ART SEEN presents brunch screenings of TROUBLEMAKERS, the documentary that unearths the history of land art in the tumultuous late 1960s and early 1970s. 

Troublemakers features a cadre of renegade New York artists that sought to transcend the limitations of painting and sculpture by producing earthworks on a monumental scale in the desolate desert spaces of the American southwest. Today these works remain impressive not only for the sheer audacity of their makers but also for their out-sized ambitions to break free from traditional norms. The film casts these artists in a heroic light, which is exactly how they saw themselves. Iconoclasts who changed the landscape of art forever, these revolutionary, antagonistic creatives risked their careers on radical artistic change and experimentation, and took on the establishment to produce art on their own terms. The film includes rare footage and interviews which unveil the enigmatic lives and careers of storied artists Robert Smithson (Spiral Jetty), Walter De Maria (The Lightning Field) and Michael Heizer (Double Negative); a headstrong troika that established the genre. As the film makes clear, in making works that can never be possessed as an object in a gallery, these troublemakers stand in marked contrast to the hyper-speculative contemporary art world of today.

Using original footage produced with helicopters and rare re-mastered vintage footage from the period, Crump’s cinematic journey takes viewers on a thrill ride through the most significant land art sites in California, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, an immersive and physically transportive experience that movie goers will not forget.

Starring: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Lauren Bacall, Richard Farnsworth

Based on Stephen King’s chilling novel, Misery details how obsessive fandom can be a real killer. After deciding to concentrate on more serious material, famed romance writer Paul Sheldon gets into a car accident during a blizzard and his “number one fan” comes to the rescue…sort of. Annie actually holds him hostage in her cabin amongst the snow-filled landscape and forces him to write her favorite character, Misery Chastain, back to life. Locked in a room, then forcefully stuck in bed and with nobody knowing where he is, Sheldon only option is to write his way out to freedom. As you can expect from a King story, there are some truly terrifying moments that stick with you.

Starring: Max Records, Catherine Keener, Benicio Del Toro, Mark Ruffalo, Steve Mouzakis, Pepita Emmerichs

Spike Jonze directs a magical, visually astonishing film version of Maurice Sendak’s celebrated children’s classic. After a fight with his sister and feeling his neglected by his mom, nine year old Max, dressed as a wolf, runs away from home into a world of his own imagination… he sails across the sea to become king of the land Where the Wild Things Are. As King Max he runs a wondrous realm of gigantic fuzzy monsters – but being king may not be as carefree as it looks! Interesting children’s book to film fact: Jonze came to make Where the Wild Things Are after meeting Maurice Sendak while trying to realize another classic kids book, Harold and the Purple Crayon, into a film. Let the rumpus begin!

Starring: Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Margaret Hamilton, Billie Burke

The Wizard of Oz is as close as you can get to pure magic on the cinema screen. On her farm in Kansas, young Dorothy dreams of a more fantastical place over the rainbow and, after hitching a ride on a tornado, winds up in the wonderful world of Oz. Greeted by a town of munchkins and two witches, Dorothy sets out to meet the Wizard who is sure to get her home with an extraordinary new pair of rubber slippers. On her adventurous journey to the Emerald City, she and her fellow friends the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion navigate the traps set by the Wicked Witch of the West who wants those special shoes back! Full of adventure, song, and the meaning of real love, The Wizard of Oz shows us that there is indeed no place like home.

The friendship between a runt pig and a wise spider forever change Zuckerman Farm in CHARLOTTE’S WEB.

E. B. White wrote Charlotte’s Web in 1952.

What’s a children’s story without a little bit of tears? In the classic animated version of E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, we have a little runt named Wilbur who escapes the dinner table at an early age thanks to the kindness of the farmer’s young daughter. Saved for now, he is shipped off to her uncle’s neighboring farm where he becomes friends with one creature, the wise spider Charlotte, who helps Wilbur hatch a plan to become the prize-winning pig of the county fair to ensure his fate won’t lead him to the dinner table. Charlotte’s Web is full of lessons of friendship, loyalty, and truth showing that friendship comes in all shapes and sizes.

Part of Nitehawk’s February LITTLE BOOKWORMS brunch series.

Nitehawk’s LOCAL COLOR presents a one nite screening of the doc about basketball player, Lloyd Daniels (aka Swee Pea). Q&A with director Benjamin May.

Nicknamed for the son of the legendary cartoon character Popeye, Lloyd Daniels was one of the top college basketball recruits of the late 1980s, playing at five high schools and Mt. San Antonio Junior College before the University of Nevada Las Vegas won a massive recruiting battle to have him join the Runin Rebels and legendary coach Jerry Tarkanian. Before he was able to play a single game at UNLV, he was arrested for cocaine possession, ending his time at UNLV before it began. Later shot three times in the chest at age 21 over an argument about an $8 dollar bag of cocaine, the man christened as the best  high school player to come out of New York since Kareem Abdul Jabbar as well as the heir apparent to Magic Johnson was thought by many to have had a career end before it started, when in reality his story was just beginning.

Nitehawk’s ART SEEN presents a special Live Sound Cinema event: AN EVENING OF EXPANDED CINEMA WITH DRIPPY EYE PROJECTIONS, THE JOSHUA LIGHT SHOW, and music by Worthless.

Stemming from the unique history of the Joshua Light Show that began in the 1970s, this interactive live psychedelic light show features a mix of analog and digital projections (a “psychedelic  slipstream”) along with a live musical performance. The visuals and audio operate in an evolving conversation throughout and each performance is a unique experience suited to the space in which its acted out.

Drippy Eye Projections: Drippy Eye Projections is the psychedelic brainchild of Curtis Godino and Chaz Lord, who have been working together since 2010. With their interactive light shows focusing on live, analog projection, the duo have quickly garnered a reputation for innovation, working with Austin Psych Fest, The New Museum, and a collaborative installation at Kickstarter with Joshua Light Show (with whom Godino moonlights with). All projections and light shows are modulated live, meaning no two shows are exactly alike. Each show evolves with the space, as Drippy Eye works closely with developing individualized shows everywhere from music venues to art exhibits. By adding their own touch of color, Drippy Eye shines a light on the beauty already in nature, and are pushing forward the abstract medium in a hands-on way.

The Joshua Light Show: Today, the structure of the Joshua Light Show differs little from the original of almost 45 years ago. At the time, it was Janis Joplin, The Who, Jimi Hendrix and The Grateful Dead for example, whose jams were driven by the psychedelic slipstream of so-called “liquid lights” – projections of permutating colored oils that conjured magical morphing shapes. White’s appointment as light show resident at concerts in New York’s legendary Fillmore East was followed by engagements in Woodstock, Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center. In early 2000, the renaissance of the legendary light show finally began, launched this time in the art world. White has worked on exhibitions for the Tate Liverpool, the Centre Pompidou, the Whitney Museum, MOCA and other venues. He also began to team up with other artists, to add more complexity to the show and further develop the basic analog ideas using digital techniques.

Worthless: There are perhaps few bands in existence with a moniker that carries as much of a misnomer as does Worthless, a band whose every release chips away at the validity of their name. Worthless is a constantly evolving musical project that explores as much as they possibly can.

“Uncle” Bill Lustig joins THE DEUCE once again for his annual selection – and this time he’s taking us to the Times Square Theatre circa April of 1981, for Antonio Margheriti’s THE SQUEEZE – starring Lee Van Cleef and Karen Black!!

Plus: Prizes and surprises at the after-party with music by Maestro Jeff! Hosted and presented by THE DEUCE JOCKEYS: Jeff, Andy, and Joe!

Anthony Dawson’s (aka Antonio Margheriti’s) Italian crime-caper lensed on the surly streets of 1978 Manhattan! “Retired” cracker-jack safe-cracker, Lee Van Cleef, lured into “one last job” to “help a buddy out” … The ‘cliches’ are just the beginning of this bonkers brouhaha! Six million dollars worth of diamonds leads to double-crossin’ disaster … Hot-rocks and hot lead! All set to hot disco beats!! Karate-choppin’ muscle-men, the German Mafia (?) and … Karen Black!!! With bevy of veteran character actors chewin’ up the scenery, THE SQUEEZE (aka THE RIP-OFF) has more moxie and sleaze up its sleeve than you’re likely to see for some time!

All DEUCE screenings are 35mm presentations.
Follow THE DEUCE on Facebook!
Deuce Jockeys: Jeff, Joe, Andy, Max, Andrew
Featuring drink specials courtesy of Fernet Branca

This May, THE DEUCE visits the Lyric Theatre yet again, for a screening of B-picture DERANGED: THE CONFESSIONS OF A NECROPHILE…which played with ‘RAPE SQUAD’ on February 21, 1975!!

Plus: Prizes and surprises at the after-party with music by Maestro Jeff! Hosted and presented by THE DEUCE JOCKEYS: Jeff, Andy, and Joe!

Demented, disturbing, downright weird delineation of the dastardly deeds of one “Ezra Cobb” – a thinly veiled and more faithful-to-the-facts version of the notoriously nasty Ed Gein corpse-robbing case (basis for the more well known variations on the theme, PSYCHO and TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE) – DERANGED does it decidedly different … Jeff Gillen and Alan Ormsby’s take is the oddball-out: original and unnerving, a darkly humorous character study of the horrors barely hidden by a doting Mama’s Boy derailed by dementia … full of subtly screwy details and a strangeness hard to shake… With a committed, commanding, and somehow sympathetic lead performance from veteran character actor Roberts Blossom, as the befuddled and obviously totally bonkers “pervert” with a pointedly disturbing fashion sense … “The wages of sin is gonorrhea, syphilis and death!” You’ll find them all when you get DERANGED on THE DEUCE!

All DEUCE screenings are 35mm presentations.
Follow THE DEUCE on Facebook!
Deuce Jockeys: Jeff, Joe, Andy, Max, Andrew
Featuring drink specials courtesy of Fernet Branca