Alamo Drafthouse Digest

October events at the Alamo Drafthouse blast into orbit and do the time warp again

Now that it's officially festival season, the masses overtaking Austin streets and parks are enough to make locals throw their hands up in defeat. Never fear; even if you want to avoid the tidal wave of humanity, there's still plenty of fun to be had.

The Alamo Drafthouse, for instance, has some good options for a chill October — or just to take the occasional break and sit still in a theater for a few hours. On the other hand, they also have some rowdier options if you want to party in a theater with a bunch of friends. It’s your choice, and you can't go wrong.

Alamo Drafthouse in Space

Among the first wave of eagerly awaited film releases for fall and winter, Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity has received plenty of buzz for its tense and realistic depiction of what happens when things go wrong during a routine shuttle mission. Drafthouse programmers have decided this is a great excuse to curate and screen some of the best films depicting space travel, from the sublime to the campy.

There’s the Stanley Kubrick classic 2001: A Space Odyssey, an ambitious and stunning film that will forever be among the top five science fiction films of all time. It’s also considered one of the slowest films out there; if you need more bang for your buck, Total Recall will get its due this month in case you want some high-concept sci-fi mixed with funny Ahnuld faces.

The Austin Browncoats’ Weekend of Whedon Firefly Marathon

If you weren’t watching FOX in the fall of 2002, a few of the words in that title are complete gibberish. But for the legions of geeks who proudly regard themselves as Browncoats, it’s a chance to pay tribute to one of the greatest space westerns that didn’t last a full season.

Series creator and writer-director-producer Joss Whedon has plenty of successes under his belt in both TV and film. While Firefly didn’t bring in the ratings, it created a cult following that shows its support at every comic con out there. Fans will now have a chance to watch all 13 episodes of the adventures of Captain Mal and his crew on the big screen, and it’s for a good cause, as tickets will benefit Equality Now and SafePlace.

The Michael Jackson Sing-Along and Dance Party

Interactive sing-alongs that morph into dance parties are part of the Action Pack’s regular slate of shows, and this month they’ll go back to the beginning with their tribute to the King of Pop.

The Michael Jackson Sing-Along was their first foray into an event centered around singing and dancing to subtitled music videos on the big screen, and it should be bigger and better than ever with all of MJ’s biggest hits for you to moonwalk to. Be prepared to dust off your synchronized Thriller moves, too, considering that Halloween is just around the corner. Speaking of which …

Halloween at the Drafthouse

If you’re looking for the best thrills in town for Halloween, you’ll be well-covered with all the options you need at the Alamo Drafthouse, from straightforward film screenings such as Halloween and The Wolfman to more interactive fare.

If you want laugh rather than scream, you can check out the quote-along for the zenith in 1980s cinema, Ghostbusters. There’s no beating seeing Bill Murray get the ol’ slime treatment or revisiting the days when Rick Moranis was still in movies. If you want the ultimate interactive film experience, prepare your body for the return of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Everyone needs to experience the cult of Rocky Horror, with its fans in costume and their classic call-backs at the screen. It’s a party unlike any other.

The Austin Browncoats present the Firefly marathon.

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Movie Review

Jude Law faces white supremacy in The Order, inspired by a true story

Photo courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

Jude Law in The Order.

White supremacy has long been a stand-in for evil in movies, with the correlation easy to make with through well-known archetypes like those of Nazi Germany. Whether a film puts forth white supremacists as its main characters or supporting ones, their usefulness in a story is as people who are easy to hate and that deserve to be held to some sort of justice.

While that idea holds true in the new film, The Order, the nature of the group featured is somewhat muddled. The central figure is FBI agent Terry Husk (Jude Law), who essentially sets up a one-man task force in the Pacific Northwest to track a group known as The Order. Husk is convinced that the group, which is an offshoot of a larger white supremacist organization, is behind a series of bank robberies to fund anti-government schemes.

Husk recruits local police officer Jamie Bowen (Tye Sheridan) to help follow the group, which is led by Bob Mathews (Nicholas Hoult). The two, joined occasionally by FBI agent Joanne Carney (Jurnee Smollett), do their best to keep up with The Order’s increasingly bold crimes, which morphs from “just” bank robbery to murder.

Directed by Justin Kurzel and written by Zach Baylin, the film is at its best when it delves into the personalities of its characters. Husk’s monomaniacal nature is great for his job, but not so much for his family life. Bowen has a solid bond with his wife and kids, but his greenness in law enforcement leads to some questionable decision-making. Mathews, like many cult leaders, is a charismatic person with very misguided tendencies.

The filmmakers set up the plot (which is based on a real-life story) well, but the details get a little loose as the film goes along. While The Order has a hatred of Jews, a plot against radio personality Alan Berg (Marc Maron) doesn’t make much sense in the context of the film. The geography of the group’s operations is also confusing; they’re located in Washington, but they range out as far as Colorado and California to commit their crimes.

Still, the inherent appeal of good-vs-evil keeps the plot mechanics going, and the side stories of the main characters give them a depth that makes up for other faults. The filmmakers also make sure to demonstrate how the scourge of white supremacy has never been limited to one particular era, and continues to infect American society to this day.

Law commits fully to the lead role, giving a performance with a convincing American accent that is far from the suave British parts which have dominated his filmography. Hoult proves equally believable, giving his character a nuance that somehow makes him more detestable. Sheridan adds another interesting role to a career that would be enviable for any other young actor.

While The Order doesn’t rise to the level of an awards contender, its story is still relatively compelling with antagonists that, unfortunately, never go out of style. A great cast playing characters with engaging lives keeps the film watchable even when it goes into some odd detours.

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The Order is now playing in theaters.

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