Classic Movies at the Paramount Theatre

Last night I wanted to go out with a girlfriend of mine and just do something fun.  My boyfriend has been out of town for a month, and though I saw him briefly on my own trip back home, I have been by myself an awful lot.  So before he got home today, I wanted a girls' night out, but I am not really the bar or club type.  (Disregard my Pete's Dueling Piano Bar article; that is a different story! :)

So I suggested to one of my girlfriends that we take advantage of the summer classic film series going on at the Paramount Theatre in downtown Austin.  I had only been to the Paramount once before when I won tickets to see Bob Saget through the Onion newspaper.  (He was something else.  What happened to Danny Tanner?)

Anyway, it is a beautiful theatre and I wanted to go again.  I loved the Kurt Vonnegut novel Slaughterhouse-Five but had never seen the movie, so I invited my friend to see it with me.

The Paramount has this great old, classic feel to it.  Most of the ushers and ticket takers are octogenarians in red suits, and I can just picture them having worked here since they were teenagers or something.  (Remember the Majestic, that greatly underrated, nauseatingly patriotic movie?  It is one of my favorites.) 

Anyway, the film was awesome.  I didn't realize how funny it would be (I should have, it's Vonnegut after all).  It was also quite serious and sad at times, as it describes one American man's experiences in WWII, particularly at the bombing of Dresden, Germany in 1945.  This man, much older, begins to worry his family members when he claims that he constantly goes back and forth in time and that he visits the planet Tralfamadore.  Mental illness derived from traumatic war experiences or alternate reality that only he experiences?  Kurt Vonnegut doesn't say.  It is up to the reader to decide.

It was also a lot of fun to be in that big, beautiful theatre without having spent a ton of money to see an actual show or concert.  Admission to these movies is $7 a head, $5 if you're a student.  Works for me.  They also sell popcorn, candy, soda and alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine and mixed drinks, as well as summer classic film series t-shirts for $10, which is not a bad price.

This is an annual thing that is going on all summer, and you Austinites out there (or anyone who will be in town by the first week of September) should check out the listings and catch a show if you can!

Afterwards you might want to head over to the Little City Espresso Bar & Cafe for a cappuccino like we did.  This is one of the cutest little java places I have been to in Austin so far.  Nice ambience, good coffee.

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April D. Boland is a freelance writer and editor.  Originally from New York City, she now resides in Austin, Texas where she enjoys reading, writing, soaking up culture and taking advantage of the beautiful outdoors that she never had back home.  She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Della Donna, a webzine for women for which she heartily accepts submissions.  Her published work can be found at her website, AprilBoland.com, and she blogs about writing at These Words.