Aside from the music, the next best thing about Austin is the Alamo Drafthouse. It's kind of like Brew n' View at The Vic, except 1) it happens every night 2) they show first run movies as well 3) they have decent beer 4) they have great food. 
Last night we went there to check out Wesley Willis' Joyrides, a documentary about one of Chicago's musical exports. To be honest, while he was legendary when I was in college, I never saw the man while he was alive. I did seen plenty of his posters around town, though. Much of the film centers around Genesis Art Supplies (which I frequented, but don't hold quite the same love for), and his family still living outside IIT, which I also frequented. The film is great because Wesley was great, but it was also a reminder of the harsh realities of chicago.
Last night's film, while familiar, didn't tug the homesick chord nearly as much as The Dark Knight did, though. The first Christopher Nolan Batman film had some "hey, I've been there" moments, but it was mostly very CG-affected. The Dark Knight, by contrast, lives in Chicago. There are no odd jumps between distant places in the city; scenes are in consistent places, when they leave one building, they move down real streets to neighboring buildings. It was almost disturbing, in the sense that Batman wasn't in a fantasy world, he was in a very present time and place. The last film to live this close to me was High Fidelity, although John Cusack could have been me or any of my friends (unlike Batman). It's a testament to Nolan's film that the familiarity didn't disrupt the suspension of disbelief.
Heath Ledger as The Joker
I loved the character arcs in Batman Begins, they felt very believable and human. The Dark Night is much more straightforward in that sense, following the standard comic book patterns. This film, then, works much harder to keep your attention. The twists and turns of the plot more resemble Memento: more elements being added, takes more effort to keep up, which distracts you from the inevitability of the conclusion. It's a great film, whether you're from Chicago or not.
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