From illegal openings to Quentin Tarantino to air sex championships

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Highlights from 10 years at the Alamo Drafthouse

Cinema Downtown, as recalled by Tim League

1996

June 1: Tim and Karrie League move to Austin from Bakersfield with a plan to start the Alamo Drafthouse.

Dec. 1: Lease signed and construction begins on the Alamo at Fourth and Colorado streets.

1997

March 7: Alamo opens illegally for the South by Southwest Film Festival. No restrooms, no A/C, no chairs, no door. At the end of every night, the Leagues screw plywood back into place in the door-frame opening.

May 24: Alamo Drafthouse opens legally with a double feature of 'Raising Arizona' and 'Spinal Tap.' It's a sellout.

May 25: 'Absolute Power' plays on the second day to three people.

June 27: Harry Knowles, the man behind the Ain't it Cool News Web site, attends his first movie at the post-SXSW Alamo: 'Superfly' with free 40-ounce malt liquor. A friendship begins.

Sept. 3: The Texas Documentary Tour, the first joint-screening with the Austin Film Society, presents Paul Stekler's 'The Political Education of Maggie Lauterer.'

Dec. 4: First Spaghetti Western Spaghetti Feast: 'Fistful of Dollars' with all-you-can-eat spaghetti.

1998

March 23: First Academy Awards Party, now an annual tradition at the Alamo, featuring embarrassing clips of the nominees' past performances.

June 17: The Leagues meet Quentin Tarantino. The director comes by late at night to watch Tim's collection of vintage film trailers. A year later, the Alamo starts to host the annual QT Fest.

Sept. 17: First screening of 'Dark Side of the Rainbow' — 'The Wizard of Oz' to Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' — now an annual tradition.

Oct. 28: Silent film 'Nosferatu' with live musical accompaniment by experimental rock group Brown Whornet. Remains one of Tim and Karrie League's all-time favorite shows.

Dec. 10: 'Battleship Potemkin' with music by the Golden Arm Trio, the first of many collaborations with Graham Reynolds.

1999

June 4: Actor Bruce Campbell's first visit.

Sept. 9: First annual Cannibal Film Festival. 'Human flesh' served to complement the films. Outraged customer files a health complaint. An inspector arrives to ensure that there is in fact no human flesh being served.

Sept. 24: Director Guillermo Del Toro shows 'Cronos' and becomes a regular visitor.

Dec. 11: Harry Knowles' first annual Butt-Numb-A-Thon, a birthday party/fundraiser for the Saturday Morning Kids Club free screenings. It's the venue's most sought-after ticket. Thousands apply yearly for seats. Only 200 people get in.

2000

July 16: Local actor-musician Jerm Pollet is offered gig to front the 'Mr. Sinus 3000 Show.'

Sept. 16: William Friedkin screens 'The French Connection.'

Sept. 24: Inaugural 'Mr. Sinus 3000 Show' is 'Nude on the Moon.' Nude people get in free. Hill Country Nudists come in force.

Nov. 9: 'Like Water for Chocolate' is the first multi-course food and film feast.

Dec. 1: New seats arrive, replacing 1940s seats.

Dec. 7: Tim buys scores of vintage 35mm films from East Prairie, Mo. On the drive home, he gets the idea for Weird Wednesdays, a special screening for trashy grindhouse flicks.

2001

Jan. 11: First 'Black Belt Jones' screening. Tim hand-prints women's underwear with movie line 'My cookie would kill you' and distributes to the first 10 women.

Feb. 21: 'Shockwaves' — very first Weird Wednesday screening.

May 1: 'Deliverance' Canoe Trip — the birth of the Rolling Roadshow, themed outdoor screenings held at locations across the country.

July 6: Alamo Village opens in North Austin.

Aug. 17: QT-5.

Nov. 1: 'Eat Drink Watch Movies' series begins.

2002

Feb. 24: Foleyvision begins with 'Fearless Fighters,' featuring live music, sound effects and dialogue.

June 8: 'Goonies' shows in a cave with visit from Corey Feldman.

Nov. 22: Open Screen Night begins.

Nov. 4: 'American Mullet' screens, with free mullet haircuts in the lobby.

2003

March 1: Leagues hire Mike Sherrill, 'the most important person to ever join the Alamo team and now the chief operating officer.'

June 15: Waiter Henri Mazza promoted to programmer.

Aug. 7: Kier-La Janisse joins the programming team from Vancouver, British Columbia.

Sept. 25: 'Chemistry 101' and 'Mondo Trivia' — early efforts at changing the face of downtown programming by Mazza — begin.

Oct. 9: Mr. Sinus 'Xanadu' Skating Party. Actor Michael Beck on skates for the first time since 1980.

Dec. 5: 'Smell-o-vision' — live smells re-created in the theater to match scenes on-screen.

2004

May 15: Lars Nilson joins the programming staff.

June 13: Celebration for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's 18th birthday hosted by director Eli Roth.

June 27: Videoke starts.

July 20: 'Epilepsy Night,' a survey of films that have caused epileptic seizures in movie theaters. An ambulance waits out front.

Sept. 6: Birth of Music Mondays.

2005

Jan. 25: Air Guitar Championships begin.

Feb. 17: Sing-alongs begin.

June 4: 'Freaks and Geeks' marathon and cast reunion.

July 16: Taylor Negron (pizza guy from 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High') delivers pizza during the middle of 'Fast Times' screening.

Sept. 10: Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez re-enact a scene from 'Silent Night Deadly Night' during QT-6.

Oct. 5: Fantastic Fest, a weeklong extravaganza of science-fiction, fantasy, horror and animation films, begins.

2006

May 26: 'Nacho Libre' premiere with Mexican wrestlers.

June 12: Zack Carlson joins the programming team.

2007

June 12: Austin Air Sex Championships, modeled after the Japanese version, premiere.

June 27: Last night at the Alamo Downtown on Colorado and Fourth streets.