If your dad is anything like ours, he probably hates dudes in tights or pretty much anyone gyrating for the sake of dance. But, perhaps he’ll have the time of his life this Father’s Day for a dancing extravaganza at the Paramount Theater’s Summer Film Series with back-to-back dance film classics, Dirty Dancing and Flashdance. (Yes, the awful puns will continue.)...

The Paramount’s 2008 Summer Film Series continues Wednesday with Chinatown, followed by L.A. Confidential, and switches the order Thursday for those who can’t make it all in one night. Two classic, award-winning noir flicks for the price of one admission in a theater as old as the detective genre itself—now that’s the beginning of a beautiful friendship....

"I was initially drawn to Crawford, because I'd been effectively duped. I didn't know that Bush wasn't from Crawford."...

Salvage Vanguard Theater has announced its new season! // Rubber Repertory has started airing their dirty laundry in a new, recurring series called From the Dumpster, in which they confess to madcap ideas they seriously considered staging. // There's more than music to SXSW. ...

The week's news on arts, books, film and music....

Zach Scott is getting national attention for its run of Porgy and Bess at the newly remodeled Austin Music Hall. The show runs two weekends only, and wraps up this Sunday. // Jaston Williams had great success with his autobiographical, one-man show, I'm Not Lying—and now he's back with more. This weekend only, Cowboy Noises further explores Williams' fascinating life with humor and, we expect, unflinching honesty. // We're mighty fond of local playwright Max Langert, and his current play, You're Happier Than You Think: Recalibrating Your Emotional Scale, at Frontera Short Fringe sounds like a charmer. Saturday @6:15pm, and Sunday @noon....

Despite the obvious themes of power and faith, PT Anderson's vast, visionary epic There Will Be Blood isn’t primarily about oil, or about religion, or about extremism. Rather, it’s a thorough excavation of the foundation of American identity. And on top of all that, it’s the best film of the year....

Dame Edna had to cancel her entire North American tour due to complications from appendix surgery. Said the Dame in a letter to her loyal Austin fans, "Texas is no country for sick Megastars, so I will see you in November 7-9, 2008 [at the Paramount], possums."...

This week's news on art, books, music, and film....

Now in its sixth week, the Writers Guild of America strike is still going strong. And despite Alec Baldwin's hilarious/bizarre advice and Michael Eisner's name-calling, WGA members show few signs of giving in any time soon. Though the effects of the strike are most evident in places like Los Angeles and New York City, you may be surprised to learn that there are around 100 WGA members living here in Austin....

The Paramount presents White ChristmasDecember 9th, 11th and 12thParamount Theater (713 Congress Avenue)$7 / $5 Children, Students and Seniors, 7pm-ish, Tickets available at the box office day of show[info]Being that we live in a heat belt where it is not uncommon to see kids raking leaves in tank tops and jorts on Christmas Day (seriously, we've done it...well, not the jorts part), dreaming of a white Christmas is something that we are intimately familiar......

Image from the Paramount websiteBlade Runner: The Final CutNovember 18-23Paramount Theater (713 Congress Avenue)$8/$6 children, students, and seniors. Sunday, 2, 4:30 & 7 pm; Monday-Wednesday, 7:30 pm; Thursday, 7 pm; Friday, 4:30, 7 & 9:30 pm [info]Before Minority Report, before A Scanner Darkly, came by far the awesomest flick ever to be made out of a Philip K. Dick novel (sorry, Linklater). It's noir, it's scifi, it's scary, it's mind-bending: Blade Runner, which was released......

Flyer from BGirl City Championships Home Slice Pizza celebrates its second anniversary (happy birthday, guys!) with a giant Pizza Carnival—expect pizza tossing acrobats, pizza eating contests, "Great Calzoni the Slice Reader," and more, with proceeds going to benefit Young Texans Against Cancer The 6th annual East Austin Studio Tour returns, featuring more than 200 artists at over 100 studios—ride your bikes this year! VICE Magazine, Gomikitti, and Scion throw a killer free party at Antone's......

Smarter than Tyler Florence and cuter than Mario Batali, the thinking foodie's older man crush — Anthony Bourdain — chatted with a sold out audience at the Paramount last Saturday. At once charming and challenging, cynical and optimistic about the state of food and travel, the audience was walked through "The World According to Tony Bourdain" for an hour an a half - and he didn't disappoint. Bourdain on stage is no different than his......

Okay--so there are a bunch cool things happening at the Austin Film Festival tonight, and a we wanted to let you know about a few last-minute tidbits and screening changes. *The Rebel is now playing at 9:45pm at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, NOT at the 9:30 Paramount slot we'd previously told you about. *The awesome narrative feature and 2007 AFF "Film Jury Narrative Feature Winner" Shotgun Stories is now playing at 9:45pm......

There are so many great films playing at this year's Austin Film Festival that we've been having trouble keeping track of them all. And one that flew completely under our radar until this morning is a Vietnamese martial arts film called The Rebel, which is screening at the Paramount tonight. Billed as the "first ever Vietnamese martial arts film", The Rebel looks like all kinds of action-packed awesome. Secret agents? Check. Black magic? Check. Face-kicking......

Reservation Road I Dir. Terry George Friday, October 12th, 7:30pm Paramount Theatre It could happen to any of us. Running late and in a dizzied hurry, distracted by cell phones, radios, possibly a conversation that we had earlier in the day, and unexpectedly a single moment changes the course of our lives. In his adaptation of the John Burnham Schwartz novel Reservation Road, Writer/Director Terry George dissects the lives of two men whose destinies are......

The Austin Film Festival is right around the corner, and this year's Marquee programming is some of the best in the festival's history. With a wide variety of stellar comedies, dramas, and documentaries (not to mention several strong Oscar contenders) announced, there's something for everyone in the 2007 Marquee category. To help you plan out your festival schedule, we've put together a list of best bets for this year's program. The whole program looks excellent......

Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater and Jesse Harris walk the red carpet at Austin Film Society's screening of "The Hottest State" Wednesday at the Paramount. Photos by Kristin B. If you can't view the Flash slideshow above, an alternate version appears after the jump.......

There will always be chatter about Austin's changing landscape, much as there will always be supporters for both developers and the environment. We want the privilege of taking a dip in a glistening spring-fed pool, but we also want to have a robust economy that allows us to continue working and living in this city. Some would argue that the two desires aren't mutually exclusive, but we all know that it's a sticky subject.......

From his beginnings in youth flicks like Explorers and Dead Poets Society to his modern-day gigs with Rick Linklater and Sidney Lumet, Austin native Ethan Hawke has done his fair share of acting. Now he's jumped behind the camera to direct an adaptation of his novel The Hottest State, a story most believe is based on Hawke's 90's fling with singer Lisa Loeb. Regardless of the truth of that rumor, the story centers around......

We hate it when things end. Seriously. We cry at funerals (end of life), weddings (end of freedom), heck we even cried at the end of the last Harry Potter book for no other reason that that it was all over. Needless to say, we are all sadfaced at the moment because our favorite excuse to sit on our rear ends all summer is coming to a close this week. Yep, that's right, the Paramount......

Say that five times fast. Then go see the (inter)stellar films the Paramount Theatre has lined up for you this week. From outer space to the ocean to the desert, you'll be led on some unforgettable cinematic journeys this weekend. Best of all, this week's films will be shown in glorious 70mm, twice the width of your normal 35mm film strip, for the ultimate viewing experience. Hike on over to the Paramount to realize your......

ACL Previews Austinist Launches Dedicated ACL Page! Preview: Manchester Orchestra and Patterson Hood Preview: Ian Ball and the Little Ones Interview: Paolo Nutini ACL Band Clash, Round 2: The Killers Vs. Björk Weekly Features Tales Of Mere Existence Hots On #9: Sound Off New Release Tuesday: Frisell's Floratone The Argyle Academy New Movie Releases: The Invasion, Superbad, Death at a Funeral, and More Truesday: Friesday The Laurie Show News, Features, and More Travis County......

日本語を話すか? Parlez-Vous Francais? No? Well, unless you are highly skilled in the art of deciphering body language and deducing plot lines from contextual clues, you should definitely be prepared to do some heavy reading this week as the Paramount brings you classics from the foreign lands of France and Japan. Unsentimental love stories, vengeful Samurai and punk kids make you want to spar, pout and spar some more! KWAIDAN Tuesday, August 14 @ 7:15 pm......

Only two days remain in this year's National Poetry Slam. This time on Sunday, new team and indy champs will have been crowned...until next year's slam in Madison, WI. The Parish and the 501 Studios Soundstage [map] join Antone's, Ruta Maya, and Dominican Joe as 25 teams face off in the Team Semi-Finals. All venues at 7pm. We won't know the semi-finalists at press time, but you can always check the official NPS site later......

Another day, another schedule of packed-to-the-gills programming for the National Poetry Slam. It's extremely tough to pick just one or two things to highlight, but here're the events that most piqued our curiosity. Daytime Programming All daytime programs are FREE, so if you live or work downtown, consider popping in for one of these events. NPS won't be in Austin again for a very long time, so this is something of a one-time chance. It......

The poets have arrived! For the second year in a row, the National Poetry Slam will be held in our highly literate, most-educated city. This five-day competition showcases slam poets from around the U.S. and comes to a head in a fierce battle for team and individual top nods, held at the Paramount Theatre on August 10 and 11. Last year's finals sold out, so consider getting your tickets early! Opening ceremonies are this afternoon......

National Poetry Slam returns with a full schedule of stuff happening all over town this week, culminating in Friday and Saturday's final matches at the Paramount HBMG Foundation presents the 2007 ArtSpark Festival Visual Art Showcase at the Off Center Mayor Will Wynn and director Turk Pipkin screen "Nobelity" and "An Inconvenient Truth" at the Paramount Willie Nelson headlines the Austin Freedom Fest 2007, joined by the likes of Jackie "The Joke Man" Martling......

Mayor Will Wynn and writer/actor/director Turk Pipkin will tackle a hot topic (this one, not that one) this coming Monday as they host a special "Global Warming Q&A Session" between screenings of Pipkin's Nobelity and Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth at the Paramount Theatre. Mayor Wynn loves talkin' climate change (he's a key member of the U.S. Mayors Council on Climate Protection, and in January, he trained with Al Gore to deliver the slideshow Gore......