I normally don’t recommend going to a movie theater while on vacation, but most movie theaters are not the Alamo Drafthouse. A staple of life for most Austinians, the Alamo Drafthouse offers a unique film-going experience that has led to it frequently being named the best movie theater in the country.
A regular showing will introduce you to some of its charms, the pre-show that screens tie-ins to the film (you’ll want to arrive about forty-five minutes ahead of time to catch the whole thing) and the film-related cuisine (Alamo Drafthouse has a full kitchen so you can eat during the show), but to really get the full experience you have to go to one of their special events. You should plan to do this well in advance, as shows frequently sell out days ahead of time. The midnight screenings are good, but don’t miss Master Pancake Theatre, a live MST3K where they skewer big Hollywood movies. It’s really a great take on what makes Austin such a distinct city.
For more on the Alamo Drafthouse
Adam Breckenridge is a graduate of the MFA in creative writing program at Antioch University in Los Angeles and currently lives in Oklahoma City where he works on classified military documents. He has traveled much of the United States and Europe and plans on taking on the rest of the world. He also writes a film column for http://www.examiner.com/x-3282-Oklahoma-City-Film-Examiner.
Last 5 posts by Adam Breckenridge
- Austin Blog: The Cathedral of Junk - August 5th, 2009
- Getting "In The Know" Austin - July 27th, 2009
- Zilker Park: An Escape from Austin, in Austin - July 24th, 2009
