Starring: Jared Leto, Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart, Michael Rosenbaum, Loretta Devine, Joshua Jackson, Tara Reid, Robert Englund
Pop rocks and soda, a man in the backseat, a cat in the microwave. These are just a few of the many urban legends mentioned and used by the killer as inventive ways to off college-aged victims in, ahem, Urban Legend. As a lot of the slasher films from this era did, Urban Legend featured hot young stars like Alicia Witt, Jared Leto, Rebecca Gayheart, Joshua Jackson, and Tara Reid. It notably also includes a cameo by horror legend Robert Englund! The film is a super fun horror escapade that truly deserves more credit than it typically gets.
Starring: Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith, Kristen Cloke, Daniel Roebuck, Chad Donella
The first of SIX films in the franchise, Final Destination ushered contemporary slasher films into the aughts. Continuing the tradition of featuring young stars like Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith, and Seann William Scott, Final Destination is basically a film about escaping or not escaping death. Death gets pissed when a few high school students avoid their fate after one has a premonition that gets them off a plane that’s bound to crash. But when these “survivors” start dying in bizarre accidents, the rest band together to stay alive. But Death always gets her man.
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Jesse Bradford, Gabrielle Union, Clare Kramer, Nicole Bilderback
Life’s looking sunny for bleached blonde San Diego cheerleader Torrance Shipman (Kirsten Dunst). Now the captain of the championship Rancho Carne High School Toros cheer squad, she’s confident that they’re on the road to capturing their sixth National trophy in a row. Problem tho. Seems the Toros’ former captain Belichicked the routines of the rival East Compton Clovers and passed the moves off as her own – and the Clovers captain, Isis (Gabrielle Union), ain’t having it anymore.
With Toros privilege thoroughly checked, and Nationals still on the horizon, it’s up to the two captains to rally their squads for a cheer-off for the ages. Can Torrance come up with a championship routine? Can Isis scratch up the funds to make the competition? The stage is set. Bring it on!
Hoop Dreams director Steve James tackles traumatic brain injuries as public health crisis in HEAD GAMES.
Christopher Nowinski was the first WWE professional wrestler to be a Harvard graduate — they made a big deal out of it, even calling him Harvard Chris when in the ring. After a brief career in the squared circle, Nowinski retired from the WWE when he began suffering with post-concussion syndrome. In the years since leaving WWE, Nowinski self-published Head Games: Football’s Concussion Crisis, chronicling his own struggles with concussions as well as those by other prominent professional athletes.
The book caught the attention of Hoop Dreams director Steve James, who expanded Nowinski’s research in his own feature length documentary. Cutting across a wide range of contact sports – both professional and amateur, male and female – James highlights the pressure that athletes feel to power through injury, the devastating effect of repeated trauma on developing brains, and the long term physical cost of chronic traumatic brain injury.
Part of Nitehawk’s February A FOOTBALL PROGRAM brunch series.
You may never matter again in your life as much as you do right now under FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS.
Odessa, Texas, like countless American towns, is a tense, economically downtrodden, racially divided community — difficult to escape from and paralyzing to live within. The town copes by washing out their woes under the bright lights of the High School football stadium, where the Permian High School Panthers run roughshod over more well heeled competition. Leading the Panthers’ charge to state is coach Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton), whose job and family’s well-being relies on his talented, but troubled team making the playoffs. He’s got an inconsistent quarterback, a star player on the disabled list, and a full-back whose alcoholic father lives through his son’s successes and failures.
Part of Nitehawk’s February A FOOTBALL PROGRAM brunch series.
Starring: Nick Cannon, Zoe Saldana, Orlando Jones, Leonard Roberts
Let’s face it. Most college football teams are pretty bad. Games can still be fun though, and if there’s a killer marching band? Even better. This is Devon Miles’ (Nick Cannon) world, a Harlem street drummer who caught a full ride at Atlanta A&T University, a (made up) college whose pride and joy is its marching band. A cocky hotshot, Devon isn’t an immediate fit to the stiff, classically oriented program, and his aggressive quest to prove himself the best drummer in school ostracizes him from his bandmates. But as the football season marches on, Devon must mend bridges to save his corps in time for the BET Big Southern Classic — an epic televised showdown of the country’s best marching bands.
Comedian Kevin Maher hosts a two-hour variety show celebrating Rip-Off Cinema, that bold cross-genre phenomenon of copycat films, knockbusters and rushed productions that borrow from popular films. The evening includes all kinds of cash-grab films, including the best, the worst, the weirdest and the most shameless. Plus the Bollywood re-telling of a classic American horror.
Guests include:
- John Cribbs (writer from ThePinkSmoke.com)
- Marcus Pinn (writer, PinnlandEmpire.com)
- Jamie Righetti (host of THE SCREAM SQUAD podcast)
- Bob Sikoryak (Creator of MASTERPIECE COMICS)
- Kate Wilkinson (Writer, Wig Wurq)
Nitehawk and Shudder team up for the New York City premiere of the ultimate J-Horror showdown between the vengeful spirits of Ringu and Ju-On: The Grudge in SADAKO VS. KAYAKO.
Introduction by Shudder Curator, Sam Zimmerman. Screening also includes Shudder subscriptions giveaways to select audience members!
After viewing a legendary cursed videotape, Natsumi discovers she has only two days before she will be killed by the demonic entity known as Sadako. The only way to break the curse: pitting the demon Sadako against Kayako, an accursed spirit possessing a haunted house where everyone who enters disappears.
Sadako vs. Kayako brings the characters from Ringu and Ju-On: The Grudge back to the big screen in a wildly fun, tongue-in-cheek thrill ride that finally answers the question: whose curse is stronger?
THE DEUCE is proud to present (after over two years of digging!) the ultra-rare DIRTY LITTLE BILLY!
The film is Stan Dragoti’s gritty, unsensationalistic portrait of a young Billy the Kid – with Michael J. Pollard in the starring role … Opening in May, 1973 at the dirtiest little single screen on 42nd – the notorious Anco – DIRTY LITTLE BILLY is not to be missed…
Plus: Prizes and surprises, and music by Maestro Jeff at the after-party at Lo-Res! Presented by THE DEUCE JOCKEYS: Jeff, Andy, and Joe!
Each screening features a NY Distilling Company Cocktail Special.
THE DEUCE goes up in smoke on 4/20 with ice cream vendors Cheech and Chong peddling their NICE DREAMS.
The film is the duo’s third feature and one of 1981’s biggest summer blockbusters (grossing $37 million!). Opening at the Lyric Theatre on June 5, NICE DREAMS features special guests Sandra Bernhard, Paul Reubens, and Timothy Leary!
Plus: Prizes and surprises, and music by Maestro Jeff at the after-party at Lo-Res! Presented by THE DEUCE JOCKEYS: Jeff, Andy, and Joe!
Each screening features a NY Distilling Company Cocktail Special.
