Ghost
Monday 17, Alamo Village, Slaughter Lane, Lakeline & Mueller
Warning: This Queer Film Theory 101 screening is NOT the same as the show that usually runs on the Highball stage. Rather, these screenings are curated straight-but-sort-of-gay cinematic canon fodder – you know the type – and boy, you could really program every Patrick Swayze movie in that series. But the 1990 supernatural romance is a special case in that it’s perhaps Swayze’s most heterosexual role. Still, the man fits alotta queer into his portrayal of the beautiful Sam Wheat, who perishes when defending an extremely they/them coded Demi Moore (hello, Best Actress nominee!) only to continue into ghostdom in order to solve who exactly their attacker was. Really, the chemistry that makes the movie isn’t between Moore and Swayze; it’s the crackling comedic and emotional connection forged between Whoopi Goldberg’s reluctant medium Oda Mae Brown and the incorporeal loverboy that brings the whole film back to life. – James Scott
Josee, the Tiger and the Fish
Monday 17, We Luv Video
In their continued mission to deliver cool movies to the people, video rental nonprofit We Luv Video hosts another installment of their AniMonday series. This month they highlight Kotaro Tamura’s 2020 release based on the Seiko Tanabe short story of the same name: Josee, the Tiger and the Fish. Boasting a live-action adaptation from 2003 as well, the story follows a university student who swoops in to keep a young disabled woman from being struck by a car. Their relationship grows from there, bedeviled by their differing desires for the future but held together by budding affection for each other. While not all anime rates as okay for kiddos, We Luv judges this picture to be PG so if a parent or guardian comes with, y’all young’uns can have your heart warmed, too. – James Scott
Anarchist Study Group
Monday 17, Monkeywrench Books
That’s right: The cool anarchists do research. After all, the true warrior must know their enemy well. Volunteer-run lefty-lit distro Monkeywrench hosts a discussion sesh going over current book-club pick Late Fascism by Alberto Toscano, although this meet-up only requires you read the first half. Published in 2023, the tome delves into contemporary anti-fascist theory, pulling from Black radical and anti-colonial thought to develop a new offense against the global rise in far-right f*ckery. Silence the anti-intellectual inside, and get to crackin’ some books open, comrade! – James Scott
The Wedding Singer Movie Party
Tuesday 18 & Wednesday 19, Alamo Village, Slaughter Lane & Lakeline
As a kid, my favorite song was “Video Killed the Radio Star” as covered by Presidents of the United States of America. Where did I uncover such a stone-cold sonic stunner? Why, by listening to the soundtrack of Adam Sandler’s first rom-com with Drew Barrymore! Not the original comedy to leverage nostalgia for laughs but arguably the one who most portended our current obsession with doing so, this 1998 movie kicked it back to 1985 for a tale of gig work, break-up songs, and a top-tier Barrymore haircut. You’d enjoy the film regardless, but should you be so inclined to accumulate bits and bobs, Sony Entertainment’s Super Weenie Hut Jr. – aka Alamo Drafthouse – throws in a bunch of goofy little merch to supplement the $20 ticket. – James Scott
Get Crafty: Beach in a Bottle
Tuesday 18, Windsor Park Branch Library
While I write this listing, there is torrential rain hitting the Chron-plex windows. Girl, I need the beach – stat! Luckily our public library offers such wonderful oases such as this crafternoon trip to the tropics. With provided supplies, you and yours can re-create a summer scene safely guarded from climate change via its glass bottle confines. Who knows? If you put the bottle to your ear, you may even hear the ocean. – James Scott
Bamboozled
Wednesday 19, Hyperreal Film Club
I don’t remember the name of the Undergraduate Studies course I took my freshman year at UT-Austin, but I do remember one particularly bold assignment from my professor: to watch and discuss Bamboozled. This Spike Lee joint, maligned upon release in 2000, follows a television writer (Damon Wayans) who is so fed up with his racist company that he pitches an idea so heinous – a modern minstrel show – that he’d have to get fired, right? Of course, Mantan becomes a sweeping success instead. Those UGS courses are meant to introduce 18-year-olds to the challenging new ideas that a higher education promises. For me, nothing did so better than this brutal satire of American entertainment. – Carys Anderson
Teen LGBTQ Craft Space
Wednesday 19, Central Library
Few experiences leave one more satisfied than hands-on art. There’s a certain release that comes with crafting, a way to physicalize your thoughts into little objects or accessories – now in three dimensions instead of an untouchable concept. For the best results, crafting should be introduced to the young as soon as possible, so I call out for all y’all teen Chronicle readers to find places to get those creative energies flowing. As our current federal – and state – governments fearmonger about any mention of the LGBTQIA community, places like your local library remain as safe spaces in the truest sense: environments that encourage expression without oppression. – James Scott
The Straight Story
Wednesday 19, John Gillum Branch Library
Known more for his outsider art and wild visuals, the late David Lynch gets rarer praise for his incredibly empathic filmmaking. No place is this skill better exemplified than in his outing with the House of Mouse. This Disney-released live-action picture started as a true-story screener based on real person Alvin Straight’s 260-mile trek on a lawnmower to see his brother one last time. Lynch uses the film to portray aging vulnerably, with each little vignette Straight goes on emphasizing how our connections to those around us are what define our very lives. A love letter to middle America – its wide open spaces familiar to anyone who enjoys a good Lynchian driving scene – this is a perfect all-ages intro to the director whose work remains totemic to our modern media landscape. – James Scott
History in the Making
Through May 2, the Future Front House
Curator Taylor Danielle Davis alongside the ATX-based Do Not Disturb collective put two questions to viewers of their upcoming exhibit: What does Black history mean to you? And how are you making history today? Opening this Saturday, Feb. 15, at creative cultural hub Future Front, this show incorporates the work of emerging Texan artists Dontrius Williams, Constance White, Salihah Saadiq, Jasmin Porter, Karin Moss, Macsen, Koen, and Yannis. The myriad artistic mediums presented also pull from visual archives of the Texas South, weaving in Black history into a story of culture preservation. The kickoff party includes tunes from DJ Wyldflower and drinks provided by Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky, Don Julio, Seedlip, and Tito’s Vodka. Registration for opening night required. – James Scott
The Incredibly True Adventures of 2 Girls in Love
Thursday 20, AFS Cinema
AFS continues its gay agenda of educating Austin cinephiles on the best of the queer canon with this coming-of-age romp starring none other than a futchy teenage Laurel Holloman (Tina Kennard, for those familiar with The L Word). Holloman plays Randy, an outcast tomboy who falls in love with popular girl Evie (Nicole Parker). As they trade art and music and navigate how out they can be amongst family and friends, they also manage to squeeze in a tender wine- and weed-fueled sex scene. – Lina Fisher
Madame Web
Thursday 20, Hyperreal Film Club
Oh, you haven’t seen Madame Web yet? What, because you heard it was bad or something? Fool that you are, you’ve allowed Marvel Studios loyalist propaganda to ward you away from the best film of 2024! Initially considered a kidney stone passed through in the last dying breath of Sony Entertainment’s attempted Spider-Man villains multiverse, what came out last February was instead a cinematic revelation. Dakota Johnson blazes a trail for unlikable protagonists in her Cassandra Webb performance, her indifference and deadpan manner like a balm on the over-commercialized soul. You may only know her as the woman whose mother was in the Amazon while researching spiders, but after this screening, you’ll understand that her web connects us all. – James Scott
Want to see all of our listings broken down by day? Go to austinchronicle.com/calendar and see what’s happening now or in the coming week.
This article appears in February 14 • 2025.
