“Let Her Rip” by Ellen Crofts
Through October 27, Link & Pin Gallery
Paper! You are reading these words off paper right now: the very material most of my and my co-workers’ livelihoods depend on. Local artist Ellen Crofts takes the material to new levels of creative expression in her show, where the ripping, puncturing, gluing, painting, and otherwise remaking of paper conveys an active participation in the art. “Most people are intimately familiar with paper in their everyday lives,” displaying gallery Link & Pin writes of Crofts’ chosen tool. “Her organic constructions invite the viewer to re-engage with and imagine the feeling of the paper in her artwork and what it would be like to handle and work with the materials.” Rip it up, girl. Rip. It. Up. – James Scott
Legacy Business Month
Through October 31, All Around Town
If you live in Austin, you know that keeping a cool business afloat can be an uphill battle. Thanks to Preservation Austin – originally the Heritage Society of Austin – we can celebrate the longtime survivors of this weird city. By picking up a legacy-business passport, you’ve got a ticket to visit places that’ve braved over 20 years in Bat City: Esther’s Follies, Joe’s Bakery, Scholz Garten, BookWoman, Aster’s Ethiopian Restaurant, the Continental Club, Nature’s Treasures, Antone’s Record Shop, Zilker Park Boat Rentals, and Little Longhorn Saloon. Grab your passport at the kickoff party this Thursday, Oct. 3, at Zilker Taproom. The highest stamp collectors can walk away with fun prizes, as well as a deep sense of local pride. – James Scott
Graveyard Shift Presents Phantasm
Monday 7, Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline, Slaughter Lane, and Village
BOY! Angus Scrimm’s sonorous and terrifying voice will boom forever through the catacombs of horror cinema. Director Don Coscarelli had already assembled his ensemble for his psychotropic midnighter with his first two films, Kenny & Company and Jim, the World’s Greatest, and it’s a good thing too, because it’s hard to imagine that strangers would understand its near-incomprehensible nightmare logic. But what anyone can understand is how it revolutionized horror, especially in its antagonist. The sweet-as-can-be Rory Guy adopted the stage name Angus Scrimm to play the Tall Man, an otherworldly body snatcher who crawls into your dreams to this day. – Richard Whittaker
Icons: the Next Generation
Monday 7, Oilcan Harry’s
You’re gagged; you’re gooped; you’re gasping for air because the performers in this competition? Oh they’ve earned the iconic adjective. But who will win the title of Most Iconic and secure themselves a $3,000 bag as well as a gig hosting Oilcan’s Monday drag competition series? Ritzy Bitz hosts this head-to-head challenge alongside judges – and fellow icons – Celia Light and Evah Destruction, with a hot slate of competitors: Bambi Jade Davenport, Lawrie Bird, Mars, Owie, RiotGirl, Roxanne, Sinful Purchase, The Queen Fantasia Wood, and Violet Rage. Be there or risk being uniconic… – James Scott
Community Conversation: Mexican American and Latino/a/e/x Identities
Monday 7, Hampton Branch at Oak Hill Library
As a former proofreader and current editor, conversations about language and identity are daily occurrences for me. How communities refer to themselves shifts based on multitudinous factors, many of which are individual rather than collective. At this Austin History Center hosted event, this discussion focuses on language in reference to Hispanic communities by asking three questions: “Why do we choose certain words to describe who we are? How are identities rooted in individual and shared cultural experiences? How can we stand strong in our identities while also respecting others?” Refreshments provided, as well as English/Spanish interpretation. – James Scott
Don’t Let the Riverbeast Get You
Tuesday 8, Hyperreal Film Club
Hyperreal Film Club may leave you wondering whether this microbudget homage to old-school monster movies is real. But if your idea of a good time involves small-town academics, picnics, wedding bands, towel-related threats, a guy getting into a fistfight with a mutated walking carp, and watching possibly the least-experienced cast in cinema history clearly reading from cue cards, then Don’t Let the Riverbeast Get You may unironically be your new favorite terrible film. – Richard Whittaker
Nosferatu
Tuesday 8, Alamo Drafthouse Slaughter Lane, Lakeline, and Mueller
Subtitled A Symphony of Horror, this 1922 proto-vampire film wasn’t strictly a Dracula adaptation, but the Bram Stoker estate sued anyway. Successfully, in fact: The court ordered all prints of German expressionist F.W. Murnau’s film destroyed. Luckily, enough copies survived for this still supremely unnerving silent to influence generations of cinematic bloodsuckers to come. See the original Max Schreck creeper now, or hold tight; the Drafthouse and AFS Cinema both have screenings scheduled later this month with a live score by the Invincible Czars. Robert Eggers’ remake arrives in theatres Christmas Day. – Kimberley Jones
Terror Tuesday: Vampyr
Tuesday 8, Alamo South Lamar
If you want to explore the roots of vampire cinema, Bela Lugosi is a great place to start. However, Vampyr, filmed at the same time and released two years later, is just as necessary for any horror fan. The hero, Allan Gray, is an occult student drawn into the machinations of a spooky manor. The house and lands are full of fog, voices, and disembodied shadows, all in service to a mysterious demon. Director Carl Theodor Dreyer tells the bloodsucking tale of woe with all the eerie atmosphere and camera tricks that would become staples in later horror films. Watch his awe-inspiring works with light and sound. Sure, the actual story is slight. But the creepy vibes are immaculate. – Cat McCarrey
MJ The Musical
Tuesday 8 – Sunday 13, Bass Concert Hall
On June 25, 2009, the Lyric Theatre in London had been preparing a tribute to Michael Jackson – who was set to perform 50 shows that summer – when the world first got news that the King of Pop had passed away. The show, Thriller Live, was a two-and-a-half-hour spectacle following MJ from J5 to record-breaking Thriller. Nearly 15 years later, Lynn Nottage penned the book that would become MJ The Musical, and award-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon gave the words direction and dance. The show has gone on to win four Tony Awards, including Best Actor in a Musical for Myles Frost, and Best Choreographer for Wheeldon. – Cy White
Still Life by Katherine Packert Burke
Tuesday 8, First Light Books
Three characters influence the events of Still Life – all women, trans and cis. Their lives entwine together through love and tragedy, pre-and-post transition, pre-and-post college. First Light describes the novel as a “debut novel of queer friendship, transition, and grief” that also “marks the arrival of a vibrant new literary voice.” Austin-based Burke joins moderator Aurora Mattia, a Texan by way of Hong Kong and author of The Fifth Wound, for a no-cost Q&A at First Light. – James Scott
Party for the Parks
Wednesday 9, Zilker Park
My first ACL Fest was within the festival’s own first couple of years in 2002, when it was only one weekend and kind of small potatoes compared to the behemoth it is now. But even then, the impact of the fest on the park was evident, which is why C3 Presents partnered with Austin Parks Foundation in 2006 to mitigate that impact with funds for park improvement projects, to the tune of $63 million so far. Party for the Parks is a fun way to contribute to the cause and get a taste of the VIP life at ACL with Austin Parks Foundation: Meet other park lovers, play games, bid on auction items, enjoy bevs and snacks, and take in an intimate performance by Orville Peck, all to benefit Austin’s hundreds of lovely parks, trails, and green spaces. – Kat McNevins
Shadow of the Vampire
Wednesday 9, Hyperreal Film Club
Shadow of the Vampire resurrects a classic cinematic question: Was Max Schreck a vampire? Not Christopher Walken’s Batman Returns character, but the actual Max Schreck. He was the mysterious actor behind the first and arguably greatest screen vamp, Count Orlok in Nosferatu. This 2000 film speculates wildly about potential behind-the-scenes shenanigans. A bastion of comedic horror, it chronicles the suspiciously “method” Schreck and a film crew beset with bad luck. Getting a glimpse of the re-created Nosferatu film sets is a treat, but it’s the two leads that make this sparkle. Before checking out Dafoe in Robert Eggers’ remake, you’ve got to see him as the titular bloodsucker. It’s delightful to see him and John Malkovich (as director F.W. Murnau) run increasingly unhinged circles around each other. – Cat McCarrey
Carolina Gelen: Pass the Plate
Wednesday 9, BookPeople
Puerto Rican singer/actor Ricky Martin learned English by watching Mister Rogers and Romper Room. Korean pop star RM and Cuban Spanish actress Ana de Armas practiced using Friends. Fittingly, Romanian chef Carolina Gelen studied cooking shows to learn and practice English, and only three years after moving to the U.S. from Transylvania, she’s got her own cookbook! Celebrate the release and hear more about her “easy, breezy style that emphasizes big flavor with a light lift” at this book event moderated by Eater’s Erin Russell. Gelen’s cookbook has gorgeous photos with each recipe, which her social media followers have gotten a taste of through her engaging videos instructing how to make everything from a sesame-crusted breakfast quesadilla to a showstopping orange-cardamom cake. – Kat McNevins
Adaptations Book Club: Interview With the Vampire
Wednesday 9, We Luv Video
I can’t imagine a tougher question than the one facing y’all at this month’s book club: Is the book really better when it comes to Interview With the Vampire? Because, like, Anne Rice’s classic novel about capricious bloodsuckers who love drama and each other is really good. But AMC’s television adaptation of the book features exquisite performances by lead actors Jacob Anderson, Sam Reid, and the captivating Delainey Hayles as Claudia. Join We Luv Video in discussing the pros and cons of these vamps’ media appearances and watch a screening of IWTV’s first two episodes among fellow Vampire Chronicle fans. – James Scott
Master Pancake: The Room With Greg Sestero
Thursday 10, Alamo Drafthouse Mueller
For the last 21 years, Tommy Wiseau’s cult fave The Room has enthralled audiences at live screenings that showcase its heinous love scenes, stilted dialogue, and off-the-wall cinematography choices. My first viewing was quickly followed by a second and third, each revealing something new to appreciate because there’s just so much going on. It’s so wild, in fact, that star Greg Sestero wrote a whole book about it (The Disaster Artist) that became a movie starring James Franco. So it will undoubtedly be a treat to have THE Greg Sestero, aka Mark, in the house riffing with the comics of Master Pancake. Oh, hi Mark! – Kat McNevins
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 October 4 • 2024.
