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If you need something to be thankful for, how about a free screening of the biggest anime of all? The Alamo Drafthouse is bringing Akira to its screen for a special 25th anniversary showing on Monday, November 25, offering anime fans new and old a chance to see the feted classic on the big screen. "Akira's one of those movies that it's good to watch again, every so often, to kind of remember where the apex of adult animation [is] -- animation not for kids, animation that takes the idea of what you can do in a live-action film and explodes it," says Keith Garcia, creative director for the Alamo Drafthouse Denver.
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For the uninitiated, Akira is a deep, complex story of motorcycle gangs, revolutionary groups, psychic warfare and armageddon set in a weird, visionary cyberpunk world.
"It's fantastic storytelling, based on a really fantastic manga before it," Gracia says. "Akira represents the complete path of full creative expansion. It's weird paranoias and ideas still resonate today in our current world model."
The film has been newly restored, with a brand-new HD transfer utilizing the popular audio from the 2001 restoration. If seeing it gives you the anime bug -- and it very likely will -- you're in luck. The Alamo has lots more planned in the days to come.
"We're trying to really have a lot of fun with anime here in the coming months," Garcia says. "Akira is actually the the kickoff. Next month, in December, we have the third chapter of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, [it's] the premiere of part three and we'll feature parts one and two beforehand. I think we'll be doing Evangelion part three in January."
The screening of Akira scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, November 25 at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas had proved so popular that a second showing has been added at 10:30 p.m. The screenings are free, but you'll need a $5 voucher, usable for food or drink, to reserve a seat -- but that voucher also gives you a promo code worth 40 percent off in Funimation's online store. For more information, visit the Alamo Drafthouse Denver website.
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