The problem I am encountering with Rufus, our newly adopted cat, is that he is often more entertaining to watch in action than certain movies or TV shows. All I have to do is dangle the turtle/bird on a string (actually more turtle-like now since most of his feathers have been ripped out) around the scratching post, and I am treated to wild and crazy kitty antics. I had a lot of fun watching him leap into what he thought was an empty bathtub earlier this week. His reaction when he realized the tub still had an inch or so of water in it was priceless.
While there are still plenty of movies playing in theaters that I want to see, such as The Life Aquatic and now The Big Red One, it is difficult to muster much enthusiasm for mediocre offerings on film when I can stay home and watch the cat discover the joys of shoelaces. Looking at some of the new releases in theaters, I can’t help but realize that it might be more entertaining to hang out with Rufus.
Category: Austin
movies this week: late and unmotivated
Yeah, I know, I’m supposed to post these on Thursday night or Friday. And here it is, Saturday night. What’s even more shameful is that there are finally lots of movies opening in Austin this weekend, and here I am ignoring them.
I have to say, most of the movies opening this weekend aren’t as exciting to me as some of the revivals coming up in the next couple of weeks. A friend of mine chided me for not seeing a movie in a theater every week, and I pointed out that I often do … it’s just not a recently released movie. So many choices, so little time.
movies this week: catching up again
Most local movie theaters are still offering the same fare that they did at Christmas. A few of the prestige films from 2004 still haven’t hit Austin yet, but they’re not appearing this weekend, either. We’ll just have to keep waiting for Million Dollar Baby and Hotel Rwanda.
Personally, I am thankful of the opportunity to catch up. I mean, I am embarrassed that I haven’t seen certain recent releases. My sister, who hardly ever goes to movies, and usually only for routine romantic comedies, has seen A Very Long Engagement and Sideways and I have not. When my film-apathetic sister is seeing more new movies than I am, it is time to take action. (It’s a weird world when she’s the one who saw arthouse movies and I’m the one who saw the mainstream George Clooney flick.)
So I am hoping that this weekend maybe I finally can see Sideways or Kinsey or something else new in a theater that I’ve forgotten was there, but that I particularly wanted to see when it appeared a month ago. I hope that the good stuff is still there waiting for me to catch up to it.
The Ultimate Garlic Experience
Garlic is Better than Ten Mothers: 1980, dir. Les Blank.
and
Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe: 1980, dir. Les Blank.
Both seen at Alamo Downtown (Jan. 5) as part of Alamo’s “Ultimate Garlic Experience.”
The Alamo Drafthouse chain of theaters in Austin always seems to be offering the Ultimate Experience of something or other. They have a portable movie screen and have shown movies in bowling alleys, lakes, the middle of the woods, and other wonderfully bizarre locations. When they do have Ultimate Experiences in a theater, the evenings include themed meals, silly contests, appearances from the director or a star in the film … you get the idea. Sometimes I wonder if Tim League, founder of the Alamo franchise, is related to William Castle, and I mean that as a compliment.
Last night I went to the Ultimate Garlic Experience at Alamo Downtown. Two short documentaries from Les Blank were shown, Garlic is Better than Ten Mothers and Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe. Since Les Blank’s movies are not available on DVD, and are difficult to find on VHS, that alone seemed like a good reason to attend.
where I’ve been lately
I don’t have a Links or a Bookmarks page on this site, although I will occasionally remember to stick a link to a movie-related site in the right-hand sidebar. Probably that list of links to film sites ought to be bigger, and it ought to include some of the sites I’m about to mention.
But I prefer to add a short explanation about why I enjoy reading a particular site, which I think is more useful and interesting than just slapping a bunch of links on the side of the page without telling you why you should visit them. (Obviously, some are self-explanatory, such as links to local movie theaters I like. But not everything is that straightforward.)
It’s only been in the past six months or so that I’ve discovered a number of film-related weblogs, which are great for tracking news about upcoming theatrical and DVD releases as well as other special events and news. I currently use Bloglines to keep track of my favorite sites that have RSS feeds. Fortunately most frequently updated film-related blogs and sites do have RSS feeds now. My account is publicly accessible and if you are a curious person who likes to see what other people read every day, you can view my Bloglines list here.
Here’s a list of some weblogs, articles, and sites I have enjoyed lately, most of which are about movies in one way or another.
movies this week: ring in the new? what new?
Ring in the new, indeed. There are hardly any new movies opening this week, at least not in Austin. Most everything opened Christmas Day or right beforehand.
So this is a good week to catch up on all the movies you missed while you were out shopping for gifts, or wrapping gifts, or stressing about relatives, or travelling, or eating, or eating more, or doing other typical holiday things. Check out the Movies This Week from last week or the week before if you need to refresh your memory about what’s out there. Alamo Downtown is showing all kinds of crazy and fun stuff, too.
Continue reading movies this week: ring in the new? what new?
movies this week: merry theatergoing
I’ll be in New Orleans in less than 24 hours, which is why I wrote about movies this week earlier than usual. So it would be particularly cool of me to tell you about the movies opening in New Orleans this week, and the special film events in that town, wouldn’t it?
But I haven’t lived near New Orleans for so long that I have no idea where to look for that information. Besides, most of you don’t care.
My sister wants us all to go to a movie on Christmas Day this year, because the family doesn’t seem to have very much planned, and her film-geek boyfriend would enjoy it. I agreed to see anything they like except Meet the Fockers, which her boyfriend wants to avoid too. My boyfriend, on the other hand, is probably watching the movie right now while he’s enjoying a Jette-free week in Austin. I’m actually hoping we can all see The Life Aquatic, since that’s a movie my boyfriend isn’t thrilled about seeing.
Alamo Downtown is closed on Dec. 24 and 25. The other Alamo theaters are open, though. Arbor at Great Hills appears to be premiering most of the new movies this week. But either you’re the kind of person for whom movies are the last thing on your mind this week, or you’re going to try to figure out how many movies you can see during the time off work. If you’re the latter, I am so envious of you. Enjoy.
restaurant hell: a dining event
On Friday night, my boyfriend Beau went to a holiday dinner party for the company where he currently works. I am a nice girlfriend, because I agreed to go to a restaurant that I have actively avoided since it opened in this town: Buca di Beppo.
When Buca di Beppo first appeared in Austin, I knew nothing about it except that the signs outside seemed a bit garish. Well, so are the signs at Chuy’s and I love to eat there. After some friends ate at the new restaurant, I found out the scoop.
Buca di Beppo is a national chain. The restaurant serves only “family-style” meals—most portions are meant to serve 4-6 people.
In other words, single diners are not welcome there.
movies this week: ’twas the week before Christmas
‘Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the house, I went freaking bananas and tried not to stress out, while my boyfriend (who doesn’t celebrate Christmas) has been incredibly tolerant about it all. He’s just happy I’m not making Those Damned Calendars for gifts this year.
I am giving a couple of people DVDs for Christmas. I bought my baby brother The Forbidden Zone, because I know he doesn’t own that movie, since he doesn’t know much about it. Anything he wants on DVD, he usually runs out and gets for himself, so I either have to find an obscure movie or get him a nice film book. (Last year, I gave him an autographed copy of Profoundly Disturbing by Joe Bob Briggs.) I first saw this movie when I was his age and at LSU, so it seems like a very fitting present.
And I bought my married brother the first season of The Dukes of Hazzard on DVD, because he adored that TV show when he was little, and Amazon had the boxed set on sale so it was cheap enough to be a good semi-joke gift. As long as no one makes me watch it, I don’t care.
I still have to finish wrapping presents, buying ribbon and gift tags, picking up the odds and ends I’m using for my parents’ gift (a lot of coffee-related stuff), sending any last-minute Christmas cards, cleaning out my car, and packing for the trip next week.
I’m going to a Christmas party tomorrow afternoon, and on Sunday I hope to see Marcia Ball and Sarah Elizabeth Campbell at Armadillo Christmas Bazaar.
And in the middle of all this, there are movies opening this week. Who’s thinking about movies right now? Well, I kind of am (I got all excited to learn this week that Twentieth Century will finally be released on DVD in February) but I don’t know if I’ll have time to go to a theater. Which is too bad, because I’d like to see Sideways and Kinsey and a couple of other movies before they vanish from theaters. Although I don’t think Sideways will vanish anytime soon, because it’s starting to pick up national awards.
Anyway, if you’re fortunate enough to be completely unruffled by the holiday season, there are a few movies opening this week, and some nice special events too, seasonal and otherwise.
Continue reading movies this week: ’twas the week before Christmas
movies this week: my sister got lucky
How can you tell my sister has a boyfriend? Because she didn’t realize that Ocean’s Twelve is opening this weekend.
If you know about my sister’s fervent and devouring love for everything even remotely related to George Clooney, you realize something major had to distract her. Like a real-life person to dote upon. I mean, she even saw the remake of Solaris, just to get a good look at Mr. Clooney’s bare ass. (She says no one’s ass was worth sitting through that movie.)
Her new boyfriend is a film geek, which amuses me to no end. My sister, whose favorite movies include Ever After and 10 Things I Hate About You (nothing wrong with those, either), has been calling me up to tell me they just saw Being There, or Blood Simple, or Adaptation. She liked Adaptation but I believe she fell asleep during Being There, much to her new guy’s disappointment.