John C. Reilly Is Mister Romantic
Friday 14, Paramount Theatre
John C. Reilly could probably do anything he wants on stage or screen, after a decadeslong career eliciting laughs as Steve Brule on Tim and Eric and as the titular character in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, touching hearts in dramas like Magnolia and We Need to Talk About Kevin, and gathering awards noms from Tony to Oscar. Reilly draws upon all those experiences for a vaudeville show incorporating an all-star band with songs inspired by the Great American Songbook along with comedic vignettes, which Vanity Fair called “fiercely funny, deeply weird, [and] comforting if a little sad.” We wouldn’t expect anything different from such a unique talent. – Kat McNevins
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Friday 14 – Monday 17, All Alamo Drafthouses
“That’s as close to perfect as a movie can be,” I thought after finishing the David Lynch-directed prequel to his and Mark Frost’s much-beloved soap opera. Before experiencing the bisected cinematic story of Laura Palmer’s last days alive – days as chaotic as her prom queen photo was calm – I couldn’t quite grasp whatever made everyone else worship the Pacific Northwest-set series. Sure, I liked the show, but I liked it the way James likes Laura: I didn’t understand anything and was doomed to be on the outside of the action. Fire Walk With Me was the key: a way inside the true thematic depth Twin Peaks offers. Now you, too, can see what lies beneath Laura Palmer’s smile – her true struggles, playing out on the big screen while you eat Drafthouse’s mustard barbecue chicken wings. – James Scott
Liva Pierce and Jane Wickline Present: DUKES
Friday 14, Stateside at the Paramount
If you’ve heard of DUKES you’re either a chronically online Gen Z-er, or someone who developed a parasocial attachment to Jane Wickline after watching her on Saturday Night Live this past year. She’s been a surprisingly divisive SNL hire, with multitudes of Reddit threads tearing down or defending her intentionally awkward comedy stylings. Sure, she can be stiff during sketches, but many have come to Wickline’s side after her Weekend Update musical interludes (the Sabrina Carpenter one is worth a watch). That wry, dry delivery gets doubled with the addition of Liva Pierce. Together, they’ve been churning out weirdness since 2023. There’s no straight man vs. clown dynamic here – both embrace no-frills absurdity. – Cat McCarrey
Unlived Lives: The Reboot
Friday 14 – Sunday 16 & Thursday 20, Trinity St. Playhouse
No more activations or brand-centric pop-ups for at least a week after South By, otherwise we’re all gonna get experience-based stomachaches. Instead, buff up your local performance diet with this interactive live show put on by experimental art duo jkjk. Made up of married couple khattieQ and Jenny Larson-Quiñones, jkjk’s production combines punk rock rhythms and experimental theatre (respectively) to create outstanding stagecraft. Unlived Lives: The Reboot brings two new contributors all the way from Deutschland, both as multi-talented as their hosts: dramaturg/performer/author of texts Ida Daniel and freelance artist/new media expert/theatre & music programmer Todor Stoyanov. As an exploration of hot-button issues like friendship and nationalism, the show asks “what it means to live ‘a good life’ using jokes, dance, food, music, and re-enactments.” Please, sir, can I have some more, sir? – James Scott
St. Patrick’s Day Weekend
Saturday 15 – Monday 17, Jack & Ginger’s
Garfield is not pleased about this St. Patrick’s Day being on a Monday, but that’s OK because Jack & Ginger’s is starting the celebration on Saturday. No stops remain unpulled! Saturday promises green beer, bagpipes, a live band, and two rounds of Leprechaun Olympics; Sunday involves a crawfish boil, dog costume contest, Dunk-a-Leprechaun, caricatures, and more; and for those who can make it all the way to Monday’s festivities, LB’s BBQ, more bagpipes and green beer, and live music from Spazmatics await you starting at noon, although J&G’s will helpfully open at 8am to get things warmed up. – Kat McNevins
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: The Super Live
Saturday 15, Bass Concert Hall
Even if I didn’t get press emails about this event, you know your boy’d be informed by any one of his many Usagi-loving friends. (Although, TBH, my crowd is more into Sailors Uranus and Neptune if you catch my drift.) What Texas Performing Arts welcomes this month is classified as a “2.5D musical,” which promises to combine the iconic manga & anime’s visual style with live performance immersion. Experienced manga/anime-to-musical maker Kaori Miura provides the book, the lyrics, and direction, with choreography from Satomi Toma and music by Go Sakabe and KYOHEI. Big W for sub fans: These performances will be done in Japanese with English subtitles on screen. – James Scott
Bushwig South
Saturday 15, Cheer Up Charlies
East Coast cool meets Southern charm for this year’s Texas-based edition of the legendary New York City drag fest. Truly a meeting of the wigged-out minds, there’ll be representation for the best of both cities with NYC hotties Rayne, Blue, Athena, Essence, Boyish Charm, Catalina, and Alotta McGriddles strutting the Chups stage with local icons Bobby Pudrido, Brigitte Bandit, Diamond Dior Davenport, Gothess Jasmine, Sir Beau Elliot, and Vylette Ward. Fun doesn’t stop there, of course, because there’s gotta be music for y’all to move to: Spinning this weekend is the Big Apple’s Horrorchata, London’s the Night Bus, and Austinites BabiBoi, Turito, Lavender Thug, Angel Doll, and p1nkstar. – James Scott
Hoops in the Park
Saturday 15, Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park
Whether it’s through H-O-R-S-E, twenty-one, or impromptu scrimmages, casual streetball can build instant camaraderie while players hone their basketball skills. Austin Parks Foundation expands upon that sentiment with the latest addition to their free In the Park community series: Hoops in the Park. Hosted by nonprofit Make a Difference (MAD) Sports, this event invites children in first through fifth grade of all basketball skill levels for a morning outside on the court. Saturday’s forecast currently calls for sunny skies – just perfect for a day at the park. – Derek Udensi
The Watermelon Woman
Sunday 16, Alamo South Lamar
As with the best stuff in life, you don’t know you’re living in a golden era until after it’s over. Which is another way of saying, pour one out for the Nineties independent film movement: It was a good time to be alive and going to the movies. In its story of a video store clerk (played by filmmaker Cheryl Dunye) studying the mammy character in early film, this New Queer Cinema trailblazer at once examines Hollywood’s lousy record of Black representation while notching firsts: The first American film written and directed by a Black lesbian, it’s been a film school essential ever since and was added to the National Film Registry in 2021. – Kimberley Jones
Raising Arizona
Sunday 16, Wednesday 19 & Saturday 22, AFS Cinema
Following grimy, suspenseful neo-noir Blood Simple, Joel Coen’s second directorial production (and his third writing collaboration with his brother, Ethan) was, as one would expect, a screwball comedy. It still involves crime, with amateur robber H.I. (Nicolas Cage) kidnapping an infant child for his infertile wife Ed (Holly Hunter), but it’s filled with goofs and gags as the pair goes to great lengths to avoid the infant’s father, furniture tycoon Nathan Arizona, who seeks his child’s kidnapper. The chase unfolds into a farce, solidifying the Coen Brothers’ cartoonish yet human comedic style. – Mattea Gallaway
Wheatsville Anniversary Party
Sunday 16, Wheatsville South Lamar
It’s important to respect your elders, which is why we here at the Chronicle – a 44-year-old institution – affectionately doff our cap to the still-spry Wheatsville, which celebrates its 49th anniversary this weekend. The cooperatively owned community grocery will mark the occasion at its South Lamar store with live music by Josh Foss from 11am-12:30pm, a “special announcement” at 12:45pm (intriguing!), and a store tour at 1:30pm, plus free treats and $5 popcorn tofu po’boys, the sammy the Chronicle found so addictive we gave it a Best of Austin award in 2009 for being the “Tastiest Riff on Nawlins, Vegan-Style.” Taste the legend and toast the co-op from 11am-4pm. – Kimberley Jones
Charlie’s Angels (2000)
Sunday 16 – Monday 17 & Wednesday 19, Alamo Village, Slaughter Lane, Lakeline & Mueller
Whatever happened to dumb movies? It seems directors these days are always making a point, often in a pretty clumsy, didactic way – but I wanna see something fun for the sake of fun, that attempts nothing highbrow or political whatsoever. Nothing is more fun than the hottest trio of all time – Lucy Liu, Drew Barrymore, and Cameron Diaz – tracking down evil billionaires using all manner of early 2000s disguises for the mysterious Charlie. Tim Curry, Sam Rockwell, and Bill Murray also appear, but the most unforgettable side character is the leatherclad Matrix-esque Thin Man played by Crispin Glover, who exudes a convincing creepiness as the trio’s primary enemy, a mute, Spock-eyebrowed assassin. [Editor’s note: This plays as part of Queer Film Theory 101, but not THAT QFT 101. It’s the other one.] – Lina Fisher
SXSnackBar
Sunday 16, Bobo’s Snack Bar
As South by Southwest packs its tents and shuffles off to get ready for next year, Bobo’s keeps the music going with an all-day Austin garage/indie rock jam. Chronicle-recommended Daily Worker (see insert) kicks things off at noon, followed by Beaty Wilson, Bantam Woods, Nilsa No One, Goldwinners, the Ugly Beats, and Sploot. Bobo’s brings the chill old-Austin vibes and the hearty-yet-healthy snacks and drinks. This is your chance to decompress after the Fest, hear some high-quality local music, and talk about how you hope everyone who came to South By doesn’t move here. – Kat McNevins
15th Annual Garden Party
Sunday 16, the Vortex Theatre
Not the Garden of Eden but better, actually, because no incorporeal NIMBY kicks you out for having a delicious healthy snack: The Vortex Theatre celebrates their 15th year as a nationally certified butterfly sanctuary. For all those years they’ve “actively cultivated butterfly vines, fed the caterpillars, and watched them emerge from their chrysalises,” resulting in a flooring 40 different species who’ve passed through the artsy Manor spot. A full day of festivities awaits, from live music by Roland & the Roots Riddim and Ogo and the Erph Tones; songs & scenes from upcoming Vortex production MotherTree; hands-on opportunities like a Tiny Tails petting zoo, butterfly inspired arts & crafts, and the opportunity to plant butterfly friendly flora; and a very, very special ceremony honoring late cat-about-the-Vortex Radius, who passed this January. – James Scott
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Sunday 16 & Wednesday 19, Violet Crown Cinema
Before the cartoon coolness of Mutant Mayhem or the Platinum Dunes duds in 2014 & 2016, there were puppets in a half-shell bursting onto the big screen. A frequent in my tween-age VHS rotation – I was a little in love with the foam-rubber Raphael, okay – this Nineties live-action version of the Turtles blends Saturday morning goofs with the series’ dark & dank alt-comic origins. Violet Crown Cinema screens the oldie-but-goodie this week so a new generation can be introduced to these totally tight turtle brothers and their surfer-guy slang slung around the Big Apple’s sewer system. If you stop for pizza afterward, save a slice for your pals underground. – James Scott
Socket
Sunday 16, We Luv Video
Folks call any basic body horror flick “Cronenbergian,” revealing their ignorance of the director’s real trademark: stories about getting into a really specific fetish. Such is the case with the Crash-esque thriller Socket, which follows a doctor who becomes entangled in an electricity cult after his own lightning strike encounter. Drawn in by attractive intern Craig (Houston’s own Matthew Montgomery), surgeon Bill (Derek Long) gets twisted up in these zap-heads’ addiction to the point of self-destruction. While contemporary critics such as filmcritic.com’s Don Willmott called the film’s sci-fi premise a simple excuse for soft-core tomfoolery, the real schlock-os out there will recognize this as a true shock to the system. Presented by We Luv’s LGBTQIA division, aka SunGays, so get out there to support the cinema queerdos. – James Scott
Caleb Hearon: So True Live Tour
Sunday 16, Paramount Theatre
In addition to being a skilled stand-up, Caleb Hearon falls into that rare category of frequent AND great podcast guest. Not a surprise given his own work in the field, having hosted the pod Keeping Records (RIP) and currently helming the subject of this live show, aka So True. Similar to sitting in a room while listening to your funniest friends talk, Hearon invites famos and friends alike to sit across from him to be berated, praised, prodded, and chatted up over the listening time. Now you can ACTUALLY be in the room, as So True comes live to the Paramount with a secret special guest. Event copy promises it will be “unlike any live podcast you’ve ever seen before! (in a good way, we swear).” – 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 March 14 • 2025.
