In case you missed my big freak-out a few weeks ago, Edgar Wright was invited to Austin to host screenings of his films. On tap were two screenings of Scott Pilgrim (one including a "vegan" feast), a Shaun of the Dead quote-a-long, and Hot Fuzz. I managed tickets for the later, non-feast screening of Scott Pilgrim and the late showing of Hot Fuzz. And both were incredibly fun.
Friday night was my first trip out to the new Slaughter Lane Alamo Drafthouse. And my goodness, that place is beautiful! It still has that new theater smell.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="The New Slaughter Lane Drafthouse"]
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Driving out there was kind of scary because I felt like I was heading to the middle of nowhere, but it was really easy to find. Not sure how a parking lot that big can be so full, but it was. Tip: if you head to the Slaughter Lane Drafthouse, get there early to find a spot, and be prepared to walk.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Interior Sign"]
[/caption]
The interior is very clean, and is laid out a lot like a "traditional" theater. Yet rather than picking up your tickets at a separate kiosk, you go right up to the concessions to get your ticket.
The Drafthouse is trying out a new seating process where you get a number and wait until you can enter. They first let in "priority" numbers, A0-20, then B0-20, B0-40, B0-60, etc. Not assigned seating, but a controlled entrance that lets you pick your seats, much like Southwest Airlines. It works out okay I suppose; I went alone so I didn't have to worry about finding enough seats in a row to sit with someone. The tables at the new Drafthouse are very small, two-person tables, which makes getting to your seat SO much easier. But it'll inevitably mean sharing a table with a stranger, forcing some kind of weird movie-going intimacy with the person next to you. But we'll get over it, I'm sure.
Edgar Wright came out to introduce all of the films he screened that weekend, and did a short Q&A with the audience afterwards. One person in the crowd hadn't seen Scott Pilgrim yet, and when he asked if they enjoyed it they said yes. "Winning over the world, one person at a time," Wright replied. That's kind of the way Scott Pilgrim has gone. It so quickly became a "cult classic" that it seems fitting for Wright to continue to promote screenings of the film.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Edgar Wright after Scott Pilgrim"]
[/caption]
The questions for Scott Pilgrim were appropriately film-student nerdy, especially when I had a chance to ask my token "where in the process was the music/sound design started/considered" question. (I ask this to any director I ever have a chance to ask. For an example, see this post.) He didn't really say anything I didn't know, which is because 1) I'm a big sound nerd, and 2) I've watched this doc about Scott Pilgrim's sound editing about 5o times. But he did bring up a few things that I found interesting as he answered people's questions. Firstly, that there are some parallels between Spaced and Scott Pilgrim, especially the exploration of relationships and the touches of surrealism. Secondly, when asked about the differences between the film and game, Wright said that Scott is like a solo player in a quest, and sees himself as such. The big revelation for Scott is learning Knives is a real person, not an item. And lastly, that Scott Pilgrim is like "Sesame Street on crack" with all of its visual clues, particularly letters and numbers, strewn about in scenes. I love these little glimpses into the making of the movie, one I love dearly, and am slowly planning on writing an article about ...
On my way out Friday night I peaked into 400 Rabbits, the bar/restaurant/pub/whatever on the Slaughter Lane site. It's absolutely gorgeous and has an old-timey saloon feel. If they had vegan food I'd be All Over That.
Saturday night I went back to the Slaughter Lane Drafthouse for a screening of Hot Fuzz, and it may have been the most fun I've ever had at a movie. On our way in we were given small pop guns and a round of "ammo", and were instructed to save them for this scene:
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIcen_eRgtc&t=2m3s[/tube]
And we all did, and when that moment hit everyone in the crowd slowly raised their pop guns into the air and shot 8 rounds of plastic pellets into the ceiling, laughing uproariously. At that same moment confetti fell from the sky, covering the new, sparkly clean theater with strips of colorful paper.
It was amazingly fun.
Afterwards, we got another round of Q&A with Edgar Wright, where he shared stories about filming at his home town, working with Timothy Dalton, the script-writing process with Simon Pegg, his love of Point Break, and Peter Jackson's award-winning cameo.
The whole weekend was incredibly fun, and the Slaughter Lane Drafthouse is a great venue. It's a bit of a drive, but very much worth it.
ek
Friday night was my first trip out to the new Slaughter Lane Alamo Drafthouse. And my goodness, that place is beautiful! It still has that new theater smell.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="The New Slaughter Lane Drafthouse"]
[/caption]Driving out there was kind of scary because I felt like I was heading to the middle of nowhere, but it was really easy to find. Not sure how a parking lot that big can be so full, but it was. Tip: if you head to the Slaughter Lane Drafthouse, get there early to find a spot, and be prepared to walk.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Interior Sign"]
[/caption]The interior is very clean, and is laid out a lot like a "traditional" theater. Yet rather than picking up your tickets at a separate kiosk, you go right up to the concessions to get your ticket.
The Drafthouse is trying out a new seating process where you get a number and wait until you can enter. They first let in "priority" numbers, A0-20, then B0-20, B0-40, B0-60, etc. Not assigned seating, but a controlled entrance that lets you pick your seats, much like Southwest Airlines. It works out okay I suppose; I went alone so I didn't have to worry about finding enough seats in a row to sit with someone. The tables at the new Drafthouse are very small, two-person tables, which makes getting to your seat SO much easier. But it'll inevitably mean sharing a table with a stranger, forcing some kind of weird movie-going intimacy with the person next to you. But we'll get over it, I'm sure.
Edgar Wright came out to introduce all of the films he screened that weekend, and did a short Q&A with the audience afterwards. One person in the crowd hadn't seen Scott Pilgrim yet, and when he asked if they enjoyed it they said yes. "Winning over the world, one person at a time," Wright replied. That's kind of the way Scott Pilgrim has gone. It so quickly became a "cult classic" that it seems fitting for Wright to continue to promote screenings of the film.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Edgar Wright after Scott Pilgrim"]
[/caption]The questions for Scott Pilgrim were appropriately film-student nerdy, especially when I had a chance to ask my token "where in the process was the music/sound design started/considered" question. (I ask this to any director I ever have a chance to ask. For an example, see this post.) He didn't really say anything I didn't know, which is because 1) I'm a big sound nerd, and 2) I've watched this doc about Scott Pilgrim's sound editing about 5o times. But he did bring up a few things that I found interesting as he answered people's questions. Firstly, that there are some parallels between Spaced and Scott Pilgrim, especially the exploration of relationships and the touches of surrealism. Secondly, when asked about the differences between the film and game, Wright said that Scott is like a solo player in a quest, and sees himself as such. The big revelation for Scott is learning Knives is a real person, not an item. And lastly, that Scott Pilgrim is like "Sesame Street on crack" with all of its visual clues, particularly letters and numbers, strewn about in scenes. I love these little glimpses into the making of the movie, one I love dearly, and am slowly planning on writing an article about ...
On my way out Friday night I peaked into 400 Rabbits, the bar/restaurant/pub/whatever on the Slaughter Lane site. It's absolutely gorgeous and has an old-timey saloon feel. If they had vegan food I'd be All Over That.
Saturday night I went back to the Slaughter Lane Drafthouse for a screening of Hot Fuzz, and it may have been the most fun I've ever had at a movie. On our way in we were given small pop guns and a round of "ammo", and were instructed to save them for this scene:
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIcen_eRgtc&t=2m3s[/tube]
And we all did, and when that moment hit everyone in the crowd slowly raised their pop guns into the air and shot 8 rounds of plastic pellets into the ceiling, laughing uproariously. At that same moment confetti fell from the sky, covering the new, sparkly clean theater with strips of colorful paper.
It was amazingly fun.
Afterwards, we got another round of Q&A with Edgar Wright, where he shared stories about filming at his home town, working with Timothy Dalton, the script-writing process with Simon Pegg, his love of Point Break, and Peter Jackson's award-winning cameo.
The whole weekend was incredibly fun, and the Slaughter Lane Drafthouse is a great venue. It's a bit of a drive, but very much worth it.
ek
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