Movie News

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema reveals reopening dates for Dallas-area theaters

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

The movies are back: The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema theater chain now has dates on the reopening of its five Dallas-Fort Worth theaters.

In a nutshell, they'll all be open by the end of August.

According to a release, the cinema company will reopen all of the six theaters it recently acquired after their closure as part of the franchisee's Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing — including five across Dallas Fort Worth: Cedars, Denton, Lake Highlands, Las Colinas, and Richardson — as well as the Woodbury location in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota.

The reopenings will be staggered throughout the month of August as follows:

August 9: Alamo Drafthouse Richardson
August 13: Alamo Drafthouse Lake Highlands
August 16: Alamo Drafthouse Cedars
August 20: Alamo Drafthouse Denton
August 23: Alamo Drafthouse Las Colinas
August 27: Alamo Drafthouse Woodbury

Tickets for upcoming shows will go on sale on a theater-by-theater basis shortly before each reopening date.

Beyond simply reopening the theaters, Alamo Drafthouse plans to implement improvements and upgrades to several of the venues.

The Richardson location will get state-of-the-art 4K laser projectors and Dolby Atmos sound in a new The Big Show auditorium – Alamo Drafthouse’s premium large format experience, with a targeted date of Labor Day. Las Colinas will get premium recliner seats and 4K laser projectors by spring 2025.

Each location will host a soft opening for the first two weeks after opening with $5 tickets for all shows and 25 percent off select food and beverage items. Programming for the soft opening includes some of the most anticipated films of the summer, including Deadpool & Wolverine, It Ends With Us, Alien: Romulus, and Blink Twice.

Anyone who purchased tickets before the shutdown will receive rainchecks via email once tickets go on sale. Additionally, previously purchased merchandise for Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine will be distributed to guests during the soft opening period.

Season Pass members affected by the closure will also be given the opportunity to reactivate their account and receive two months free for doing so once tickets for their preferred theater go on sale.

Priot to opening, Alamo Drafthouse will host a hiring fair for past employees on July 23 at the Lake Highlands and Woodbury locations, both to make them whole for lost wages that they were owed before the closure and to give them first access to interviews for open positions. (Anyone unable to make the event can apply here.)

Those who are rehired will get a more robust benefits plan with immediate eligibility, including access to daily pay, substantial 401k match, paid medical leave, accrued PTO, and free mental health services.

“Our number one goal throughout this difficult period has been to do right by the former teammates and get back to providing the exceptional cinema experience our guests deserve,” says Alamo Drafthouse CEO Michael Kustermann. “We’re thrilled to say that that goal is in sight and that we’ll have teammates and guests back in those theaters very soon.”

This news comes amidst a surging box office this summer, with titles like Bad Boys: Ride or Die, The Bikeriders, Longlegs, and Inside Out 2 all major successes for Alamo Drafthouse. With highly anticipated titles like It Ends With Us, Alien: Romulus, and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice all coming out during or immediately after the reopening period, DFW movie fans have a lot to look forward to at Alamo Drafthouse.

Movie Review

The Magic Faraway Tree is a whimsical family lark that fails to take root

Photo courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

Andrew Garfield, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Claire Foy, Phoenix Laroche, and Billie Gadson in The Magic Faraway Tree.

With kids and families always on the hunt for entertainment, it’s typically a safe bet for a movie studio to offer up something new, even if it is a film based on an old property. The Magic Faraway Tree, based on a series of books that started in the 1930s, is a very old property, one that its filmmakers have tried to liven up with a few stars, a lot of whimsy, and a boatload of CGI.

The Thompson family, led by stay-at-home dad Tim (Andrew Garfield) and breadwinner mom Polly (Claire Foy), are forced to move to a rundown country home when Polly gets laid off. The kids - Joe (Phoenix Laroche), Fran (Billie Gadson), and Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy) - are used to the perks of city life like wifi and electricity, and each of them rebels in their own way to their new lot in life.

Fran, enticed by a fairy named Silky (Nicola Coughlan), is the first to venture out of the house, making her way to a magic tree that transports her to a world full of strange characters like Moonface (Nonso Anozie), Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns), Dame Washalot (Jessica Gunning), and more. Her adventures there not only broaden the world she thought she knew, but may be the key to helping her ailing family.

Directed by Ben Gregor and written by Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2, Wonka), the film is a pleasant enough lark, but it fails to fully capture the imagination. The five-member family has a lot going on, from an initially-mute Fran to a domestic situation that raises more questions than it answers. The film tries to incorporate an anti-technology message through Tim’s hatred of a smart refrigerator (voiced by Judi Dench!) and the kids' addictions to devices, but it’s quickly shed in favor of other options.

Once Fran makes it to the Magic Faraway Tree, there’s a nice shift in the storytelling, but it’s unclear what the ultimate goal is. It’s a good idea to have Fran, the youngest of the children, convince her older, more cynical siblings about the virtues of the magic world, but the conflict in the real world doesn’t seem to rise to the level needed for the escape the tree provides.

There also seems to be a missing link in the storytelling for viewers to understand the importance of the fantastical characters. The visuals of seeing Moonface and his crescent moon-shaped hair, a man with a suit full of banging pots, and more are fun for a while, but not enough to carry the whole film. A last-minute revelation feels like it was something that should have been disclosed much earlier to help strengthen the emotions of the story.

A two-time Oscar nominee, Garfield is making his first foray into family movies (if you don’t count playing Spider-Man), and while he does a good job, he doesn’t make the best fit for the semi-goofy role. The same goes for the Emmy-winning Foy, who isn’t given much of anything to do. The movie puts the story on the shoulders of the three child actors, and while each of them acquit themselves well, none of them are so outstanding as to be noteworthy.

With nearly 90-year-old source material, The Magic Faraway Tree needed to be something truly special to stand out in the 21st century movie world. Unfortunately, it features a mostly forgettable story that features some fun visuals, a couple of cute kids, and not much else.

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The Magic Faraway Tree is now playing in theaters.

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Movie Review

The Magic Faraway Tree is a whimsical family lark that fails to take root