Starring: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, David Clennon, T.K. Carter

Snuggle up! Kurt Russell battles against the cold and a mysterious alien life-form in the John Carpenter version of The Thing.

A team of scientists working in the frozen landscape of the Antarctic encounter a shape-shifting and killer alien being after a strange dog enters the camp. This is, of course, after witnessing a Norwegian team chasing the dog to kill it but perish in a helicopter crash before they can and before they can explain. Isolated in a part of the world nearly as remote as space, Kurt Russell’s R.J. MacReady leads the charge for survival not just his team but for the entire human race. Overshadowed upon its release by the more family friendly film E.T., Carpenter’s The Thing is a terrifying look at outer space in our own world that combines brilliant special effects and humorously scary scenes to punctuate this contemporary version of The Thing from Another World.

Starring: Kurt Russell, Ernest Borgnine, Adrienne Barbeau, Lee Van Cleef, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes

Call him “Snake.” The future is 1997 and the island of Manhattan is now a maximum security prison. Unfortunately it’s also the location where convicts took down the President of the United States’ plane. So the government sends in the “not dead” eye-patch wearing bank-robbing Snake Plissken to go in to retrieve the president and his cargo. But this mission isn’t exactly on Snake’s terms and, given the violent nature of how things run now in New York, it certainly isn’t going to be easy. Escape from New York is the quintessential dystopic view of American society’s future mixed in with that Kurt Russell charm and John Carpenter score.

Kurt Russell plays a carpenter who seeks revenge on a rich lady with amnesia in the romantic comedy cult classic OVERBOARD.

The rich, mean and beautiful heiress Joanna Stayton (played to comedic perfection by Goldie Hawn) treats all those she deems beneath her with real cruelty; this includes the handsome carpenter Dean Proffitt (played by Kurt Russell) who has been hired to build a new closet on her yacht and whom she refuses to pay after a disagreement. But things take a turn when Joanna falls overboard and is fished out of the sea by Dean. Plotting his revenge, he takes advantage of her amnesia to make her believe that she’s his wife who takes care of the cleans and takes care of the house! While Joanna’s memory eventually returns, the life lesson she learns is ever-lasting.

Part of THE WORKS – KURT RUSSELL.

Nitehawk becomes a grind house for the nite as it launches THE WORKS – KURT RUSSELL with a special one-night screening of the double-feature GRINDHOUSE (PLANET TERROR and DEATH PROOF) with a presentation of “Wild Eye Releasing’s 35mm Grind House Trailer Show” before the films!

Uncensored sexuality and hardcore thrills! Kurt Russell stars as the murderous car driver in Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse contribution, Death Proof. Preying on innocent women and then brutally ending their lives in violent car crashes, this sexy serial killer meets his match when he takes on a gang of stunt women. Brilliant. But before we get to Russell, there’s Robert Rodriguez’s all-star cult film take on the zombie film, Planet Terror. Oozing brains and Rose McGowan with a machine gun leg? Sign us up! Grindhouse is well known for its fictional trailer intermission by the like of Eli Roth, Edgar Wight, and Rob Zombie but we’re taking it up a notch by screening real 35mm trailers from the golden era itself.

Part of THE WORKS – KURT RUSSELL.

Nitehawk Cinema and Tequila Ocho Present…
FILM FEAST: Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN

Two young boys, one slightly older attractive woman, one big life journey.

Go on a sexy road trip with Nitehawk and Tequila Ocho’s Film Feast presentation of Alfonso Cuarón’s Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN. As always, the screening includes delicious beverage and food menu pairings related to the film. The best part? You’ll be served each course during the specific moments that inspired the film so you can experience edible sensations while watching all of the action unfold on-screen!

Alfonso Cuarón’s (Gravity) Y Tu Mama Tambien is set against the backdrop of the political and economic realities of present-day Mexico and was, upon its release, immediately notorious for its controversial depiction of sexuality. Restless while their girlfriends are in Europe for the summer, friends Tenoch Iturbide and Julio Zapata meet 20-something Luisa Cortés (wife of Tenoch’s cousin) at a lavish family wedding. They try to impress Luisa by enticing her with promises of the most beautiful secluded beach in Mexico called Boca del Cielo (aka Heaven’s Mouth). And while neither their planned trip nor the beach is true, the three set out on a road trip of discovery about themselves, friendship, the outside world and, of course, sex and seduction.

MENU
Rule #1
Oyster “Tostada”, papalo, whipped avocado, mezcal and grapefruit foam
Drink Pairing: Sangre de Charolastra – Summer Wine with Tequila and Fresh Fruit

Rule #2
Tlayuda, beef tongue, black bean puree, queso oaxaca, salsa verde, lime crema
Drink Pairing: Ruptura de la Cerveza – Smoky Tomatillo Michelada

Rule #3
Cabrito Tamale, masa, guajillo mole, banana leaf
Drink Pairing: Agua de Vida – Single Estate Tequila Ocho with Traditional Oaxacan Sangrita

Rule #4
Flourless Chocolate Chile Cake, oaxacan spiced mousse
Drink Pairing: Juchitan Old Fashioned – Tequila and Mezcal Old Fashioned with Chocolate and Chilis

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Make it a NYMPHOMANIAC double-feature as we now screen both volumes!

Lars Von Trier’s films tell the story of Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a self-diagnosed nymphomaniac who is discovered badly beaten in an alley by an older bachelor, Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård), who takes her into his home. NYMPHOMANIAC: VOLUME II picks up with the story of Joe’s adulthood, where her journey of self-discovery leads to darker complications.

Nitehawk celebrates May Day with a double-feature (our first!) screening of THE WICKER MAN!

Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man is a provocative British film challenging sexuality, religion, nature, and the value of life. Oozing with sexual references (phallic inferences on regeneration, growth, and fertilization abound), every gesture is a seductive act: sex in the graveyard, young women jumping over a fertility fire, the “innkeeper’s daughter”, boys dancing around the Maypole. And all of these devious acts lead up to the big May Day spring festival when the slightly kooky Scottish community turns full-on creep – it still shocks audiences today! (We’ll be screening the new director’s cut!)

But of course, it’s the 2006 American re-make by Neil LaBute that is actually the campiest of the two. Deemed “absurd” by its star Nicolas Cage, pitting the two against each other will be the most daring gesture of all!

Starring: Christopher George, Lynda Day George, Frank Braña, Edmund Purdom

Never say that demented killers don’t have any goals. The beginning of Pieces shows an innocent young puzzle-loving boy killing his over-bearing mother with an ax and, thus, setting the course for a rather interesting obsession. Fast forward to forty years later, a college campus in Boston is experiencing a series of murders, all of young women whose body parts are stolen. Could it be him? Enter the Lieutenant who has his secret agent pose as a young college co-ed in order to lure the murderer and reveal his identity. Bloody and a favorite amongst horror fans, and surely one that has some serious mother issues, Pieces shows us that apparently you don’t have to go to Texas for a chainsaw massacre!

Our special screening of Bob Rafelson’s HEAD (starring The Monkees) includes an introduction by Eric Lefcowitz, author of MONKEE BUSINESS, prizes for the first ten audience members and a book signing!

Head is a trippy stream of consciousness film about the nature of free will co-written by Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson that stars…the Monkees! The ultimate psychedelic-musical-comedy-adventure in which The Monkees attempt to shed their innocent persona, the film begins with the band suddenly interrupting the dedication of a bridge and, from there, works backwards to show what led up to that moment. There’s go-go dancing, an inescapable black box, and a series of unrelated genre-film inspired vignettes. It’s a cinematic act that challenges reality and confronts the idea of scripted control versus total autonomy. It’s a movie for a “turned on audience.” 

A mysterious gift transforms a bored boy’s life into one big mathemagical adventure in THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH! Presented in 35mm!

Norton Juster wrote The Phantom Tollbooth in 1961.

Milo is bored…really bored…until one day after school a tollbooth suddenly appears in his house. So he hops in the pint-sized car, sets course from the map, and heads out of San Francisco into a magical parallel universe of the Kingdom of Wisdom. The Phantom Tollbooth is a mixture of live action with animation (actually the last of the MGM films to combine the two) and is pretty trippy. Milo is accompanied by his watchdog “Tock” who has a last pocket-watch in his body as they travel to places like  Mountains of Ignorance, the Doldrums, Dictionopolis, Digitopolis, and the Castle in the Air. The goal? To rescue Princess Rhyme and Reason! The eccentricity in this film is certain to enchant and educate the young ones while blowing the parents’ minds. Plus Chuck Jones (from Looney Tunes fame) co-wrote, co-directed and animated the film!

Part of Nitehawk’s February LITTLE BOOKWORMS brunch series.