What Would Duckie Do? He'd go to the 80's Prom Benefit for the Cure this Saturday!

In 1986, the fledgling Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation was only 4 years old, but already on it's way to become the nation's largest breast cancer awareness organization. Today, Susan G. Komen for the Cure has donated over 1 billion to breast cancer research and health services and currently mobilizes over 75,000 volunteers nationwide!

In 1986, a little movie written by John Hughes defined a generation of freaks, outcasts, punks, metalheads and the all-too-familiar 'richies' as predestined cliques unable to melt into the mold of a fine 80's cheese. Or could they overcome their differences in the name of love? Today,the film PRETTY IN PINK has donated over 100 trillion to Breast Cancer research and health...alright that's a bold-faced lie, but the film wears the right color and is about to do some serious good.

Wear pink this Saturday for the 80's Prom Benefit for Susan G. Komen for Cure! Presented by Grapevine Market and sponsored by PakMail and Kerby Lane, here's your chance to go back to prom (this time, with the right person), and all proceeds will go toward Breast Cancer awareness and research to find the cure! Gourmet hors d'oeuvres, a live DJ, dancing- and come dressed in your prom best for a chance to be crowned Prom King and Queen! And plenty of other surprises, door prizes and 80's indulgences! And stick around for a special Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow screening of the Brat-Classic PRETTY IN PINK!

It all goes down at Grapevine Market in Austin on Saturday, May 24th. It starts at 7PM and you can save $5 if you get your ticket online here!

Do good. Have fun.

THIS WEEK AT THE ALAMO: The Alamo Guide... in Blog Form

School's out, graduation weekend has come and gone, and the temperature is pushing past the 90s. Hell yeah. Hello, summer! It's nice to have you back. This summer is already shaping up to be one of the least disappointing in terms of blockbusters, too, with IRON MAN obviously being hands-down *amazing*, and after some rumors of meh-ness and fears of another EPISODE I debacle,, INDIANA JONES is getting really good reviews, too. Add in the fact that I don't think they make enough liquor in the world to fill the cosmos we'll all be drinking during SEX AND THE CITY, and I almost don't care whether the water in Barton Creek is flowing like mad this year or not!

FEATURED SHOWS AND EVENTS AT THE ALAMO RITZ


- INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL -
: Alamo Ritz : Opens Weds, May 21 : Midnight :

You know you're going to see it, so you should see it in the theaters. And when you're seeing something in the theaters, you should *always* go to the Alamo, but that holds especially true for INDIANA JONES. Join us at the Ritz for menu specials as well as a USA vs. Russia vodka special. Can Tito's defeat the forces of Stoli? Your mouth will be the battleground. Plus, all three Austin Alamos will have menu specials based on the locations of all four INDY movies!

- THE ALAMO CRAWFISH BOIL -
: Tim & Karrie League's House :Sat, May 24 : 5pm

This one isn't at the Ritz, it's at Tim and Karrie's *other* house, the one where they actually sleep. Chef John Bullington is coming over, we're setting up tables and chairs, and we're going to be boiling living creatures so we can eat them. The crawfish will be hot, the beer will be cold, and the good times are guaranteed.

- SEX AND THE CITY -
: Alamo Ritz : Opens May 30 :

Holy Manolo Blahniks! The opening weekend of SEX AND THE CITY at the Ritz is already sold out! If you don't want to miss out on the ultimate girl's nights out this summer, with Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, Charlotte, and most importantly cosmos, grab your tickets to the second weekend now! If you can handle a first viewing without cosmos, scroll down to the Village part of this email and grab your tickets to their shows on opening weekend, then come back for a cosmo with your second viewing!

- the MONSTER ROCK Sing-Along -
: Alamo Ritz : Thurs, June 5 :

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - this show will DESTROY YOUR FACE. Consider it the sequel to our annual LOVE BITES Power Ballad Sing-Along; the MONSTER ROCK Sing-Along has several of those same rockers, but this time their amps are plugged in. Plus, we've added bands that never got pussy enough to sing a ballad and couldn't help rocking out ALL THE TIME. Expect a lot of explosions, girls in bikinis, and men wearing three inches of make up under their rocking perms.

- the TOM JONES Birthday Sing-Along -
: Alamo Ritz : Sat, June 7 :

A few years back, Tom Jones was considered a corny idol for your mom, but that era of foolishness is now forever behind us and everyone now knows that he is, and always has been, the ultimate man's man, the powerhouse you need in any self-respecting bachelor pad, and the only reason any of us continue going to Las Vegas now that the entirety of the strip is covered with that pansy theme park stuff. Tom is swank, hip, and sexy in a way that some of you still can't admit to, but deep down every single one of us aspires to imitate.



FEATURED SHOWS AND EVENTS AT THE ALAMO SOUTH LAMAR

- Uwe Boll's POSTAL -
: Alamo South Lamar : Opens Fri, May 23 :

POSTAL is insulting, irreverent, politically incorrect and funny as hell. Cult director Uwe Boll has been called all the bad names in the book by the critics. Now he's fighting back. From the opening scene that takes place inside the cockpit as terrorists fly a jet into the twin towers, POSTAL grabs you by your nutsack, squeezes hard, and never lets go. Sometimes it hurts, but later on you start to miss the pain, and then no other hooker will be good enough for you.

- Fantastic Fest presents MACHINE GIRL -
: Alamo South Lamar : Monday, June 2 : 10pm :

Initially slated for Fantastic Fest 2008, THE MACHINE GIRL was bought by Media Blasters and will come out before the fest. So we're offering up this giddy gorefest as a free screening for Fantastic Fest badge-holders. One more reason to get a badge early. Look for more of these in the months leading up to the big event!



FEATURED SHOWS AND EVENTS AT THE ALAMO VILLAGE

- SEX AND THE CITY -
: Alamo Village : Opens Fri, May 30 :

Okay, so we don't have a full liquor license at the Village, and therefore can't serve you cosmos with the movie. But we still have delicious sangrias and wines and everything else to offer you, and if you want to be among the first to find out if Big dies or Steve really cheated on Miranda or Charlotte runs back to Trey after hearing about Bunny's horrible accident, you can join us at the Village on opening weekend!

Love him or hate him...UWE BOLL is FOREVER!

Fantastic Fest guest, pal of the Alamo and enemy of film critics everywhere, Uwe Boll has been given the honor of a lead story in last weekend's New York Times! Though the feature doesn't blindly praise all of the director's work, it does give him the rare opportunity to state his case in the major media, and explain why his title of "Worst Director of All Time" is a bit less than fair.

Read the article HERE!

It also covers his most recent film POSTAL, which debuted to packed houses at Fantastic Fest 2007 and will be returning to the Alamo South Lamar THIS FRIDAY to obliterate the boundaries of good taste. Get your tickets HERE!

Congratulations, Uwe!

Crawfish: Their claws can't protect them from my tummy

I don't know how I've lived in Texas for so many years and never experienced one before, but it wasn't until last month's rehearsal for our upcoming CRAWFISH BOIL that I'd ever been to one of these magical evenings at all. Now I can't get enough of them and am all sorts of excited for this Saturday's real deal at Tim and Karrie's house. Why? First of all, because crawfish scare me. This isn't a big surprise to me, as I have an irrational fear of ALL fish, but while my fear of regular fish is something I can't explain at all, I feel like having a bit of trepidation around a big vat of live crawfish makes sense, because those suckers have claws.

However, even though I'm a total pansy and get creeped out by their claws, I still found out that I love me some crawfish, especially when they're boiled. First of all, boiling living things = pretty awesome. Especially when they're living things that creep you out when they're moving around.



And secondly, they're the ones with the sharp pinchers, but once they're safely dead, my hands become the claws that pick apart their silly little shells and get their tasty meat into my mouth. Take that, crawfish!



But the real surprise to me (because I'm an idiot) is that you don't just boil crawfish at a crawfish boil. Wha?? I know! But it's not just the crawfish that go into the pot, and then into your mouth and your belly. You also get all sorts of other goodies, like the greatest corn and potatoes ever, for starters, and it's all so awesomely spiced with cajun goodness, especially when our chef John Bullington is involved. He did the dry run for us, and he's going to be out there cooking them up again for us this Saturday at the League's house, and I'm going to be there for more.



You can join us for all the crawfish you can eat and a keg of cold beer to wash them down with for $25, and tickets, while they last, are available RIGHT HERE. We're not screening a movie or doing anything film-related for this event, but we recently found out that there are, in fact, other ways to have fun, too. This is an intriguing new possibility to us, and so while we'll always love movies first and foremost, every once in a while we might do something like boiling crawfish just... because we like to do it. Come on out on Saturday, and we'll see you there!

SON OF RAMBOW detonates at South Lamar today. Bring the family!

We were happy but not surprised when we opened the Austin Chronicle to find that SON OF RAMBOW was their Four Star Pick of the Week. Read the review here.

Bob Mondello at NPR's All Things Considered loved it too.

We think SON OF RAMBOW is destined to become one of those "cool kids classics." Even though it's not marketed as a kids' film per se, if we had kids - we'd watch it twelve times. In fact we may even adopt some kids just so we can watch it with them. The story of kids growing up in the '80s, learning to love film and finding an outlet in it has the ring of real truth and the performances by the kids are among the best we've seen.

Click here to read more about it and buy tickets.

Note that the film is rated PG-13 for mild "violence and reckless behavior." Which you'll probably see more of on the drive over than in the film.

Rolling Roadshow Spain- Leone Poster Set!

Like we do every year at the Alamo, we commemorate and promote the films in our Rolling Roadshow tour by commissioning world renown Gig Poster artists to create new and exclusive posters for each screening.

This year, as I'm sure you've seen us blog about here already, we're going to cross the Atlantic to present free screenings of Sergio Leone's 'The Man With No Name' spaghetti western THRILLOGY!

First up is the Heads of State with their stunningly designed 'A Fistful of Dollars' print.



Next is Jay Vollmar with 'For a Few Dollars More'.



And wrapping up the series is Jeff Kleinsmith's beautiful 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.'



Each silkscreened print is 24 x 36, of limited edition, and individually numbered. Kleinsmith and the Heads of State have signed each of theirs as well! Printing expertly done by D and L screen printing.

Each print is available individually or while supplies last, as a pre-packed set! These are currently up for pre-sale on Mondo Tees' website. A word to the wise- almost EVERY new poster we've put out in the last few months has sold out before it arrived in the store. Get your pre-orders in now, or you'll be left with a trio of sad empty spaces on your wall...and an empty space in your heart.

Posters will all be in hand and out for delivery on the 30th of this month!

Check out more information about the tour here.

Next Wednesday's PRINCE CASPIAN Narnia Feast Menu posted. Mmmm...MMM!

The movie feast is one of our favorite signature Alamo events and we've never loved it more than at the first Narnia Feast.

But this time John Bullington has set his culinary sights on the British Isles to create a PRINCE CASPIAN Feast that's bigger, better, tweedier and magicaler. Again, no talking animals were harmed in the preparation of this menu. Join us next Wednesday May 21. Only $60 for the movie, the food, and all that wine. Here's that menu:

Apples
parsnip and apple soup with rashers and braeburn crisps
Gimenez Rilli Torrontes 2006

Soles in Coffins
lemon sole poached in white wine and baked in purple potatoes with wild mushrooms and prawns
Colombia Pinot Gris 2005

Stilton Beef, Roots and Clapshot
seared beef tenderloin, a wedge of stilton and glazed leeks with baby carrots in thyme and mashed turnips and potatoes
Ken Forrester Petit Pinotage 2007

Pudding
baked apple and coconut pudding with hazelnut shortbread
Taylor Fladgate Ruby Porto NV

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA at The Ritz!!!!!

Holy SMOKES.

After the success of our Big Screen Sci-Fi Classics series at The Ritz, we wanted to top off our incredible pre-summer movie series with something COLOSSAL. And after the rousing reaction you all gave to our screenings of another John Carpenter/Kurt Russell masterpiece THE THING, we realized there was only one option...

The most SLAM-BANGIN'EST, GUN-BLASTIN'EST, ANCIENT CHINESE MYSTICISM-INEST ACTION ADVENTURE COMEDY THRILLRIDE EVER SEEN...

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA!!!!!!!!!

For those of you who've yet to experience this pulse-pounding foray into life-affirming entertainment, this movie ranks way up there with GHOSTBUSTERS and PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE as an ultimate distillation of PURE FUN. Kurt Russell plays two-fisted trucker Jack Burton, a gambling, beer-chugging schmoe whose macho heroics land him on the supernatural immortal kung-fu warrior shitlist. The lightning and magic lazerbeams fly through the streets of San Francisco as Jack and his fellow lowbrow adventurers face off against rampaging maniacs, elemental demigods, mythical beings and even prehistoric subterranean monstrosities!!

MAY 18 - 21 is your rare chance to catch this absolutely unparalleled movie in its enormous Scope 35mm widescreen glory, so don't miss out! Get your tickets HERE!

Here's the astonishing trailer!:


We also have special limited edition silkscreened posters made just for these shows available through the mighty Mondo Tees HERE! They glow in the dark and are soooo WOW. Look!:

















...And as a special bonus, here's director John Carpenter's so-called rock band The Coup De Villes with a very uncomfortable MUSIC VIDEO for the film's infectious theme jam!:


Doesn't that keyboard player look exactly like the lovechild of Adam Sandler and Billy Joel?

Anyway, don't let the music video fool you...BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA is an EARTH-SHAKING JUGGERNAUT of ADRENALIZED EXCITEMENT gone TOTALLY OVER THE MAX! See you there!!!!!!

Facebook Guest List for the PRINCE CASPIAN Sneak Screening!

Fantastic Fest and Ain't It Cool News present a special sneak preview screening of THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN on Thursday, May 15 at 7:30 PM at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. I read ALL of this series back to back as a devoted 12 year old fantasy nerd, and that early programming continues to drive my enthusiasm to a fever pitch with each new film installment. We saw a sneak preview of footage from Prince Caspian at this most recent Buttnumbathon and while most of it was nothing more than guys in green pants against a green background with rough vector renderings of swashbuckling rats, I still had chills run up and down my spine.

We had 100 seats to give away to our Fantastic Fest badge-holding friends via our Fantastic Fest facebook group. If you're not a member yet, it's easy to join and you get first crack at tons of great free sneaks and promos!

And the CASPIAN winners are...

(in alphabetical order by last name)

Paul Alvarado-Dykstra +1
Rae Anderson +1
Jennifer Brown +1
Debbie Cerda +1
Matt Dailey +1
Tron Delapp +1
Jesús DeLeón-Serratos +1
Matt Dunn +1
Joanna E +1
Owen Egerton +1
Dan Eggleston +1
Mike Eitel +1
Kendy Ferguson +1
Chris Fuller +1
Wes Gilpin +1
Troy Gonzales +1
Bobb X Ha +1
Megan Hagins +1
Chris Henney +1
George Arthur Hickman +1
Patrick Higgins +1
Eugene Hsu +1
Graham Hutchins +1
Jamie Jeffress +1
Josh Johnson +1
Matt Johnson +1
Sven Johnson +1
David Kallison +1
Gwyneth Smith Lenfest +1
J.C. De Leon +1
Aaron Lindsey +1
Nathan Locklear +1
Jennifer Majors +1
Lacy McKay +1
Hilarie Mclaughlin +1
Lupe Mercado +1
Fred Munoz +1
Jason Murphy +1
Khanh T. Nguyen +1
John Osmon +1
Eve Richter +1
Daniel Rigdon +1
Tresa Rockwell +1
Harry Russ +1
Alyssa Saucedo +1
Uber Shauna +1
David Roland Strong +1
Heather Timmis +1
Jay Tsao +1
Andy Tucker +1
JJ Weber +1
Mark Wensel +1
Gavin Wilson +1
Greg Wilson +1
Zachariah Wood +1
Meredith Woods +1
Laura Zappi +1

As always, seating is first come, first served. Don't be late! If you do the math, you'll notice there's slightly more than 100 seats accounted for above. Some people always don't show (no matter how awesome the movie is)...so just sayin', be early.

New Poster- Pretty In Pink by Jay Ryan!

May 24th, the Rolling Roadshow will be screening Pretty in Pink up at the Grapevine Market on Research Blvd, here in Austin. To promote the event, internationally renown rock-poster artist Jay Ryan has crafted this great new print!

Available right now for order on www.Mondotees.com, this print is sure to fly fast. (Jay brought us the long sold-out 2001 poster last month...)

Measuring 20x24, this limited edition 6 color hand-pulled silkscreen print is signed and numbered by the artist.

Speed Racer Road Rally scores posted!

Scores have been posted for the Speed Racer road rally that was held on Saturday, May 10. The race was tight, but rising above the rest was Team Birthday, followed by Team Super Awesome in second place and Team Rollerfeet in third.

Complete score breakdown is here (downloadable PDF)

You can check out the team photos on the Speed Racer Road Rally Flickr page.

If you competed in the road rally, please post your photos to this Flickr page. Login to flickr.com as user: speedrally, password: trixie. Upload your pictures and indicate your team name in the photo title.

We'll be posting the video of the song competition later this weekend and will be updating this listing with the link.

Thanks for participating and we hope to see you at the next Alamo Drafthouse Road Rally adventure. The Death Race 2000 remake is due out this fall, something tells me we'll be hitting the road again!

Ladies Only! 100% guaranteed penis-free!

Ladies, want to experience this estrogen-rich film without the burden of eye-rolling, buzz-killing, one-thing-wanting dicks?

Then gather your best friends together and make your way to the Ritz for our special 'Ladies Only' show! Something just doesn't sound right when you say 'Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha, Miranda and John.' So, leave John at home (in the crate so he doesn't chew up your couch) and embrace the warm, welcoming arms of a theater with absolutely no men! We're talking everyone- the audience, the servers, the managers- ALL female! Can you imagine a more beautiful world?

But if you absolutely MUST see SEX AND THE CITY on opening day (May 30th) and you don't mind a bunch of chumps in the crowd, you better get your ticket now because they're on sale! Forget IRON MAN and SPEED RACER, forget BATMAN even- this is the most anticipated film of the Summer!

And while supplies last, if you order a cosmo at the Ritz, you get to take home the commemorative SEX AND THE CITY long-stem glass home with you...so when you break out the DVDs at home, you can recall that magical time when the fashionable foursome were ten feet tall on the silver screen!

NPR goes full-metal on SON OF RAMBOW!!!

Wheee-ow! National Public Radio, the world's most respected media outlet of any kind in the history of the universe, has taken it upon themselves to extoll the many virtues of the incredible upcoming film SON OF RAMBOW (opening at Alamo South Lamar on May 16)!

This is a movie that we at the Alamo have been rabid about for a loooong time, and it's great to see other folks being converted to the cause as well, especially when they're the type of folks that can really get the word out on a film as special as this one.

NPR's All Things Considered program says: "If Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn had had access to a camcorder, the adventures in this movie-besotted movie might be the sort of thing they'd have dreamed up. Cheerfully ramshackle, childishly overstated and pretty darn appealing."

Check out the entire article HERE for more praise and information about SON OF RAMBOW, and we look forward to seeing you here when it opens, because unless there's an earthquake or hurricane, we'll probably be at every dang screening.

Pineapple Express sneak preview photos

I don't know about you folks who made it into the screening, but I for one enjoyed the hell out of Pineapple Express. My hopes were high going in - a Freaks-and-Geeks style reunion of Seth Rogan and James Franco, a big free-form role for my new favorite film comedian Danny McBride (don't miss the upcoming FOOT FIST WAY, his breakout role, at the Alamo in June), and direction by indie-film-darling David Gordon Green. PINEAPPLE EXPRESS delivers the goods, big time, but it's not your typical Judd Apatow film. The violence and action are actually a bit unexpectedly intense and there is a weird-o deviant vibe running through the whole film that I loved. Also, during the Q&A it was revealed that a lot of the crazy out-there dialogue, in particular most of what was spewing out of Danny McBride's mouth, was unscripted and partially improv'ed.

Pineapple Express is fresh and creative, and laugh-out-loud funny. I've attached the event photos from Marie Catrett, including shots from the post-movie Pineapple Bong building contest and the amazing shot of Seth Rogan above. He should really print that out for his official headshot.

Pineapple Express opens at the Alamo South Lamar on August 8

The Menus are in and Mom will be Happy

Even though we should celebrate our Mothers every single day, thanking them and praising them endlessly for giving us life and helping us through...we don't. So, we make up for it by making one day really, really nice for her.

The menus are final for our special Alamo Mother's Day Feast events and the chefs have truly outdone themselves!

Mom, surely one of these will ease the pain of my birth after all these years?


At the Alamo Village, chef Elijah Horgan has devised a perfect pairings of trash and class to accompany the misadventures of HI and Ed for...

The RAISING ARIZONA Mother's Day Feast

I
CHILE RELLENO, BENEDICT STYLE
Red bell pepper stuffed with ground beef picadillo baked into a buttermilk biscuit. Topped with a fried egg and ancho hollandaise.
(Bex Rielsling, Germany)

II
SHRIMP CACTUS SALAD
Bed of field greens with grilled shrimp, nopales, cotija, toasted pumpkin seeds and creamy sherry vinaigrette
(Santa Rita 120 Sauvignon Blanc, Chile)

III
CHICKEN 'N' WAFFLES
Hand-battered spicy chicken cutlets with marsala chicken jus and waffle shards with vanilla scented syrup and sliced strawberry
(Jacob's Creek Shiraz, Australia)

IV
CINNAMON SUGAR TORTILLA NAPOLEON
With sweet marscapone cream, strawberry and chocolate
(Llano Estacado Muscat Canelli, Texas)

Chef John Bullington has masterfully mirrored the elegance and sophistication of Holly Golightly for the...

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S Mother's Day Brunch

I

Blackberry danish with espresso mousse

II
House smoked rainbow trout with spring onion slivers and creme fraiche on whole wheat bagel toasts

III
Chilled sorrel soup with fresh crab and chanterelle mushroom

IV
Poached eggs, jamon serrano on toasted brioche in bearnaise with truffle sweet potato hash

V
Bourbon flamed banana in a mocha crepe with tangerine glaze

Each course served with a sparkling wine from around the world including champagne, sparkling shiraz, cava, proseco, and a california sparkling variety.

And finally, rounding out your triumvirate of options with the most "decadent" of all, chef Trish Eichelberger channeled her inner-lush to complement on screen romance in...

THE THIN MAN Feast

I
Tito’s Vodka and Lime leaf steamed P.E.I. Mussels
(Titos and Tonic with Lime)

II
Petite Roast Beef Sandwiches on Rye with Bourbon Braised Cippolina Onions and Brie
(Makers and Soda)

III
Seared Trout deglazed with Tarragon-Gin Court Bouillon, Cherry Tomato and Olive confit, Wild Rice Blend, and Grilled Radicchio.
(Martin Codax Albarino)

IV
Dark Chocolate and Dried Cherry Petit fours with Champagne Sabayon.
(Brut D’ Argent)

Mom, I love you... With all my heart... But no, you can not have any of my bourbon flamed banana in a mocha crepe with tangerine glaze...you already had your own.

Happy Mother's Day, Moms!