Ikiru
Monday 11 & Thursday 14, AFS Cinema
Akira Kurosawa may be best known to Western audiences for his samurai epics, but the legendary Japanese director was equally adept with intimate dramas exploring the inner lives of ordinary men. His greatest single work in this form may well be Ikiru, the story of a minor bureaucrat (Takashi Shimura) who reconsiders his life and his impact on the community as he faces his mortality. A lost weekend becomes a quiet quest to leave something of meaning through the tools at his disposal – paperwork. Monday’s screening is free for AFS members. – Richard Whittaker
FREEze Week
Through August 17, multiple locations
Burr! It’s cold in here! There must be some frozen cocktails in the atmosphere – again! For the second year, carmine cocktail brand Campari presents a whole week of chilly sippables at bars all over town: Kinda Tropical, Holiday on 7th, Kitty Cohen’s, Sunny’s Backyard, Hotel Vegas & Volstead, the Long Goodbye, Yellow Jacket Social Club, Tweedy’s Bar, High Noon, Lowdown Lounge, the Cavalier, Chess Club, and 29th Street Ballroom. Snag a punch card at any participating place, and get a stamp for each frozen you enjoy. A full card – that’s 14 punches, see – wins you a limited edition FREEze Week shirt as well as a free frozen from Kinda Tropical. – James Scott
The Sting
Monday 11, Sekrit Theater
As part of their ongoing mission to “deepen your teen’s knowledge and love for the art of classic film,” adolescent-focused cinema arts club Flick Clique concludes their summer heist film series with this Robert Redford caper. Set about 37 years before its 1973 release date, the narrative follows Redford and co-star Paul Newman (he of salad dressing bottle fame) grifting their way into a standoff with Robert Shaw (Jaws) as mob boss Doyle Lonnegan. Like many a crime classic, this feature’s inspired by real-life bad dudes – this time con artist sibs Fred and Charley Gondorff. For extra credit, pick up 1940s true-crime tome The Big Con by David Maurer to get the inside Gondorff scoop. – James Scott
Strictly Ballroom
Monday 11, Hyperreal Film Club
If you ask me, Baz Luhrmann made two perfect movies and it’s been downhill ever since. Here’s a terrific opportunity to see his first – one of only two films he ever set in his native Australia. (Wanna guess the other one?) Strictly Ballroom follows the son of a ballroom dance dynasty who chafes at the rules of the competitive dance world, so he partners with an ugly-duckling beginner … only get a load of her when she takes off her glasses. At once broadly, breathlessly comic and genuinely romantic, Strictly Ballroom is an uncomplicated delight. All together now: Pasodoble! – Kimberley Jones
Alma’s Rainbow
Tuesday 12, Hyperreal Film Club
There’s an independent spirit infused within every element of this 1994 film, from its production being totally financed by writer/director Ayoka Chenzira to its narrative about finding one’s self outside of family expectations. Focused on tomboy Rainbow Gold (All My Children’s Victoria Gabrielle Platt) and her at-odds relationship with her mother Alma (Kim Weston-Moran), the 35 mm-filmed feature probes questions of responsibility and artistic fulfillment. Recently restored and considered a landmark in Black independent filmmaking, Black Auteur Film Festival presents the film at HFC in hopes more people celebrate this “rare coming-of-age film that centers Black girlhood with care, joy, and complexity,” as BAFF’s Ryan Darbonne writes. – James Scott
Summer Stories: Critter City
Tuesday 12, KMFA
KMFA concludes its summer Midday Music Series with another free event for the kiddos, this time starring the Cover to Cover wind ensemble, a clever quintet formed in 2022 by musicians at UT’s Butler School of Music. Designed to get kids excited about classical music, this whimsical and interactive concert celebrates local wildlife with stories and song. The young audience shapes the story in this choose-your-own-adventure for Betty Bat and her forest friends, and it’s all free, down to the cookies and refreshments provided by Frost Bank. Get a little culture in before school starts, why don’t ya? – Kat McNevins
Fix-It Austin: Pants Zipper Replacement Workshop
Tuesday 12, Cepeda Branch Library
Whoops! You decided to make a sewing project that requires the zipper, a device created 133 years ago to make the wearer’s life easier and the sewist’s life difficult. No worries, though, because your trusty local library’s Fix-It Clinic has a workshop totally focused on those metal teeth. In this hour-and-a-half class, the beginner and expert alike can learn special zipper skills – as long as they already know how to use a sewing machine. Never fear the zip again! – James Scott
UMLAUF After Dark: Stay Cool
Tuesday 12, UMLAUF Sculpture Garden & Museum
UMLAUF Sculpture Garden is just the kind of shaded oasis we all crave on a hot sunny day. Beneath a leafy canopy, short trails and a picturesque pond make a stunning backdrop for Charles Umlauf’s varied sculptural creations. In that summer golden hour between 6 and 8, the light and temperature are just right to stroll among Umlauf’s meticulous artworks and lakeside Austin flora. Frozen treats, live music, karaoke, and interactive art installations make this after-hours visit to one of Austin’s hidden gems even cooler. – Caroline Drew
Speed 2: Cruise Control
Tuesday 12, We Luv Video
We’ve got sequel fever, it seems, with scads of spinoffs, sequels, and reboots hitting the screens this year alone. Why not revisit one of the worst, a Razzie-winner that sweet Sandy B. is reportedly still embarrassed about starring in? Speed was a blockbuster action hit for Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves in 1994, with a tight plot involving a speeding bus that can’t slow down or else the bad guy wins. In contrast, 1997’s Speed 2 moseys along on an ocean liner as if there were no other, faster vehicles to build a film called Speed 2 around. It’s a cult fave that has a true fan in Joel of We Luv’s Odd World series, presenting it for free so you can come to love it too. – Kat McNevins
2025 Small Business Office Hours
Wednesday 13, Pleasant Hill Branch Library
What’s up, fellow business owners? I am obviously also a business owner, as evidenced by my briefcase full of papers and NOT stickers I give to my freelance writers when they meet their deadlines. As I was saying: Fellow business boys, girls, and nonbinaries, do you ever have questions about running a small biz in Bat City? Like what city department do you see if you want to add a cafe in your space? Or who is the smallest business owner – by the inch? Complete a short survey before attending these office hours, and your public library will try its best to have the right city staffers on hand to answer these questions and more! – James Scott
The Wizard of Oz
Through September 21, Zach Theatre
Over the rainbow and through the apple-throwing woods lies a classic yellow-brick road, but this production will definitely get you, my pretty, with a few wicked twists and turns. For one, there’s a heavy dose of Kansas with a cowboy/cowgirl band at each performance. It fits with the Zach’s country-fied dance numbers, Western touches that will make each Texan tap their ruby boots and feel right at home. Then there’s the glorious, immersive onstage seating allowing some audience members to step into a world of Technicolor, experiencing the magic of Dorothy and company right in their faces. It’s a show for everyone with brains, courage, and a whole lot of heart. – Cat McCarrey
Welcome to the Dollhouse + Cry-Baby
Wednesday 13, Paramount Theatre
If you thought puberty was hard for you, wait until you meet Dawn Wiener. Yeah, you read that last name correctly. Maybe things were always going to be tough for Dawn, but Todd Solondz’s lovably misled try-hard protagonist doesn’t make it much easier for herself in this irreverent comedy. John Waters’ Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker belongs firmly on the other side of the cafeteria, mopping up high school suitors with the help of a single tear. This double feature celebrating the pangs of pubescent longing and that intangible mythos of cool is outrageous as they come. – Caroline Drew
Party Girl
Wednesday 13, Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar & Mueller
For those who were introduced to the magic of Parker Posey by the most recent season of The White Lotus (“Where’s my luh-raz-uh-paaaum?”), it’s absolutely imperative to watch her starmaking turn in 1995’s Party Girl. Donning one of the best movie wardrobes in history, Mary (Posey) is a NYC it-girl who throws underground rent party raves with her DJ bff and flirts with street vendors, nary a care in the world – until she’s arrested for one such rave and has to get a job at the library to repay her godmother for bailing her out. Though the stacks are boring at first, Mary eventually finds her calling in library science as she struggles to balance her past and present lifestyles, while being her fabulous self. This delicious romp cemented Posey as the queen of indie and forever the coolest girl. – Lina Fisher
Splash
Thursday 14, Deep Eddy Municipal Pool
During the dog days of August, it’s hard to do anything outside but jump in a body of water. And Austin Parks Foundation knows that although Austin’s lousy with pools, sometimes all the people want at the end of a long day of forcing their overheated brains to work is to watch a silly movie. The solution? Combine the drive-in with the pool for a swim-in movie experience. Appropriately, APF has chosen Splash for this movie night at Deep Eddy, where you can watch Tom Hanks woo mermaid Daryl Hannah from the lawn or from the water, while munching on free popcorn provided by Cornucopia Popcorn. That’s the thing about Austin in the summertime – just when you think you can’t take the heat, the city charms you with a completely free community event straight out of a movie. – Lina Fisher
Queer Poetry Reading
Thursday 14, Central Library
Pondering how to open up this seasonal salute to our local LGBTQ community in a particularly rhapsodic way? Let me propose a prose kickoff to Austin Pride month, where Austin’s first-ever poet laureate Zell Miller III hosts a lineup of local queer poets including Jenny Larson, khattieQ, Micailah Ocaii, and G.E. Loveless. Other interested LGBTQ bards can also perform a three-minute open mic slot, as long as they sign up via the APL’s Eventbrite. – James Scott
Almost Famous: A Soundtrack Party
Thursday 14, Hotel Vegas
It’s all happening! Your favorite tracks from the silver screen are taking center stage at the Nothing Song’s soundtrack party. Pop powerhouse Mean Jolene is set to tackle Josie and the Pussycats’ alternative bubblegum beats – subliminal messages not included. S.L. Houser brings her artful bright melodies to Garden State’s indie-infused soundscape. Wanna dance? Wanna win? Psychedelic funk bunch Killer Kaya have you covered with Pulp Fiction’s retro rock melting pot. Cosmic prog rockers Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band will close the night kicking the classic guitar-fueled tunes of Easy Rider into full gear. – Miranda Garza
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 8 • 2025.
