A musical midnite double feature beamed from the other side of the galaxy with INTERSTELLA 5555 and WAVE TWISTERS.

INTERSTELLA 5555
2003 | Dir. Kazuhisa Takenouchi | 68min | Digital
Interstella 5555 is a visualization of Daft Punk’s landmark concept album Discovery brought to life under the supervision of anime godfather Leiji Matsumoto (Galaxy Express 999, Space Battleship Yamato). The film follows an intergalactic pop band as they’re kidnapped by evil Earthbound record execs, and a lone super-fan’s quest to rescue them.

WAVE TWISTERS
2001 | Dir. Syd Garon, Eric Henry | 46min | Digital
Wave Twisters is the first ever turntablism-musical from the addled mind of Bay-area skratch pikl DJ Q-Bert. Set in a galaxy where the five tenets of hip-hop are suppressed by a lucha-masked dark lord, the film follows a squad of rebels led up by DJ and space-dentist The Dental Commander as he and his crew goes to battle to save hip hop. Wave Twisters is a goofy, colorful assault on the senses with performances from faceless space invader Buckethead & turntablism gurus Q-Bert, Yogafrog, D-Styles and Flare.

Part of Nitehawk’s April MUSICAL MIDNITES series.

CATFIGHT is a brutally hilarious story of two bitter rivals whose grudge match spans a lifetime. 

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.

“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.

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 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.

Save a village in Mexico with Nitehawk’s Country Brunchin’ screening of country classic, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. The screening features a live pre-show serenade by Tatters and Rags.

Seven gunfighters (Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Horst Buchholz, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughnn, James Coburn, Brad Dexter) are hired to protect a small village in Mexico from a group of marauding bandits and their leader. With time running out before the annual raid arrives, the heroic seven must prepare the villagers for battle and help them find the courage to take back their town or die trying. The Magnificent Seven is an Americanized western remake of Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece Seven Samurai that features spectacular gun battles, epic-sized heroes and an all-star cast.

It creeps, and leaps and glides and slides across the floor… *pop* Beware of THE BLOB!

In his debut role as a leading man, a 28-going-on-40 Steve McQueen stars as a teenager trying to make it on Lover’s Lane with his girlfriend (Aneta Corsaut) when a shooting star ruins everything and unleashes a man eating blob on their small Pennsylvania town. After they witness the alien amoeba attack an old man, the two run to the cops who write them off as teenage pranksters, giving the Blob more than enough time to make its way into town and eat a movie theater full of screaming teenagers. Trapped in a nearby diner, Steve hatches a plan to save the town from the Blob… but will it work?

Part of Nitehawk’s March LARGE AND IN CHARGE screening series.

GODZILLA, MOTHRA AND KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK! – The ultimate kaiju battle royale set to a live score by BLACK LODGE.

NOTE: This is a live music event creating a new film score for GODZILLA: GMK. The film will be played silent with subtitles.

Godzilla can be surprisingly morally ambiguous for a giant, rampaging hell-monster. Sometimes he’s nice and saves kids from crab monsters and pollution creatures; sometimes he’s more of a neutral force of nature; and then sometimes he’s just an evil spirit of vengeance hellbent on blowing up absolutely everything. This last mode is how we find Big G in the ridiculously titled Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack!

With his eyes clouded white and his mouth locked in a hateful snarl, Godzilla blows through GMK like a typhoon, blasting through the army and three of his most famous opponents with atomic breath that hits like a damn H-bomb. Thin on just about everything but amazing displays of destruction, GMK is all-out monster mayhem front to back.

For this Live Sound Cinema presentation, we’ve invited drone-y metal outfit Black Lodge (a collective of musicians led by guitarist/composer Geoff Gersh) to provide an appropriately loud live-score to one of Godzilla’s best battle royales.

Part of Nitehawk’s March LARGE AND IN CHARGE screening series.