The Texas Rolling Roadshow - Blood Simple

Last night I had the extreme pleasure of heading up to Dessau Hall in Austin, TX, for a very special screening of the classic Coen Brothers film Blood Simple. The screening was part of a special collaboration between Texas Monthly and the Alamo Drafthouse; the two have "joined forces to celebrate film in the Lone Star state by tapping into Texas’ rich production history to celebrate the ten best Texas films and screen them in the iconic locations where either they were filmed or in a thematic setting."

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The amazing Coen redneck-noir Blood Simple was screened outside of Dessau Hall in north Austin, the famous music venue that doubled as Marty's bar in the film. The aesthetic was amazing, the crowd excited, and the set-up absolutely awesome. The Drafthouse's rolling roadshow involved an enormous inflated project screen, trailer filled with 35mm film projectors, and a glorious true stereo sound system. The screen was set up outside of Dessau Hall on the corner of Gregg Ln and Dessau Rd, tucked away in one of the few corners of Austin yet to be reached by new housing developments. Chirping cicadas and passing trucks only added to the ambiance of the Coens' feature film debut.

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The Drafthouse screened Blood Simple on, as alluded to above, 35mm print film. The look was absolutely gorgeous, and the sound was impeccable. To add to the experience, the Drafthouse showed 35mm print trailers of a handful of the Coens' other films, including crowd-favorite The Big Lebowski (one of their most popular recurring Quote-A-Long films).

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There was nothing about the screening that wasn't wonderful. Great ambiance, excited movie-going crowd, perfect locale, great weather, wonderful visual and audio quality, and an excellent film (by quite possibly my favorite movie makers). If only Marfa wasn't 8 hours away ... I'd be at the screening of No Country for Old Men in a heartbeat.

You can check out the other films on the Texas Rolling Roadshow here.