The Science-Fiction/Fantasy section has been completely renumbered and is now located way in front right by the entrance. Please update your GPS accordingly. New complete list can be downloaded under Listings, and as always, when in doubt, feel free to ask us :)

Once again, as part of our long-running tradition, October is Documentary month at Alphaville! For the whole month you can rent two docs of your choice and get two more docs (yes, also of your choice) absolutely free!

So you could brush up on your politics, old and current (RFK Must Die, Jimmy Carter Man From Plains, Street Fight), confront some of those "issues" everyone's going on about (Our Daily Bread, The 11th Hour, award winning films on globalisation and human rights from Egypt, Liberia, China, Pakistan and the US (Oscar!), learn all about fascinating people you'll never meet, be it Skateboarders (The Man Who Souled The World), Art Curators (The Cool School) and folk-music collectors (Lomax The Song Hunter) and people you probably wouldn't want to meet (Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden?, The Terror's Advocate).

The finest in documentaries, only to be had at Alphaville.

EURO, baby, EURO!

Well, not quite. As much as we're total suckers for mega-events such as this one, there is a certain uncertainty as to how all this madness will effect our daily lives for the next 30 days or so. And when you combine insanely great weather with the biggest spectator sport in the world, the urge to rent a film possibly approaches 0:0.

So, we've decided to take preEMptive measures to keep the ball rolling (snicker):

As a special EMpathic incentive for all those who like to wash down a good game with a good film and those who simply could not care less about 22 guys chasing a ball for 90 minutes or more, we've got a real, erm, kicker: we're doing our very own Unofficial Euro Film Affair throughout the month of June!

Every day we will focus on the countries playing each other, starting with Switzerland, Portugal, Czech Republic and Turkey on June 7th, and all films in the corresponding sections of our foreign language area will be half price on that day and overnight!

And on the last days of June, right after the final game of the tournament, all films by the winning country will be absolutely free! (We're rooting for Greece. Or Romania.)

Please note that this offer is only valid for one (1) night.

More on this to come in the following weeks, have a great early summer and we hope to welcome you soon!

Alphaville. Unofficially the best alternative.

We're happy to finally announce that you can get discounted tickets for the MUMOK in Museumsquartier with your trusted Alphaville Membership Card. So you could check out "Exact & Different" which explores the role of mathematics in art, both modern and oldschool.
We're hoping to add further discounts and special deals to be had with your membership, so, you know, watch this space :)

Sorry, got carried away :)


>>best of 07:

Children Of Men
- it may be bleak as hell, but in terms of dystopian commentary it gets the trophy for 2007. And my god, that camera work!

Conversations with other women
- Whether or not the gimmicky part is bonus or distraction is debatable. It worked for me and so did the story.

Court Jester
- must have seen this 50 times as a child. It's still that good.

Crash Test Dummies
- Lucy Sky Diamond Kudlacek. A hint of things that could have come.

Edmond
- Announced twice at the Viennale, it never came. Leave it to home video, as obviously no one would think twice about releasing this at the movies. If you like Mamet, it's a must see.

The Fountain
- the most audacious, beautiful and ridiculous Hollywood film in quite some time, it's a miracle this ever got made. It's oh-so-flawed but I just couldn't escape it.

Half Nelson
- one of 2006s best films and proof that Ryan Gosling is one of the best actors of his generation.

Last Winter
- quite a unique film, best described as "Eco-Horror". Kind of a modern retelling of "The Thing", with less gore and more head-scratching.

Pan's Labyrinth
- it's just incredibly accomplished, in every respect.

This Is England
- forget Atonement, this really is the best british film of the year

Workingman's Death
- nothing but masterful and mesmerizing, Glawogger is one if Austria's best documentarians (and there's a bunch of good ones).

Zodiac
- surely one of the best films of last year, sadly overlooked and probably misunderstood by many.


>>some welcome surprises:



Behind The Mask
- not a great movie by anyone's standard but the first clever update on the whole post-modern horror thing going on. Really clever at times, definitely worth a look.

Bug
- what probably made for a riveting hour of theatre doesn't transfer to 90 minutes of film so splendidly, but still this was much better than expected. disturbing and dark and exceedingly well played by all involved.

Dans Paris
- i really wanted to hate this, with all the nouvelle vague references and such...but it's a very clever, funny and touching story which just...works.

Helvetica
- it's a documentary. about a font. and you'll never look at the world around you the same.

The Notorious Bettie Page
- nothing great but a very honest and heartfelt film with the spot-on perfect Gretchen Mol as the titular pin-up.

Talladega Nights & Stranger Than Fiction
- the double feature that made me *kinda* like Will Ferrell. The latter proves he can act, the former is just the culmination of the bizarro humour he and his gang have been cooking up for a couple of years. Both work, wonderfully so.

Tideland
- i walked out on this at the movies but managed to find the approach for it on DVD. Brilliant stuff from the world's unluckiest director who happens to be a little girl way down deep inside.

US versus John Lennon
- never cared much about Lennon, but man this was pretty interesting stuff!



>>and some unexpected dissappointments:

Art School Confidential
- I was wondering why this never came to the theatres...until I saw it. Clunky, boring, stupid and unfunny. Avoid.

Black Dahlia
- It's just bad, and even worse: offensively boring.

Loft
- Kurosawa seems to have forgotten what he was doing half-way through the shoot. And then just kept on going. Bad.

Lost
- see above: the people behind this obviously have no clue in hell as to how this is gonna end, which makes it so darn frustrating to watch.

Number 23
- how on earth this got the green light is beyond me.

Volver
- yeah I know, blasphemy n all, but one really must be allowed to expect more from Pedro than a fluffy little ghost-story with ditsy Penelope doin her thing. Sub-par.

Zidane - A 21st Century Portrait
- brilliant idea, marred by almost too much 'plot'. If they had left it bare-boned and conceptual it would have been a masterpiece. The dreadful emo music by Mogwai doesn't help either.


>>finally released:

bad boy bubby
- an amazing movie, inventive, bizarre, disturbing, touching and unique in every way. One of my faves in 93 it still hasn't lost its appeal.

Danger Diabolik
- the lengths I went through to get this 15 years ago...copying from laserdisc and transferring from NTSC to PAL (oops, think the RIAA is gonna sue me retroactively?). Bless DVD.

Hellzapoppin
- the most insane gathering of nutjobs in film history. Completely and totally bonkers, like nothing you've ever seen.

Mala Noche
- before Gus discovered slow-motion and steadicam he actually had some spark in his work. Finally his first film gets the deserved treatment. It's raw but it's honest.

Monty Python's Flying Circus
- Well it took em 10 years to get their act together but someone finally managed to bring the complete Python escapades to DVD. And yes, they're still that good.

Two-Lane Blacktop
- One of the seminal films of New Hollywood and one of my favorite films of all time. While this marks the first appearance on DVD in Europe, the US gets the full-blown Criterion treatment. No fair, this.

Kenneth Anger - Vol. 1&2
- not exactly lavish, but oh my - they're finally out!

Tabu, Nosferatu, etc.
- coming from Masters Of Cinema, exceptionally beautiful editions of classics



>>the truly worst film of 2007:

Zombie Nation
- seriously, you've gotta see it. It's got half-naked girls with rings around their eyes to make 'em look like Zombies (they end up looking more like raccoons), horrible editing, a Eurotechno soundtrack, lousy effects...Ulli Lommel, ladies and gentleman, the spiritual daddy of Uwe Boll.


>>and finally, the one film (out of many) that I REALLY wish I had seen on the big screen:

Sunshine

No comment:

Da ich keine bzw nur sehr wenige neue Filme ansehe, sieht meine Dvd-Bestenlist 2007 so aus:

1.-9. Platz: "Zodiac" von David Fincher
10. Workingman's Death

So kennt sich gleich jeder aus.

Dazwischen (between the lineranks) sehe ich nur:
1. Meine Tochter (=DRA)
2. Fotos von meiner Tochter (=COM)
3. Ämterformulare (=DOC)
4. Kontoauszüge (=HOR)
5. Meine Band (=MUS) und
6. Meinen Psychiater (=DRA, ACT,THR)

So long!
Johnny


Bless.

The great Birdini (a.k.a. Birdman, a.k.a. The Swinging Singer, etc.) had a really busy year, performing with his rag-tag band of hairy, sweaty demolishers of 80s fluff-pop and finishing his Hi-Def (and we mean Hi-Def!) mignon opus, Embrace, which was a big hit at that birthday-thingie we held in April. Wonder when we'll have that one for rent...

Children of Men
- truly amazing camera work, funny cameo by M.Cain

Stranger than Fiction
- witty story, beautifully executed. Will CAN act

Edmond
- Mamet's opus magnum. Macy's tour de force is worthy of at least two Academy Awards!

Out of the Blue
- small, composed, beautifully shot thriller set in new zealand.

Inland Empire
- if you let Lynch run riot with Laura Dern and a video-cam. Weird but great.

Letters to Iwo Jima
- clever concept (although a Japanese should have directed Flags of my father..) brilliant pictures, good cgi & KEN!!!

Taxidermia
- simple plot with heavy visuals.

Crash Test Dummies
- in remembrance of our dear Jörg Kalt.


New, but old:

The Shout
- interesting story, great cast

Sex & Fury
- a top-notch epic revenge exploitationer/vintage Japanese softcore flic

Performance
- A delicious Anita P. plays with stoned Mick J. Roeg at his best.


Diverse:

Kenneth Anger 1 & 2
- because he is one of the Godfathers of US Avantgarde films.

49
- murderous short films. because I dig self marketing.

Ti Amo
- because I`m also for nepotism, especially if there is quality behind it.

Karl Valentin
- finally in our collection, our brilliant German Marx brother

And Judith likes it all colorful and trippy and opulent and incredible and, erm - Hungarian...?


citizen dog
- another visual, colourful explosion from the thai director "wisit sartsanatieng" - don't miss his first one!! (which would be Tears Of The Black Tiger - Ed.)

edi
- very emotional polish movie about a man trying to find his way and sense of life again

ridicule
- one of my favorite costume movies playing in the 18th century - brilliant setting and story, extraordinary styling and outstanding performances - one of the best movies i ever saw concerning this issue - just brilliant!!!

pan's labyrinth
- adaptation of the alice in wonderland story, meets spanish civil war with fairy tale, fantasy input - if you like fantasy with brilliant camera work, more than well done special make-up and effects, watch it - i love movies like that

danger diabolik
- a movie from the 60ies - incredible camera work, setting and costumes - all over stylish!!!

taxidermia
- unconventional hungarian movie - even the disgusting scenes have a touch of art - for experimental people who are interested in watching the abyss of the human mind

satantango
- another hungarian one - no comment - just watch it - worth seeing!!

le silence de la mer
- jean-pierre melville can never be the wrong choice!

barefoot in the park
- lovely, funny, amazing romcom - i've never seen such a refreshing comedy - with the very young, sexy rob redford

i was a male war bride
- with hilarious young cary grant in an intelligent, reality based satire - incredibly funny! - one of my favorite screwball comedies

aaltra
- belgian/french black humor, visually well done black n' white coproduction - give it a try!

science is fiction
- if you are interested in watching the beginning, pioneering work of "nature film" don't miss!

who the f... is jackson pollock?
- documentary about an old retired truck driving lady who has a pollock - and didn't know. promise, you will like it!

Alrighty then, things tend to get caught up in our neck of the woods, and our planned best-of-2007 hoopla is no different, so apologies to all who came here every day to check on updates....moving right along, we'll have to make this a quick one so first off thanks to Armin, Mariella, Wolfgang, Helmut, Markus, the other Markus, Janice and all the others (there are none) for sending in their lists, the coveted prize of a lifetime membership goes to Armin R., with our sincerest compliments!

Moving right along, here's what Gox had to say:

"gox has watched little this year, luckily he found a few classics amongst the new arrivals, though:

conversations with other women
-because its well acted, split screen and still works.

court jester
-because it is a classic, hilarious and finally here.

joe strummer: the future is unwritten
-because its an perfectly made documentary, even if you don't care about the guy at all.

letters from iwo jima / flags of our fathers
-because it now appears to me the only way to work on a topic like this.

mamma roma
-because it's a classic, teaches you a lot about acting and is finally out on dvd

padre padrone
-because... ah, just watch it

the perverts guide to cinema
-so, you like movies? this guy, too..and he tells you why.

purple rain
-i couldn't resist.

riding alone for thousands of miles
-moving, minimalistic, impressive.

sixty six
-such a nice movie, good acting and works perfectly even if you're not into soccer at all.

the sting
-seriously, if you've never seen this, do so now.

stranger than fiction
-weird concept, courageous casting, still works surprisingly fine.

ti amo
-because i want somebody to see this ;)

this film is not yet rated
-because it gives a good insight into the US movie rating "system"

welcome to dongmakgol
-my favorite weird korean movie of the year

workingman's death
-all pc-reasons aside, the cinematography alone on this one makes it worth watching

z channel
-imagine a world where we could show all our movies on tv..."

as you can see, Gox's taste in movies is just as unpredictable as his current beard-stylings. So ladies, if you're into eclectic, hairy guys - this one's for you!

One again as the year is drawing to a close we'll be huddling up by the fire and happily reminisce about the countless hours of time we spent/wasted in front of various screens and try to choose the films that made us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Wanna join us? Point your cursor to

Alphalist by Title
Alphalist by Category

and choose 10 (or less. or more.) films/documentaries/TV Series you deem noteworthy, astonishing, surprising, inventive and/or plain rockin'. Or tell us the 10 titles you think we should have bothered getting but didn't. Or the 10 films you happily slept through. Anything goes, basically.

Then send us your list to office@alphaville.at, together with your name and membership number and you'll get not five, not four, no: one free overnight rental of choice! But wait, there's more! One lucky winner will get a lifetime membership at Alphaville (that's our lifetime, not yours...)! No more cranky bitching from our staff, ever!

Our lists will hopefully follow within the next 2 weeks or so, yours should arrive in our mailbox no later than Jan.5th, thankyouverymuch!

Yes, even without the corny decoration, without the special christmas section, without the fake antlers and Santa hats: Christmas is coming to the 'Ville. The only two days of the year where we close shop are approaching, and to make you less panicky about it, here's when we're here for ya:

Sat., Dec. 22rd: 10am - 10pm
Sun., Dec. 23rd: 2pm - 7pm
Mon., Dec. 24th: 10am - 5pm
Tue., Dec. 25th: CLOSED!
Wed., Dec. 26th: 2pm - 7pm

Films taken out from Saturday (22nd) until Monday (24th) or Monday (24th) until Thursday (27th) are charged as ONE NIGHT.
3+1 deal applies as well. So go nuts, why don't ya.

Sat., Dec. 29th: 10am - 10pm
Sun., Dec. 30st: 2pm - 7pm
Mon.,Dec. 31st: 10am - 5pm
Tue., Jan. 1st: CLOSED!

Films taken out from Monday (31st) until Wednesday (2nd) are charged as ONE NIGHT.
3+1 deal applies, as always.

The very best of holiday wishes from all of us at Alphaville!

We are deeply saddened and shocked to hear about the passing of long-time customer, talented filmmaker and all-around good guy, Jörg Kalt. Jörg was one of the most promising writers and directors of his generation working in Austria, he directed numerous short films, including 'Meine Mutter War Ein Metzger' which we showed at Alphaville's 10year anniversary party back in April and two critically acclaimed features, 'Richtung Zukunft durch die Nacht' and 'Crash Test Dummies', which had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in 2005, as well as working as a freelance writer, both for acclaimed magazines ('Du') and assisting in friends' screenplays ('Immer nie am Meer'). He was working on his next feature, tentatively titled 'Tiere'.

Born in France and raised in Switzerland he proved to have more insight into the 'Wiener Seele' than most people living here their whole lives - a talent he put to good use in his writing.

Jörg never left the store without sharing a chat and a cigarette and always offered at least one black-humoured and biting comment on whatever it was that occupied his mind at the moment, be it politics, art or 'Prison Break'.
He was a valued customer, an enrichment to all of us and a good friend.
Our sincere thoughts go out to his friends and family.

Interview with Jörg from 2005

Soooo...where were YOU on April 14th when we completely packed the Gartenbaukino? The correct answer is, of course: "Outside, where I waited and begged and pleaded to get in for hours before giving up and going to the Badeschiff". Which is, sadly, what really happened to more people than we wanted. More on that later, for now, finally!, a couple pics from the evening, which was truly grand...so enjoy!

Alpha10pix

For celebratorial reasons (click hereif you've been living under a rock) Alphaville will be closing at

8pm on

Saturday, April 14th

Really sorry for the inconvienience this may cause. We've never done this once in ten years, so it's doubtful it'll ever happen again ;)

And by all means, join us at the Gartenbau!

Nearly ten years ago, in April of 1997, we opened the creaky doors of our portal, stood proudly outside, overlooking the barren wastelands of the Schleifmühlgasse and...waited. And waited. Amidst the restless aisle-pacing and occasional games of 'Virtual Pool' (on our trusted Mac Performa 4400) we had 9 new members (non-family-non-friends), 4 of which are still active today, rented out 11 movies and wondered how we could possibly fit more than 3000 films into our little shop.
What happened in the 10 years following is probably too boring for most of ya'll, so maybe at a later date; for now, we are proud and a just a liiittle bit excited to announce our 10year anniversary celebration!

Taking place on April 14th at the Gartenbaukino it will be a day of films, music and films&music, showcasing some of the embarassing stuff we've done over the years (most of it's actually pretty good, we just dig on the self-deprecation), examples of real filmmaking by some of our customers, a couple bits of film history courtesy of the filmmuseum, a grand gala premiere of an award winning documentary-music-experimental-filmremix (no, really) and so very much more, we had to make a homepage to give it all the due regard.

So check it out: Alphaville10

and we certainly hope to welcome you then and there!

Almost there! Before we wrap up our 2006 listfest with Georg and Norman's favorites, here are the cold, hard facts: the most rented films at Alphaville in 2006:

English language:

Crash
Match Point
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Inside Man
=Lord Of War
Broken Flowers
V For Vendetta
Me And You And Everyone We Know
The Constant Gardener
= Good Night And Good Luck
= Walk The Line
= Syriana


Foreign language:

Caché
Så Som I Himmelen/Wie Im Himmel
Lady Vengeance
De Battre Mon Coeur S'Est Arrêté/Der Wilde Schlag Meines Herzens
Nightwatch
L'Enfant
Tsotsi
Conseguenze dell'Amore/Consequences Of Love
Maria Full Of Grace
Paradise Now


Documentaries:

Darwin's Nightmare
The Aristocrats
Grizzly Man
March Of The Penguins
Rize
Deep Throat
Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room
Man With A Movie Camera
Murderball
Death In Gaza

(and yes, that is Dziga Vertov in 8th place...)

presenting lists by two close friends of Alphaville, one pragmatic and to the point, the other a wee bit unconventional...going by titles seems to be all the rage these days...

Michi:

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
My Super Ex Girlfriend
Good Night & Good Luck
Jazz
Lord Of War
Lucky Number Slevin
House M.D. - Season 1


Lea:

Elizabeth I.
(einfach umwerfend - nicht nur eine schauspielerische Glanzleistung)
The New World
(pure Poetik - hat mir gezeigt, das man mit scheinbar "unnötigen" Einstellungen mehr zeigen kann als mit sogenannten "Nötigen")
Syriana, The Constant Gardener
(zusammen mit ein paar Dokus - helfen meine politische "Streit"-Seite zu wecken)
Rize
(Optik)
Der wilde Schlag meines Herzens
(kenn ich leider noch immer nicht, aber der Titel (franz. und deut.) !!!)
Das Leben der Anderen
(auch nur der Titel - bisher)
Prime Suspect
(superlang aber man kann nicht abschalten - einfach super - ich musste mir gleich die Zweite ausleihn)
Paradise Now
(Titel, aber natürlich vor allem einfach deswegen, weil er was Anderes wagt)
Me and you and everyone we know
(bisher nur der Titel)

movin right along we have a list by member Alex, who didn't see all too many movies last year but is a self-proclaimed 'sucker for hit lists of all sorts'.

a bittersweet life
home alone
a love song for bobby long
prison break season 1
the three burials of melquiades estrada
survive style 5+
revolver
running scared (2006)
sympathy for lady vengeance (not as good as oldboy & mr. vengeance though)
the proposition

To put it in her words: hemmungslos, oder?

bittersweet life
survive style 5+
haze
the sun
marathon
paradise now
adams aebler
the death of mr lazarescu
el aura
history of violence
mrs. henderson presents
breakfast on pluto
kiss kiss bang bang
jazz: a film by ken burns
planet earth
mad hot ballroom
the aristocrats
that man: peter berlin
howl's moving castle
creature comforts - all seasons
ice age 2
over the hedge
the quay brothers: short films

and yet another excellent list from an excellent memberess:

dan's / 06:

me and you and everyone we know
little fish
lonesome jim
lemming
modify

survive style 5+
6tynine9
buffalo '66
ghost world
turtles can fly
reqiem for a dream
tarnation
maria full of grace
eternal sunshine of the sportless mind

and if life seems a bit senseless:

six feet under