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The Definitive Guide to
Austin Cinema

Arthouse, indie, foreign, avant garde,
repertory & classics.

HorizonPlaying beyond this week, expect a full house.

A scene from Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz (1978)Hot TicketWed Nov 25, 6:30 · AFS

The Last Waltz 1978

The Band played its farewell at Winterland on Thanksgiving 1976, and AFS is showing it fifty years to the night. Martin Scorsese filmed it on 35mm with seven cameras, Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Muddy Waters and Van Morrison among the friends who came up. Wednesday, the night before Thanksgiving, and a Friday matinee after. Don’t do it.

Buy Tickets
Mon Nov 16, 7:00 · We Luv Video

Deep Red 1975

Format not listed

The giallo the others get measured against, and the first time Goblin scored a film. Dario Argento puts David Hemmings, nine years after Blow-Up, back in the witness’s chair as a jazz pianist who sees a murder through a window, with Daria Nicolodi as the reporter who helps. Girl, Whatever presents; doors at 6:30, $5. Mind the dolls.

Mon Nov 16, 7:30 · Hyperreal

sex, lies, and videotape 1989

Format not listed

The debut that turned American indie film into a business, and it’s about a man with a video camera. Steven Soderbergh shot it in Baton Rouge: James Spader tapes women talking about sex, Andie MacDowell is married to the lawyer sleeping with her sister. Miramax released it, and the ’90s followed. Be kind, rewind.

Thu Nov 19, 7:00 · AFS

Urgh! A Music War 1981

Thirty-four bands in one concert film, and it has rarely played a big screen anywhere near complete. Derek Burbidge’s 1981 film has The Police, Devo, X, the Cramps, Dead Kennedys and Klaus Nomi. John Doe of X joins the Professors of Urgh!, who have made fifty-five podcast episodes about it. $20, $17 for members. Bring earplugs.

Fri Nov 20, 7:30 · The State

Knife 2026

Salman Rushdie’s wife filmed the weeks after the attack, and she’s coming to take questions. Alex Gibney’s documentary is built on Rachel Eliza Griffiths’s footage and Rushdie’s memoir Knife, co-presented by Torch Literary Arts, with a pop-up bookshop in the lobby, and the Texas Book Festival. One night. Bring a book.

Nov 21 & 22 · AFS

Satan’s Workshop II

Joe Bob Briggs is auditioning forgotten exploitation films for his 2027 show, and the room gets a say. Two different secret double features, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, with Joe Bob and Darcy the Mail Girl in person. $35, $30 for members. Drive-in rules apply.

Mon Nov 23, 7:00 · AFS

if.... 1968

Malcolm McDowell’s first film, and the reason Kubrick cast him in A Clockwork Orange. Lindsay Anderson’s revolt at an English boarding school, on 35mm, with the cartoonist Nathan Gelgud in conversation for AFS’s Paper Cuts series; a second show Wednesday the 25th. Class dismissed.

Pick Flick

Who has the best popcorn in town?

CIRCUITon theCIRCUIT It’s always film festival
season in Austin.

Other festivals

Indie Meme (South Asian independent), Cinema Touching Disability (September), Ethereal Horror Fest (indie genre, October), ATX TV Festival (television, May), Austin Under the Stars (independent films and screenplays, September), Austin Horror Film Festival (indie horror, October), AVAFEST Veteran Film Festival (veterans and military families, October), Austin Asian American Film Festival (Asian and Asian American film, June), aGLIFF: Prism (LGBTQ+, since 1987, September), Cine Las Américas (Latine and Indigenous film, May), AFS Doc Days (new documentaries, spring), Black Auteur Film Festival (Black filmmakers’ shorts, June), PAFF Austin (Pan African film, summer), Austin Polish Film Festival (Polish film, November).

in the MAINSTREAM MAINSTREAM Wide Releases, playing
just about everywhere.

Look, sometimes you just want the big loud one. No judgment — we those too… it just ain’t our raison d’être. Here’s everything playing in the megaplexes, with a few gems singled out.

These are the ones with a pulse — films from visionary directors with artistic merit, challenging viewpoints and impeccable craft.

A scene from Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine (2026) This week’s strongest signal

Wild Horse Nine

A Martin McDonagh comedy about the CIA in Chile, months before the 1973 coup, with John Malkovich as the spy who can’t stop bragging about it. Sam Rockwell is his partner and Steve Buscemi the bureau chief who ships them both off to Easter Island. Raves since Venice; TheWrap found it dull, and still called Malkovich glorious. Big mouth.

Godzilla Minus Zero

Godzilla Minus Zero

The first Godzilla film ever rated R, and the first Japanese production shot for IMAX. Takashi Yamazaki picks the Shikishima family back up in 1949, two years after Minus One. Most critics call it bigger and better; the Daily Beast says you wait, and wait, for the monster. IMAX at Regal Gateway and AMC Barton Creek. Go big.

Once Upon a Time in Harlem

Once Upon a Time in Harlem

William Greaves filmed a reunion of the surviving Harlem Renaissance in 1972, and his son finished it half a century later. Eubie Blake, Arna Bontemps, Aaron Douglas and James Van Der Zee, among others, at Duke Ellington’s townhouse, on 16mm; David Greaves, then twenty-six, was on the camera crew. Not one bad review yet. South Lamar through Wednesday, then AFS from Friday. RSVP.

Littermates

Littermates

Two survivors of an unexplained war relearn how to talk in an English cottage, and earn “nifties” for good behavior. Scott Tinkham and Michael Woloson’s first feature, with Joey Bader, Kaylee McGregor and Oliver Woolf as the caretaker; the nifties buy karaoke and hot-tub time. A Drafthouse exclusive, one week only. Don’t open the gate.

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York

John Turturro works the subway as a pickpocket in a city that has gone digital around him. Noah Segan, a Rian Johnson regular in front of the camera, wrote and directed it with Johnson producing, Steve Buscemi as the fence and Giancarlo Esposito as the cop. Second week: South Lamar every day, AMC Barton Creek too. Hold on to your wallet.

Wide Releases

Showtimes at the chains

Alamo Drafthouse AMC Theatres Regal Cinemas Cinemark iPIC Galaxy Theatres

What you should know about

Austin has plenty of options for IMAX screens, but not all are created equal. For immersive cinematic experiences like The Odyssey, which was shot entirely in the IMAX format, there’s only one primo experience, and the rest of them aren’t even close.

The real oneBiggest movie screen in Texas

Bullock Texas State History Museum

Dual laser · 1.43:1 · six storeys · 12-channel

One of a handful of dual-laser installations in the world, and the only screen in Austin that can project 1.43:1 — the tall, almost square frame an IMAX camera actually records. Purpose-built room, soundproofed, speakers placed for the space rather than fitted into it. Bullock plays a mix of major Hollywood blockbusters, educational nature documentaries, and special cinematic events.

On the most IMAX screens this week

Godzilla Minus Zero 2026

  • Bullock Museum Through Nov 15
  • Regal Gateway Mon–Wed
  • AMC Barton Creek Mon–Thu
  • Hooky Hutto Mon–Thu
Dune: Part One & Part Two 2021·2024
  • Regal Gateway Fri–Sun
  • AMC Barton Creek Fri–Sun
  • Hooky Hutto Fri–Sun

Regal Gateway 4DX & IMAX

9700 Stonelake Blvd · 16 screens

A certified IMAX auditorium inside a multiplex, almost certainly 1.90:1 like every commercial retrofit — about a quarter of the frame height gone on anything shot for IMAX. Also the only 4DX in town.

AMC Barton Creek Square 14 & IMAX

Mall multiplex · south-west

Same story — certified, retrofitted, 1.90:1. Bigger and louder than the screen next door, which is the whole pitch.

EVO Entertainment Kyle

3200 Kyle Crossing · IMAX with Laser

Laser projection, which is the good version of a commercial IMAX — brighter, deeper contrast, wider color than the xenon rigs it replaced. Still 1.90:1, so still cropped, but the best picture of the three commercial screens. Attached to bowling lanes, an arcade and a bar, which is either the appeal or the problem depending on your evening.

Hooky Hutto & IMAX

180 Alliance Blvd · eight screens · IMAX with Laser

The first IMAX in Williamson County, opened 2025. Same laser spec as Kyle, same 1.90:1 frame, twelve bowling lanes next door. Worth knowing if you are north of the river — a shorter run than crossing town to Barton Creek.

inTHEATRESTHEATRESEverything screening
across the next seven days.

Note: we’re only listing special events and repertory screenings, but Alamo carries a full slate of wide releases too. Full schedule here.

Regular series at Alamo

Austin’s longest-running film riff, live and scripted since 1997.

Not at the Alamo this week.

Horror every Tuesday at 9:30, South Lamar, since the Ritz days. Trash, treasures and 35mm prints nobody else will run.

This week’s title isn’t posted under the series name. South Lamar’s Tuesday 9:30 is Unfriended: Dark Web; see Tue 10 above.

The other half of the pair — oddities, exploitation and things that should not exist, Wednesdays at 9:30 at South Lamar.

This week: The Devil’s Sword, South Lamar, Wednesday at 9:30; see Wed 11 above.

Note: we’re only listing special events and repertory screenings, but Regal carries a full slate of wide releases too. Full schedule here.

Outdoor & One-Off

on theHOUSEThe best deal in
Austin cinema – free!

Community Cinema

A 400-seat outdoor amphitheaterThe amphitheater at Community First! Village donated by Alamo Drafthouse, sitting in the middle of Community First! Village — the 51-acre neighborhood Mobile Loaves & Fishes built for people coming off the street. 440 formerly homeless neighbors live there now, in tiny homes with a working farm, an art house and a market.

Admission is free and always has been. The concession stand is the point: it is staffed by Village residents earning a dignified income, so the popcorn you buy is the fundraising. Cards only, no cash. Bring a chair and a blanket, and take the guided tour they run before most screenings.

7:00 pm · 9301 Hog Eye Rd · mlf.org/events

Branch screenings run all year. The pick of it is Weeknight Cinema at the Gillum Branch — a proper repertory strand with ongoing themes. Most are free and walk-in; a few ask you to register.

Full calendar at library.austintexas.gov/events/movies
On the patio · 21+

Hotel Vegas Movie Club

Free screenings on the patio of the East Sixth bar, with trivia, movie bingo and quote-alongs around the film. October is Which Witch Wednesdays.

No patio screenings on the Hotel Vegas calendar right now.

Spring through summer · off-season now

Movies in the Park

Austin Parks Foundation with Rocket Cinema, eleven years running. Free screenings that rotate through neighborhood parks, plus poolside nights at Deep Eddy in summer. First hundred bags of popcorn are free. Dogs, picnics and lawn chairs welcome; no glass or alcohol. Parking is tight at most parks — they suggest biking. Rain dates get rescheduled, so check before you go.

One fall show left: Toy Story, Sat Nov 21.

Stream thousands of films at home, free with an Austin Public Library card. A deep, library-curated collection of arthouse, independent, international, classic and documentary cinema — especially strong on films that fall outside the mainstream streaming ecosystem.

Not free, but close: Alamo’s Kids Camp runs $1–5 through the summer, and Regal’s Summer Movie Express is $1 on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.

in theCOMMUNITYAustin’s film people,
and where to find them.

Third spaces

East Austin · microcinema

The epitome of a DIY film community, with a focus on local filmmakers. Volunteer-run since 2016, and occupying its own clubhouse since 2024.

Volunteer

Sign up to work events or build photo booths, for free tickets and the Discord.

Connect

The Discord comes with every membership, from $5 a month.

North Loop · video store

A nonprofit video store and microcinema, run entirely by volunteers. At its present location
since 2023.

Volunteer

Fill out the form to work the counter as a shift lead, or help run screenings and events.

Connect

Join the Discord to hear about volunteer shifts and meet fellow movie nerds.

Highland · arthouse

Every membership level brings quarterly mixers and a free Member Monday screening. From $65 a year.

Shaken, not stirred

The café and bar in the lobby sit under vintage cinema posters from Richard Linklater’s own collection, along with movie-soundtrack album covers.

Village & South Lamar

Posters from 1974 line the Village’s walls, and Vulcan Video’s old collection lives in the lobby as Video Vortex.

Careful, man, there’s a beverage here!

The Village bar has a patio. At South Lamar, the Highball hosts two-step lessons.

on theSHELFI have to return some
video tapes.

Miss that feeling of not knowing what you want to watch until the box cover grabs your eye? These are the spots where you can relive your 90s glory. The clerk will be happy to chat your ear off about Tarkovsky’s more accessible films, which Wong Kar-Wai movie is best to mend a broken heart, or that Halloween III: Season of the Witch is actually a pretty good entry in the series. This is how we did it in the late 1900s and we liked it.

Inside We Luv Video on North Loop: aisles of VHS and DVDs under string lights North Loop · member-run

We Luv Video

A nonprofit, volunteer-run video store with more than 35,000 tapes and discs — beloved favorites, cult oddities and true rarities — plus a microcinema. Some of the videos are older than the employees — a testament to the staying power of physical media. Browse the shelves online before you go, and if you gave away your VCR, they’ll rent you one.

  • Where 100 E. North Loop Blvd.
  • Open Mon–Thu 6–10 pm, Fri 4 pm–midnight, Sat noon–midnight, Sun noon–10 pm

Rental memberships start at $10 a month ($5 for students, seniors and people with disabilities) for one video out at a time — a better deal than most streaming platforms, with a far better selection.

Video Vortex in the Alamo Village lobby: rental racks under a rainbow-striped ceiling Alamo Village · free rentals

Video Vortex

When Vulcan Video closed in 2020 after thirty-five years, the Alamo bought the collection rather than watch it scatter. Since the Village’s 2024 refresh it has lived in that lobby as Video Vortex, powered by Vulcan Video: every title free to rent, and they’ll lend you a Blu-ray player too.

  • Where Alamo Drafthouse Village, 2700 W. Anderson Ln.

Rentals are free! You’ll just need to register with the staff and keep a credit card on file. Late fees are $2 a day, with a limit of three videos rented at one time.

Austin Video Store: floor-to-ceiling shelves of VHS tapes Near the airport · buy and trade

Austin Video Store

Opened this summer in a strip center off Bastrop Highway: VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, LaserDisc, anime and horror tapes, and the CRTs to play them on. No rentals and no membership cards — everything is sold or traded, and they buy collections. They are even planning to turn the store into a microcinema with a ceiling-mounted projector and drop-down screen.

  • Where 720 Bastrop Hwy., #202
  • Open Wed and Fri 5–9 pm, Sun from noon
Inside Waterloo Records on North Lamar: record bins and the in-store stage
North Lamar · new and used discs

Waterloo Records & Video

The “& Video” has been in the name since 1982. Austin’s record store keeps new and used DVDs and Blu-rays alongside the vinyl, and the movie racks made the move in August 2025, five blocks up Lamar to a store half again as big. Bring your own discs to the counter any time they’re open: they pay cash, or a bonus if you take store credit.

  • Where 1105 N. Lamar Blvd.
  • Open 10 am–9 pm daily

Physical media is dead, long live physical media!

Streaming is a lease. A disc is yours. Films vanish from the services every month; the labels below keep putting them back — scanned properly, packaged with care, and made for people who plan to keep them. Criterion sets the pace, but it isn’t the only one doing the work.

The Criterion Collection

Since 1984 Criterion has treated home video as publishing: restorations checked by the people who made the films, commentaries and essays worth keeping, and a numbered spine that collectors chase for decades. It’s the label the others measure themselves against.

January releases

December releases

Criterion cover: Nashville

Dec 1 Nashville (Robert Altman); Divorce Italian Style (Pietro Germi).   Dec 8 The English Patient (Anthony Minghella); Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog).   Dec 15 The Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch); Eclipse Series 50: Sara Gómez’s Revolutionary Cuba.

November releases

Criterion cover: Shoot the Piano Player

Nov 3 Harold and Maude (Hal Ashby); KPop Demon Hunters (Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans).   Nov 10 Blue Heron (Sophy Romvari); Marie Antoinette (Sofia Coppola); Shoot the Piano Player (François Truffaut).   Nov 17 Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Sergei Parajanov); Wild at Heart (David Lynch).   Nov 24 The Right Stuff (Philip Kaufman).

American Genre Film Archive

Austin’s own, on Avenue B: the world’s largest archive dedicated to genre movies, and the only known nonprofit genre film distributor. More than six thousand prints and a 4K scanner, put to work rescuing the films nobody else was going to save. Genre movies have never had a better friend.

Latest releases

September slate

Vinegar Syndrome

Still paying for their own 4K scans of films nobody else is fighting for. This month: Ice Cream Man and Bloody Psycho in 4K, plus another Forgotten Gialli volume.

Arrow 4K: Clash of the TitansArrow 4K: The Dirty DozenArrow Blu-ray: Shawscope Presents: Street Gangs of Hong KongNovember slate

Arrow Video

Ray Harryhausen’s last film comes home in 4K. Clash of the Titans and Robert Aldrich’s The Dirty Dozen arrive Nov 17 as limited editions, and a week later Shawscope Presents: Street Gangs of Hong Kong boxes up seven Shaw Brothers films. Twelve men, one Kraken.

Kino 4K: RollercoasterKino 4K: Four RoomsKino 4K: Sergio Leone MasterworksComing this fall

Kino Lorber

Kino saved the biggest for last. Rollercoaster in 4K Oct 13, The Pirates of Penzance and Bluebeard Oct 20, Four Rooms Nov 10… then on Nov 24, Sergio Leone: Masterworks, the Dollars trilogy plus Once Upon a Time in the West, in 4K. Clear a shelf.

Severin 4K: The Devil’s RainSeverin 4K: The Ugly StepsisterSeverin 4K: GwendolineNew and on preorder

Severin

Severin’s fall is stacked. New 4K sets of The Devil’s Rain, Asylum and Jack the Ripper, plus four discs of Bava’s A Bay of Blood. On preorder: The Ugly Stepsister and Gwendoline in 4K, and a four-disc Joko Anwar collection, The Sacred & The Cursed. Your wallet has been warned.

Shout 4K: MagicShout 4K: Hostel CollectionShout 4K: AbigailOctober slate

Shout! Factory

Scream Factory is ready for Halloween. Richard Attenborough’s Magic, with Anthony Hopkins and a ventriloquist’s dummy, on 4K steelbook Oct 6; Eli Roth’s Hostel films turn twenty Oct 13; and Radio Silence’s Abigail gets a collector’s edition Oct 20, alongside the Chinese Ghost Story trilogy in 4K. Don’t trust the dummy.

A24 Blu-ray: The InviteA24 Blu-ray: BackroomsA24 zine: Disc RevolutionShop exclusives

A24

A24 sells its own collector’s editions, straight from its shop. New: Olivia Wilde’s The Invite on Blu-ray and 4K, after Backrooms in July, and issue 34 of the A24 zine, Disc Revolution, marks twenty years of Blu-ray. Preaching to the choir, here.

About

Chris Ayers

This site is created and maintained as a passion project by cinephile and graphic designer Chris Ayers at Chris Ayers Creative. Chris’ favorite night of the week is Thursday, because that’s when the new movies come out. He used to love changing the marquee by hand and putting up the new posters at the cinema where he worked. He has worked as a projectionist at three theaters.

Check out his alternative movie posters hereAlternative movie posters by Chris Ayers. You can see pics of his catsRemi and Cleo here.

Contact him at chris at chrisayerscreative dot com.

Updated nightly · last refreshed Monday 9 November, 12:00 pm
© 2026 Halftone Creative, LLC

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