GREAT GEEK FILMS OF 1982: TRON, STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN, THE THING, POLTERGEIST, DARK CRYSTAL, CREEPSHOW, POLTERGEIST, CAT PEOPLE

HOLLYWOOD - The American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre presents “1982: It Was 25 Years Ago Today” - A Salute to Geek Greatness on June 15 - 17. 1982 was arguably the greatest year for genre cinema ever. Geek Monthly is pleased to pay tribute to this seminal benchmark in science fiction, fantasy and horror storytelling by presenting, on its 25th Anniversary some of the most acclaimed films of that era, along with cast and crew from many of these groundbreaking movies, including TRON (starring Jeff Bridges), STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (starring Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner), CAT PEOPLE (starring Natassja Kinski and Malcolm McDowell and that unforgettable David Bowie song), John Carpenter’s THE THING (starring Kurt Russell), a family matinee screening of Jim Henson/Frank Oz’s fairy tale THE DARK CRYSTAL and horror delights POLTERGEIST and CREEPSHOW (other films that year included BLADE RUNNER and E.T., among others).

In person guests include actors James Karen (POLTERGEIST), Bruce Boxleitner (TRON) and Cindy Morgan (TRON), screenwriters Michael Grais (POLTERGEIST) and David Odell (THE DARK CRYSTAL), director of photography Dean Cudney (THE THING), camera operator Raymond Stella (THE THING), writer/director Steve Lisberger (TRON), visual effects supervisors from TRON Harrison Ellenshaw and Richard Taylor, make-up and creature effects from CAT PEOPLE Tom and Barri Burman, and director Nicholas Meyer (STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN). And just for coming, every attendee will receive a free collectible souvenir program book from Geek Monthly (geekmonthly.com). Additional guests and special surprises to be announced, including prop and poster galleries and more. All screenings are at the Max Palevsky Theatre at the Aero Theatre (1328 Montana Ave) in Santa Monica. Guests subject to availability. Advance tickets available through www.fandango.com

Friday, June 15, 2007 - Aero Theatre

The Friday, June 15th program is a 7:30 PM Double Feature. First up is a screening of THE THING, (1982, Universal, 109 min.). Director John Carpenter re-imagined the 1951 sci-fi classic THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD produced by Howard Hawks as something darker, fiercer and altogether more disturbing, pitting sombrero-wearing helicopter pilot Kurt Russell and a crew of Arctic scientists (Wilford Brimley, Donald Moffat, Richard Dysart) against a ravenous, shape-shifting alien being. From the haunting opening shots of a sled dog fleeing across the snow, to the apocalyptic, fire-and-ice ending, this ranks with Ridley Scott’s ALIEN as one of the finest (and most beautifully crafted) sci-fi films of the past 20 years. The film was terribly underrated by critics on its initial release, but its stock has constantly risen in the ensuing decades as one of the most intelligent, scary and uncompromising horror films of the 1980’s. Also starring Keith David, David Clennon.

Next on the same bill

is a screening of CAT PEOPLE, (1982, Universal, 118 min.), directed by Paul Schrader. An intoxicating, visually delirious remake of the Val Lewton original, set in an Italian giallo vision of New Orleans that fearlessly takes the sexual implications of the story to its uncompromising, amoral finale. Virginal Nastassja Kinski wreaks havoc when she reunites with warped, repressed minister brother Malcolm McDowell, and falls in love with zoo curator John Heard. An immensely entertaining and stylish thriller, from the director of AFFLICTION. And who can forget that haunting David Bowie theme song! Discussion in between films with Director of Photography Dean Cudney (THE THING), Camera Operator Raymond Stella (THE THING), Make-Up and Creature Effects Supervisor Tom and Barri Burman.

Saturday, June 16, 2007 - Aero Theatre

The Saturday, June 16th program is a 3:00 PM Family Matinee screening of THE DARK CRYSTAL, (1982, Universal, 93 min.), directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. Legendary Muppets creator Jim Henson was initially inspired by a Lewis Carroll poem to create his own fairy tale about Jen, the last-surviving Gelfling, who is sent by his dying master on an epic quest to fulfill his destiny: to heal the fractured Dark Crystal. After three years of brainstorming with a team that included renowned fantasy artist Brian Froud and screenwriter David Odell, Henson wove the ideas into a story that was then fleshed out by Odell. the task then shifted to bringing those words and images to life in this charming film which utilized state-of-the-art technology to create a groundbreaking alchemy of puppetry and electronics on a scale never before attempted. Followed by a discussion with screenwriter David Odell.

Following is a 7:30 PM Double Feature. First up is POLTERGEIST, (1982, Warner Brothers, 114 min.), directed by Tobe Hooper. The Freeling family’s normal, Reagan-era lives are shattered when malevolent forces kidnap five-year-old Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke), forcing the desperate parents to seek assistance from a team of academic ghost hunters and a wacky psychic dwarf. The germ of the story

was Spielberg’s (largely inspired by the Richard Matheson-penned “Twilight Zone” episode, “Little Girl Lost”) and the concept was as simple as it was revolutionary: stage a horrifying ghost story not in a creaky, hilltop mansion, but smack in the middle of suburbia. JAWS may have kept us out of the water, but POLTERGEIST made us confident that even the safety of our own day-lit homes was just one static-spewing TV set away from being breached by our worst nightmares. With Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Dominique Dunne, Beatrice Straight.

Next on the same bill

is a screening of CREEPSHOW, (1982, Warner Brothers, 120 min.) directed by George Romero. There hadn’t been a lot of anthology movies when the George Romero/Stephen King collaboration CREEPSHOW, a film inspired by classic EC horror comics, debuted in 1982; in comparison to the sober, big budget thrills of POLTERGEIST and THE THING, the Romero/King effort was a refreshing blast of B-movie fun, low on budget and ambition, but with a surprisingly good cast: Hal Holbrook, EG Marshall, Ted Danson, Leslie Nielsen, Ed Harris, Fritz Weaver and Stephen King himself. “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill,” the segment with King (as an incredibly stupid farmer), is probably the most memorable even though it’s a short vignette compared to the others — it’s a deft take-off of THE BLOB and a riff on those moronic victims in 50’s sci-fi movies who always want to be first in line to check out that strange light coming from over the next rise! Discussion in between films with actor James Karen (POLTERGEIST) and screenwriter Michael Grais (POLTERGEIST).

Sunday, June 17, 2007 - Aero Theatre

The Sunday, June 17th program is a 5:00 PM Double Feature. First up is a screening of a 70 mm print of TRON, (1982, Buena Vista, 96 min.), directed by Steven Lisberger. When a hot-shot computer programmer and game designer, Flynn (Jeff Bridges), is ripped off by an unscrupulous corporate baddie, he derives a plan to get even, and, with the help of two programmer friends, infiltrates the corporate headquarters and discovers that the corporation is actually being run by an all-powerful rogue computer program, the MCP. Using the corporate lab’s new digitizing laser, the MCP zaps Flynn into the company’s mainframe where he battles doppelgangers of characters from the real world. Though the premise is simple, presaging the entire cyberpunk movement, as well as films like THE LAWNMOWER MAN and THE MATRIX, it did manage to help usher in a new mode of creating imagery. It also succeeded in sneaking in a bit of meaningful subtext and elements from stories like THE WIZARD OF OZ and BEN-HUR into what could otherwise have been a simple “kid’s” movie. With an overall look derived from the backlit commercial graphics of the 70’s, and designs by concept luminaries Syd Mead, Richard Taylor and Jean “Moebius” Giraud, the film is regarded as being the first major motion picture to feature extensive computer graphics, although a great deal of the visuals were produced in more conventional animation stand methods using optical print filters and matte paintings.

Next on the same bill

is a screening of STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (Director’s Cut), (1982, Paramount, 116 min.), directed by Nicholas Meyer. Widely hailed as the best of the STAR TREK
films, this second installment, THE WRATH OF KHAN is also one of the finest science-fiction films of the past twenty years, period. Beloved favorites William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelly, George Takei, Walter Koenig and the other crewmembers of the Starship Enterprise were never better, matched by the grand, ferocious energy of Ricardo Montalban as the vengeful Khan. Discussion in between films with actors Cindy Morgan (TRON) and Bruce Boxleitner, writer/director Steve Lisberger (TRON), visual effects supervisors Harrison Ellenshaw (TRON) and Richard Taylor (TRON) and director Nicholas Meyer (STAR TREK II).

THE PROGRAM IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

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