Best Reinvention of a Lost but Not Forgotten Theatre

The Conversion of the Village Into the Alamo North

For the Village Cinema, the end was looking sad indeed. The once-vital North Austin arthouse had been relegated to third-run obscurity when Regal Cinemas finally announced its closing. Those who cared were mostly too tired to fight, resigned to another Starbucks, another monster multiplex courtesy of the Stepford Wives. Yawn, stretch, another beloved Austin location goes down. But wait: The show wasn't over yet. In a last-minute save worthy of the silver screen, Tim and Karrie League bought the Village in order to open a second location for their venerated Alamo Drafthouse. A few months later, it's all dolled-up with new seats, new sounds, and new smells. Not so much arthouse as cinema funhouse, the Alamo North is programmed with first-run movies and still subscribes to that comfy, suds & grubs ethos of the original Alamo. Now, if the Village had to go and shut down, we couldn't have written a better ending.

Alamo Drafthouse
Alamo Drafthouse Village, 2700 W. Anderson #701, 512/861-7030
Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, 1120 S. Lamar, 512/861-7040
Alamo Drafthouse Slaughter Lane, 5701 W. Slaughter, 512/861-7060
Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline, 14028 Hwy. 183 N., 512/861-7070
www.originalalamo.com