Movie Theater To Go On Tour

ilsie writes "The Austin, TX based Alamo Drafthouse theater is undertaking a massive 6000 mile, 21 day tour across the western United States. They will be screening "12 famous films in their original shooting locations, chosen specifically to intensify the viewing experience," using their 20'x40' inflatable rig."

Comments

They have a history of creative events

[lou2ser]

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)

Re:They have a history of creative events

[Ryan Amos]

Are you kidding me? The Alamo Drafthouse is legendary (and extremely successful) in Austin, TX. They've recently expanded to Houston and Dallas. Look for them to go national; a movie theater where you can buy beer and pizza for about the same price as soda and popcorn anywhere else will be very successful. Not to mention they are totally willing to throw you the fuck out if you're noisy/talking on your cell. At their all-day Monday matinee showings, they sell $1 sodas and popcorn. On Wednesday nights at midnight at the original location they show free B-movies which you are encouraged to get drunk and heckle.

In other words, after going to the Alamo, I rarely see movies elsewhere. They survive by selling some pretty decent food (nothing spectacular, but it beats Chilis) for about the same price you'd pay at a normal restaurant, except you get to watch a movie while eating. Pray they open one in your town, the Alamo is run by film buffs for film buffs without that snooty film buff atmosphere.

Interesting Idea...

[myheroBobHope]

I am actually quite impressed with this idea... it sounds like a fun way of enjoying a movie and experiencing it in a different way. The Alamo Draft House is a great place to watch movies now, as they have cheap tickets and serve food and beer as well as playing old trailers that the actors in the current movie were in (Bill and Ted's excellent adventure and Point Break before Matrix, as an example)... the real question is where do i have to camp out to get tickets?

Reality -- What a Concept!

[Michael_Burton]

They will be screening "12 famous films in their original shooting locations, chosen specifically to intensify the viewing experience,"

Sounds like a great idea. "Close Encounters" made me want to visit Devil's Tower, and I've considered taking the "Vertigo" tour in the San Francisco area. As time goes by, we'll need to depend more on classic older movies for terms like "original shooting locations" to mean anything. Somehow I can't see them showing "Revenge of the Sith" in cyberspace.

Alamo Drafthouse

[yar]

If you have a chance, check out the Alamo Drafthouse. My wife and our friends are big movie buffs. It's the only theater I've really gone to in the last few years, and I can't rave about it enough.

The people who work there are great- they love what they do, and it shows. I can't even mention all of the great events they put on. The giant inflatable screen Rolling Roadshows are also a lot of fun. They've done Goonies in a cave, Deliverance on the banks of the Mississippi, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre where it was filmed... My wife and I love those types of events. ^_^ We got to see Buster Keaton's The General out in the country with a live band and train participating in the background, and Mr. Sinus (formerly Mr. Sinus Theatre but ran into Trademark problems) mocking- yes, Xanadu, at a roller skating rink. Just this weekend we saw the Wizard of Oz synced to the Dark Side of the Moon.

The Alamo is an experience. They even have specials with their regular movies- you can order a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster when you see Hitchhiker's Guide, or a That Yellow Bastard hot dog when you watch Sin City.

Re:it's the norm in Portland, OR

[zoobaby]

It is only a few theaters in Portland. Most coming from the ever popular and expanding McMenamins. Also today, other theaters are pressuring the OLCC to allow them to sell beer as well. Link: http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index .ssf?/base/news-10/111685918055290.xml&storylist=o rlocal

Bad movie insurance

[ajlitt]

In addition to all the wonderful things that others have to say about the Drafthouse, there's one point others may have overlooked. This theater provides ample insurance against having a bad time despite a bad movie.

First off, they serve excellent food, but more importantly they serve beer. Amazingly, a pint of Guinness costs less there than a large drink at a chain theater.

If that weren't enough... You know how most theaters will show ad slideshows before the movie? Instead, each theater has a video projector in addition to the film one, and for some time before the movie (over an hour at a special event) they show related and often funny material related to the movie in question.

Example: I went to see Episode III at the Drafthouse on opening night (well, 12:01am opening day). Not only did I have the option of getting hammered if it turned out to be crap, I was entertained by the pre-movie screening of parts of the Cartoon Network Clone Wars short animations mixed between the likes of excerpts of Turkish Star Wars, Star Crash, various interviews, Mark Hamill's appearance on The Muppet Show, and (possibly worth the price of admission) the Star Wars Thanksgiving Special.

Re:Bad movie insurance

[Altima(BoB)]

I've heard legend of the Alamo Drafthouse. It's where they hold the SxSW Film Festival (South by Southwest) I believe. The guys over at Red vs Blue have done some events there, which would have definately been worth seeing.

It reminds me of particular cinemas in you find in Europe. For instance, here in Ireland there's the Irish Film Centre (http://ifi.ie/ which is government funded with a mandate to show varied and culturally relevant films, giving it the biggest variety of old and new films of any cinema I know. Also, they have a restaurant and bar in the lobby, which has won architectural awards itself.

What just about beats that is the cinema experiance I had in Berlin, wandering about the Bohemian quarter, we went down a random back alley to find a cinema showing Zatoichi (Takeshi Kitano's), even though it was subtitled in German, I could easily understand it all thanks to the 7 bottles of Heineken I brought in with me from the lobby. The cinema itself felt like someone's living room with loads of chairs and a big screen, but with everyone crammed in there it actually felt very communal, in a good way.

Megaplexes can be good in some ways, but I vastly prefer the quirkier venues for my films. In this case, I'm reminded of a tour done in the UK by Stella Artois where they'd show films like Apocalypse Now in an abandoned air force hanger and Hamlet in an old castle.

WOO!

[jrwillis]

As an Austinite all I can say is LONG LIVE THE DRAFTHOUSE. You don't know what cool is until you're watching the latest movie with a pint of Guinness and a plate of REALLY good food. That or their annual showing of The Big Lebowski at a local bowling alley with a free white russian with every ticket.

Keep Austin Weird!