Films Go Better With Beer

The Off-Centered Film Fest

Cabin Boy

It's a pairing that Austinites have come to take for granted: movies and beer. Ever since the Alamo Drafthouse opened its doors in 1997, local patrons have been able to kick back and enjoy a cold one while watching a movie. That convergence gets an adrenaline shot this weekend when the Drafthouse teams up with Dogfish Head Brewery to continue this storied tradition with the latest incarnation of the Off-Centered Film Festival, a celebration of malted grains and eccentric film programming that just so happens to coincide with Texas Craft Beer Week (April 23–May 3). This year – the eighth, if you're keeping score – they've opted for a nautical theme, with a bunch of seaworthy events that will have you shivering your timbers.

First up is local movie mockers Master Pancake, skewering the quintessential Nineties boat-sinking romance Titanic. Let John Erler and Co. draw you like one of their French girls as you bask in the comedic schadenfreude of Leo and Kate, and their doomed love affair on a sinking ship, surrounded by beer options from Hops & Grain, Jester King, and many more. The story (and some of the beers) may be bittersweet, but the jokes and the libations should shore up enough bonhomie to make this doomed romance palatable.

Wes Anderson's oft-misunderstood comedy The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou gets the Alamo feast treatment with executive chef Trish Eichelberger whipping up delectable courses paired with rare Dogfish Head brews. Crab cakes and a Brazilian seafood stew are just two of the dishes to enjoy as you watch Bill Murray go through a very convoluted midlife crisis. Go for the double feature with The Host, which screens right after. The breakout hit for Bong Joon-ho not only updates Godzilla for the modern age, but also has a subversive take on family and bureaucracy.

The centerpiece this year, however, is a screening of the unheralded masterpiece Cabin Boy with actor Chris Elliott and director Adam Resnick on hand (sorry, Chocki, the half-man, half-shark, couldn't make it). Condemned by critics upon its initial release in 1994, the film has slowly but surely climbed to the top of the cult-movie mountain, to finally attain the respect it deserves. Elliott's fancy lad ends up on the high seas with a rogue's gallery of scalawags in a deft skewering of Kipling's Captains Courageous.

But the can't-miss event of this fest is not a film at all, but a Yacht Rock-themed boat party on Lady Bird Lake. Grab your top-siders and your captain's hat and be prepared to feel the raw power of smooth music as DJ GrossYall spins all the Kenny Loggins, Hall & Oates, and of course, Christopher Cross you can handle. The island vibes will be super chill (unlike that one year when someone tried to crash the party by jumping off the pedestrian bridge). With bites from Antonelli's Cheese Shop and rare beers from Dogfish Head (with brewery founder Sam Calagione on deck), it's sure to be the mellowest party on the high seas.

Rounding out the fest is a screening of the Marx Bros. classic Monkey Business, which screens with the winning short films of the Off-Centered Film Fest. It's a win-win situation for beer lovers, movie fans, and smooth rock aficionados.

The Off-Centered Film Festival runs April 23-25, as part of Texas Craft Beer Week. For the complete schedule, and to purchase tickets, visit www.offcenteredfilmfest.com