Author: Dan Scanlon

YELLING FIRE IN AN EMPTY THEATER

Posted on by Dan Scanlon

YELLING FIRE IN AN EMPTY THEATER
dir. Justin Zuckerman, 2021
USA, 71 min
In English

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8 – 7:30 PM w/ Q&A (This event is $10)
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10 – 7:30 PM w/ Q&A (This event is $10)
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11 – 5 PM w/ Q&A (This event is $10)
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15 – 7:30 PM w/ Q&A (This event is $10)

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YELLING FIRE IN AN EMPTY THEATER is a miniDV curio that follows a young college grad, Lisa (Isadora Leiva), as she attempts to “make it” in New York. Filled with conviction that the best plan is no plan at all, she ends up moving in with a slightly older couple and quickly becomes entangled in their bizarre and crumbling relationship. While Lisa struggles to keep her head above water and maintain her unmitigated freedom, her relationships with her roommates, coworkers, and lovers all start to become casualties in the process.

Made for less than the average rent of a Brooklyn apartment, YELLING FIRE IN AN EMPTY THEATER is a loving ode to the young and naive masses who flock to the greatest city on earth every year. First-time filmmaker Justin Zuckerman offers a distinctive mix of the ridiculous and the real, crafting a timeless tale about the struggle between charting your own path or going back home to Florida.

There will be a Q&A discussion with the filmmakers in-attendance after each screening this month.

A Fandor/Cinedigm release

LA FREEWAVES PRESENTS: VAGUELY HUMAN

Posted on by Dan Scanlon

VAGUELY HUMAN
dir. Various, 2001-2021
USA/France, 70 min
In English

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9 – 7:30 PM w/Q&A (This event is $10.)
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21 – 10 PM

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Vaguely Human is a video art program alongside LA Freewaves, a community based arts organization from Los Angeles who are dedicated to exhibiting culturally relevant independent new media. Our collaboration includes work by contemporary experimental filmmakers from Europe & US. Artists explore existential dilemmas in relation to the body, using conceptual erotic imagery, Fluxus techniques (i.e, chance, inderminancy, improvisation), and humor. We are pleased to present films by: TARWUK, Bradford Kessler, Miles Pflanz, Sophie Hoyle, Broderick Fox, and Calvin Phelps.

There will be a Q&A panel with the filmmakers in-attendance after the screening on Friday, 12/9, hosted by Sabrina Tamar.

Special thanks to Anne Bray from LA Freewaves, for more information visit: freewaves.org

Program selection includes the following works:

-1%
dir. Bradford Kessler, 2015
USA, 7 min
In English

A young Upper East Side Princess who hunts Liberal arts students around NYU for her sexual appetite.

3 SHORT FILMS: SAVAGE NECESSITIES / WAR CODA / NET OP LOSS
dir. Miles Pflanz, 2019
USA, 30 min
In English

SAVAGE NECESSITIES, features Kembra Pfahler along with group of NYC art students stuck in a room with an obscene amount of pennies that they choose not to spend.

WAR CODA, explores the inner world of couch potatoes who relish on bodega fries while musing on true crime; they want to solve a murder mystery but cannot proceed without the perfect victim.

NET OP LOSS, digital art and stream of consciousness merge in this dark comedy about an unknown narrator who feels estranged from their family, society, and especially, politics.

BAKA
dir. TARWUK & Matthew Goedecke, 2020
USA, 15 mins
In Croatian w/ English subtitles

First time screening in NYC, Baka is a body horror short about a family while surrounded by one another at the dinner table.

HYPERACUSIS (PART 1)
dir. Sophie Hoyle, 2021
France, 8 min
In English

Set in a biohacking lab, Hoyle’s short explores transcultural psychiatry, and the intergenerational impact of racism and colonialism.

THINGS GIRLS DO
dir. Broderick Fox, 2001
USA, 10 min
In English

A short film that explores the intersection between anorexia, sexuality, and gender shot in the intimate confines of the home.

THE KISS
dir. Calvin Phelps, 2002
USA, 1 min
In English

This is a short film shot from across someone’s window; it’s mundane voyeurism but not quite what you think.

THE STICKY SIDE OF HONG KONG CINEMA: A CATEGORY III REPRISE

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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17 – ALL DAY

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In early 2022, Spectacle unearthed a series of little-seen grimy genre features from 1980s-90s Hong Kong. Loosely related by virtue of sharing HK’s “Category III” rating classification – the rough equivalent to Britain’s “Video Nasties” label or the deprecated X rating in the United States – the features nonetheless shared an unparalleled ability to confuse, repulse, and entertain in equal measure. The typical Cat-III feature might cycle through graphic depictions of bug-ridden necrophilia, budget black-magic theatrics, and groan-inducing romantic comedy over the course of several minutes without blinking. This December, Spectacle Theater is proud to host a day-long reprise of our exploration of underappreciated Hong-Kong genre gems, featuring both audience favorites from the series and a slew of new mystery selections that will surely test the patience and digestive fortitude of even the most hardened Spectacle genre goober.

CONTENT WARNING: These films contain graphic depictions of violence and sexual assault.

Program details and estimated showtimes are as follows:

1:30 PM
BLACK MAGIC WITH BUDDHA (脑魔)
dir. Lo Lieh, 1983
Hong Kong/Thailand, 94 min

Disembodied brain cannibalizes kin in hopes of recovering limbs.

3:15 PM
HELL HAS NO BOUNDARY (魔界)
dir. Richard Yeung Kuen, 1982
Hong Kong, 91 min

Reincarnation curse ails cop; color-saturated skin conditions and crustacean deaths ensue.

5:00 PM
PITUITARY HUNTER (盗脑者)
dir. Chan Ta, 1982
Hong Kong, 87 min

Poorly-subtitled detectives comb Hong Kong for a serial gland thief.

6:45 PM
CORPSE MANIA (尸妖)
dir. Kuei Chih-hung, 1981
Hong Kong/China, 82 min

Grisly period piece following the wormy travels of an habitual necrophile through the bordellos of 19th century Hong Kong.

8:30 PM
DEVIL FETUS (魔胎)
dir. Lau Hung-chuen, 1983
Hong Kong, 87 min

A crown jewel of ’80s HK horror in which a cursed and virile vase fathers a malevolent feus and a host of other incoherent manifestations.

10:15 PM
RUN AND KILL (乌鼠机密档案)
dir. Billy Tang Hin-shing, 1993
Hong Kong, 90 min

Spurned schlub sparks gang war after drunkenly commissioning a hitman.

MIDNIGHT
SEEDING OF A GHOST (种鬼)
dir. Richard Yeung Kuen, 1983
Hong Kong, 87 min

Cabbie makes amends with wizards to unleash slimy and strangely lascivious vengeance on his wife’s murderers.

1:30 AM
??????????
dir. ??????????

If you’re not unconscious, absent, or perma-fried by now, you will certainly wish you were. A synopsis so vile we cannot recount it here. For hardened genre slobs only!

SIMPLE TOWN AT SPECTACLE

Posted on by Dan Scanlon

ONE NIGHT ONLY!

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10 – 10 PM

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After the hilariously terrifying SCARY TOWN experience in October, Spectacle is pleased to host SIMPLE TOWN for another special event.

On November 10th, Simple Town will be screening a retrospective of their video work, to trace the evolution of the their performance style across the different genres of video they’ve worked in– from parody, to grotesque clown, horror, and narrative film.

Simple Town is a Brooklyn-based comedy group that makes film and live performance. Their work has appeared on Adult Swim, Comedy Central, and Short of the Week.

Simple Town is Ian Faria, Caroline Yost, Sam Lanier, Felipe Di Poi & Will Niedmann. Ian directs; Felipe, Caro, Sam and Will perform.

Program selection includes:

MY DAILY ROUTINE
2017, 3 min
A house of influencers battle for attention.

ON MY HEAD A HARD HAT
2018, 4 min
An office worker escapes his life through a construction worker fantasy

QUARTET
2019, 6 min
A slapstick piece about a classical music quartet of grotesques.

TOWN MEETING
2019, 7 min
A village of peasants have a town meeting.

BIG EFFECTS
2020, 6 min
A village of peasants discover exercise.

CREEK TIME
2020, 6 min
A village of peasants struggle to find the right balance of work and leisure.

THE LONG WIND
2020, 6 min
A village of peasants tries to avoid the town idiot.

LA PISCINA
2021, 12 min
A foreign traveler is invited into the home of a strange family for a day.

FILM DIARY NYC OPENING NIGHT: PARADISE LOST

Posted on by Dan Scanlon

ONE NIGHT ONLY!

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12 – 7:30 PM w/ Q&A (This event is $10)

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FILM DIARY NYC is a festival of diary films, home movies, and personal documentary. The festival’s Opening Night at Spectacle will feature a diverse section of new films that represent innovation in this mode of personal cinema, and one rarely screened diary film by legendary underground filmmaker Nick Zedd.

There will be a Q&A panel with filmmakers in-attendance after the screening.

Opening Night selection includes:

PHOTO WEBSITE VIDEO EXPORT v2
Dir. Justin Mariano, 2022
USA, 3 min
In English

IN RETROSPECT
Dir. Ji Stribling, 2022
USA, 3 min
In English

ZION
Dir. Jard Lerebours. 2022
USA, 3 min
In English

LOST IN HER HAIR
Dir. Pegah Pasalar, 2022
Iran, 6 min
In Persian w/ English subtitles

FATHER, CAN’T YOU SEE I’M BURNING?
Dir. Grant Conversano, 2022
USA, 14 min
In English

SEASONS / PATTERNS
Dir. James Edmonds, 2020
Germany, 10 min
No spoken language

FUSIL CONTRA LA GENTE
Dir. Alejandro Hinestroza, 2022
USA, 3 min
In English

DOUBLE WHAMMY!
Dir. Tristen Ives, 2021
USA, 4 min
In English

THE NIGHT IS DRUNK WHEN WE SUFFER
Dir. RS Magtaan, 2022
Philippines, 6 min
In Tagalog w/ English subtitles

THANK YOU FOR THE DREAMS
Dir. Lucky Marvel & Dennis Tobin, 2022
USA, 5 min
In English

AS/IS
Dir. Natasha Woods, 2022
USA, 11 min
In English

MY MIRROR
Dir. Marcelese Cooper, 2022
USA, 5 min
In English

LOVE
Dir. Valentina Rosset, 2021
USA, 4 min
In English

PARADISE LOST
Dir. Nick Zedd, 2022
USA & Mexico, 4 min
Silent

ACID MOTHERS REYNOLS: LIVE & BEYOND

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ACID MOTHERS REYNOLS: LIVE & BEYOND
dir. Alejandro Maly, 2020
Argentina, 84 min
In English & Spanish

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29 – 7:30 PM w/ Q&A (This event is $10)
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3 – MIDNIGHT
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20 – 10 PM

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While on a 2017 Latin American tour, Japanese psych legends Acid Mothers Temple invited Argentinian cult provocateurs Reynols to share a stage with them for their Buenos Aires stop. What followed showcased the wide-ranging talents of the two unique bands: wild rock, reflective soundscapes, hypnotic drones, and more. ACID MOTHERS REYNOLS captures these one of a kind musicians reflecting on life and creativity, collaborating in the studio, and–of course–-ripping it up on stage.

This program will kick-off with a special screening + Q&A with Anla from Reynols on 11/29, with regular screenings to follow throughout the month of December.

WICKED WORLD

Posted on by Dan Scanlon

WICKED WORLD
Dir. Barry J. Gillis, 1991
USA, 103 min
In English

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4 – 10 PM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9 – 10 PM
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26 – MIDNIGHT

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CAN YOU HANDLE THE VIOLENCE? CAN YOU STOMACH THE HORROR? WILL YOU BE ABLE TO STOP THE NIGHTMARES?

Grant Ekland is a dirty cop, with a checkered past that endlessly haunts him. The love of his life was murdered by a serial killer named Harold who slaughtered a countless number of humans in the city of Toronto, Canada, before he was finally locked up and sent to a mental institution. Now many years later, Harold is set to be released back into society, and Ekland hopes for a final showdown with his arch enemy. Nightmares clash into a brand new reality, as Ekland faces a host of problems and obstacles that he himself must overcome, if he ever hopes to face the murderous serial killing madman, and set his own inner demons free.

LOVE GOD

Posted on by Dan Scanlon

LOVE GOD
Dir. Frank Grow, 1997
USA, 82 min
In English

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5 – 7:30 PM w/ Q&A (This event is $10)
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8 – 10 PM
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13 – 5 PM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23 – 7:30 PM

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In 1996, the budget crunched city of New York is forced to eject one third of its mental patients out into the world, leaving LaRue and his cancerous “Chronic Reading Syndrome” to fend for himself, unsupervised. He finds shelter at the derelict Love Hotel with a tourettic philosophizing roommate, a germaphobe crime scene cleaning neighbor, and her mute gum chewing daughter, Helen. In the midst of a mental health crisis, the city also finds itself terrorized by Dr. Noguchi’s escaped prehistoric Trematode God Worm that turns prey into mutated sex demons.

The first live action film to be shot and edited in digital, Frank Grow’s LOVE GOD may be the greatest lost classic of 90’s underground horror-comedy-romance ever. Each known copy along with its licensing have been missing for 20 years, leaving LOVE GOD languishing in obscurity since its 1997 Sundance debut. Until now. Beyond Basket Case, Beyond Tetsuo, Beyond Troma, Beyond Love itself. Let Frank Grow’s LOVE GOD prove that you are not crazy.

Join us 11/5 for a special screening + Q&A with filmmaker Frank Grow.

Screens with:

BLOOD PUMPERS RACING CLUB
Dir. Frank Grow, 1991
USA, 5 min
In English

“Monster Fire Baby” by the Blood Pumpers Racing Club was a Hyper-Mega Supercharged monster sex performance – complete with the world’s first (as far as I know) live burning-monster baby birth! Performed at WildChild Productions in downtown San Diego sometime in 1991. The all-star cast consisted of 16 performers divided into 4 teams, the team members all wore custom uniforms labelled with a number and a color. This is a short edit of the performance that was made to accompany an installation piece for Lollapalooza’s traveling art tent.

WE ARE THE STRANGE

Posted on by Dan Scanlon

WE ARE THE STRANGE
Dir. M dot Strange, 2007
USA, 88 min
In English

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11 – 10 PM
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14 – 7:30 PM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23 – 10 PM

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WE ARE THE STRANGE, the first feature of director, editor, and animator M dot Strange could best be described as… Strange (shocked emoticon). Tirelessly handcrafted in his own self-minted style of “str8nime”, which meets somewhere between Jan Svankmajer, sneaking into the 18+ Anime section at Sam Goody, PlayStation 2 cut scenes, and Mountain Dew flavored sleepovers watching Invader Zim. These are your most intense adolescent Hot Topic OC nightmares come true.

On a quest for ice cream, outcasts Blue and eMMM the doll boy set off on an adventure to Stopmo City. Joined by the mysterious marauder Rain, our heroes soon find themselves in a battle between good and evil against the sinister HIM and his army of monsters.

BAD CHANNELS

Posted on by Dan Scanlon

BAD CHANNELS
Dir. Ted Nicolaou, 1992
USA, 88 min
In English

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3 – 10 PM
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7 – 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20 – 7:30 PM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30 – 7:30 PM

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Bad Channels is a lost and forgotten science fiction treasure, originally released in 1992. The film features an alien who kidnaps a group of females by taking over a radio station.

Part comedy, part rock n’ roll sci-fi adventure, bad channels tells the story of KDUL, Superstation 66, which is run by a notorious dj who was fired from their previous post – but instead of playing a variety of music, he just plays polka! The town of the radio station is strange and uncanny, while working at the station, an alien in a UFO appears and conquers the radio station. They force the women they see to be in a music video and shrink them with their powers. It’s a race to stop these aliens from shrinking all the women on planet earth. Can the women of the world be saved? You will have to watch and find out!