At the dawn of World War III, a group of teenagers called “The Wolverines” defend their town and country against the Soviets RED DAWN.
Right before the end of the Cold War, John Milius’ Red Dawn taps into the 1980s fear of the possibility of Soviet troops invading small town American. Of course, in good ol’ movie making magic, we see a true American ideal vision as a group of teenagers team together to fight against the common enemy. Through surviving only with hunting rifles, pistols, and bow-and-arrows in the winter and eluding the KGB who hunts them, these “Wolverines” wage a seriously group up guerilla warfare to save themselves, their town, and their country.
Part of Nitehawk’s May COLD WAR brunch series.
Just in time for Record Store Day, a special midnite Music Driven screening of glam rock doc JOBRIATH A.D. with Factory 25 Records and a Q&A with director Kieran Turner, The Magnetic Fields’ Stephen Merritt & Okkervil River’s Will Sheff.
Seventies glam rock musician Jobriath was known as “The American Bowie,” “The True Fairy of Rock & Roll,” and “Hype of the Year.” The first openly gay rock star, Jobriath’s reign was brief, lasting less than two years and two albums. Done in by a over?hyped publicity machine, shunned by the gay community, and dismissed by critics as all flash and no substance, Jobriath was excommunicated from the music business. He retreated to the Chelsea Hotel where he died, forgotten, in 1983 at the age of 37, as one of the earliest casualties of AIDS.
In the years since his death, new generations of fans have discovered his music through acts as diverse as Morrissey, Def Leppard, The Pet Shop Boys, and Gary Numan, all of whom have cited Jobriath as an influence. Through interviews, archival material, and animation, audiences can experience the heartbreaking and unbelievable story of the one, the only, Jobriath.
Nitehawk’s BOOZE & BOOKS presents a special screening of DUNE celebrating FOLIO SOCIETY’S much-anticipated edition of Frank Herbert’s classic science-fiction novel illustrated by US artist SAM WEBER.
Sam Weber will introduce the screening and there will be in an after-party with an inspired cocktail in Nitehawk’s Lo-Res bar!
David Lynch brought Frank Herbert’s wildly popular science-fiction novel Dune to the big screen in 1984 and it’s been a trip-tastic go-to-movie ever since. Set in the year 10,191 when the universe is dependent on a spice called Melange that can extend life and can fold time, a Duke’s son (Kyle MacLachlan) leads the enslaved desert warriors on the spice-producing planet Arrakis in an epic battle with the evil Emperor. In the tradition of futuristic space worlds like Star Wars and The Matrix, Dune is about a young man deemed the messiah rising up and trying to make things better for the people. Time, space, telepathy, monsters, madness, love, and righteousness – long live the fighters!
Folio Society’s Dune also features an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Michael Dirda and an afterward by Brian Herbert. Visit Folio Society for more information and to purchase the book!
Sam Weber was born in Alaska, and grew up in Deep River, Ontario, Canada. After attending the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary, Sam moved to New York to pursue illustration and attend graduate school at The School of Visual Arts. His previous work for The Folio Society includes The Lord of the Flies (2009) and Fahrenheit 451 (2011). His illustrations for Dune were painted in oil on board, with the black-and-white chapter headings in ink and charcoal on paper.
Founded in London in 1947, The Folio Society publishes carefully crafted editions of the world’s finest literature. They believe that great books deserve to be presented in a form worthy of their contents. For nearly 70 years they have celebrated the unique joy to be derived from owning, holding and reading a beautiful printed edition.
In KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER, a jaded Japanese woman ventures to North Dakota to find the lost case of cash from Fargo.
In this darkly comedic odyssey, Academy Award nominee Rinko Kikuchi (Babel, Pacific Rim) stars as Kumiko, a frustrated Office Lady whose imagination transcends the confines of her mundane life. Kumiko becomes obsessed with a mysterious, battered VHS tape of a popular film she’s mistaken for a documentary, fixating on a scene where a suitcase of stolen cash is buried in the desolate, frozen landscape of North Dakota. Believing this treasure to be real, she leaves behind Tokyo and her beloved rabbit Bunzo to recover it – and finds herself on a dangerous adventure unlike anything she’s seen in the movies.
Elizabeth Taylor stars as a madwoman in search of death in our special one nite 35mm screening of THE DRIVER’S SEAT – selected and introduced by BRUCE LABRUCE!
Mental instability, sexual deviance, and a whole lot of smeared makeup: Giuseppe Patroni Griffi’s low budget arty film The Driver’s Seat (aka Identikit and Psychotic) shows Elizabeth Taylor giving a whole new meaning to a woman on the edge. Her completely mad character “Lise” travels to Rome in search of men for sex and then for…stabbing her with a knife. Based on the novella by Muriel Spark, this film is an overlooked affair complete with deranged performances, police investigators and even Andy Warhol as a British lord(!). It is without a doubt one in the Liz Taylor cannon of madness to know.
Bruce LaBruce says, “The Driver’s Seat, bathed in a magical golden light, represents one of my favourite pieces of cinematography. Beyond that, the film seems totally prescient and relevant today, with its numerous cataclysmic terrorist events, and Taylor’s complaints of violation at the airport security check. It’s also one of the most complex feminist statements of the seventies, serving as a kind of allegory for a woman in search of her ultimate orgasm.” (Read his whole statement on The Driver’s Seat here).
The Art Seen screening of The Driver’s Seat is held in conjunction with the Bruce LaBruce film retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art (April 23–May 2, 2015).
The unwanted will have their day.
A seemingly harmless measure that aims to make dog-breeding more disciplined in Hungary kicks off a series of extraordinary events. Favoring pedigree and purebred dogs, the new regulation places a severe tax on those who own mixed breeds — so owners begin to dump their mongrels and shelters quickly become overcrowded.
This new set of laws has real consequences, especially for 13-year-old Lili (Zsófia Psotta), who’s already a pawn in her parent’s bitter divorce. Lili can’t understand why her dog, Hagen, is now somehow less than other dogs, nor can she comprehend why her father (Sándor Zsóstár) won’t simply pay the tax on her beloved companion. Instead, her father, in a fit of rage, abandons Hagen on the streets.
In EX-MACHINA, a young programmer must evaluate the human qualities of a breathtaking female A.I.
Caleb Smith (Gleeson), a programmer at an internet-search giant, wins a competition to spend a week at the private mountain estate of the company’s brilliant and reclusive CEO, Nathan Bateman (Isaac). Upon his arrival, Caleb learns that Nathan has chosen him to be the human component in a Turing Test – charging him with evaluating the capabilities, and ultimately the consciousness, of Nathan’s latest experiment in artificial intelligence. That experiment is Ava (Vikander), a breathtaking A.I. whose emotional intelligence proves more sophisticated–and more deceptive–than the two men could have imagined.
10th Anniversary Director’s Cut
Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, DC (1980-90) examines the early DIY punk scene in the nation’s capital. It was a decade when seminal bands like Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Government Issue, Scream, Void, Faith, Rites of Spring, Marginal Man, Fugazi and others released their own records and booked their own shows—without major record label constraints or mainstream media scrutiny.
Contextually, it was a cultural watershed that predated the alternative music explosion of the 1990s (and the industry’s subsequent implosion). Thirty years later, DC’s original DIY punk spirit serves as a reminder of the hopefulness of youth, the power of community and the strength of conviction.
Nitehawk presents a special one night only screening of Harmony Korine’s tale of a vacation gone off the rails SPRING BREAKERS along with everyone’s favorite cinematic aphrodisiac; 35mm trailers with Wild Eye Releasing!
Rinse out the beer bong and pack plenty of coppertone because we’re throwing a Spring Break bash and you’re all invited! Our pals at Wild Eye Releasing are back for Spring Breakers and they’ve brought another treasure chest of all 35mm trailers spanning from the 70s to the 90s! Teenage exploitation! Sex comedies! A full cooler of all the best party favors spooled out in glorious 35mm! Show up early and lay down the beach blanket for Spring Break insanity! Then get ready for…
Four sexy college girls plan to fund their spring break getaway by burglarizing a fast food shack. But that’s only the beginning. During a night of partying, the girls hit a roadblock when they are arrested on drug charges. Hungover and clad only in bikinis, the girls appear before a judge but are bailed out unexpectedly by Alien, an infamous local thug who takes them under his wing and leads them on the wildest Spring Break trip in history. Rough on the outside but with a soft spot inside, Alien wins over the hearts of the young Spring Breakers, and leads them on a Spring Break they never could have imagined.
Spring Break forever, bitches!
Special Midnite Screenings! Endlessly irreverent and wildly, hilariously visceral, WHY DON’T YOU PLAY IN HELL? is a Tarantino-esque ode to the yakuza films of yore, and features an over-the-top, blood-soaked finale for the ages.
Based on a screenplay he wrote nearly fifteen years ago, Why Don’t You Play In Hell? is among Sono’s very best work, as his trademark excess and outrageousness is infused with an affection for the previous century of Japanese cinema. This is Sion Sono with his talent and unique vision completely unleashed.
There’s a war going on, but that won’t stop the inexperienced but eager wannabe film crew The Fuck Bombers from following their dreams of making the ultimate action epic. Ten years ago, yakuza mid-boss Ikegami led an assault against rival don Muto. Now, on the eve of his revenge, all Muto wants to do is complete his masterpiece, a feature film with his daughter in the starring role, before his wife is released from prison. And The Fuck Bombers are standing by with the chance of a lifetime: to film a real, live yakuza battle to the death…on 35mm!
