“Always a bridesmaid, never a bride” – such is the career of America’s hard-working characters who rarely, if ever, get the leading role.

Comedian Kevin Maher hosts a two-hour variety show celebrating these unsung heroes of the silver screen.

The multi-media comedy show looks at iconic character types like the sassy maid, the steely hit-man, the chubby best friend – and salutes the actors who play those thankless parts.

 “The Kevin Geeks Out shows are like TED Talks for Midnight Movies” – DailyGrindhouse.com

Guests:
?    Tanya Smith (co-host READ IT AND WEEP podcast)
?    Sonya Moore (scripter/translator for Korean webcomics at Spottoon)
?    Ryan Gabos (writer, The Big Takeover)
?    James Hancock (host, THE WRONG REEL podcast)
?    Adam Howard (writer, AdamHowardHasTooManyMoviestoWatch)

The theatrical release of the Academy Award Nominated Short films has been met by enthusiastic audiences for eleven years. This year, Nitehawk is pleased to present the 2017 OSCAR® Nominated Short Films in the LIVE ACTION and ANIMATION categories!

The 2017 OSCAR® Nominated Short Films: ANIMATION are:

BLIND VAYSHA
Canada / 8 mins / 2016
Director: Theodore Ushev
Producer: Marc Bertrand

Synopsis: Vasyha is not like other young girls; she was born with one green eye and one brown eye. But her odd eyes aren’t the only thing that’s special about her gaze.
Her left eye sees only the past. Her right, only the future. Like a terrible curse, Vaysha’s split vision prevents her from living in the present. Blinded by what was and tormented by what will be, she remains trapped between two irreconcilable temporalities. “Blind Vaysha,” they called her. In this metaphoric tale of timeless wisdom and beauty, filmmaker Theodore Ushev reminds us of the importance of living in present moment. Designed in 3D and also available in 2D as well as in virtual reality (VR). Based on the short story “Blind Vaysha” by Georgi Gospodinov. © Georgi Gospodinov, 2001

BORROWED TIME
United States of America / 7 mins / 2015
Directors: Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj
Producers: Amanda Deering Jones

Synopsis: A weathered Sheriff returns to the remains of an accident he has spent a lifetime trying to forget. With each step forward, the memories come flooding back. Faced with his mistake once again, he must find the strength to carry on.

PEAR CIDER AND CIGARETTES
Canada and UK / 35 mins / 2016
Director: Robert Valley
Producer: Cara Speller

Synopsis: Drink and smoke…that’s what Techno Stypes really like to do, and fight. He was in no condition to fight. He was sick, really sick. His disease had whittled him down to a shadow of his former self. He was crippled from a car accident when he was 17 but that’s not how he lost his big toe. He lost that in a motorbike accident, yeah he was broken alright… what the hell was he fighting for anyway and what was he still doing in China? His father had given me two clear instructions: 1. Get Techno to stop drinking long enough to receive the liver transplant, and 2. Get him back home to Vancouver. This was not going to be easy.

PEARL
United States of America / 6 mins / 2016
Director: Patrick Osborne
Producer: David Eisenmann

Synopsis: Set inside their home, a beloved hatchback, Pearl follows a girl and her dad as they crisscross the country chasing their dreams. It’s a story about the gifts we hand down and their power to carry love. And finding grace in the unlikeliest of places.

PIPER
United States of America / 6 mins / 2016
Director: Alan Barillaro 
Producer: Marc Sondheimer

Synopsis: Directed by Alan Barillaro and produced by Marc Sondheimer, “Piper,” the new short from Pixar Animation Studios, tells the story of a hungry sandpiper hatchling who ventures from her nest for the first time to dig for food by the shoreline. The only problem is, the food is buried beneath the sand where scary waves roll up onto the shore. “Piper” debuted in theaters worldwide with “Finding Dory” in 2016.

The theatrical release of the Academy Award Nominated Short films has been met by enthusiastic audiences for eleven years. This year, Nitehawk is pleased to present the 2017 OSCAR® Nominated Short Films in the LIVE ACTION and ANIMATION categories!

The 2017 OSCAR® Nominated Short Films: LIVE ACTION are:

ENNEMIS INTÉRIEURS
France / 28 mins / 2016
Director: Sélim Aazzazi
Producers: Benjamin De Lajarte, Sélim Azzazi & Frédéric Serve

Synopsis: An interview at a local police station turns into an inquisition during which a French-Algerian born man sees himself accused of protecting the identities of possible terrorists. This close-up on France’s troubled history with its former colonies has one man controlling the fate of another with the stroke of a pen during a turbulent period in the 1990s.

LA FEMME ET LE TGV
Switzerland / 30 mins / 2016
Director: Timo von Gunten
Producer: Giacun Caduff
Executive Producers: Jean de Meuron & Bela Böke

Synopsis: Elise Lafontaine has a secret routine. Every morning and evening for many years, she has been waving at the express train that passes her house. One fateful day, she finds a letter from the train conductor in her garden and her lonely life is turned upside down. She engages in a promising correspondence through poetic and thoughtful letters where the two anonymous writers share their world with each other until the day the train line get’s cancelled. The story is inspired by true events and stars César Award nominee Jane Birkin.

SILENT NIGHTS
Denmark / 30 mins / 2016
Director: Aske Bang
Producers: Tivi Magnusson and Kim Magnusson

Synopsis: Inger volunteers at a homeless shelter and falls in love with the illegal immigrant Kwame. Both live a hard life. Kwame finds comfort in Inger’s arms, but says nothing about his family and children in Ghana. When his daughter becomes ill, he is forced to steal money from the homeless shelter to pay the hospital bill. Inger believe his lies about the theft and shows compassion. Kwame moves in with Inger and they are happy for a while, until the day when Kwame’s mobile phone reveals everything about his life in Ghana.

SING (MINDENKI)
Hungary / 25 mins / 2016
Director: Kristof Deák
Producers: Anna Udvardy & Kristof Deák

Synopsis: Zsofi is struggling to fit in at her new school – singing in the school’s famous choir is her only consolation, but the choir director may not be the inspirational teacher everyone thinks she is. It will take Zsofi and her new friend Liza to uncover the cruel truth. “Sing” is a childhood drama with a lot of music set in 1990s post-socialist Budapest, Hungary. Based on a true story, it follows an award-winning school choir and the new girl in class facing a tough choice: to stand up against a corrupt system – or to fit quietly into it.

TIMECODE 
Spain / 15 mins / 2016
Director: 
Producers: Juanjo Giménez, Daniel Villanueva, Arturo Méndiz

Synopsis: Luna and Diego are the parking lot security guards. Diego does the night shift, and Luna works by day.

An arms deal goes wrong in Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump’s explosive (and violently charming) FREE FIRE.

Bold, breathless and wickedly fun, Free Fire is an electrifying action-comedy about an arms deal that goes spectacularly and explosively wrong. Acclaimed filmmaker Ben Wheatley (Kill List, High Rise) propels the audience head-on into quite possibly the most epic shootout ever seen on film as he crafts a spectacular parody—and biting critique—of the insanity of gun violence. Everyone’s got a gun, and absolutely no one is in control.

Jim Jarmusch transforms the everyday ordinary into the extraordinary in the quietly beautiful film, PATERSON.

Paterson (Adam Driver) is a bus driver in the city of Paterson, New Jersey – they share the name. Every day, Paterson adheres to a simple routine: he drives his daily route, observing the city as it drifts across his windshield and overhearing fragments of conversation swirling around him; he writes poetry into a notebook; he walks his dog; he stops in a bar and drinks exactly one beer. He goes home to his wife, Laura (Golshifteh Farahani). By contrast, Laura’s world is ever changing. New dreams come to her almost daily, each a different and inspired project. Paterson loves Laura and she loves him. He supports her newfound ambitions; she champions his secret gift for poetry. The history and energy of the City of Paterson is a felt presence in the film and its simple structure unfolds over the course of a single week. The quiet triumphs and defeats of daily life are observed, along with the poetry evident in its smallest details.

Nitehawk’s LOCAL COLOR and Tribeca Film Festival present a CATFIGHT, a brutally hilarious story of two bitter rivals whose grudge match spans a lifetime. 

Q&A with writer-director Onur Tukel.

Two former college friends, who now find themselves in very different walks of life, meet up at a fancy cocktail party: Veronica (Sandra Oh) has become the entitled, wine-loving wife of a rich businessman, while Ashley (Anne Heche), along with her lover Lisa (Alicia Silverstone), struggles to make ends meet as an artist. As the two women reconnect, long-buried hostilities, jealousy, and anger explode into a vicious, bloody fight that leaves both of them battered and bruised – and ready for more.

Nitehawk presents a special one night screening of Asghar Farhadi’s Academy Award Nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, THE SALESMAN.

We stand in solidarity with Asghar Farhadi, who has chosen not to attend the Academy Awards ceremony this year due to Trump’s travel ban for those from seven Muslim-majority countries (Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen). As part, Nitehawk will be donating a portion of each ticket sold to the ACLU. Read Farhadi’s statement here.

About The Salesman: After their old flat becomes damaged, Emad (Shahab Hosseini) and Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti), a young couple living in Tehran, are forced to move into a new apartment. However, once relocated, a sudden eruption of violence linked to the previous tenant of their new home dramatically changes the couple’s life, creating a simmering tension between husband and wife.

Nitehawk presents a special screening of the documentary on graffiti, politics and lifestyle, STYLE WARS 2.

Q&A with Co-Producer of Style Wars, Henry Chalfant, Artist from Style Wars 2, Devi, and Co-Director of Style Wars 2, Amos.

Style Wars is a legendary documentary, filmed in 1983, which helped the graffiti movement from New York to spread around the world. 30 years later, Veli and Amos, two Style Wars fans from Europe, trip through today’s graffiti and street art scene. The journey takes them from Europe to New York and ends in the Middle East. Style Wars 2 features encounters with graffiti artists and presents different artistic views. Along the way, Veli and Amos also happen to attend boxing fights in New York and visit hair dressers in the West Bank. Even though the movie’s main focus is on graffiti, it also raises topics like art, politics and lifestyle.

Nitehawk’s COUNTRY BRUNCHIN’ goes to a Florida prison with an egg-eating rebel in COOL HAND LUKE. The screening features a live pre-show serenade by SASHA PAPERNIK’S GLASS CARNIVAL!

We all need a little non-conformity these days. Based on Donn Pearce’s 1965 novel, the film version of Cool Hand Luke stars a ruggedly handsome Paul Newman as a Luke Jackson, a prisoner who challenges the system in a Florida jail. Like is sentenced to a stretch on a southern chain gang after he’s arrested for drunkenly decapitating parking meters. Throughout his institutional tenure, he rages against authority, repeatedly escapes prison, and becomes the bad figure who the guards must make an example of to the other inmates. The screening celebrates fifty years of the film that was a “touchstone of an era.”

Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show, is the feature debut of Cybill Sheperd, includes the songs of Hank Williams, and is one of the best movies in the 1970s. Based on Larry McMurtry’s semi-autobiographical novel and set in the early 1950s, Sonny Crawford is coming of age in the desolate town of Anarene, Texas. Sonny’s closest friends are his high school buddy Duane Jackson and his surrogate father Sam the Lion, whose tough-minded integrity stands in contrast to everyone around him. Eager to experiment with sex, Sony begins an affair with his coach’s wife. However, his understanding of the world is thrown into question when Sam the Lion suddenly dies, and his relationship with the coach’s wife proves emotionally complicated.