Aug01

This is pretty much the best idea going. The Alamo Drafthouse (along with jeans-maker Levi’s) is showing nine different classic flicks in (or around) the locations where they take place. Some settings are more spot on than others — Jackie Brown in LA’s Del Amo Fashion Mall is perfection — but the whole concept is just fantastic.

I believe they have done this in past years as well, but this is the first I’m hearing of it and, I believe, this is the most ambitious, nationwide tour. (The 2008 lineup, for example, was all pretty local to Tejas.)

Here’s the full list of movies (each of which got one of the sweet “alt posters” shown above), dates and location:

  • August 6 JACKIE BROWN, at Los Angeles’ Del Amo Fashion Mall
  • August 7 DIRTY HARRY, at San Francisco’s Washington Square Park
  • August 8 THERE WILL BE BLOOD, at California’s Kern County Museum
  • August 8 CONVOY, at the Ft. Davis drive-in in Las Vegas, N.M.
  • August 13 THE BLUES BROTHERS, at Chicago’s Joliet Prison
  • August 14 ROBOCOP, at Detroit’s Russell Industrial Center
  • August 19 ROCKY I-III, at the Philadelphia Art Museum
  • August 20 ON THE WATERFRONT, at Hoboken’s Pier A
  • August 27 THE GODFATHER PART II, on a Manhattan rooftop near Little Italy

I’ve seen all except Convoy (which is playing in a double feature with Red Dawn, which is horrible) and would probably go to see any of the others if they were local. Rest assured, I will definitely be enjoying The Godfather II, easily one of the finest ten movies ever made, atop a roof in Little Italy. Vito-style.

Hell, I may even break my personal code of ethics and step foot into New Jersey to watch Marlon Brando fail at being a contender.

* … and Red Dawn