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.

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!

Our Tune in, Turn On series kicks off with Gaspar Noe’s vivid “psychedelic melodrama” ENTER THE VOID. A 35mm presentation!

In the long awaited follow up to his controversial film Irreversible, Gaspar Noé’s Enter the Void has been called a “revolutionary break from ordinary movie storytelling.” Set in the thumping neon club scene of Tokyo we see two American siblings – Oscar, a druggie, and Linda, a stripper – navigate the city’s seedy underbelly. One day Oscar is shot by the police and his drug-fueled hallucinations of his past transfer into an elevated existence in the afterlife. Noe makes us a part of this visceral journey through all the wonderful and miserable moments in life and death as well as exploring the possibility that there may be more than a void at the end.

Part of Nitehawk’s April TUNE IN, TURN ON midnite series.

An animated cat gets saucy in 1960s New York in Ralph Bakshi’s directorial debut, FRITZ THE CAT. A 35mm presentation!

First things first, Fritz the Cat was the first animated feature film to receive an X-rating in the U.S. (so you know it’s good). It is also based on legendary cartoonist Robert Crumb’s comic strip but he infamously objected over the film’s political content. Fritz the Cat centers around an anthropomorphic college-aged and sex obsessed cat named Fritz who romps through New York during the 1960s exploring hedonism and sociopolitical consciousness. It covers everything from Black Panthers to Hell’s Angels, race relations, free love, and drugs. As far as adult oriented animations, this one is the best!

Part of Nitehawk’s April TUNE IN, TURN ON midnite series.

Music Driven presents a special screening of RYE COALITION: THE STORY OF THE HARD LUCK FIVE featuring a post screening Q&A with director Jenni Matz & members of Rye Coalition and an after party in our Lo-Res bar downstairs featuring DJ Lobster Tears!

When they signed with one of the world’s biggest record labels, Rye Coalition was primed to finally get their glory, or so it seemed. Like countless rockers before them, childhood best friends started a band in a basement with a couple simple goals in mind: have fun and play good music.  As one of the first bands to develop the new “emo” sound, they were at the forefront of a movement that included Shellac, Sunny Day Real Estate, Jawbreaker and Karp (with whom they later recorded a legendary 12? split). Rye Coalition’s first recording was a demo cassette tape (1994?s “Dancing Man”, self-released), backed by an East Coast tour in a beat up school bus long before most of them had their driver’s license.  For over a decade they blasted through a seemingly endless array of basement shows and dive bar gigs as their talent and fan base grew. They released albums on indie labels and toured the country on bigger and bigger bills: (At-the-Drive-in, Mars Volta, Queens of the Stone Age , Foo Fighters). After gaining momentum from 2002?s “On Top” LP, engineered by Steve Albini, they were signed to Dreamworks Records and none other than Dave Grohl (Nirvana) came on as their producer. Then, it all imploded. As Henry Owings of Chunklet put it- “Rye Coalition has had the worst luck of any band I can think of.”

This film traces their career (culled from over 20 years of home movies and unseen tour footage) supplemented with new interviews with the band and those who know them best. Although the band was praised by critics and supported by an absurdly dedicated grassroots fan base, somehow these Jersey rockers never got their due. Until now.

A journalist seeking a Pulitzer Prize commits himself into a mental institution in Samuel Fuller’s SHOCK CORRIDOR. Presented in 35mm (courtesy of the UCLA Film and Television Archive)!

In Samuel Fuller’s Shock Corridor, journalist Johnny Barret concocts an elaborate scheme to fake his way inside a mental institution (he’s fighting an attraction to his sister who is really his stripper girlfriend) in order to uncover the truth behind an unsolved murder and win a Pulitzer Prize. Provocative for its release in the 1960s, not only does the film include innovative camera angles and sequences (taking place nearly exclusively within the institutional walls) but it also dives into issues such as racism, incest, and mental illness. Shock Corridor also masterfully explores the very fine line between madness and insanity as the journey of our main character leads to very unexpected, and electric, places. 

Preserved by UCLA Film & Television Archive with funding provided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and The Film Foundation.

Part of Nitehawk’s March COMMITTED brunch series.

Doctors in a mental hospital find themselves in a love story wrapped up in murder, amnesia, and psychoanalysis in Alfred Hitchock’s SPELLBOUND.

The doctors who run the mental hospital are the ones questioning sanity in Alfred Hitchcock’s psychological thriller Spellbound. When Dr. Anthony Edwardes (Gregory Peck) comes to replace the outgoing director at the Vermont mental hospital, it’s soon revealed that he is not who he says he is and, in fact, believes he is a murderer. That when psychoanalyst Dr. Constance Peterson (Ingrid Bergman) decides to assist Edwardes in seeking the truth and his innocence. They break beyond their institutional confines but what they discover is an intricate web of twisted identities and fever pitched delusions that puts them back where they started. Furthering its interest in Freudian dream analysis, artist Salvador Dali produced the film’s haunting surrealist dream sequence in which the “truth” is revealed.

Part of Nitehawk’s March COMMITTED brunch series.

A young socialite is committed after the gruesome death of her cousin in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER.

From the Tennessee Williams play of the same name comes the rather shocking film that tackles homosexuality, social class, and incestual feelings, Suddenly, Last Summer. Young socialite Catherine Holly (Elizabeth Taylor) has been committed to a mental hospital because of her breakdown following the gruesome death of her poet cousin, Sebastian. The truth behind her European vacations with him and the circumstances surrounding his demise are so unseemly that her Aunt Violet (Katherine Hepburn) will do anything to keep them secret, including bribing the hospital doctor to give Catherine a lobotomy. She tries to escape but as she finds herself dangling from a balcony above a room of disturbed men, compounding her disorientation and fear stemming from her cousin’s indiscretions. For her, the trouble is that as a beautiful woman who knows too much, the more she rallies to prove her sanity, the more mad she seems. It’s only until she is able to leave the confines of the mental institution that she’s able to find her stability.

Part of Nitehawk’s March COMMITTED brunch series.

Nitehawk presents a special one night screening of VICE Sports’ THE MIRACLE MAN with WBA Middleweight champion Danny Jacobs in person!

This incredible short film by VICE Sports shows Brooklyn native Danny Jacobs’ inspirational journey to winning the WBA title after battling cancer. Doctors told Jacobs he would never be able to walk again, nonetheless step back into the ring, but the middleweight boxer is back and owning his title as the first cancer survivor to become a world champion! Screening also includes additional short films by VICE Sports.