Alamo Drafthouse unveils its first ever list of top 100 films, the "Alamo 100," as chosen by the theater's film programmers. Beginning in January 2014 all Alamo Drafthouse locations will exhibit films throughout the year from their list of essentials.
"In preparing my own list, I imagined that I was on a desert island (a really improbable desert island equipped with a TV, DVD player and electricity) and could only have 100 movies to rewatch for the rest of my life," says Alamo CEO and founder Tim League. "There are plenty of lists out there that rank based on popularity or cinematic importance. We wanted the Alamo 100 list to get to the heart of why we really love movies."
A quick glance at the Alamo 100 reveals the incredible diversity of taste on the national programming team, which consists of Tim League, RJ LaForce, Greg MacLennan, Sarah Pitre, Tommy Swenson, and Joe Ziemba.
"We're incredibly proud of the fact that our passions encompass 1960s French films and modern day rom coms, Kubrick masterpieces and epic action flicks, obscure trash-horror and feel-good classics, says Lead Programmer Sarah Pitre. "There is simply no classification that can contain our devotion to the silver screen."
In order to generate the Alamo 100, each programmer was given the Herculean task of paring down his or her own list to just 100 favorites. These titles were then compiled and ranked based on two factors: 1) Their rank on each programmer's list, and 2) The number of times the title appeared on more than one list.
"The results are an eclectic mix of shoe-ins and surprises," explains Pitre. "And we hope that this wildly divergent collection leads to many conversations within the Alamo community.
The Alamo 100 launches this January at Alamo theaters nationwide with seven titles that capture the spirit of this list: BRAZIL (1985), CITY LIGHTS (1931), THE GOONIES (1985), MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (1975), RAGING BULL (1980), RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981), and SIXTEEN CANDLES (1984) – with many more screening throughout the year.
Free collectible button pins themed to each title will be available while supplies last at every Alamo 100 screening.
To explore the full list as well as view the programmers' individual lists, visit Alamo100.com.
For film descriptions or to purchase tickets to January's films, visit drafthouse.com/packages/january-2014
