Austin, TX – April 16, 2024 – This May and June, Austin-based Alamo Drafthouse Cinema dials the clock back to the end of the ’80s with Time Capsule 1989, the third installment in Alamo Drafthouse’s year-long screening series of over 150 films from 1999, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1979, and 1974.
1989 was a watershed moment for cinema with a mix of superhero antics, archeological escapades, and cinematic masterpieces that continue to stand the test of time. Alamo Drafthouse’s Time Capsule 1989 lineup is its biggest yet, with over forty titles that include:
- The apex of ’80s action-adventure cinema in Tim Burton’s brooding, genre-defining superhero epic BATMAN, and Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford’s exhilarating return to the adventures of Doctor(s) Jones in INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE.
- Crucial works by filmmakers who defined the ’80s, ’90s, and beyond, including Spike Lee’s masterpiece of fiery social commentary, DO THE RIGHT THING, Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, lies, and Videotape, Gus Van Sant’s DRUGSTORE COWBOY, and Oliver Stone’s BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY.
- Movie Party celebrations of Weird Al’s bizarro triumph UHF, John Candy’s rollicking collab with John Hughes in UNCLE BUCK.
- For Father’s Day, the Dad-est of all Dad films about a Dad reconnecting with his (ghostly) Dad in FIELD OF DREAMS.
- The timeless tales of California dudes hopping through time, like BILL & TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE and BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II.
- All three BACK TO THE FUTURE films in honor of the second film in Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s sci-fi masterwork.
- Queer Film Theory 101’s metatextual analysis of ROAD HOUSE and TIE ME UP! TIE ME DOWN!
- Dark delights in director Joe Dante’s subversive suburban satire THE ‘BURBS, Nicolas Cage’s go-for-broke performance in VAMPIRE’S KISS, and Graveyard Shift’s reanimation of PET SEMETARY.
- Brunch with the besties by joining up with TROOP BEVERLY HILLS, the magical high school comedy TEEN WITCH, and the Southern-fried story of laughter and tears, STEEL MAGNOLIAS.
“I was six years old in the summer of 1989, and can still remember my parents teasing me that tickets to BATMAN might be sold out and that we might have to see LAST CRUSADE again instead. Tough life for a kid,” says John Smith, Senior Film Programmer at Alamo Drafthouse. “Thirty-five years later, the films of 1989 are still selling out Alamo Drafthouse screenings, and it’s an honor to share these films with a new generation.”
Tickets are on sale now at drafthouse.com/1989 and, for a limited time, will include an option to pre-order a Time Capsule 1989 collectible pint glass created by Chris Bilheimer, the acclaimed artist behind legendary album designs for Neutral Milk Hotel, R.E.M., and Green Day.
Special menu options you’ll only find at Alamo Drafthouse
Each screening at an Alamo Drafthouse feels special, especially when the Culinary team crafts a themed menu intended to entertain audiences not just through film but through taste. Through the run of Time Capsule 1989, Alamo Drafthouse menus will feature nods to the year’s biggest hits:
- The adventurous “Henry Dog” inspired by both Doctor Joneses in LAST CRUSADE
- “Dalton’s Choice,” a nice non-alcoholic brew in honor of ROAD HOUSE’s iconic cooler
- The “Transylvania Mule” saluting Nicolas Cage’s scenery-devouring turn in VAMPIRE’S KISS
- The “Pizza of the Future” with half pepperoni, half green bell pepper as seen in BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II
