The Alamo Drafthouse is a fabulous source of entertainment and certainly one of the reasons why anyone would brag about living in Austin, Texas.

Yes, they show lots of first-run movies. But they do it in this different way: They sell and serve you hot food, cold beers, or - my favorite - strawberry milkshakes that you can consume right in the theater using the handy counter-table in front of your plush seat.

But there's more.

They also offer off-beat special events such as Air Guitar, Air Sex, Fantastic Fest, Master Pancake Theater, Music Monday, the Rolling Roadshow, Terror Thursdays, and Weird Wednesdays.

There's more.

Sing-alongs, quote-alongs, culinary feasts that are themed to match the movie, some free screenings just for kids. They will blow up their outdoor movie screen to show films to families while they float on their rafts and tubes in Deep Eddy Pool. They brought the "Thrill the World" (Michael Jackson) dance parade on All Souls Day to Sixth Street. They've had giant robot dinosaurs in their parking lot. They transformed a nearby empty store into a James Bond casino.

The Alamo Drafhouse makes Austin feel like it's in the middle of a film festival all of the time. It should not be missed.