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This is from Altman’s 80s wilderness period, which is full of films that floundered commercially, many of which remain lost between the cracks of history to this day. And Stiggs ages well as an offbeat artifact (shot in 1983, but unreleased until ’87). Yes, it’s easy to see why it bombed when it came out and why MGM had no idea of what to do with it. It’s a teen comedy centered on a pair of best-friend troublemakers and their wild summer vacation, which is mostly centered on fucking around with a rich and stupid local family, but made in Altman’s signature style. Lots of master shots of the world around these characters.
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Let’s also note that this was the Secret Screening’s fourth digital presentation in a row. Hope their film projector isn’t broken. A spokesperson says that the updates will include luxury recliner seating throughout every auditorium, new carpet and wallpaper, and updating decor with new vintage posters in the lobby and hallways. The theater will remain open during the renovations with no impact on moviegoers as reseating auditoriums will be staggered.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
It also meant lots of bloody guts and thrusting butts jumping off the screen in this horror/sex comedy (presented via Vinegar Syndrome’s 4K restoration). This is the old Frankenstein story except with Udo Keir chewing up the screen as the mad doctor, as well as generous flesh and violence for the midnight movie crowds of yore. It’s a companion piece to Blood for Dracula, another Paul Morrissey-directed freak show, which played the Secret Screening back in Septmber of 2018.
SV Chat: Meet the man who programs those wild movies at Alamo Drafthouse
Alamo Drafthouse planning for June reopening in Richardson - Community Impact
Alamo Drafthouse planning for June reopening in Richardson.
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It’s got comedy and action served up together like a cheeseburger and fries. In the 1980s, this was a reliable commercial formula, but in 1974, things were a shade more cynical. Director Richard Rush takes no obvious moral stance. Our leads, James Caan and Alan Arkin, are charmers for sure, but Rush doesn’t lay on any sledgehammer music cues to tell us what to think while these guys abuse their power on their mission to take down a criminal fatcat. Also, we never see the villain do something heinous on screen so that we hate him. What we’re left to do is wonder if all of this destruction (crashed cars galore, mayhem that barges into peoples’ homes and workplaces) is REALLY worth it.
In 2006, due to rising rent in downtown Austin, theater owners took steps to hand the theater over to a non-profit group called the "Heroes of the Alamo" foundation, operating the theater as a cultural arts center. However, with the historic Ritz Theater on 6th Street offered as an alternative location, the original Alamo was closed. The final event at the original site consisted of a special triple-feature event on the evening of June 27, 2007. The final movie shown was Night Warning, with star Susan Tyrrell attending. After the movie, audience members were allowed to disassemble their seats and take them home as souvenirs of the theater.
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It was a dream come true. Since 2022, Isgar has held the film programmer gig for the theater chain, which also boasts a location in Los Angeles. (The chain is reportedly exploring sale opportunities.) In that position, he helps to oversee nationwide repertory and indie bookings.
“Batman,” “Do the Right Thing,” “UHF,” “Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” “Tie Me Up! Recently we had the chance to chat with Isgar about his love for film and his programming work at Alamo (drafthouse.com). Some of the biggest country stars in the world will take the stage at the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards, set to take place at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco on Thursday, May 16. In 2010, after the return of former co-founder Tim League as CEO, the company launched Drafthouse Films, a film distribution company named after, and inspired by, the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain. In June 2017, the current largest Alamo opened in Springfield, Missouri with 14 screens seating 1,050 people.
What I’m trying to say is that I couldn’t make it to this show. It’s only the second Secret Screening I’ve missed since I started going in 2014. From what I’m seeing on Facebook, it was some fine killer bear action. Also, this selection was surely inspired by the new movie Cocaine Bear, which came out the previous weekend. A little demon possession for a chilly winter night. As of November 2021, The AGFA Secret Screening is just The Secret Screening.
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Not a lot of films can still look good after that sort of undressing, but Things to Come was a blast. It’s set in a future dystopia where normal human emotions, inclinations, and ambitions are all considered taboo. One woman decides to rebel after she wins an exclusive trip to a government-approved resort where lucky participants can induldge in their basest desires. This is a product of the cynical 70s, but with a great campy sense of humor and charming low-budget craft. Nobody can act and the production is Amateur City, but everyone seems to give it their all. The results are lovable.
The blood ‘n ‘guts make that clear (yes, we saw the “gore” cut, the intended cut, via Vinegar Syndrome’s sparkling restoration). Host James Wallace talked about how he sees this as a perfect Secret Screening movie. It gives you weirdness in every scene, along with spilled intestines, spurting blood, and a brain yanked straight out of a skull, but it’s somehow also a crowd-pleaser that leaves you feeling good. I’m glad that I hadn’t seen it before. This was the ideal first trip.
Yet, his involvement with Alamo extends much further back, having started out as a volunteer there and then venturing through a number of paid positions before moving into national marketing. He moved from Austin, Texas, (where Alamo is headquartered) to the Bay Area in 2019. I’d never even heard of this Michael Ritchie-directed film before, but now I’ll be thinking about it for awhile. Lee Marvin is a Chicago tough guy hired by local mobsters to collect a debt from a super-slimy Gene Hackman, a Kansas fatcat who owns a slaughterhouse and runs a prostitution side hustle that scouts its “talent” from an orphanage.
James Wallace went with a crowd-pleaser. He’d been wanting to show this ultra-80s cult classic for awhile, he claimed, preferably with star Bill Allen in attendance. June 26 was the night when all of that happened.
On the surface, it lays down the blueprint for all “buddy cop” movies. It’s got the detective partners who bicker like an old married couple. It’s got the superior officer who has to chew out their asses over their loose cannon tactics.
Announcing Alamo Dallas/Fort Worth! National News - Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
Announcing Alamo Dallas/Fort Worth! National News.
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I’m also of the mind that seeing a movie on MST3K, with its interruptions and scenes cut for time, is NOT the same as seeing the movie. Now, I can say with complete confidence that I’ve really seen Santa Claus (or Santa Claus vs. The Devil, as it’s sometimes called). In a theater, no less, with a crowd having a blast a few weeks before Christmas. It held up as good fun.
Gags in the corners of the frame. Warzones of overlapping dialogue. A blizzard of jokes, many of which are presented so dryly that it’s hard to imagine the Porky’s audience getting into it back in the day, but in 2022 I was fascinated. Bonus points for being a perfect, sunny selection for June. More bonus points for being the return of 35mm to the show.
I like to walk in with no expectations. Part of the Secret Screening’s greatness is that it encourages open-mindedness. It plays to a trait that real film freaks have, which is to be up for anything. It’s a great way to approach the offbeat Freebie and The Bean.
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