Drafthouse Recommends THE LOBSTER This Month

It's not all superheroes and explosions this time of year. This weekend The Lobster, the latest film from Dogtooth director Yorgos Lanthimos, finally opens. It's set in a strange world where everyone must be paired up, by law. If you find yourself single you are sent to a resort far away where you are retrained and introduced to other singles... and also hunted in the woods. If you don't pair up before a certain time period has passed you are forceably reincarnated as the animal of your choice. It's funny and strange, sad and insightful, and it features career best performances by Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz.

Our parent company, the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, has chosen The Lobster as their "Drafthouse Recommends" title, meaning it's a movie they really care about and want you to go see. As part of that, they're doing some really cool food tie-ins and events in Austin and San Francisco to promote the movie. Here's what they're up to:

Spoiler alert: No actual lobsters appear in the film. However, for those who crave the crustacean at its mere mention, "Loner Lobster Rolls" served with "Nearsighted Slaw" will be on the menu for a limited time at both Alamo South Lamar and New Mission.  
Also, to celebrate the film's release and director Yorgos Lanthimos' crossover into English-language cinema, Austin Film Society and Alamo Drafthouse are presenting screenings of Lanthimos' personal favorite film on the subject of love, SHEPHERDS OF DISASTER, hosted by director Richard Linklater on May 17. Linklater will be in person at Alamo South Lamar in Austin, and his intro and Q&A will be live streamed for a concurrent screening at New Mission.

Banned by the Greek government upon its release in 1966, today SHEPHERDS OF DISASTER is counted among the greatest triumphs of Greek Cinema - and is very much a direct influence upon Lanthimos' own unique cinematic voice.

"Yorgos Lanthimos is one my favorite directors working today," says Tim League. "One of my greatest joys of cinema is being transported to a strange new world where everything is at once completely familiar and yet like nothing you have ever seen before. THE LOBSTER delivers that precarious balance and should prove to be one of your most memorable movie experiences of the year."

Don't take League's word for it - I agree as well, The Lobster is a unique and remarkable movie that anyone who cares about film should see. And it's really funny too!