As longtime readers know, the members of this entourage are quite fond of the Weird Wednesday shows often orchestrated at the Alamo Drafthouse in Houston. Well, your intrepid reporter has recently taken the plunge and moved to the home base of the Drafthouse: Austin, TX. As my first post back on the site, I could think of no better topic than my first trip to the mothership connection: The Alamo Drafthouse Downtown, for a showing of that 1983 classic: Joysticks. Of course, with this being the original Alamo, a regular showing just wouldn't do. Instead, on this night the legendary (???) character actor Jon Gries was on hand to describe his motivation in playing the antagonist, King Vidiot. Wild times ensue for all...

I must admit, this was my first trip to the original Alamo location. Sure, I had been to the S. Lamar theater once, but was never in town at the right time to catch a movie at the original 'Mo. Let me try to describe for you the theater setup: it looks like the type of place where snuff films and sexual favors would be traded. The theater has the now-classic table/theater chair setup known to Houstonians, but with a single-screen in an upstairs theater. The lobby contains a few classic video games, including one of my old favorites: Kung-Fu Master. As I entered the theater, Jon Gries was just finishing up his Q&A session after a showing of Napoleon Dynamite. It was during this Q&A that I experienced a moment that would have made Jim's head explode: Gries described in great detail just how the director and Jon Heder came together to make Napoleon's "dumb stare" facial expression. It was at this point that I had to step out and get a beer...

After a brief cleaning, the theater was reopened for the showing of Joysticks. The theater crew had hooked up a computer to the theater screen, and patrons were encouraged to come play a game of Satan's Hollow (as seen in the movie). Of course yours truly had to get up and try, and wound up with the second best score of the night. Alas, a guy covered in potato chips and Dr. Pepper stains beat me down like a rented mule. Gries did a bit of an introduction, and the crapfest ran.

Oh, I'm sorry, did I say crapfest? I meant extraordinary shit-stained crapfest. Picture "Porky's", set in a 1980s arcade, as directed by the genius behind "Satan's Cheerleaders". And every scene has a "Pac-Wipe", where Pac-Man wakka-wakka's across the screen to transition from one location to another. Every stereotype was in this film, from the cool protagonist to the weird King Vidiot, from the fat gamer to the old man in town who wants to shut down the arcade (played Joe Don Baker...not one of his shining moments). The man who made the film was, of course, Jon Gries's character of King Vidiot. An odd mix of Pee-Wee Herman and Jeff Lebowski, King Vidiot was certainly something to laugh at. I almost felt sorry for sitting two rows behind this poor guy who was just trying to make a paycheck back in the early 80s and laughing at the movie he was in. Almost, but not quite. I heard quite a few groans coming from his seat, as he relived some of the worse moments on celluloid. Ah well, we all have our ups and downs in life. It was just quite fun to experience another person's valley on the big screen.

After the film came, of course, the requisite Q&A. There were only two main threads asked by the audience: "Were you a video game player" (no), and "What was your motivation for doing this movie?" (to get paid!). Very simple, straightforward answers, and I'm quite glad that he didn't attempt to bullshit us with stories of why this was the most important role of the 20th century. To him, it was a paycheck, and he's quite glad that people are still watching this movie 20+ years later. And to be honest, if anyone were to read this 20 years down the line, I'd be quite impressed as well...