Alamo Drafthouse Rings in 2024 with Retro Series: ‘The Matrix,’ ‘Cruel Intentions,’ and Nearly 150 More Films

Samantha Bergeson
·2 min read
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The Alamo Drafthouse is going back in time to ring in the New Year.

The cinema chain announced that starting January 5, a year-long Time Capsules program will feature curated films ranging from 1974 to 1999. Per the theater, Alamo Time Capsules is “a yearlong trek back through time that revisits both beloved blockbusters and forgotten favorites spanning six landmark cinema years — 1999, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1979, and 1974. Title collections will span six to eight weeks and, rather than act as a ‘top ten list’ of films, instead will tell their part of the story of that year in cinema, culture, and history.”

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The retrospective — the largest and most comprehensive in the company’s history — runs throughout 2024 and will include nearly 150 different selections. Upcoming Time Capsule collections will include special merchandise, custom Alamo Drafthouse menus, and special events. The year 1999 kicks off the program with films like “Being John Malkovich,” “The Iron Giant,” “Cruel Intentions,” “Pretty Woman,” “Jawbreaker,” “The Matrix,” and “Run Lola Run” screening.

“My first job was making popcorn and tearing tickets at a second-run movie theater in 1999, and I was lucky enough to get to see everything from that wild year of cinema, from ‘Blair Witch’ to ‘Magnolia’ to ‘She’s All That’ again and again and again,” senior film programmer John Smith said in a press statement. “Twenty-five years later, I’m proud that the Alamo Drafthouse team is able to bring these films back to the big screen to share with new generations all over the country.”

Alamo Drafthouse programmer Jake Isgar added, “With all of the tireless work put into restoring and unearthing all types of cinema, it’s vital for us, and to film culture as a whole, to exhibit them.”

March and April 2024 will showcase films from 1994, including “Pulp Fiction” and “Clerks.” May and June 2024 will screen films from 1989, ranging from “Do the Right Thing” to “Road House” and “Batman,” as well as landmark works by Steven Soderbergh, Gus Van Sant, Pedro Almodóvar, and Shinya Tsukamoto. Films from 1984 will screen in July and August 2024, with “Purple Rain” and “The Neverending Story” among selected titles. September through November 2024 marks movies from 1979, with “Apocalypse Now,” “The Deer Hunter,” and “Stalker” screening. The program closes out with films from 1974 like “The Godfather Part II” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” from October through December.

The Alamo Time Capsules program was developed by John Smith, Jake Isgar, and Jenny Nulf from the company’s Alternative Content department. Distribution partners for Alamo Time Capsules include the American Genre Film Archive, Janus Films, Kino Lorber, Lionsgate, Paramount, Park Circus, Rialto Pictures, Sony Pictures Classics, Sony Pictures Repertory, and Warner Bros. Classics.

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