THE MENTORS: First official guests of the Alamo Anniversary Celebration!

Kind of funny that it worked out that way - but in a way it also proves that after ten years of business, expansion and change, we still haven't lost sight of the Alamo's original goal: to provide eclectic and challenging programming, and to present it in the most fun way imaginable for a large audience to enjoy.

Music Monday & Emos present:
EL DUCE VITA: THE MENTORS DVD RELEASE
WITH DR. HEATHEN SCUM AND SICKIE WIFEBEATER IN PERSON!
MONDAY APRIL 2 - 9:45pm - ALAMO DOWNTOWN

See the TRAILER and buy tickets HERE

This long-awaited first Mentors DVD is compiled from hours and hours of archival footage. The Mentors - formed in 1976 by Guitarist Sickie Wifebeater (Eric Carlson), Bassist Dr. Heathen Scum (Steve Broy), and the immortal Drummer / Singer El Duce (Eldon Hoke, RIP) - were never ones to shy from controversy, shamelessly billing themselves as the inventors of 'Rape Rock': early 1970s-style heavy metal with extremely sexist lyrics. This DVD - which will be for sale at a special price following the screening - contains live performances from the band in its prime as well as some of their concept videos for their hit songs "Golden Showers", "Donkey Dick", "On the Rag" and more!!!

PLUS! See the MENTORS live at EMOs after the screening! Combo tickets available on the alamo site HERE that include both the screening and the live show!

(note: Due to the cost of bringing in guests, this screening is slightly higher admission than usual for the Music Mondays series - $5/$4 students/heroes, and $13/$12 for the combo tickets)

--------------------

Pan's Labyrinth is the most successful film to EVER play the Alamo

It's official, Pan's Labyrinth has officially shattered all box office records at the Alamo Drafthouse. It's taken out Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, King Kong, Pirates of the Caribbean, Batman Begins, Harry Potter and even Star Wars. This speaks VOLUMES about the city of Austin and makes me very proud to be a part of a community where a Spanish subtitled R-rated fairy tale outgrosses Star Wars. Everyone should pause for a moment and slap a long-distance virtual high-five with former Austin resident Guillermo Del Toro for creating the most kick-ass Alamo movie of all-time.

Pan's Labyrinth continues this week at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. If you haven't seen it, do so very soon. We will only have it until April 5, when it is replaced by Grindhouse, which if I am not severely mistaken, will be taking a shot at the top 5 shortly.

Here's the top 40 grossing movies of all time at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar for anyone who is curious. Note what rolled in at #2...

1 PAN'S LABYRINTH
2 LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
3 PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2
4 STAR WARS: EPISODE III
5 WALK THE LINE
6 BATMAN BEGINS
7 TALLADEGA NIGHTS
8 WEDDING CRASHERS
9 BORAT
10 HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE
11 THE DA VINCI CODE
12 SIN CITY
13 CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
14 V FOR VENDETTA
15 NACHO LIBRE
16 THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
17 CHILDREN OF MEN
18 THE 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN
19 X-MEN: THE LAST STAND
20 KING KONG
21 SUPERMAN RETURNS
22 STRANGER THAN FICTION
23 THANK YOU FOR SMOKING
24 BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
25 WAR OF THE WORLDS
26 THE BREAK-UP
27 THE ARISTOCRATS
28 HITCHIKERS GUIDE TO THE
29 SERENITY
30 A SCANNER DARKLY
31 MR. AND MRS. SMITH
32 INSIDE MAN
33 CARS
34 THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP
35 THE GOOD SHEPHERD
36 GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK
37 JACKASS 2
38 IDIOCRACY
39 MUNICH
40 NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM

History of the Ritz now online!

We are starting a grand search to unearth as much information about the legendary Ritz Theater, our new home. We've started a Wikipedia page with our first pass of general information. We'll be updating it regularly as we unearth more data. If anyone else has photos, stories or history, please add to the Wiki, or send us the information directly.

We've also started up a Flickr Photoset for the Ritz. Currently we have a couple of photos of the Ritz it it's original 1/2 width configuration as well as an assortment of early ads for the Ritz and other vintage Austin cinemas.

We'll also be posting up images and updates about the "Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz" renovation project as they develop.

The TMNT full-size crime-fighting van LIVE at Alamo South Lamar!!!

There are those among you who scoff at excitement, adventure and joy.

Well, for the rest of us, the new TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE movie is one of the most anticipated films of the season. And to celebrate its release, the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar will have the ACTUAL TMNT CUSTOM VAN:



...parked out in front of the theater for the opening weekend.

Seriously.

Come check it out, and see what other surprises we have lined up, including a special menu, a surprise guest appearance and more.

The van will be here Friday, March 23 from 5 - 10pm and Saturday, March 24 from Noon - 7pm.

For tickets and information on TMNT screenings, CLICK HERE.

Don't. Miss. It.

Alamo Drafthouse Downtown moves to the Ritz!

ALAMO DOWNTOWN
CELEBRATES TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY...
Ten years ago, my wife Karrie and I opened the doors to the original Colorado Street Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. We had just finished the most grueling six months of our lives, working on the construction every day, 7 days a week about 15 hours a day. We worked at a feverish pace and did damn near everything ourselves, mainly because we had no money. With a paltry sum raised by hitting up our parents and friends and an assortment of credit card loans, we installed new plumbing, air conditioning, electrical, and fabricated the screening room that we’ve been enjoying for the last decade. On opening day, we had $20,000 left in the bank, and with our freshly-hired staff, our first ever employees, that was enough to last us for about a month if no-one came to the theater. It was a miserably naive business plan.

Thankfully, Austin responded to us quickly and we stand looking back ten years later to happily see the concept of our original cinema still intact. In the next three months, we will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary by bringing back many of our classic events and guests. We hope you will join us many times in April through June as we celebrate and share some of our favorite movies of the past decade. Look for the red “10” logo in our printed guide for all anniversary screenings. - Tim League: founder, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

AND MOVES OPERATIONS
TO THE HISTORIC RITZ THEATER!
For the last 10 years, we have also seen the warehouse district grow up around us. As the neighborhood has become more and more upscale, we’ve seen many long-time businesses fall away: The Bitter End, Gilligans, Waterloo Brewing Co, and Ruta Maya to name just a few. At the end of June, 2007, our lease will expire and due to the high costs of rent, insurance and taxes, we have been not been confident that we would be able to continue occupying our current space. With the end of our lease looming, the Downtown Austin Alliance stepped in quickly and brought us together with the owners of the Ritz Theater on 6th Street. In a matter of weeks, we shook hands on a deal and are now moving full-steam ahead with planning for the next decade of Alamo Drafthouse Downtown programming: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema at the Ritz.

Renovation begins in April and we hope to be open as soon as possible, maybe as early as summer’s end. This theater will prove to be the best Alamo Drafthouse yet. While retaining the intimacy and programming of the original location, the Ritz will have two screens, plush VIP seating, state-of-the-art projection and sound and the new experience of a remodeled and renovated landmark Austin movie palace. Please stay tuned to the Alamo website and blog for progress on the construction as well as updates on opening week programming and events.

We would like to thank Larry and Mary Craddock, owners of the Ritz property who reached out to us and did everything they could to make this happen–we look forward to collectively reviving a lost Austin movie palace; the Downtown Austin Alliance for bringing the Craddocks and us together; Bob Woody, current operator of the Ritz for working with us to make the change; Danny Roth of Southwest Strategies for believing in a couple of kids with no money or experience 10 years ago–we are happy to still be working with you today; Karen Bartoletti and the gang at Graves Dougherty for making the process of jumping through legal hoops relatively quick and painless. We also thank our loyal and extremely hard-working staff, in particular man-in-charge Mike Sherrill for furthering and refining our original vision. Most of all, though, we’d like to thank the “Heroes of the Alamo” members and the entire city of Austin for continuing to support us and watch movies with us over the years. We love this city and we look forward to 10 more years of obsessive cinematic exploits.

For more information about the 10 Year Anniversary screenings at the original Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, check out our website. There are only a few months left to enjoy the original location, we hope to see you there soon and often! Every dollar you spend will be going towards the massive renovation overhaul of the Ritz. Also, stay tuned for information on the “last night at the Alamo” final screening and party!

News 8 Austin gives the word on the Ritz.

KVUE's coverage of the move here.

KXAN's story here.

KLBJ's Alamo/Ritz story here.

Scott Weinberg's CINEMATICAL scoop on the new digs!

The Daily Texan takes a look at the project.

The Austin Business Journal has a great piece on the Ritz/Alamo.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Tickets on sale now!

I cannot confidently tell you what the plot of Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters is. Frankly, I just can't trust any of the official releases. It might be an origin story of Meatwad, Master Shake and Frylock. It might be an action epic that pits our heroes in a battle over an immortal piece of exercise equipment. It may or may not feature a flaming chicken.

No matter what it contains, I can guarantee you one thing: anyone in this town with a modicum of comic sensibility will be at the Alamo South Lamar for the earliest show that still has tickets available. Aqua Teen Hunger Force, the long-running surreal Adult Swim cult hit featuring the exploits of three unlikely roommates (a meatball, a shake and a floating box of french fries), may just be the single greatest thing to burst forth from our nation's TV sets in the new millenium.

Suffice it to say, we are BIG fans of the show. If you are among the uninitiated, run, do not walk, to your nearest video store and prepare for nirvana.

To get us further excited, no film in recent memory has offered up such a perfect tie-in. We'll be featuring the classic Aqua Teen Combo Meal: a meatwad, fries and a shake. We'll also be serving up the broodwich.:

Forged in darkness from wheat harvested in Hell's half acre, baked by Beelzebub, slathered with mayonnaise beaten from the evil eggs of dark chicken forces into sauce by the hands of a one-eyed madman, cheese boiled from the rancid teat of a fanged cow, layered with 666 separate meats from an animal which has maggots for blood. Bacon is extra because there is no swine evil enough to be sacrificed upon the bed of evil....and lettuce.

Expect more fun and announcements, plus details on the Aqua Teen Preshow as we get closer to the date, but for now, remember, there is no other place in Austin
better than the Alamo South Lamar to check out the comedy happening of the year, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie For Theaters.

Click here for tickets

Check out our new website (beta version)!

There are some big changes afoot here in Alamo Land, and I wanted to let you guys be the first to check one of them out. No, we aren't dedicating every third Wednesday to exclusive screenings of STREETS OF FIRE, no matter how badly Kier-la wants us to. Nor are we reconfiguring every preshow to be filled with nothing but Justin Timberlake, no matter how badly I want us to. This news is even bigger: We're launching a Brand New Website!

That's right, in a couple of weeks when you head over to www.originalalmo.com, you'll be treated to a brand new interface and design! So get your fill of the classic look now, but also check out the new look at beta.originalalamo.com, and then tell us what you think! We're still going to be tweaking the look and feel and functionality of everything before we completely replace the classic site, but we wanted to hear from our loyal soldiers first. What do you think? How does it make you feel? Give us your feedback at, appropriately enough, feedback@originalalamo.com and let us know all about it.

Bombastic New Zealand feature THE DEVIL DARED ME TO premieres 3/16 & 3/17 at the Alamo Downtown for SXSW!!

"Live fast! Die faster!!"

Stunt driving! Stunt dying! Records broken! Spines broken! Explosions! Contusions! Convulsions! Of laughter!

The most whiplashing racing comedy action romance in kiwi history is ready to set your eyeballs on fire at 200,000,000 miles per hour in Chris Stapp and Matt Heath's THE DEVIL DARED ME TO, world-premiering at midnight on Friday, March 16th and Saturday, March 17th at the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown as part of this year's SXSW Film Festival.

Think you can handle it? Yeah right. Watch:



New Zealand roustabout-turned-film producer (and supreme friend of the Alamo) Anthony Timpson has brought the film, and cast members and motormaniacs will be in attendance for the most memorable night of the festival. Be there or beat yourself unconscious.

For more info on THE DEVIL DARED ME TO, visit the film's official site!!!