



The AFS and THPS are back, with a fancy new projector and screen (financed by yours truly) in our new home at Eurisko Beer Co. on the South Slope. Join us for free screenings every Tuesday and Thursday at 7, draft discounts all day Tuesday, and free parking in the lot across the street from the brewery. Be sure not to miss our special Twin Peaks Day celebration on Feb.24, with a free screening of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me!

Tuesday Screenings





Dick Miller Double Feature (1959). Dir.: Roger Corman. Players: Dick Miller, Jack Nicholson, Charles B. Griffith, Jonathan Haze, Mel Welles, Barboura Morris. Running Time: 72 min.; 66 min. Feb. 12.

The AFS kicks off its 2019 screenings with a bang by honoring the lengthy and illustrious career of legendary character actor Dick Miller with a double bill showcasing some of the recently deceased icon's best work with schlock auteur Roger Corman. First up, we have Corman's 1960 The Little Shop of Horrors, a camp classic shot in two days with no budget that would go on to inspire a glitzed-up musical and a Hollywood remake — both of which failed to measure up to the genuine article. We're following that with one of Corman's best pictures and easily my favorite Dick Miller performance, A Bucket of Blood (1959). Sharing sets and a screenwriter with Little Shop, Bucket captures everything that made both Corman and Miller legends in the independent film world and turned them into household names (at least in the right sort of households).



Our Hospitality (1923). Dir.: John Blystone, Buster Keaton. Players: Buster Keaton, Natalie Talmadge, Joe Keaton, Buster Keaton Jr., Kitty Bradbury, James Duffy. Running Time: 65 min. Feb. 19.



Buster Keaton's Our Hospitality (1923) may not be one of his best-known, but that doesn't mean it isn't one of his best. Keaton's Southern satire, based on the historic feud between the Hatfields and McCoys, features some of his most memorable sight gags and remarkable stunt work. It also boasts no less than four Keatons — Buster, his then-wife, Natalie Talmadge, his father, Joe, and his son, Buster Jr. — and was one of Keaton's first films as an independent, following his split from MGM. They don't get much funnier than this, so if you missed the first week's AFS shows at Eurisko, come enjoy our hospitality with, well, Our Hospitality.



A Star is Born (1937). Dir.: William Wellman. Players: Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou, Lionel Stander, May Robson, Andy Devine. Running Time: 111 min. Feb. 26.



No, not that version of A Star is Born — this is the good one. Which is not to say that the 1954 George Cukor version or even the 1976 Frank Pierson take are particularly bad, although Bradley Cooper's latest remake most certainly is bad. Very bad. But regardless of your opinion of the many variations on this story that have come along over the years, I think you'll agree that this is the best. Ultimately, that comes down to the involvement of William Wellman, the most unsentimental director to approach the material. In Wellman's hands, what could have been a rote melodrama becomes something much more pointed, a scathing and often bitingly funny takedown of Hollywood culture from its era of peak prominence. Come see how this story was meant to be told!

Special Screening - Sunday 2/24





Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992). Dir.: David Lynch. Players: Sheryl Lee, Ray Wise, Michael J. Anderson, David Bowie, Heather Graham, Kiefer Sutherland. Running Time: 134 min. Sunday, Feb. 24.



As the connective tissue ostensibly created to tie up some loose-ends following the abrupt cancellation of Twin Peaks, David Lynch's Fire Walk With Me was critically derided on its release in 1992 — not for what it was, but for what it wasn't. Those looking for resolution to the seminal TV series' notorious cliff-hanger were bitterly disappointed, audiences booed the film at Cannes, and the feature-length prequel was relegated to classification as lesser Lynch for two-and-a-half decades. With the eighteen episode resolution to the story, Twin Peaks: The Return, FWWM is overdue for a reevaluation within the show's newly expanded context. Not only is it one of Lynch's most underrated films from an aesthetic standpoint, it's also essential to understanding what the hell is going on in the series' latest episodes — and here's a rare chance to catch up on the big screen now that the missing pieces are in place.

Thursday Horror Screenings





Valentine's Day Double Feature (1960, 1962). Dirs.: Roger Corman; Joseph Green. Players: Betsy Jones-Moreland, Antony Carbone, Robert Towne; Jason Evers, Virginia Leith, Anthony La Penna. Running Time: 71 min.; 82 min. Feb. 14.



Valentine's Day may well be a holiday manufactured by greeting card companies, but that doesn't mean the Thursday Horror Picture Show crew doesn't feel the love. We'll be celebrating this most saccharine of special occasions by presenting our own version of a love letter to horror fans with a double bill to die for. Since it's also Oscar season, we'll start off with The Last Woman on Earth (1960), directed by Roger Corman, which was the debut of Academy Award-winning screenwriter Robert Towne (Chinatown, The Last Detail). We follow up that bombshell with 1962's The Brain That Wouldn't Die, a film that only a lunatic would think was romantic. Fortunately, you have just such a lunatic programming for the THPS!



Deep Red (1975). Dir.: Dario Argento. Players: David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia, Macha Méril. Running Time: 127 min. Feb. 21.



Dario Argento may well be something of an acquired taste, but there's no better place to start for the uninitiated than his giallo masterpiece, 1973's Deep Red (Profondo Rosso). While it may not be as surrealistically inclined as some of Argento's later work, that makes for a more accessible narrative — and it's still more than creepy enough. You've got David Hemmings (Blow Up) stalking a largely unseen murderer, an exceptional score from Goblin, gallons of primary color fake blood and a nightmare-fuel doll on a tricycle that will be lodged in your brain for weeks — really, what more could you ask for?



Invaders From Mars (1953). Dir.: William Cameron Menzies. Players: Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Jimmy Hunt, Leif Erickson, Hillary Brooke. Running Time: 78 min. Feb. 28.



1950's sci-fi is a distinctly mixed bag, with even the more notable entries coming across as woefully primitive in the eyes of modern audiences. William Cameron Menzies' Invaders from Mars is no exception — at least in terms of its visual aesthetic. But when you really get down to it, this is one of the more disturbing films of its era, touching on universal, primal fears in a way that few of its contemporaries can match. It's a legitimately scary story, and Menzies' stripped-down sets and extensive use of stock footage lend a real-world grounding to his otherworldly narrative. Who cares if you can see the zippers on the aliens' costumes? This one will still keep you up at night.