Wednesday June 3, 8:30pm
Weird Science
(USA, comedy/fantasy/romance)
Director: John Hughes
Starring: Anthony Michael Hall, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Kelly LeBrock
What's it about?In a bid to boost their popularity at school, two nerds attempt to create the perfect virtual woman by hacking into a secret government program. Out of this experiment comes Lisa, a goddess who seems to have endless powers. A pure product of its time, complete with hair perms, floppy disks and '80s synthetizers, this ultimate teenage boy's fantasy spawned a TV series of the same name a decade later. (Look out for a baby-faced Robert Downey Jr.)
Into the Night
(USA, comedy/drama/thriller)
Director: John Landis
Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dan Akroyd
What's it about?One of the classic 'L.A. at night' films of the era. Jeff Goldlum is Ed Okin, an Everyman struggling with insomnia and depression, and the knowledge that his wife is cheating on him. Into his life comes beautiful jewel smuggler, Diana (Michelle Pfeiffer), who pulls him into an exciting game of international intrigue. The romantic thriller is directed by John Landis (The Blues Brothers, An American Werewolf in London), who also cameos as an Iranian terrorist (yes, it's that kind of movie).
Wednesday June 10, 8:30pm
Brewster's Millions
(USA, comedy)
Director: Walter Hill
Starring: Richard Pryor, John Candy, Lonette McKee
What's it about?In one of Richard Pryor's iconic roles, he plays a minor-league baseball player learns that he's about to inherit $300 million from a great-uncle he's never met. The catch? First, he has to spend $30 million in 30 days, which is actually a lot harder than you might imagine.
Crossroads
(USA, drama/music/mystery)
Director: Walter Hill
Starring: Ralph Macchio, Joe Seneca, Jami Gertz
What's it about?Straight after Brewster's Millions, director Walter Hill turned to this music-themed movie inspired by blues legend Robert Johnson and his mythical encounter with the devil, to whom he sold both his soul and a lost song. Ralph Macchio (yes, the little grasshopper from The Karate Kid) stars as Eugene Martone, a classic guitar student obsessed with blues. He tracks down a blues legend, Willie Brown, who tells him he'll help him find the famous song, in exchange of getting Brown out of his nursing home. The deal is done, and the master and his apprentice embark on a journey across the Mississipi Delta. A lovely fable, with a killer soundtrack.
Wednesday June 17, 8:30pm
An American Werewolf in London
(UK/USA, comedy/horror)
Director: John Landis
Starring: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher
What's it about?Lauded at the time of its release (1981) for its outstanding make-up effects, this cult "scary-funny" movie follows two American college students on a backpacking holiday in England. When they are attacked by a werewolf, only one of them, David, survives and is taken to the hospital in London, where he falls for a beautiful nurse. But his dead friend soon appears to him in his dreams (in various stages of decomposition), and warns David that he was infected and that he will be turning into a werewolf at the next full moon. Wouldn't you know it - his dead buddy's right.
An American Werewolf in Paris
(UK/USA/Netherlands/Luxembourg/France, comedy/horror/romance)
Director: Anthony Waller
Starring: Tom Everett Scott, Julie Delpy, Vince Vieluf
What's it about?When a young American student risks his life to save a pretty girl falling from the Eiffel Tower, he unwittingly gets involved with French werewolves who have developed a serum allowing them to transform at will. This sequel to John Landis' An American Werewolf in London stars Julie Delpy, cast on the back of the success of 1995 indie romance Before Sunrise. Delpy plays Serafine, the product of the love between the original werewolf and his nurse, and who has inherited her dad's curse.
Wednesday June 24, 8:30pm
Fletch
(USA, comedy/crime/mystery)
Director: Michael Ritchie
Starring: Chevy Chase, Joe Don Baker, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson
What's it about?Two years after National Lampoon's Vacation, Chevy Chase brought his unique 'suave goofball' schtick to the role of investigative reporter Fletch. While working undercover on a drug dealing ring in Venice Beach, Fletch is approached by wealthy cancer victim with an odd request: He wants Fletch's help to murder him, so that his family can get his life insurance money. But Fletch smells a rat, and starts digging further into the story.
Red Dawn
(USA, action/drama/war)
Director: John Milius
Starring: Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Charlie Sheen
What's it about?In this Cold War-era classic, director John Milius imagines a world in which things haven't quite turned out in favour of the United States: the 'Commies' are on the march globally, and America is the only one still standing, but not for long. A group of high school students, played by young familiar faces like Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey and Charlie Sheen, decide to team together to fight against the Soviets.
