it actually took me a while to catch on to the title. i guess being from the "big" city i am not used to seeing population signs at the city limits. who knows. but don't worry i caught on pretty quickly.
the movie itself really surprised me. right from the start, you were introduced the characters and they grew on you (a good growing on you, not like a fungus or anything disgusting), like you were part of their small town with a population of 81. i think that is what i liked the most about this film, the amazing development of the characters. in a weird sort of way it reminded me of heavy (you know the liv tyler/ evan dando film that never really got much press in my parts, i don't know about yours). the thing is i cannot pin down the reason why. but i definitely recommend this flick to everyone in the northeast u.s. that lives in a big, stressful, fast-paced city with lots of rude obnoxious people that could never even imagine being in a high school graduating class of 4, in a town with a population of 81. i bet it is just as, if not more, entertaining for those who have come from small towns around the world, since for once the characters are not depicted as homicidal lunatics or sex starved maniacs driven to this state by growing up in a small town (and i thought all small town people were like that!) i am finally proven wrong, what a relief! this film is definitely in my top 5 for the festival.
so dancer played at the paramount, and since i had never been to any of these theaters i figured maybe i could give my opinions (all good, of course) of the various locations around austin. the paramount is one of those theaters that just radiates history of cinema and theater. i love these big, classic theaters with one huge screen (not 10 miniature, almost tv size, screens that make you sorry that you didn't just get the film on video six months later and watch it in your own home, since the theater doesn't have any atmosphere to make up for the lack of screen size and the rudeness of the employees) and so much atmosphere and friendliness that makes you never want to go back to one of those multiplexes. my imagination was running wild, what classics would i have loved to see in a place like this? if only i had the money to rent the paramount for a month or two, rent every movie i have ever wanted to see in a theater like (hell, that would take years!). all this could have been avoided if i were only born in time for the golden age of the cinema.
but my love for austin theaters did not end there. after a really quick bite to eat, i high tailed it by foot (and some sore feet they are) around to the alamo for the late showing of the leafblower.
from the time i walked in i was mesmerized by the theater. it was something i had never seen before. a theater with long tables alternating between rows of seats, on which food and beer was served by waiters (who were all very nice I might add, and the nachos and salsa was to die for, too bad I had just eaten, but the beer is good too). the first things that came to mind were: how do they make money here (it's only one screen and there is limited seating due to the table space and extra isle width for the waiters to pass through)? why have i never seen this before? it is ingenious! but in a way, the alamo is really a "had to be there" kind of place. looking at their calendar, they have a great schedule, so if for some reason you have never been there and plan to be in the austin area, check this place out, and have the nachos and salsa.
