Three Detroit auto-workers push back against a corrupt union in the fiery BLUE COLLAR.

Richard Pryor has a role that makes use of the wit and fury that distinguish his straight comedy routines.”- Vincent Canby, N.Y. Times

Caught between management mistreatment and union exploitation, a trio of Detroit auto-workers run out of hope that their hard work will reap any sort of reward. Disillusioned and buried in debt, the three concoct a robbery plot that yields a light amount of cash but a wealth of dirt on their union. Under pressure from corrupt union toughs, their co-workers and federal investigators their friendship begins ripping at the seams. While it’s an uncharacteristically dramatic role for Pryor, his performance captures the darker moments of his act that express the frustration and gravity that comes from working through the struggle.

Part of Nitehawk’s summer program COMEDIANS IN FILM (Stand Up/Stand Up Companion).

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Lisa Eilbacher, Bronson Pinchot, Paul Reiser

When two California toughs kill his childhood friend, Detroit detective Axel Foley ducks out of town on “vacation” to Beverly Hills to sniff out the conspiracy behind his buddy’s death. His unauthorized investigation leaves local PD heated, and puts him on the radar of a shady art dealer who doesn’t appreciate Foley snooping around. Originally intended for Sylvester Stallone of all people – producers gave Murphy the roll after Stallone’s blood-guts-and-explosions spin on the material racked up too large a bill. Good thing beacuse Beverly Hills Cop made Murphy a crossover sensation, and is the perfect vehicle for the comic’s quick wit, fast delivery and cocksure swagger.

Join Nitehawk and The Workers Unite Film Festival for a special screening of the Academy Award nominated documentary feature, CARTEL LAND.

Featuring a Q&A with film editor and co-producer Bradley Ross, Assistant Editor on location Andre Arias, Rolling Stone writer Damon Tabor (author of the article “Border of Madness”), and Antonio Tizapa (father of Jorge Antonio Tizapa, one of the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa, Mexico). In partnership with the Workers Unite Film Festival. 

Cartel Land is a riveting, on-the-ground look at the journeys of two modern-day vigilante groups and their shared enemy – the murderous Mexican drug cartels. In the Mexican state of Michoacán, Dr. Jose Mireles, a small-town physician known as “El Doctor,” leads the Autodefensas, a citizen uprising against the violent Knights Templar drug cartel that has wreaked havoc on the region for years. Meanwhile, in Arizona’s Altar Valley – a narrow, 52-mile-long desert corridor known as Cocaine Alley – Tim “Nailer” Foley, an American veteran, heads a small paramilitary group called Arizona Border Recon, whose goal is to stop Mexico’s drug wars from seeping across our border. The cartels each vie to bring their own brand of justice to a society where institutions have failed. Cartel Land is a chilling, visceral meditation on the breakdown of order and the blurry line between good and evil.

The Workers Unite Film Festival is a celebration of Global Labor Solidarity every May in NYC. Now in its fifth year, the Festival aims to showcase student and professional films from the United States and around the world which publicize and highlight the struggles, successes and daily lives of all workers in their efforts to unite and organize for better living conditions and social justice.

Starring: Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye, Daniel Roebuck, Dennis Hopper

The nude, strangled body of a teenaged girl lies on the edge of the river. Her murderer is her boyfriend, Daniel Roebuck. All the kids in Roebuck’s dismal, dead-end town know who committed the murder. Trouble is, no one bothers to turn Roebuck in; some of the teens don’t know how to react to the crime, while others, strung out on drugs and booze, just don’t give a damn. A study of contemporary alienation, River’s Edge was based on a real-life incident that occurred in Milpitas, California, in 1981. That same year, Neal Jimenez wrote his screenplay for River’s Edge, but was not able to finance the project until 1987. Except for Dennis Hopper, cast as a holdover from the sixties who hobbles about on one leg and makes love to a blow-up doll, the cast was largely comprised of unknowns, many of whom would definitely be heard from in the future.

Horror Boobs and Nitehawk present midnite screenings of AMERICA’S DEADLIEST HOME VIDEO.

The story of Doug (Danny Bonaduce), a home video enthusiast who hits the road with his video camera after catching his wife having an affair. While  making a video journal of his travels, he inadvertently records the Clint Dryer gang – three felons on the lam – pushing their getaway car over a cliff. The  gang abducts him and forces him to videotape their crime spree as they rob and murder their way from town to town. The gang’s leader, Clint (Mick Wynhoff), becomes more daring and sadistic for the camera, and a dangerous relationship forms between his girlfriend, Gloria (Melora Walters) and Doug. Seen entirely through the eyes of Doug’s video camera, America’s Deadliest Home Video draws the viewer into a dark world of violence and terror.

Starring: Paul Reubens, E.G. Daily, Mark Holton, Diane Salinger, Tony Bill, Cassandra Peterson

Part of our recipe book series NITEHAWK CINEMA PRESENTS. Show your ticket at the bar after the movie to buy a copy of the book for only $20!

Pee-wee Herman has lost his only love, his red bicycle, and heads out on the biggest adventure this side of the Alamo to get it back. Along the way, he meets the most amazing people (from Francophile Simone to a tequila-loving motorcycle gang) but ultimately discovers what he likes most is right at home: Dotty and, of course, his bike. Pee-wee’s Big Adventure is based on Vittorio De Sica’s The Bicycle Thief and marks Tim Burton’s feature directorial debut. It’s also quite possibly one of the best movies to come out of the 20th century. Classic.

Spend Mother’s Day camping with Vorhees family in Sean Cunningham’s FRIDAY THE 13TH.

Things don’t go so well for the reopening of Camp Crystal Lake as the new counsellors are stalked and slashed…but by whom? As the site for a young boy’s drowning many years earlier, someone or something is none-too-pleased that a new batch of sexually crazed young adults who will be the caretakers of young children. Stemming from tropes established in Italian giallo films like anonymous killer-point-of-view stabs and punishment for sexual activities, Friday the 13th produces one of the most iconic “Final Girls” in horror (Alice Hardy) and has enduringly made teenage activities a frightening cautionary tale. No real spoilers from us so you’ll have to wait until the end to discover why its maternal instincts are series worthy.

Nitehawk’s BOOZE & BOOKS presents a very special screening of HIGH-RISE with the director Ben Wheatley!

Based on J.G. Ballard’s 1975 novel, High-Rise shows Dr. Robert Laing, the newest resident of a luxurious apartment in a high-tech concrete skyscraper whose lofty location places him amongst the upper class. Laing quickly settles into high society life and meets the building’s eccentric tenants: Charlotte, his upstairs neighbor and bohemian single mother; Wilder, a charismatic documentarian who lives with his pregnant wife Helen; and Mr. Royal, the enigmatic architect who designed the building. Life seems like paradise to the solitude-seeking Laing. But as power outages become more frequent and building flaws emerge, particularly on the lower floors, the regimented social strata begins to crumble and the building becomes a battlefield in a literal class war.

On Demand, Amazon Video and on iTunes April 28. In theatres May 13.

Celebrate Administrative Assistant’s Day here at Nitehawk with our favorite WORKING GIRL!

Mike Nichols’ witty, romantic look at life in the corporate jungle stars Melanie Griffith as Tess McGill, an ambitious secretary with a unique approach for climbing the ladder to success. When her classy, but villainous boss (Sigourney Weaver) Breaks a leg skiing, Tess simply takes over her office, her apartment, even her wardrobe. She then creates a deal with a handsome investment banker (Harrison Ford) that will either take her straight to the top – or finish her off for good.

Have a DAZED AND CONFUSED FILM FEAST with your buds Nitehawk and Lagunitas that you’ll never forget (if only you could remember).

Anniversary Note: Nitehawk’s FILM FEASTS was first served in October 2012 with a screening of Apocalypse Now with Sixpoint Brewery. Dazed and Confused marks the fourth time we’ve collaborated with Lagunitas Brewing Company.

It’s the last day of school in the summer of ’76, and the kids of Lee High school are busting loose. Like most high school kids, they’re a cliquey bunch – there’s the jocks, the burnouts, the geeks, the mean girls, the freshmen, the gearheads – but if there’s one thing that unifies the lot of them, it’s the need for some good ol’ worthwhile visceral experience. As the long Texas night settles in, the kids bounce from a busted house party, to a pool hall, to a field-kegger for the ages all while debating life’s immortal questions: Who am I? When will I get out of this podunk town? Where’s the beer?

As always, our Film Feasts serve each dish at the moment its inspirational scene comes on the screen!

MENU

WAKE ‘N’ BAKE
breakfast Sausage, sunny side up egg, tickler cheddar, baked puff pastry
Beer pairing – Lagunitas IPA

FRESHMAN PIGGIES
pigs in a blanket, ketchup, yellow mustard
Beer pairing – Lagunitas Sucks

LOW RIDER JOINT
Texas style taquito, braised chicken, cotija cheese, dill weed, smoked tomato salsa
Beer pairing – Lagunitas Little Sumptin’

TOP NOTCH BURGER
pickled jalapeños, queso, baby arugula, Martin’s Roll, “soggy” salt and vinegar fries
Beer pairing – Lagunitas Ultra-Mega-Mondo-Red Ale

PARTY AT THE MOONTOWER
oatmeal and chocolate Moon”Tower” Pie
Beer pairing – Lagunitas Censored

Menu items subject to change, no substitutions.