Get these M*therf*cking snakes out of my theater!
October 27, 2014 8:51 AM Subscribe
I kick people out of my Alamo Drafthouse movie theaters without a refund for texting and talking. AMA. From tales of snake handlers spraying blood all over the theater, to angry patrons yelling at security guards, the Alamo Drafthouse still remains raucous after all these years.
(I usually wouldn't post a single-link to reddit, but this is too great not to share with you all.)
(I usually wouldn't post a single-link to reddit, but this is too great not to share with you all.)
The table view is good too. I think IAmA is one of the best features on Reddit, but I'm a bit baffled to see this year-old one posted here now.
posted by Nelson at 9:06 AM on October 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Nelson at 9:06 AM on October 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
I loved the Alamo Drafthouse when I lived in Austin, but if the allegations about employee benefits are true, that makes me really sad.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:08 AM on October 27, 2014
posted by Sangermaine at 9:08 AM on October 27, 2014
Really interesting to see how many of the menu questions are answered with "we thought that was boring/didn't live up to our standards so we scrapped it". Particularly so since the menu now is so ... modular? I guess is the best word for it. Pick a kind of thing (sandwich, wrap, salad), pick a topping, etc. A lot of the unique dishes have vanished. RIP Bat Wings.
posted by immlass at 9:08 AM on October 27, 2014
posted by immlass at 9:08 AM on October 27, 2014
Am I reading it wrong? The first page of comments all seem to start "I know nobody is probably reading this, but...", and there's no responses from ADH folks. What and where am I supposed to be looking? Sorry, missed the "skip to responses" below the fold.
posted by dejah420 at 9:11 AM on October 27, 2014
posted by dejah420 at 9:11 AM on October 27, 2014
(thanks all for supplying "cool ways to use reddit" links.)
As far as it being a year old, I thought that made enough of an "out there in the hinterlands of forgotten cool links" to be worthy of posting here?
posted by Annika Cicada at 9:16 AM on October 27, 2014 [3 favorites]
As far as it being a year old, I thought that made enough of an "out there in the hinterlands of forgotten cool links" to be worthy of posting here?
posted by Annika Cicada at 9:16 AM on October 27, 2014 [3 favorites]
What were bat wings?
posted by boo_radley at 9:34 AM on October 27, 2014
posted by boo_radley at 9:34 AM on October 27, 2014
What were bat wings?
$7.99, same as in town.
(They were "Asian-style" chicken wings tossed in a plum ginger soy sauce.)
posted by jedicus at 10:09 AM on October 27, 2014 [5 favorites]
$7.99, same as in town.
(They were "Asian-style" chicken wings tossed in a plum ginger soy sauce.)
posted by jedicus at 10:09 AM on October 27, 2014 [5 favorites]
"Asian-style" chicken wings tossed in a plum ginger soy sauce
And my go-to Alamo nosh until they were pulled from the menu. The AMA has Tim League saying that you can get the off-menu items like that, and you could for a while, but bat wings are gone now. They're "bat wings" because of Austin's big urban bat colony under the Congress Avenue bridge.
posted by immlass at 10:46 AM on October 27, 2014
And my go-to Alamo nosh until they were pulled from the menu. The AMA has Tim League saying that you can get the off-menu items like that, and you could for a while, but bat wings are gone now. They're "bat wings" because of Austin's big urban bat colony under the Congress Avenue bridge.
posted by immlass at 10:46 AM on October 27, 2014
I'm just mystified by the need to obfuscate "M*ther"...
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:00 AM on October 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:00 AM on October 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
YES! Bat wings! Sad about those :[
posted by fiercecupcake at 11:22 AM on October 27, 2014
posted by fiercecupcake at 11:22 AM on October 27, 2014
Why did I do that Greg Nog? I really have no clue lol.
posted by Annika Cicada at 1:18 PM on October 27, 2014
posted by Annika Cicada at 1:18 PM on October 27, 2014
I worked for about 8 years in many positions at an old Vaudevillian theater in Chicago that is similar to the Drafthouse in many respects, although not as elaborate, rules-oriented, or film-buff-centered as the Drafthouse. I had written out a quite a long comment describing my take on some of the challenges a business like this faces from both the film distributors and the customers, but decided that it might be too much of a derail as it is not directly Drafthouse oriented or a little too close to hijacking the thread. If the other MeFites here would like me to go into my 'long-winded tale' mode and post it, I can.
posted by chambers at 1:35 PM on October 27, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by chambers at 1:35 PM on October 27, 2014 [5 favorites]
chambers, long-winded and slightly off-topic is our stock in trade. In fact:
Metafilter: Sorry about the derail, but ...
posted by 1adam12 at 1:39 PM on October 27, 2014
Metafilter: Sorry about the derail, but ...
posted by 1adam12 at 1:39 PM on October 27, 2014
chambers: post it. please.
posted by Annika Cicada at 1:42 PM on October 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Annika Cicada at 1:42 PM on October 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
Am I reading it wrong? The first page of comments all seem to start "I know nobody is probably reading this, but...", and there's no responses from ADH folks.
Reddit sorts comments newest-first by default, and this is bad and wrong. If you sort it by 'old' comments first it will make much more sense.
posted by Kadin2048 at 1:43 PM on October 27, 2014
Reddit sorts comments newest-first by default, and this is bad and wrong. If you sort it by 'old' comments first it will make much more sense.
posted by Kadin2048 at 1:43 PM on October 27, 2014
chambers: The Music Box theater? Also, post it.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 1:51 PM on October 27, 2014
posted by jeff-o-matic at 1:51 PM on October 27, 2014
For about 8 years I worked at The Vic Theatre, which is an old, worn, but still quite beautiful Vaudevillian theater that holds about ~1,400 people. On days when there were not performances (which was ~80% of the time), it would become the Brew & View, showing second-run or older films, and used the Vic's liquor and food licenses. It predates the Alamo Drafthouse by about 5 years or so, but unless it was for a private screening event, they never really attempted to specifically cater to the 'film buff' audience with extensive rules or a menu larger than popcorn, pizza, candy and booze. During that time I worked in just about every position except the manager - security/bouncer, bartender, concessions, barback, stagehand, and occasionally, the projectionist. Sometimes several of those at once. It was a great job, one of the very few I've had where it felt like even though we were working, I was being paid to hang out with my friends more than anything else.
Even with the benefit of B&V not having to operate under their own liquor license or their own building, the license still had to be protected and rent had to be paid. It's also not that easy to deal with all the different distributors and studios either - each had their own pricing system for their films; depending on how new or popular it was, sometimes it was just a flat fee per showing or per day, other times it was a percentage of the box office, or a combination of both. There were several times when we could not get a film that would have been a big draw because the companies had set their prices for theaters that had several showings in a day, while we would have single showings of two films on weekdays, three on the weekends. Also complicating matters was that customers could stay for all three films without any additional cost, which sometimes caused companies to sometimes want a cut of the total number of customers in a night, even if those people came to see a different film and left. If the film was over a few years old, it was much less of an issue, but in general it was frequent source of frustration.
Additionally, the age limit was 18+, so we had to be constantly watching for fake IDs and underage drinking. Usually you could tell by the look on the underager's faces the moment they walked in the door whether they were going to try something. Those working security would be marking, following and observing the underagers from a distance after they came in. Most of them were oblivious to the fact that we were watching them, and within seconds of their first sip find them and their group led to the lobby where they would be identified, banned from the location, and depending on their behavior. Most of the kids who were thrown out fessed up quickly and sheepishly accepted being thrown out and they had to deal with their friends, who were now pretty angry at the one who get them all thrown out. Those who argued about it found little sympathy since there were witnesses, and those who were really being an ass about our authority to eject them would then have a talk with the beat cops which usually led to them getting the beejeezus scared out of them with a short warning and conversation from them about how they could end up spending the whole weekend in jail waiting for a arraignment on Monday. As the vast majority of these kids were either college freshmen or from the suburbs, this usually shook them up pretty well. This would all go down in the lobby, where other customers coming in would see them, and combined with customers seeing security lead groups out every now and then, the word go out fairly well that the odds were against getting away with stuff like that. Each summer and fall there would be a new batch of kids that would try to get away with it, so it kept us on our toes.
I don't believe they use it anymore, but the projector we used to use was a vintage 35mm from the late '60s with 3 platters that held the film (similar to this, but much older). The film would come to us in 5-8 smaller reels, and we would assemble the reels onto one platter while the other two platters acted as the feed/take up reels for the film that was currently playing. It was a fun machine to operate, but you had to be careful, as you could really shock yourself very badly if you touched the platter AND the projector at the same time. Ocassionally there would be jams, and the film would burn through for all to see - it happened once during a showing of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (mentioned in another short recollection in the blue here), and it freaked the hell out of a few cutomers for a minute who had arrived, shall we say, 'psychedlically prepared.' At that point it's a mad dash to the projection booth and some frantic moments untangling, cutting and splicing the film back togehter, but I must admit it was pretty exciting when it happened.
The combination of the economic slump of the dot com bust, the various ways of getting stuff via the internet, and most strikingly, the smoking ban, hurt business a lot. Before then, there were several times during summer and fall when we filled the entire building - 1100 people with triple features. Towards the end of my time working there it was rare to see those really big nights like it was in years past. B&V survived though, and is still around and doing well.
posted by chambers at 1:53 PM on October 27, 2014 [12 favorites]
Even with the benefit of B&V not having to operate under their own liquor license or their own building, the license still had to be protected and rent had to be paid. It's also not that easy to deal with all the different distributors and studios either - each had their own pricing system for their films; depending on how new or popular it was, sometimes it was just a flat fee per showing or per day, other times it was a percentage of the box office, or a combination of both. There were several times when we could not get a film that would have been a big draw because the companies had set their prices for theaters that had several showings in a day, while we would have single showings of two films on weekdays, three on the weekends. Also complicating matters was that customers could stay for all three films without any additional cost, which sometimes caused companies to sometimes want a cut of the total number of customers in a night, even if those people came to see a different film and left. If the film was over a few years old, it was much less of an issue, but in general it was frequent source of frustration.
Additionally, the age limit was 18+, so we had to be constantly watching for fake IDs and underage drinking. Usually you could tell by the look on the underager's faces the moment they walked in the door whether they were going to try something. Those working security would be marking, following and observing the underagers from a distance after they came in. Most of them were oblivious to the fact that we were watching them, and within seconds of their first sip find them and their group led to the lobby where they would be identified, banned from the location, and depending on their behavior. Most of the kids who were thrown out fessed up quickly and sheepishly accepted being thrown out and they had to deal with their friends, who were now pretty angry at the one who get them all thrown out. Those who argued about it found little sympathy since there were witnesses, and those who were really being an ass about our authority to eject them would then have a talk with the beat cops which usually led to them getting the beejeezus scared out of them with a short warning and conversation from them about how they could end up spending the whole weekend in jail waiting for a arraignment on Monday. As the vast majority of these kids were either college freshmen or from the suburbs, this usually shook them up pretty well. This would all go down in the lobby, where other customers coming in would see them, and combined with customers seeing security lead groups out every now and then, the word go out fairly well that the odds were against getting away with stuff like that. Each summer and fall there would be a new batch of kids that would try to get away with it, so it kept us on our toes.
I don't believe they use it anymore, but the projector we used to use was a vintage 35mm from the late '60s with 3 platters that held the film (similar to this, but much older). The film would come to us in 5-8 smaller reels, and we would assemble the reels onto one platter while the other two platters acted as the feed/take up reels for the film that was currently playing. It was a fun machine to operate, but you had to be careful, as you could really shock yourself very badly if you touched the platter AND the projector at the same time. Ocassionally there would be jams, and the film would burn through for all to see - it happened once during a showing of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (mentioned in another short recollection in the blue here), and it freaked the hell out of a few cutomers for a minute who had arrived, shall we say, 'psychedlically prepared.' At that point it's a mad dash to the projection booth and some frantic moments untangling, cutting and splicing the film back togehter, but I must admit it was pretty exciting when it happened.
The combination of the economic slump of the dot com bust, the various ways of getting stuff via the internet, and most strikingly, the smoking ban, hurt business a lot. Before then, there were several times during summer and fall when we filled the entire building - 1100 people with triple features. Towards the end of my time working there it was rare to see those really big nights like it was in years past. B&V survived though, and is still around and doing well.
posted by chambers at 1:53 PM on October 27, 2014 [12 favorites]
Particularly so since the menu now is so ... modular? I guess is the best word for it. Pick a kind of thing (sandwich, wrap, salad), pick a topping, etc. A lot of the unique dishes have vanished. RIP Bat Wings.
I don't envy the headache they have to deal with regarding costing out the food, designing the menu, and not turning off customers with the changes while at the same time investing in new locations and expanding out into other cities. I'm not surprised that the menu has become more modular. While the bar and traditional concessions like popcorn, candy, and soft drinks can have a very large markup, prepared food on the other hand is much more difficult to manage and has a far smaller markup range, with an incredibly larger labor cost. A couple of bartenders or a single concession stand worker or two can handle 1000 people or more in a night, but a kitchen needs a lot more people working to cover the same number of people.
However, if they keep doing the right things as they expand and manage their costs well, this 'modular' phase will pass and you'll once again see more customized items return. It probably will not be exactly as it was, but with more locations open an experienced corporate chef can have more 'wiggle room' when it comes to the 'signature' items that are less profitable, as better performing locations can even out the overall food cost and more locations will translate into a stronger negotiating position when dealing with suppliers.
posted by chambers at 4:14 PM on October 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
I don't envy the headache they have to deal with regarding costing out the food, designing the menu, and not turning off customers with the changes while at the same time investing in new locations and expanding out into other cities. I'm not surprised that the menu has become more modular. While the bar and traditional concessions like popcorn, candy, and soft drinks can have a very large markup, prepared food on the other hand is much more difficult to manage and has a far smaller markup range, with an incredibly larger labor cost. A couple of bartenders or a single concession stand worker or two can handle 1000 people or more in a night, but a kitchen needs a lot more people working to cover the same number of people.
However, if they keep doing the right things as they expand and manage their costs well, this 'modular' phase will pass and you'll once again see more customized items return. It probably will not be exactly as it was, but with more locations open an experienced corporate chef can have more 'wiggle room' when it comes to the 'signature' items that are less profitable, as better performing locations can even out the overall food cost and more locations will translate into a stronger negotiating position when dealing with suppliers.
posted by chambers at 4:14 PM on October 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
However, if they keep doing the right things as they expand and manage their costs well, this 'modular' phase will pass and you'll once again see more customized items return.
One of the two locations nearest me (less near than South Lamar, which I'm glad is back) is their test kitchen at Slaughter Lane. They bring on different seasonal test dishes and some of them have stayed, like the Hatch green chile mac and cheese, so I know they're working on the menu. So I can see a better situation on the horizon ... but I still miss my tasty bat wings!
posted by immlass at 4:48 PM on October 27, 2014
One of the two locations nearest me (less near than South Lamar, which I'm glad is back) is their test kitchen at Slaughter Lane. They bring on different seasonal test dishes and some of them have stayed, like the Hatch green chile mac and cheese, so I know they're working on the menu. So I can see a better situation on the horizon ... but I still miss my tasty bat wings!
posted by immlass at 4:48 PM on October 27, 2014
chambers, I used to go to that. One time I got in trouble for accidentally knocking some food off of the balcony. And you're right: the smoking ban sucked. There was nothing cooler than watching Taxi Driver or something similar in a smoke-filled theater.
posted by nushustu at 12:35 AM on October 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by nushustu at 12:35 AM on October 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
Thanks for the memories, chambers! I went to Brew & View a few times in the early aughts and I'm glad to hear it's still around. I remember the sucky movies were actually the best there just due to the atmosphere.
(I just checked my blog, and I noted with glee that Ebert name-checked it back in 2001. That would've been so cool to see him there!)
posted by web-goddess at 4:28 AM on October 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
(I just checked my blog, and I noted with glee that Ebert name-checked it back in 2001. That would've been so cool to see him there!)
posted by web-goddess at 4:28 AM on October 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
This article is from a year ago or so. The Alamo has opened a theatre in Kalamazoo, where I live. I have to say I've only been there once. No one talked, but the noise and busyness of serving people full meals in the middle of a movie was very distracting. Perhaps their “no talking” policy is there as a distraction from these distractions.
posted by willF at 1:50 PM on October 28, 2014
posted by willF at 1:50 PM on October 28, 2014
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posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:55 AM on October 27, 2014