. So that may have been planned. The destruction of a print of Wrath... probably wasn't.

The last time I had a film burn up (actually it was the projector bulb that exploded, side effect was the print was destroyed) all I got was a lousy refund. Getting to watch a world premiere of a movie I'd probably be interested in, rather than having my night out ruined, is way way better than a refund.

I seriously fucking wish I had been there and I may have been but I didn't even know they were running Wrath. Why do I not check the Drafthouse web page more often?!

The Alamo Drafthouse Village in Austin just had all of its screens upgraded to Sony's 4K DLP projectors. Only the second theater in Texas to offer films in 4K DLP.

Right now only Sony and WB are distributing films in 4K, but everyone else is expected to jump on board soon. The 4K projectors must have some nice scalar chips in them because 2K films seem more impressive displayed on them as well.

go to the movie theater. The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin has been showing the debates. There really is no better way to watch them than to have a burger and knock back pitcher of beer.

No, space shuttles have to worry about raccoons

By the way, I really reduced the number of visits to the local movie theaters, I went to watch the Superman though and it was terrible experience: it was a 10pm show and people brought their 2-3 year old kids

This is why I only watch movies at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas here in Austin. No children except at special showings (for Superman, no children under 6 and then only with parent). Even then, if they are noisy they will get thrown out. Also, no commercials and special movie-themed pre-show entertainment. (Unless you consider previews commercials, or 60's-era Car commercials before the movie Cars to be annoying commercials rather than fun pre-show entertainment... which I don't).

Also, they have good beer. Hooray, beer!

Seriously, if you like movies, the Alamo is a good reason to move to Austin. Or, at least, to visit.

I've been a fan of Alamo Drafthouse for years, and I'd like to echo your sentiment. For those of you who haven't had a chance to experience the Alamo Drafthouse in Central Texas, it's more or less a combination of the dining / drinking / movie experience. Basically, you take a movie theatre, add a kitchen & bar, then remove every row in the theatre & add a table. You place your orders by writing them down on paper, and a waiter comes by, takes your order, and brings your food / drinks without disturbing your movie experience.

Of course, you can get there early to place your orders ahead of the movie showing (I enjoy that, and it's the only way to do it if you have more than just 2 people). I've attended hacker contests, movies, and even TV broadcasts, and have always enjoyed the experience.

Ultimately, I beleive that the movie experience will have to be redefined to remain relevant and competitive in the future. Alamo's done a GREAT job of doing that, IMHO.

They've also demonstrated that you don't have to show the latest Hollywood movies to pack a theatre. I've seen several "classics" while enjoying dinner and drinks at the theatre, and I'd be willing to wager that this probably plays into the long tail phenomenon.

The Alamo Drafthouse is localized to the Central Texas area, though they are rapidly multiplying. Are there any other chains or specialized movie houses that server dinner and/or drinks elsewhere in the States? List them, cause I'm a recent convert and would like to visit them while travelling.

And the theater environment is rapidly losing it's appeal for me -- I'd MUCH rather watch a movie at home on my projector than in a theater with people who can't keep quiet during a movie, can't keep their cellphones off inspite of all the warnings and can't control their bladders for 90 mins.

Seems like a good place to plug the Alamo Drafthouse again as a great place to see a movie. Heck, my wife and I went to the Oscar watching party last night - having the movie theatre experience to watch a television show. And my wife despises regular movie theatres with annoying people with cellphones and smelly kids playing Yu-gi-oh and peeing in the back.

The movie theatre experience, as exhibited by typical big-box theatres, may be as decrepit as the big-box movie. But, like the independent film, the independent theatre will always survive and flourish.

Deliverance canoe trip . . . already been done: http://www.originalalamo.com/archives/deliverance2 004/index5.html

Brilliant idea, genius - it would work beutifully until one of the sharks sinks it teeth into a nice bite of inflatable screen.

Brilliant, Watson, just brilliant. ;-)

http://www.originalalamo.com/rrs/frames.asp?b=/onl ine_tix/show_details.asp?show_id=2668

Check out the Photo Archive of past events.

http://www.originalalamo.com/archives/photoarchive s.html

They had a Mullet Premiere with free admission if you agreed to get a mullet (http://www.originalalamo.com/archives/mullets2002 /index.html)

Check out the Photo Archive of past events.

http://www.originalalamo.com/archives/photoarchive s.html

They had a Mullet Premiere with free admission if you agreed to get a mullet (http://www.originalalamo.com/archives/mullets2002 /index.html)

things with theaters is that all of them use identical or very simular technologies and methods

companies arn't gonna just take a risk with something that might not work.

Funny, but no one had ever heckled or made fun of crappy movies before, had they? These guys started because Sci Fi canceled MST3K. MST3K didn't do it live, they didn't do modern movies, they didn't do it with a live interactive audience, at Quakecon. In reality these guys continuing this are driving DVD sales for MST3K. Otherwise sometimes being in a 8AM Saturday morning time slot isn't doing much for you. Being in front of 4,000 Quakecon attendees gets a whole new group of fans for MST3K. All this makes me want to do is see Mr. Sinus Dirty Dancing for the 3rd time, and follow that up 30 minutes later with Evil Dead 2. Can't beat that combo. Then the next weekend I'll check out Tron with the Tron guy. Whoops Best Brains, you stepped in some Trumpy dumpy. MS had it right, and because of it I get to check out Red vs Blue at Drafthouse this month as well. Sucks if you don't live in Austin. Best Brains is far from being a big corporation.

Funny, but no one had ever heckled or made fun of crappy movies before, had they? These guys started because Sci Fi canceled MST3K. MST3K didn't do it live, they didn't do modern movies, they didn't do it with a live interactive audience, at Quakecon. In reality these guys continuing this are driving DVD sales for MST3K. Otherwise sometimes being in a 8AM Saturday morning time slot isn't doing much for you. Being in front of 4,000 Quakecon attendees gets a whole new group of fans for MST3K. All this makes me want to do is see Mr. Sinus Dirty Dancing for the 3rd time, and follow that up 30 minutes later with Evil Dead 2. Can't beat that combo. Then the next weekend I'll check out Tron with the Tron guy. Whoops Best Brains, you stepped in some Trumpy dumpy. MS had it right, and because of it I get to check out Red vs Blue at Drafthouse this month as well. Sucks if you don't live in Austin. Best Brains is far from being a big corporation.

Another Austinite here... That shit is funny no matter what it's named. How about "Extreme B Movie Funtime Surprise"? Obviously the only damaging similarity here that Best Brains can claim on is in the name.

What's next, Woody Allen suing them for hosting Foleyvision?

and they are doing it again next month before the showing of of the season 2 DVD of Redvsblue. I've often thought of doing something similar. I'd have our Texas Gaming Festival at Drafthouse, but the tables are not big enough for a computer. Console works though, and it is more fun seeing Mr. Sinus at Drafthouse where they belong instead of at a makeshift venue during Quakecon.