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Live Wire

Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Ron Silver, Ben Cross, Lisa Eilbacher, Tony Plana, Al Waxman

Co-hosted by programmer Clyde Folley

When U.S. senators start violently blowing up, top bomb diffuser Danny O’Neill (Pierce Brosnan) determines that terrorists are utilizing a mysterious liquid that detonates when ingested. All the while he is grappling with his crumbling marriage, with rumors that estranged wife Terry (Lisa Eilbacher) is involved with Senator Frank Traveres (Ron Silver), who is next on the target list.

Intended to be a big summer blockbuster that was ultimately relegated to cable television, Live Wire makes good use of its explosive premise (sandwiched, as it were, between two Scanners sequels for director Christian Duguay) with wild blasts galore. Watching someone drink a glass of water has never been so suspenseful!

Wattstax

January is gonna be jumpin’ and jivin’ when The Deuce comes alive for the New Year with WATTSTAX!! Summer of 1972’s all-day LA Coliseum musical/cultural celebration mechanic’d and roster’d by Memphis’s Stax Records, in seven-year remembrance of the 1965 Watts Rebellion… A crowd-stirring cavalcade of music and merry mayhem and mind-blowing costuming!! With off-stage forays into the streets, bars, nightclubs of the Watts real-world – highlighted by the frenetic lightnin’ riffin’ of a young and furious Richard Pryor serving as the film’s resident “Greek Chorus”…

Incendiary! Incisive!! Inspiring!!! And (generally) sensitively mounted by Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory‘s director (!?!) Mel Stuart – who sets the concert in its larger context – against the back-drop of “everyday life” and struggles within the still-shaken and still angry voices of the southern LA’s Black working-class gutted subdivision…

While the original 1973 Times Square audience were all busy doin’ the Funky Chicken in the aisles of the Lyric Theatre, they were also unknowingly jipped out of the concert’s crescendo of Isaac Hayes’s Theme From Shaft/Soulville due to MGM’s money-grubbing “rights issues” – a mis-deed rectified by your buddies at The Deuce… we’re showing a recently re-struck, re-righted, and rightfully electrifying print!!!

The Fan

Starring: Robert De Niro, Wesley Snipes, Ellen Barkin, John Leguizamo, Benicio del Toro

A troubled salesman who peddles knives, Gil Renard (Robert De Niro) has a volatile personality, which has resulted in divorce and a strained relationship with his young son. The one thing that Renard cares passionately about is baseball, particularly the San Francisco Giants and the team’s newest recruit, Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes). As Renard’s personal life continues to crumble, he begins obsessively tracking Rayburn, leading to kidnapping and even murder.

Midnight Run

Starring: Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Yaphet Kotto, John Ashton, Dennis Farina, Joe Pantoliano

When Eddie Moscone (Joe Pantoliano) hires tight-lipped bounty hunter Jack Walsh (Robert De Niro) to locate a mob accountant named “The Duke” (Charles Grodin) and bring him to L.A., Eddie tells Jack that the job will be simple, or a “midnight run.” But when Jack finds The Duke, the FBI and the mob are anxious to get their hands on him. In a cross-country chase, Jack must evade the authorities, hide from the mob and prevent The Duke’s erratic personality from driving him mad.

Angel Heart

Starring: Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet, Charlotte Rampling

Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke) is a private detective contracted by Louis Cyphre (Robert De Niro) to track down the iconic singer Johnny Favorite. However, everybody that Angel questions about Favorite seems to meet a tragic demise. Eventually the trail leads Angel to New Orleans where he learns that Favorite had dabbled in the black arts. As Favorite’s whereabouts and true identity become clear, Angel learns that being hired by Cyphre was not a random choice.

Hi, Mom!

Starring: Robert De Niro, Allen Garfield, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning, Lara Parker

After serving in Vietnam, veteran Jon Rubin (Robert De Niro) arrives in New York City and approaches sleazy producer Joe Banner (Allen Garfield) about directing a pornographic film. Rubin becomes obsessed with his beautiful neighbor, Judy Bishop (Jennifer Salt). He also begins shooting footage of the residents of an apartment building on the other side of the street. Soon, he falls in with a group of militant black activists as he struggles to find meaning in his increasingly unsatisfying life.

Analyze This

Starring: Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal, Lisa Kudrow, Joe Viterelli, Chazz Palminteri

When doctors tell a mob boss (Robert De Niro) that he is suffering from anxiety attacks, he seeks the help of Ben, a therapist (Billy Crystal), who is manipulated into treating him, with hysterical results. Just as Ben and his fiancée (Lisa Kudrow) are about to wed, they are faced with a mobster who won’t take no for an answer.

Casino

Starring: Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, James Woods, Don Rickles, Alan King

In early-1970s Las Vegas, low-level mobster Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro) gets tapped by his bosses to head the Tangiers Casino. At first, he’s a great success in the job, but over the years, problems with his loose-cannon enforcer Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), his ex-hustler wife Ginger (Sharon Stone), her con-artist ex Lester Diamond (James Woods) and a handful of corrupt politicians put Sam in ever-increasing danger. Martin Scorsese directs this adaptation of Nicholas Pileggi’s book.

Heat

Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, Natalie Portman

Master criminal Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) is trying to control the rogue actions of one of his men, while also planning one last big heist before retiring. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Hanna (Al Pacino) attempts to track down McCauley as he deals with the chaos in his own life, including the infidelity of his wife (Diane Venora) and the mental health of his stepdaughter (Natalie Portman). McCauley and Hanna discover a mutual respect, even as they try to thwart each other’s plans.

Mean Streets

Starring: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Richard Romanus, Amy Robinson, David Proval

A slice of street life in Little Italy among lower echelon Mafiosos, unbalanced punks, and petty criminals. A small-time hood gets in over his head with a vicious loan shark. In an attempt to free himself from the dangers of his debt, he gets help from a friend who is also involved in criminal activities.