This week on the big screen

At the movies: The key to another Earth

It's no secret that an easy way to beat the summer heat here in Austin is to spend some time at the movies. Fortunately for us, there are many options outside of the typical wide-release films. Read through for recommendations on the best indie films and special events this weekend and the week ahead.

This Weekend at Violet Crown

Opening on Friday at downtown's art house theater is Sarah's Key. The film tells the story of Julia Jarmond (Kristen Scott Thomas), an American journalist in Paris who is researching a little-discussed 1942 incident during which French police arrested thousands of Jews and detained them in horrid conditions. The film jumps between Julia in the present day and a young girl named Sarah who, along with her family, was captured during the Vel' d’Hiv Roundup. As Julia uncovers more about Sarah she finds there may be some links between their families. Expect an emotionally challenging story that also sheds light on a piece of history that has all but been swept under the rug.

This Weekend at the Drafthouse

At the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar location, Attack the Block is continuing its run for at least another week of alien fighting mayhem. Opening Friday, though, is Sundance wunderkind Brit Marling's sci-fi drama Another Earth. The film, which stars Marling (who wrote and starred in two acclaimed features at this year's festival, the other being the utterly riveting Sound of my Voice), tells the story of a young aspiring astrophysicist recently accepted into MIT, a successful composer (William Mapother, Lost), and the tragic incident that intertwines their lives on the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth.

At the downtown Ritz location, a few special events this weekend are well worth noting. On Saturday (8/6), Austin Books & Comics presents a screening of Clerks 2 with star Brian O'Halloran (who plays retail shlub Dante Hicks) live. O'Halloran will be on hand for a Q&A and there will be a special presentation of animated Clerks shorts from Powerhouse Animation. On Sunday (8/7), Alamo's monthly celebration of '80s celluloid, Zzang!!!, presents The RoboCop Triple-Feature Reverse Marathon. The evening will kick off with the 3rd film in the series (which inexplicably features ninja robots and jet packs), progress into the hokey but immensely entertaining first sequel (which happens to have been Irvini Kershner's final film), and then cap things off with Paul Verhoeven's original uber-violent, satirical masterpiece, RoboCop. All three will be shown in 35mm and tickets are on sale now.

Beyond the Weekend

It's the 25th anniversary of Blue Velvet and to celebrate, Alamo Drafthouse is presenting the film as part of their Big Screen Classics series. The film will be shown via a gorgeous 35mm print and the theater will offer Pabst Blue Ribbon specials. The first screening is Monday, 8/8 with additional screenings on the 9th and 14th.

On Tuesday (8/9), the Paramount Theatre's Summer Classics Film Series kicks off its World Cinema Series with a pair of French films of the highest caliber. First is Jean-Pierre Melville's Bob le Flambeur, the tale of an aging gangster and gambler who decides to try his luck at both by robbing a casino. Then in Robert Bresson's Pickpocket, a petty thief returns to his criminal habits when his mother dies shortly after he is released from jail.

On Wednesday (8/10) at the Regal Arbor Cinema, broadcast live from Boston is the Angels & Airwaves Love Live event. Tom DeLong, band frontman and executive producer of Love, will be joined by writer/director William Eubank for an intro. After the film, there will be a live performance by Angels & Airwaves, a Q&A, and the debut of the first video from their new Love Part Two album.

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This week's hot headlines

Wurstfest waltzes into this week's 5 hottest Austin headlines

Photo courtesy of Wurstfest

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Editor's note: A lot happened this week, so here's your chance to get caught up. Read on for the week's most popular headlines. Looking for the best things to do this weekend? Find that list here.

1. New Braunfels sausage and beer extravaganza Wurstfest returns for 2024. German culture is on display in many subtle ways throughout Texas' historic towns; Wurstfest is not one of those ways. This oompah-driven, battered-and-fried, lederhosen-clad beer and sausage festival is coming back to New Braunfels for its annual festivities November 1-10.

2. Sixth Street icehouse branches out with posh, old-school sports club. There’s no shortage of spots to grab a drink in East Austin. But despite the area’s wide range of bar offerings — from cocktail lounges to dives — it comes up surprisingly short on sports bars. Enter Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (WTF) Sporting Club, which is taking over the giant East 7th space vacated earlier this year by Easy Tiger.

3. Austin's famous Katz's makes a comeback in the same location. There is good news this week for all Austinites pining for a simpler — and if you ask them, better — Austin of the past. The beloved West 6th Street eatery Katz's is making a comeback more than 10 years after it famously closed. Someone in the Katz family has re-purchased the original location and is hoping to bring back the good old days.

4. Popular Austin hospitality group stirs up sunny new daytime cafe. Since debuting in 2009, Jack Allen’s Kitchen’s weekend brunch has been a staple of Austin’s many best-of lists. Now, owners Jack Gilmore and Tom Kamm are upping the ante. The restaurateurs have founded a new concept, Day Maker Half Day Café, to bring that AM magic seven days a week.

5. Spectacular Austin Trail of Lights gets even more festive with weddings. Locals who feel sentimental about the 60-year-old Austin Trail of Lights now have a shimmering new way to make it part of their personal stories. Surely many have proposed to partners at the Christmas installation, but now they can get married there, too.