Pickings are slim this weekend with most screens dominated by Hollywood fare for the Memorial Day Weekend. On top of the many wonderful indie and foreign releases continuing their runs, opening this weekend is a documentary that follows six young dancers as they prepare for competition.

This Week at Violet Crown Cinema

In the new documentary First Position, six children (ranging in age from nine to 19) from five continents prepare to compete in one of the most esteemed ballet competitions in the word, the Youth America Grand Prix. Director Bess Kargman doesn't drift far from the well-established competition documentary formula, making her way into the homes of these children and their families to find the source of their drive.

The formula is repeated, though, because it works and it all culminates in the nail-biting tournament where personal sacrifice and arduous physical training may win a child the opportunities of a lifetime.

Beyond the Weekend at Alamo Drafthouse

The Alamo Drafthouse continues its Summer of 1982 series with a week full of screenings of Rocky III. This second sequel sees Rocky Balboa high and mighty having maintained his title for three years since the epic rematch with Apollo Creed that ended Rocky II. When he loses a friend and his title to an up-and-comer named Clubber Lang, he must regain his humility and strength to re-stake his claim.

It's not all Summer of '82 at the Drafthouse this weekend. Richard Hell, the godfather of punk and now a respected film writer, is coming to Austin to provide his insight on movies at a few screenings at the Alamo Drafthouse. First, on Sunday, May 27 Hell will be presenting two film noirs, Kiss Me Deadly and Touch of Evil, as part of the Cinema Club series. He will return Monday for the Film Foundation screening of King Kong (1933).