Hackers
Monday 25 – Tuesday 26, Alamo Village and Lakeline
With Drafthouse’s Queer Film Theory screening choices, the path from straight text to queer subtext is usually a pretty twisty one. Not so with Iain Softley’s Nineties techno thriller, whose cast of androgynous It boys and girls look gay as hell while they hack the mainframe. Matthew Lillard’s braids and tight mesh shirts alone have influenced a whole generation of gender*ckers, which is to say nothing of Angelina Jolie’s Acid Burn being a boon to every alt-girl kickin’ it at Kingdom. Of course, they’re not the main player here: That’d be Dade Murphy, aka Zero Cool, aka Jonny Lee Miller – who my editor might actually scold me over not mentioning, so this one’s for you, KJ. Miller plays the PC prodigy who leads his fellow hackers in a fight against evil corporate computer guys. Log in at Alamo and hack the world, if you can snag a seat in time. – James Scott
Mandy
Monday 25, Hyperreal Film Club
Nic Cage isn’t too big for the world; the world is too small for Nic Cage. So Panos Cosmatos made the world bigger for this psychotropic revenge thriller in which lumberjack Red Miller (a never better or less restrained Cage) forges a mystical weapon and destroys his mind on his path to rescue his girlfriend, Mandy (an equally unstoppable Andrea Riseborough), from the grasps of a Jesus Freak cult headed by charismatic monster Jeremiah Sand (Linus Roache). Heavy metal mayhem and cosmic madness meet a true romance that will shake the pillars of heaven and break hell into shards. – Richard Whittaker
Mobile Court Services
Monday 25, Central Library
Being tangled up in the court system is never a pleasurable experience, least of all if you have a warrant. Trying to make sense of the bureaucracy without the threat of ending up behind bars? This service offers updates for anyone with a case in the Downtown Austin Community Court or Austin Municipal Court. Check on or resolve your cases; folks without shelter can get help finding local resources and store belongings temporarily with the city; and you will not be arrested for outstanding cases or warrants – there’s only information to be gained. – James Renovitch
A Room With a View
Monday 25 & Wednesday 28, AFS Cinema
Merchant & Ivory’s 1985 adaptation of E.M. Forster’s novel, which travels from Italy to England and back in its exploration of young woman’s romantic and soulful awakening, is well-remembered for that kiss in a field set to “O Mio Babbino Caro.” (Equally memorable for 10-year-old me: the first time I saw a penis onscreen, flapping around in a boys-will-be-boys pond dip.) But this isn’t just a period romance. It’s also a comedy about the class system and tourists’ superficial interest in other cultures, and a call to action – to defy convention, be true to oneself, and say yes to whatever life throws at you. Stirring stuff, and especially lush projected on the big screen. – Kimberley Jones
Library Commission Meeting
Monday 25, Twin Oaks Branch Library
Recent news items on Austin Public Library possibly losing the Recycled Reads bookstore have gotten many interested in how we keep our library system funded and functioning for continued public usage. Enter the library commission meeting, held the fourth Monday of every month at 6pm. Citizens can attend and hear the commission “[make] recommendations to the City Council on matters relating to the establishment, maintenance and operation of the public libraries” as well as bring up their own concerns. Now’s the perfect time for us library lovers to listen up and speak out. – James Scott
Austin Channing Brown: Full of Myself
Tuesday 26, Black Pearl Books
Black women were taking care of others long before there were think pieces about the 92%. Antiracism writer and educator Austin Channing Brown, whose 2018 book I’m Still Here became a bestseller amid the George Floyd protests of 2020, knows this. “I am tired. We are tired. Tired of protesting. Tired of ‘saving democracy.’ Tired of educating and explaining,” she writes. “What do I deserve, not just as a citizen but as a human?” In Brown’s latest work, a blend of personal narrative and social commentary, she finally puts herself first. The author speaks with Prentis Hemphill at this book talk and signing. – Carys Anderson
An Unmarried Woman
Tuesday 26 & Saturday 30, AFS Cinema
Austin Film Society’s summerlong series highlighting women in Seventies cinema ends on a high note with this zeitgeist-capturing hit about a wife and mother whose world is upturned when her husband leaves her for a younger woman. Like all of Paul Mazursky’s messy, thoughtful comedies, this one’s dated for sure – see: the feathered hair, the psychoanalysis, Bill Conti’s saxy score – which only adds to its charm. Jill Clayburgh delivers a playful, beautifully rounded performance as the titular woman (and got an Oscar nom for it); Alan Bates plays the bearded artist she kisses after a lot of frogs. That Mazursky skips the fairy-tale ending only makes it more interesting. – Kimberley Jones
Rushmore
Tuesday 26, Milwood Branch Library
When I entered college, I’d only ever seen one Wes Anderson movie. Luckily – as with most media I got into during that era – a girl I liked was a mega-fan of the Houston native, so I was incentivized to watch more. Her favorite was his sophomore film and first foray with frequent Anderson featured player Bill Murray. At the time she screened it, I paid more attention to where my crush’s hand was at in relation to mine. Yet the story of school-uniformed sophisticate Max (Jason Schwartzman) forced to face the reality outside his prestigious academy’s walls pierced through enough that I better remember him shouting an Irish slur than the details of my crush’s face. To be fair, I imagine the feeling is probably mutual. – James Scott
The People’s Joker
Tuesday 26, Hyperreal Film Club
For something of a scrapbook with a Batman theme, the hilarious Vera Drew wrote, directed, produced, and starred in this Joker parody that benefits from years of work with some of the best in the biz (such as editing for Comedy Bang! Bang!, I Think You Should Leave, and Who Is America?). The debut feature, with Drew starring as a trans woman trying to break into stand-up comedy in Gotham City, garnered several awards, including Best Feature at the Seattle Queer Film Festival and a Breakthrough Artist Award from the Austin Film Critics Association. Quite a bit of talent brought this weird and funny feature to the screen, resulting in a film that’s got a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes, as opposed to the parodied material’s 68%. Don’t miss your chance to see this gem! – Kat McNevins
Texas Book Festival & BookPeople Present R.F. Kuang
Wednesday 27, First Baptist Church of Austin
Texas Book Festival isn’t until November, but luckily they keep the literary happenings going all year long. For this special event moderated by NYT bestselling author Ali Hazelwood, TBF and BookPeople welcome Dallasite R.F. Kuang (Babel, Yellowface) to celebrate her new novel. Written while working on a Ph.D. at Yale, Katabasis blends academia, fantasy, and philosophy for a captivating and intellectually stimulating story of a grad student who ventures to the underworld to save her adviser. It’s sure to be one of the most talked-about novels this year, so get in on the ground floor and snag a signed copy. – Kat McNevins
Piranha (1978)
Wednesday 27, Alamo Village
As far as I know, Joe Dante’s debut creature feature is the only Jaws-ploitation genre exercise to not only be so good it avoided a lawsuit from Universal Pictures, but to have earned a coveted thumbs up from Bruce the Shark’s daddy himself, Steven Spielberg. There’s much to love in this low-budget horror, from practical rubber piranhas crafted by Phil Tippett to Heather Menzies’ charming performance as young skiptracer Maggie. But what makes this fishy frightener rise above the choppy waters of other Jaws pastiches is Dante’s tongue-in-cheek humor keeping the scares silly rather than overly serious. I mean, who else would put a literal Jaws arcade game in their rip-off? Only our good friend Joe. – James Scott
King Kong Escapes
Wednesday 27, Alamo South Lamar
It’s not uncommon for the first in a franchise to be the best, but the drop-off in quality between the original 1933 King Kong and any of the sequels and remakes is a pretty steep cliff. However, none were quite as bizarre as 1967’s King Kong Escapes, the second adventure of the great gorilla for Toho Studios. After facing the king of the monsters in King Kong vs. Godzilla, the king of Skull Island gets a solo adventure in which he faces off with giant reptiles and his own robot doppelgänger. Of course, it all comes from the mind of scriptwriter Takeshi Kimura: Fresh off turning Frankenstein into a giant kaiju for Frankenstein vs. Baragon and The War of the Gargantuas, his take on another classic Western monster is equally unique and baffling. – Richard Whittaker
Pee-wee’s Birthday Party
Wednesday 27, Hyperreal Film Club
We lost Paul Reubens in July 2023, but since then the grief hasn’t been too heavy given how much everyone’s been revisiting his work – especially his output as the inimitable Pee-wee Herman. Born from L.A.’s Groundlings improv troupe and a massive coterie of inspirations including Tintin and Pinocchio, Pee-wee’s childish comedy goofs continue to be cherished the world over. Hyperreal celebrates Reubens’ would-be 73rd birthday with a party featuring a tequila dance-off, drink specials, and a screening the stageplay of Pee-wee’s Playhouse. As Cyndi Lauper once sang, “A nuttier establishment you’ve never seen! Spend the day with Pee-wee and you’ll see what we mean!” – James Scott
Yo Gabba Gabba! Live!
Wednesday 27, Bass Concert Hall
Debuting in 2007, this alternative kids show co-created by the Aquabats’ Christian Jacobs boosted the below-13 age demographics’ knowledge of indie faves like MGMT, hip-hop icons like Erykah Badu, and guys who now live in Austin like Elijah Wood. Its original run ended in 2015, yet 2026 promises a fresh revival dropping on Apple TV+ called Yo Gabba Gabbaland. Seems that as long as kids continue to love bright colors, big goofy creature designs, and good music, the YGG! will live on – including as a live stage show. See Plex, Brobee, Foofa, Muno, Toodee, and Kammy Kam on Wednesday night as a pre-game for next year’s new series. – James Scott
Horror Express
Thursday 28 & Sunday 31, AFS Cinema
Nowadays, everyone has a beefed-up backstory for why they made a movie. “I wanted to explore trauma” or “I wanted to hold a mirror to society” or even “I wanted to sell 100 million brand-name cans of cola.” Bah. Real movies, like this 1972 venture starring schlock superstars Chistopher Lee and Peter Cushing, start because a producer has a miniature train. In an interview with Fangoria’s Mike Hodges, director Eugenio Martin claims this movie about an alien creature on the Trans-Siberian railway originated because “the producer got ahold of this marvelous large scale model train … and he came up with the idea of writing up a script just so he would be able to use this prop.” Board this fine carriage at AFS Cinema station and see if the prop justifies the screenplay. – James Scott
You’ve Got Mail and Empire Records
Thursday 28, Paramount Theatre
One had Nora Ephron’s pen; one had Liv Tyler’s plaid skirt. You’ve Got Mail and Empire Records weren’t exactly armed with equal strengths, but what the movies in this Paramount double feature have in common – beyond offering us in 2025 a healthy dose of Nineties nostalgia – is an admirable premise about supporting independent businesses. The rom-com master’s Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks bookstore war kicks off the night before the 1995 ode to ragtag ensembles – and Rex Manning – celebrates 30 years of saving the Empire. One ticket gets you into both films. – Carys Anderson
Disney Movies Trivia
Thursday 28, Vintage Bookstore & Wine Bar
Can you name all the Seven Dwarfs? Rookie stuff. List every character that Phil Harris voiced, or every John Ratzenberger cameo? Better. How about telling Mary Blair’s crayons from Tyrus Wong’s watercolors? Now we’re talking. Come celebrate your very merry unbirthday with five rounds of questions about your favorite features from the House of Mouse. Costumes and Disneybounding encouraged. – Richard Whittaker
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
Thursday 28, Hyperreal Film Club
What gave birth to possibly the best movie poster of all time – Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s iconic cannibal Sawyer clan posed like The Breakfast Club teens – is also one of cinema’s best sequels. Director Tobe Hooper precedes other fear-based franchises like Evil Dead in taking a more silly swing with his second Chainsaw feature, trading the first film’s rough naturalism for a goofier approach to Texas terror. Gone are the almost character-less victims, replaced by spunky radio deejay Vanita “Stretch” Brock (Caroline Williams) and loony lawman Lefty Enright (Dennis Hopper). Chop-top and Leatherface are still sawing limbs, but now they’ve traded their creepy farmhouse for a deserted Lone Star State-centric theme park. Everything’s a little different, sure, but even after a decade of silence, the buzz was back. – 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 August 22 • 2025.
