The Alamo Drafthouse will open its Mueller location in 2016.
Photo by Nick Simonite
Austin-based Alamo Drafthouse announced on Monday that it will be opening its sixth Austin-area location, its first in East Austin. Currently on track for a 2016 opening, the new Alamo will be located on Aldrich Street at Airport Boulevard in the town center of the Mueller development.
Alamo Drafthouse Mueller will feature six theaters and seating for up to 600 guests. Oh, and the Alamo is eliminating the traditional first row in every theater, ensuring that there isn't a bad seat in the house. Though all theaters will feature state-of-the-art digital projection and sound, Alamo Drafthouse Mueller will also include two theaters equipped for 35mm projection.
East Austinites can look forward to the Alamo's unique style of programming, including new releases, classics, independent films, foreign movies and special events. In addition to the traditional Alamo offerings, the new Drafthouse will feature special kid-friendly films and events in a nod to the Mueller's reputation as a family-friendly neighborhood.
"We look forward to bringing lots of great new family-focused programs as well as our 'Alamo Drafthouse NEXT' youth film program to the neighborhood," said Amy Averett, the Alamo's director of family and community engagement, in a press release.
Like the Drafthouses at both Slaughter Lane and South Lamar, Mueller will also feature an adjacent bar and cocktail lounge in the spirit of 400 Rabbits and The Highball. The space will feature a live music stage, as well as cocktails, wine and beer selections curated by Beverage Director Bill Norris.
To stay updated on the progress of the east side's first Alamo Drafthouse, visit the Alamo website.
Anthony Mackie in Captain America: Brave New World.
If it feels like it’s been a long time since the last Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, that’s because it has. Deadpool & Wolverine technically counts, but it was really its own thing that was mostly disconnected from the larger story the MCU is trying to tell. And two out of the three MCU movies in 2023 were underwhelming, so Marvel remains far from the highs of its Avengers days.
They’re trying to get things going again with Captain America: Brave New World, the first glimpse of Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) — formerly known as the Falcon — as the new Captain America. The film thrusts the audience right into the action, with Wilson on a mission to retrieve a MacGuffin stolen package for the U.S. government at the behest of President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford). The two men continue to have a symbiotic relationship for the majority of the movie, with each needing the other and hating the fact that they do.
The main story of the film improbably (unwisely?) brings together two of the MCU’s least well-received films, 2008’s The Incredible Hulk and 2021’s The Eternals. Dr. Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), apparently holding a longtime grudge since the events of The Incredible Hulk, plays a big part, as does the Celestial Island, which was last seen at the end of The Eternals and not mentioned in any property since that time.
Directed by Julius Onah and written by Onah and four other screenwriters, the best that can be said for this return of the MCU is that Mackie makes for a compelling presence. The combining of the Captain America elements with his Falcon persona makes for some pretty good action, with the character showing off some unique moves. On the downside, though, he’s mostly facing off against anonymous henchmen, so most of his fight scenes feel repetitive and uninspired.
The story itself is a mishmash of characters that only hardcore Marvel/MCU fans will know, with barely any attempt at reintroducing them to a broad audience. Sidekick Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) and wronged super soldier Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) return from the Disney+ show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, providing some levity and gravity, respectively. Having Sterns back in the mix is never explained properly, nor is how he is able to wield influence over a large number of people.
If there’s to be any lasting memory from this film, it’s the introduction of the (fictional) indestructible material adamantium into the MCU. Previously known from the X-Men universe as what was used to strengthen Wolverine’s skeleton and give him his claws, adamantium is now a prized discovery found in the Celestial Island that, like any valuable material, causes normally level-headed people to get into fights over it.
Mackie brings enough charm to his acting that he can ably act as the lead, something he hadn’t previously been asked to do in the MCU. Ford is fine; his years of experience make him a natural for playing another president, although the transformation his character undergoes is goofier than it needed to be. Nelson has to act from behind some truly hideous makeup and he feels one-note most of the time.
For the MCU to make it back to their previous standing atop the blockbuster landscape, they’re going to have to deliver much more interesting characters and stories than are present in Captain America: Brave New World. It might be time to consider stand-alone stories instead of ones that rely on information that many moviegoers have long since forgotten.
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Captain America: Brave New World opens in theaters on February 14.