Note: This screening has been changed from 35mm to a DCP
Starring: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly
Before he broke big with his tricky comic book adaptations, director Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen, Man of Steel, Army of the Dead) took on the thankless challenge of remaking one of the most highly regarded horror films of all time: George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead.
The most audacious thing about Snyder’s aughtsie spin on Romero’s strangers-ride-out-the-zombie-apocalypse-in-a-mall original is just how good it is: tight, high-stress undead mayhem that captures how quickly everything can fall apart, and just how nasty it gets if you survive the fallout.
When the owner of a liquor store starts selling 60 year old bad/cheap wine to the local hobos, they literally start melting to death. An overzealous cop tries to get to the bottom of all these strange deaths while also dealing with a deranged Vietnam vet. Street Trash is the kind of ridiculous, gross-out midnight fair you can enjoy regardless of where you live, but the film holds a special place in our hearts here at Nitehawk because much of it was filmed right up the road in Greenpoint in mid-1980’s, capturing the neighborhood before the wave of cultural and economic changes swept through the neighborhood, taking much of Street Trash’s trash with it.
Starring: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Carrie Fisher, Aretha Franklin, John Candy
Direct out of jail, Jake Blues and his Brother Elwood are off on a “mission from God” to raise funds for the orphanage in which they grew up. The only thing they can do is do what they do best: play music. So they get their old band together and they’re on their way yet not without getting in a bit of trouble here and there.
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kevin J. O’Connor, Ciarán Hinds, Dillon Freasier
Silver miner Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) leads a hardscrabble life with his son, H.W. (Dillon Freasier). When he hears about oil oozing from the ground near the Western town of Little Boston, Daniel takes his son on a mission to find their fortune. Daniel makes his lucky strike and becomes a self-made tycoon but, as his fortune grows, he deviates into moral bankruptcy.
The sun died Danny Boyle style in 2007 in the mesmerizing Sunshine.
Fifty years from now, the sun is dying, and mankind is dying with it. Our last hope: a spaceship and a crew of eight men and women. They carry a device which will breathe new life into the star. But deep into their voyage, out of radio contact with Earth, their mission is starting to unravel.
Zombies got domesticated in 2007 with Fido.
When a cloud of space dust causes the dead to rise as ravenous zombies, the ZomCon Corp. emerges to conquer the creatures and domesticate them to become menial workers and pets for humans. Now, in an idyllic town, a skeptical boy (K’Sun Ray) finds a best friend in his family’s new fiend, which he promptly names Fido (Billy Connolly). But Fido’s control collar malfunctions, and the neighbors wind up on the menu.
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent, Paddy Considine, Timothy Dalton, Billie Whitelaw
Edgar Wright gave us one of the funniest (and smartest) comedies of 2007 with Hot Fuzz.
As a former London constable, Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) finds it difficult to adapt to his new assignment in the sleepy British village of Sandford. Not only does he miss the excitement of the big city, but he also has a well-meaning oaf (Nick Frost) for a partner. However, when a series of grisly accidents rocks Sandford, Nick smells something rotten in the idyllic village.
Starring: Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, Amara Karan, Wallace Wolodarsky, Waris Ahluwalia
Estranged brothers Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman) reunite for a train trip across India. The siblings have not spoken in over a year, ever since their father passed away. Francis is recovering from a motorcycle accident, Peter cannot cope with his wife’s pregnancy, and Jack cannot get over his ex-lover. The brothers fall into old patterns of behavior as Francis reveals the real reason for the reunion: to visit their mother in a Himalayan convent.
Before the film, we’ll be screening Wes Anderson’s short Hotel Chevalier, which takes place two weeks before The Darjeeling Limited and ran ahead of the film in its original theatrical run.
Starring: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher, Toby Jones, William Sadler
After a powerful storm damages their Maine home, David Drayton (Thomas Jane) and his young son head into town to gather food and supplies. Soon afterward, a thick fog rolls in and engulfs the town, trapping the Draytons and others in the grocery store. Terror mounts as deadly creatures reveal themselves outside, but that may be nothing compared to the threat within, where a zealot (Marcia Gay Harden) calls for a sacrifice.
2007 gave us some solid horror films and this Spanish inclusion, The Orphanage, presented by Guillermo del Toro, is often overlooked but it’s surely one of the scariest movies you’ve never seen.
Laura (Belén Rueda) has happy memories of her childhood in an orphanage. She convinces her husband to buy the place and help her convert it into a home for sick children. One day, her own adopted son, Simón (Roger Príncep), disappears. Simon is critically ill, and when he is still missing several months later, he is presumed dead. Grief-stricken Laura believes she hears spirits, who may or may not be trying to help her find the boy.
