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

Safe cracking is a snap for White Lotus alum Leo Woodall in Tuner

Photo courtesy of Black Bear

Leo Woodall in Tuner.

Of all the ways that movies depict people trying to steal money and other valuables, safe cracking is among the least exciting. By design, it’s a laborious process that only those with a very certain set of skills can do. While clever editing and the right music can enhance scenes of safes being cracked, there’s a reason that the method is among the least used in heist films.

In the new film Tuner, Niki (Leo Woodall) has a job and a condition that just happens to lend itself well to committing that specific crime. He works as an apprentice piano tuner for Harry (Dustin Hoffman), usually doing the hard work while Harry schmoozes the client. Niki is well-suited for the job because he has a rare condition called hyperacusis, which makes him both sensitive to loud noises and able to hear subtle things that others cannot.

When he runs across a trio of criminals trying to break open a safe at a house where he’s tuning a piano, he helps them more out of frustration than avarice. But when Harry goes into the hospital and racks up huge bills, Niki decides to join the group to make some quick money. They soon want more than he’s willing to give, and he must find a way to extricate himself from them without losing himself completely.

Written and directed by documentary filmmaker Daniel Roher (making his narrative feature debut) and co-written by Robert Ramsey, the film has a nice pace to it despite there being relatively little action. Roher and Ramsey spend the first third or so establishing Niki, Harry, and Harry’s wife Marla (Tovah Feldshuh) as characters, letting the audience understand their relationships and how they interact with each other.

The time they devote to the personal storytelling pays dividends when Niki starts to descend into crime, as his divided loyalties - not to mention the danger of the thefts - insert tension into the plot. That stress is heightened even more when Niki starts a relationship with piano student Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), as getting closer to her necessitates a series of lies.

There comes a point, though, where the plot stagnates to a degree. Niki’s end goal, if he has one, is never clear, and it’s obvious that it’s only a matter of time before things start to fall apart. After starting strong in their character development, Roher and Ramsey take shortcuts as the film rushes toward its conclusion. This is most notable in a weird argument scene between Niki and Ruthie that comes out of nowhere and seems to serve no purpose in the story.

Woodall, who had a memorable turn in season 2 of The White Lotus, is on the cusp of breaking out, and this understated-but-compelling lead role should help him become an even bigger name in Hollywood. Hoffman has a small role, but he remains as interesting as ever despite the lack of screentime. Liu (Bottoms) is also an up-and-coming actor who should become a star with more roles like this one.

Tuner is a low-key thriller that succeeds because of the way the filmmakers approach the under-used method of robbery. Even if it doesn’t quite reach its potential, the film maintains a high quality throughout thanks to its storytelling and acting.

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Tuner is now playing in theaters.

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