Canadian documentarian Ron Mann has been chronicling the odd corners of North American pop culture for more than 30 years. This March, Spectacle Theater is proud to present four of this acclaimed filmmaker’s finest explorations of the 20th century’s subversive ephemera.
TWIST
Dir. Ron Mann, 1992
Canada, 74 minutes
TUESDAY, MARCH 1 – 10:00 PM
SATURDAY, MARCH 5 – 10:00PM
SUNDAY, MARCH 6 – 5:00 PM
FRIDAY, MARCH18 – 10:00 PM
In TWIST, Mann traces the history of popular dance post-WW2 and the rise of the adolescent demographic. TWIST includes music and interviews from Little Richard, Chubby Checker, Frankie Avalon, Hank Ballard and Fats Domino, among others.
COMIC BOOK CONFIDENTIAL
Dir. Ron Mann, 1988
US/Canada, 90 minutes
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2 – 7:30 PM
THURSDAY, MARCH 3 – 10:00 PM
THURSDAY, MARCH 10 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, MARCH 19 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, MARCH 22 – 10:00 PM
In the groundbreaking COMIC BOOK CONFIDENTIAL, Mann interviews some of the comics world’s most innovative talents, from veterans like Will Eisner and Jack Kirby to underground legends like Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton to the 80’s vanguard of Charles Burns, Lynda Barry and the Hernandez Brothers. Also features Sue Coe, Al Feldstein, Bill Gaines, Bill Griffith, Harvey Kurtzman, Stan Lee, Frank Miller, Francoise Mouly, Art Speigelman, Harvey Pekar and other artists who helped defined the medium of comics.
GRASS
Dir. Ron Mann, 1999
Canada, 80 minutes
SATURDAY, MARCH 5 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, MARCH 11 – 10:00 PM
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, MARCH 22 – 7:30 PM
GRASS covers the U.S. government’s demonization and subsequently war on marijuana. Narrated by actor and drug activist Woody Harrelson.
TALES OF THE RAT FINK
Dir. Ron Mann, 2006
Canada, 78 Minutes
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2 – 10:00 PM
TUESDAY, MARCH 8 – 7:30 PM
THURSDAY, MARCH 10 – 10:00 PM
SUNDAY, MARCH 20 – 7:30 PM
2006’s TALES OF THE RAT FINK presents a biography of cult icon hot rod artist Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, creator of Rat Fink, featuring appearances and narration by John Goodman, Ann-Margret, the Smothers Brothers, Matt Groening, Jay Leno, Stone Cold Steve Austin, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and Brian Wilson (yes, Brian Wilson).