Tag: Jack Nicholson

Cinema St. Louis’ Golden Anniversaries: Films of 1969 Series Continues With EASY RIDER This Sunday September 8th at 1:30pm

“You know, this used to be a helluva good country. I can’t understand what’s gone wrong with it.”

Golden Anniversaries: Films of 1969 features 6 classic films celebrating their 50th anniversaries. This second edition focuses on 1969 and features a half-dozen films, all screening for free at the St. Louis Public Library (1301 Olive Street St. Louis) over 3 weekends in late summer.  (This series kicked off August 31st at 1:30pm with MIDNIGHT COWBOY). On Saturday September 14th at 1:30pm the ’69 film will be THE WILD BUNCH directed by Sam Peckinpah. There will be an intro and post-film Q&A with W.K. Stratton, author of The Wild Bunch: Sam Peckinpah, a Revolution in Hollywood, and the Making of a Legendary Film . Admission is FREE. A Facebook invite can be found HERE

EASY RIDER (1969) is much more than a 60s relic – it’s still a great movie even today. I find it fascinating that Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda took Roger Corman material and gave it an European- influenced arthouse approach. Combined with breathtaking visuals, a well-chosen rock soundtrack and some classic, stoned, improvised dialogue EASY RIDER is still an impressive movie all these years later. Fonda had recently made THE WILD ANGELS, Hopper the less remembered THE GLORY STOMPERS, and Jack Nicholson HELLS ANGELS ON WHEELS, but EASY RIDER reinvented the biker movie (or technically created a new subgenre: the “hippy” Biker Film), and things were never quite the same in Hollywood for the rest of the Seventies. The supporting cast is interesting and includes a great role for the fantastically underrated Luke Askew as the “Stranger on Highway”, and cameos from the star’s buddies Robert Walker Jr, Luana Anders and Sabrina Scharf, as well Karen Black and Toni Basil’s New Orleans hookers, Look for Phil Spector’s coke snorting bit part, and a fleeting glimpse of young Grizzly Adams Dan Haggerty. You either love EASY RIDER or you don’t, and I’m most definitely in the former camp. A 1960s generation-defining counter-culture classic!

Here is the rest of the schedule for Cinema St. Louis’ Golden Anniversaries: Films of 1969 Series

The Wild Bunch Saturday, Sep. 14 at 1:00pm

Women in Love Sunday, Sep. 15 at 1:00pm

EASY RIDER Rocks Back into U.S. Theaters July 14th & 17th

Massively influential and enormously popular, “Easy Rider” became the film event for an entire generation when it was released on July 14, 1969, less than a week before a human being landed on the moon – and for the film industry, “Easy Rider” turned out to be as significant as that event. Now, exactly 50 years after it became a cultural touchstone, “Easy Rider” is returning to movie theaters across the country for two days only: Sunday, July 14, and Wednesday, July 17

Tickets for “Easy Rider”can be purchased today at www.FathomEvents.com and at participating theater box offices. 

Fathom Events and Sony Pictures Entertainment present “Easy Rider” in more than 400 movie theaters at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. local time each day. For a complete list of theater locations, visit the Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change).

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“In 1969, I went looking for America,” said star Peter Fonda, who co-wrote the film with Terry Southern and director Dennis Hopper. “Fifty years later, I’m still looking …” The Fathom Events presentation will also include a brand-new, exclusive introduction by Fonda.

A massive box-office hit when it was released, “Easy Rider” did more than impress a generation of young, disillusioned Americans, who had never seen themselves represented in film quite as accurately before. The film was also a critical hit, The New York Times called it “A statement on film,” and Hopper received the First Film Award at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival. 

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Fifty years later, “Easy Rider” returns to the South of France where Peter Fonda will present a restored 4K version of the film from its original 35mm original picture negative this month at Cannes Classics 2019. The restoration, which will be used for the Fathom Events screenings, was done by Sony Pictures Entertainment in collaboration with Cineteca di Bologna.

Co-star Jack Nicholson and the film’s screenplay were both nominated for Oscars®. In 1998, “Easy Rider”was added to the National Film Registry, and the iconic movie is also part of the American Film Institute’s list of 100 best American films.

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“A seminal counterculture film that spoke for a generation, ‘Easy Rider’ captured the imagination and social consciousness of the late ‘60s,” said Fathom Events Vice President of Studio Relations Tom Lucas. “On the big screen fifty years later, the film continues to resonate, doing so beautifully in its new 4K restoration.”  

Born to be Wild! EASY RIDER Returns to Theaters 50 Years After Its First Release

Massively influential and enormously popular, “Easy Rider” became the film event for an entire generation when it was released on July 14, 1969, less than a week before a human being landed on the moon – and for the film industry, “Easy Rider” turned out to be as significant as that event. Now, exactly 50 years after it became a cultural touchstone, “Easy Rider” is returning to movie theaters across the country for two days only: Sunday, July 14, and Wednesday, July 17.

Tickets for “Easy Rider”can be purchased today at www.FathomEvents.com and at participating theater box offices. 

Fathom Events and Sony Pictures Entertainment present “Easy Rider” in more than 400 movie theaters at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. local time each day. For a complete list of theater locations, visit the Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change).

“In 1969, I went looking for America,” said star Peter Fonda, who co-wrote the film with Terry Southern and director Dennis Hopper. “Fifty years later, I’m still looking …” The Fathom Events presentation will also include a brand-new, exclusive introduction by Fonda.

A massive box-office hit when it was released, “Easy Rider” did more than impress a generation of young, disillusioned Americans, who had never seen themselves represented in film quite as accurately before. The film was also a critical hit, The New York Times called it “A statement on film,” and Hopper received the First Film Award at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival. 

Fifty years later, “Easy Rider” returns to the South of France where Peter Fonda will present a restored 4K version of the film from its original 35mm original picture negative this month at Cannes Classics 2019. The restoration, which will be used for the Fathom Events screenings, was done by Sony Pictures Entertainment in collaboration with Cineteca di Bologna.

Co-star Jack Nicholson and the film’s screenplay were both nominated for Oscars®. In 1998, “Easy Rider”was added to the National Film Registry, and the iconic movie is also part of the American Film Institute’s list of 100 best American films.

“A seminal counterculture film that spoke for a generation, ‘Easy Rider’ captured the imagination and social consciousness of the late ‘60s,” said Fathom Events Vice President of Studio Relations Tom Lucas. “On the big screen fifty years later, the film continues to resonate, doing so beautifully in its new 4K restoration.”  

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THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960) Screening at Urban Chestnut July 11th


“Now, no novocaine. It dulls the senses.”


Webster University’s Award-Winning Strange Brew Film Series has moved! The new location is Urban Chestnut in the Grove (4465 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis 63110). This month’s film is the 1960 version of THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS . It’s this Wednesday, July 11th. The movie starts at 8pm and admission is $5.


Roger Corman, who allegedly could negotiate the production of a film on a pay phone, shoot the film in the booth, and finance it with the money in the change slot, shot THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960) in two days and one night on a set that was left over from someone else’s production.


It is a classic featuring a very young Jack Nicholson as an undertaker who loved pain in his third film. The face that was to later become famous in THE SHINING was quite evident. Jonathan Haze played the lead as the clumsy Seymour who invents the man-eating plant. Haze worked exclusively for Corman until he quit acting for behind the stage work.


THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960) was an extremely low budget feature, but it is funny and many of the laughs are from Seymour’s girlfriend Audrey (Jackie Joseph) and his mother. They alone are worth the price of admission. Don’t miss the screening July 11th at Urban Chestnut


A Facebook invite for the screening can be found HERE
The movie starts at 8pm and admission is $5. There will be food to order and plenty of pints of Urban Chestnut’s famous home-brewed beer.

A Look Back at Stanley Kubrick’s THE SHINING – Screening This Weekend at Marcus Wehrenberg Theatres


Article by Jake Billingsley

Stanley Kubrick’s masterwork THE SHINING has been chosen by Marcus Wehrenberg Theatres as one of the four films in their October Friday night series. THE SHINING will be shown October​ ​5th -7​th and is presented by TCM. There will be one screening each night at 10 PM. Admission is only $5. For more details and a list of participating theaters, go HERE
http://www.marcustheatres.com/marcus-specials/marcus-film-series/october-horror-series-

The other films in the series include:

October​ ​12-14:​ ​“A​ ​Nightmare​ ​on​ ​Elm​ ​Street”

October​ ​19-21:​ ​“The​ ​Exorcist”

October​ ​26-28:​ ​“Halloween”


In the year 1980, there were many memorable films. Most of us remember the magic of movies like Raging Bull, The Empire Strikes Back, Caddyshack, Ordinary People, and Airplane!. These films gave moviegoers the true “movie going” experience, and we are still going back for more 37 years later. Accompanying these films were 2 modern horror classics, Sean Cunningham’s Friday the 13th, and Kubrick’s adaptation of Stephen King’s prominent novel, The Shining. While Friday the 13th was more popular at the box office, The Shining was the film that put viewers in the hand’s of a true master; it is also known by many to be the greatest horror film ever made. I can’t say the same for Friday the 13th.


When looking at Kubrick’s masterpiece, it is fascinating to see the great horror motifs that dominate the films structure and narrative. While the petrifying persistence of Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind’s film score frightens us all, the imagery throughout the film is equally haunting. Whether it is the twins butchered in the hallway or the blood flowing from the lobby elevator, one can not deny that this film has a unique, psychological mood that expands upon genre standards; that was Kubrick’s goal.


While Kubrick perfects the elements that make a film great, there is an asset that he was lucky to acquire. Jack Nicholson is that asset, and he is vital to the film’s success. This man not only goes crazy in the film, but shows off his acting talents in a way that we don’t commonly see. Few actors can pull of the characters in a diverse filmography, but it is even more uncommon for one of those actors to have an amazing performance in a horror film. Nicholson revolutionizes the character of Jack Torrance. He gives the character a psychotic appeal all throughout the film. He does this through body language and frequently terrifying smiles that his eyebrows add even more terror to; you won’t see him the same after seeing him in this film. His crazed performance lingers over us just as much as the hotel loiters over the family. How can we forget “Here’s Johnny?”


So what is the benefit of seeing a film that you have probably seen before, or one that can easily be rented in the comfortable confines of the home you live in? These questions aren’t only applied to films that have been out for 37 years, but to films that come out every weekend. People are tired of paying $12.50 a ticket and being tempted by the outrageous concession prices, but that is where the movie going experience has brought us; that is until we see a film that affects us all. There is a special reason films like The Shining are remembered, and we know great horror films only come once a decade… Can’t think of one in the past few, but I remain waiting patiently (not really). Go out and see The Shining. The tickets are only $5. I repeat, the tickets are $5. As Jack Torrance would say, “Go check it out.”

Forget it, Jake. It’s CHINATOWN at The Tivoli Wednesday Night – ‘Classics in the Loop’


“You’re a very nosy fellow, kitty cat. Huh? You know what happens to nosy fellows? Huh? No? Wanna guess? Huh? No? Okay. They lose their noses!”


CHINATOWN screens Wednesday May 17th at The Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar in ‘The Loop’) as part of their  ‘Classics in the Loop’ Crime & Noir film series. The movie starts at 7pm and admission is $7. It will be on The Tivoli’s big screen.


CHINATOWN (1974) is a seminal classic of ’70s cinema, with Jack Nicholson excellent as Jake Gittes, a mostly-ethical former cop-turned-private detective in 1930s Los Angeles who believes he’s been hired by the wife of the chief engineer of the Water and Power Department. He thinks her husband’s cheating on her but, as it turns out, she’s not the real Mrs. at all, and so propels Gittes into a tug-of-war between powerful ex-partners, with carnality and family secrets the key to unraveling the mystery. The Oscar-winning screenplay by Robert Towne is filled with complicated story threads and characters with checkered pasts–lots of fun, though it is somewhat unfair the script is always two steps ahead of the audience. However, CHINATOWN is so deftly orchestrated by director Roman Polanski, one becomes engrossed in the proceedings even while being bombarded with both clues and extraneous matter. Faye Dunaway’s performance, as the breathy, mysterious daughter of water-czar John Huston, walks a fine line between melodramatic and campy–still, she’s entirely in the spirit of the piece, and an interesting screen-match for Nicholson.


CHINATOWN is assured and entertaining; it pulls the viewer in without giving out enough information, though this lack of knowledge for our sake doesn’t hurt the returns. A cannier, guessing-game approach to the plot may have made the film more commercial (it was a modest box-office hit); however, this presentation, messy though it may be, is still absorbing.


Experiencing older Hollywood films like CHINATOWN on the big screen is like visiting a fine art museum – masters at work creating a living work of art that time only enhances in respect. A big thanks and shout-out to the Tivoli for this wonderful ‘Classics on the Loop’ series which ends next week with BLOOD SIMPLE. Attendance has been good, so keep your fingers crossed that they announce a new line-up of classics for the Fall.

Here’s the rest of the line-up for the ‘CLASSICS IN THE LOOP’ film series:
May 24th – BLOOD SIMPLE – 1984

Look for continued coverage of the ‘CLASSICS IN THE LOOP’ film series here at We Are movie Geeks.

This Week’s WAMG Podcast – SING STREET, THE HUNTSMAN, Jack Nicholson, and More!

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This week’s episode of our podcast WE ARE MOVIE GEEKS The Show is up! Hear WAMG’s Michelle McCue, Jim Batts and Tom Stockman discuss the weekend box office. We’ll review HUNTSMAN: WINTER’S WAR, SING STREET, and THE INVITATION. We’ll preview MOTHER’S DAY and KEANU, and we’ll wish Jack Nicholson a Happy Birthday and talk about our favorites of his films!

Here’s this week’s show. Have a listen:

16mm Screening of EASY RIDER October 5th at Schlafly Bottleworks

easy-heade-560r

“You know, this used to be a helluva good country. I can’t understand what’s gone wrong with it.”

Easy-Rider-Dies-2013

EASY RIDER screens in 16mm at 7:30pm Monday October 5th at Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood

easy2

The perfect film to watch in old-school 16mm!

EASY RIDER (1969) is much more than a 60s relic – it’s still a great movie even today. I find it fascinating that Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda took Roger Corman material and gave it an European- influenced arthouse approach. Combined with breathtaking visuals, a well-chosen rock soundtrack and some classic, stoned, improvised dialogue EASY RIDER is still an impressive movie all these years later. Fonda had recently made THE WILD ANGELS, Hopper the less remembered THE GLORY STOMPERS, and Jack Nicholson HELLS ANGELS ON WHEELS, but EASY RIDER reinvented the biker movie (or technically created a new subgenre: the “hippy” Biker Film), and things were never quite the same in Hollywood for the rest of the Seventies. The supporting cast is interesting and includes a great role for the fantastically underrated Luke Askew as the “Stranger on Highway”, and cameos from the star’s buddies Robert Walker Jr, Luana Anders and Sabrina Scharf, as well Karen Black and Toni Basil’s New Orleans hookers, Look for Phil Spector’s coke snorting bit part, and a fleeting glimpse of young Grizzly Adams Dan Haggerty. You either love EASY RIDER or you don’t, and I’m most definitely in the former camp. A 1960s generation-defining counter-culture classic!

EASYRIDER-SPTI-14.tif

If you haven’t seen EASY RIDER on the big screen (and I confess I have not except for one time at a Drive-in on the 4th of July in 1979 when patrons were shooting bottle rockets at the screen), you’ll have your chance Monday October 5th when it screens (on 16mm film) at Schlafly Bottleworks beginning at 7:30 as part of Schlafly’s monthly Vintage Bike Night.

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So ride over to Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood for a great night of vintage and classic motorcycles, scooters, mopeds – all while sipping our favorite local beer and watching EASY RIDER. Get to know other movie buffs, gear heads, hang with custom builders and shop owners. If you don’t have a vintage bike to show off, come learn about what kind of ride might be right for you. Did we mention the great beer? And the Bottleworks is open for dinner til 10.

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Biker night starts at 6 – EASY RIDER begins unspooling at 7:30. Admission to the film is free but there will be a donations jar accepting donations for the National Childern’s Cancer Society.

A facebook invite for the event can be found HERE

https://www.facebook.com/events/1645874218989829/

Hope to see you there!

EASY RIDER Screens on 16mm October 5th at Schlafly Bottleworks

easy-heade-560r

“You know, this used to be a helluva good country. I can’t understand what’s gone wrong with it.”

Easy-Rider-Dies-2013

EASY RIDER screens in 16mm at 7:30pm Monday October 5th at Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood

easy2

EASY RIDER (1969) is much more than a 60s relic – it’s still a great movie even today. I find it fascinating that Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda took Roger Corman material and gave it an European- influenced arthouse approach. Combined with breathtaking visuals, a well-chosen rock soundtrack and some classic, stoned, improvised dialogue EASY RIDER is still an impressive movie all these years later. Fonda had recently made THE WILD ANGELS, Hopper the less remembered THE GLORY STOMPERS, and Jack Nicholson HELLS ANGELS ON WHEELS, but EASY RIDER reinvented the biker movie (or technically created a new subgenre: the “hippy” Biker Film), and things were never quite the same in Hollywood for the rest of the Seventies. The supporting cast is interesting and includes a great role for the fantastically underrated Luke Askew as the “Stranger on Highway”, and cameos from the star’s buddies Robert Walker Jr, Luana Anders and Sabrina Scharf, as well Karen Black and Toni Basil’s New Orleans hookers, Look for Phil Spector’s coke snorting bit part, and a fleeting glimpse of young Grizzly Adams Dan Haggerty. You either love EASY RIDER or you don’t, and I’m most definitely in the former camp. A 1960s generation-defining counter-culture classic!

EASYRIDER-SPTI-14.tif

If you haven’t seen EASY RIDER on the big screen (and I confess I have not except for one time at a Drive-in on the 4th of July in 1979 when patrons were shooting bottle rockets at the screen), you’ll have your chance Monday September 14th when it screens (on 16mm film) at Schlafly Bottleworks beginning at 7:30 as part of Schlafly’s monthly Vintage Bike Night.

easy-rider-62-a

So ride over to Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood for a great night of vintage and classic motorcycles, scooters, mopeds – all while sipping our favorite local beer and watching EASY RIDER. Get to know other movie buffs, gear heads, hang with custom builders and shop owners. If you don’t have a vintage bike to show off, come learn about what kind of ride might be right for you. Did we mention the great beer? And the Bottleworks is open for dinner til 10.

easy5

Biker night starts at 6 – EASY RIDER begins unspooling at 7:30. Admission to the film is free but there will be a donations jar accepting donations for the National Childern’s Cancer Society.

A facebook invite for the event can be found HERE

https://www.facebook.com/events/1645874218989829/

Hope to see you there!

WAMG Interview With ROGER CORMAN and ALEX STAPLETON (CORMAN’S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL)

Roger Corman is a Hollywood legend! Last week, WAMG got the chance to sit down with the man himself, along with Director Alex Stapleton about their new film CORMAN’S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL.

CORMAN’S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL is a tantalizing and star-studded tribute to Roger Corman, Hollywood’s most prolific writer-director producer, and seminal influencing force in modern moviemaking over the last 60 years. Featuring interviews with Hollywood icons and cinematic luminaries, some who launched their careers within Corman’s unforgettable world of filmmaking, including Paul W.S. Anderson, Peter Bogdanovich, Robert De Niro, Peter Fonda, Pam Grier, Ron Howard, Eli Roth, Martin Scorsese, William Shatner and Jack Nicholson, along with many others, this documentary chronicles how Corman created his cult film empire, one low-budget success at a time, capitalizing on undiscovered talent, and pushing the boundaries of independent filmmaking.

Check out the interview here:

Director Alex Stapleton weaves archival footage following Roger’s illustrious career: From his early days of genre-defining classics including the original Fast and Furious, the original Little Shop of Horrors, The Crybaby Killer, The Intruder, House of Usher, and The Wild Angels (which at that point in 1966 was his 100th film) – to present day video of him and his wife Julie on location, still at work as they continue to produce and distribute films outside the studio system: fast, cheap and out-of-this-world!

Distributed by Anchor Bay Films, Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel is rated R for some violent images, nudity and language. Run time 90 minutes.

CORMAN’S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL opens in select theaters on December 16th