Kung Fu Theater kicks back to life at Showcase Cinemas!
January 22nd, 2008 | 10:07 am est |
Once upon a time in Ann Arbor, there was a grand old movie house known as The Michigan Theater. To walk inside the Michigan Theater was to be transported back in time to the days when silent films were accompanied by live organ music (the theater still sports a fully functioning 1927 Barton Theater Pipe Organ that is used quite frequently even today), and the balcony was always open. The Michigan Theater was the place to go for limited release art-house flicks that the local multiplex chains couldn’t seem to squeeze in due to the fact that three of their twelve screens were often dedicated to the same surefire sell-out box-office record breaker, but they also had some fun with their programming every now and again. I vividly remember going to an all-day James Bond marathon at the Michigan when I was a freshman in high school, hitting a beach-ball from the balcony during a Godzilla double feature (complete with old movie trailers) when I was a senior, and even screaming along to Lucio Fulci’s Gates of Hell with a rowdy crowd back in college. Sadly (at least for the eclectic-minded movie lover) those days are long gone, and a glance at the listings for the Michigan read like a checklist of foreign-language Oscar contenders.
In a word: Predictable.
With the rare exception of midnight screenings of Serenity or Super Troopers, even The Michigan’s sister-theater The State has fallen victim to this tiresome trend – often relying on leftovers tossed aside by its lavish older sibling. Yet just when it seemed as if all hope for having a little fun at the movies in Tree Town had been permanently sapped, leave it to our old friends at National Amusements to pick up the ball dropped when the Michigan and the State stopped worrying about being creative with their programming schedule, and decided to go on art-house auto-pilot. For eight straight weeks beginning on Wednesday, January 23, 2007, Showcase Cinemas will be screening a double feature bill of old school kung-fu flicks for the paltry ticket price of five dollars (for a list of other Showcase Cinema locations taking part in the program, click here). That’s right, for just five measly bones you too can get a full three hours of the kind of rock ‘em, sock ‘em entertainment that just doesn’t fly anymore at the highbrow local art-houses. After all, who wants to read subtitles when you’ve got the kind of hilariously awful dub jobs that magically transport you back to the golden days of Kung Fu Theater?
So for anyone who likes their kung fu served up Shaw Brothers style, why not drop by Showcase Cinemas on Wednesday nights for a double feature dose of martial arts mayhem? I know I plan on going, and I hope to see you there!
Here’s the full schedule, collected from the official National Amusements website:
January 23rd
Shaolin Temple
and
Bronx Executioner
January 30th
Bruce Lee Fights Back From The Grave
and
Fearless Hyena
February 6th
Fantasy Mission Force
and
The Chinatown Kid
February 13th
Deadly Duo
and
The Legend of Bruce Lee
February 20th
The Master With Cracked Fingers
and
The Master
February 27th
The Street Fighter’s Last Revenge
and
Return of the Street Fighter
March 5th
Sister Street Fighter
and
Snake & Crane Secret
March 12th
The Real Bruce Lee
and
Spirits of Bruce Lee
Kick ass!
Yea! Road Trip to Michigan!!!
Funnily enough, I’ve been thinking we should do a James Bond thing at the Michigan or the State for a while. Anyone else think that’s a good idea? Or is everyone happy seeing them on TV regularly?
And then, I wondered if you’re really getting our program? This month we did a four-week Ingmar Bergman series, which has been really well attended. “Fanny & Alexander” is next Tuesday. This Monday we ran 90 minutes of Warner Brothers cartoons, free for kids, which was huge. Next Monday, we’re doing something completely different–showing “Killer of Sheep” with special guest appearance by director Charles Burnett for Q&A. Killer of Sheep hasn’t had much theatrical exposure outside of festivals, yet here it is.
In February we’re doing an Oscar retrospective starting with the 1928 Best Picture winner “Wings” accompanied by Steve Ball on the Barton Theater Organ. Oscars not your thing? February 14, we have a screening of the classic “Bringing Up Baby”. Something more modern, less mainstream? Then how about CinemaSlam, the Michigan’s short film program?
Maybe you could add a visit to your schedule in March, when we’re showing a run of British comedies starting with 1969 original heist-caper, “The Italian Job”. Racing minis, Michael Caine, Benny Hill, Noel Coward and “You’re only supposed to blow off the bleedin’ doors!” More details on that series should appear on our website soon.
Yes, our regular first-run titles include the more popular art-house and Oscar nominees. You can see some of those at Showcase too because everyone loves a great movie and independents often provide them! No, we don’t do everything they do (I know you’re particularly disappointed we didn’t run Uwe Boll’s latest but our friends at National Amusements still have it). But we do a lot more movies than that.
We’re always open to suggestions and feedback because we’re part of the community. However, I would suggest you take another look at our schedule because we’re already showing an incredible selection of films at both the Michigan and the State–plus live shows at the Michigan too. And we’re having a lot more fun with our programming than you might have thought.
I agree that the Michigan has great retrospectives, but I think the point is that the classic Psychotronic/Sleazoid Express mentality of exploitation being outrageous and hilarious vs. holding a level of artistic merit is missing from that style of programming. The Italian Job is a fantastic, stylish movie, and for that it deserves its cult status, but Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry is a gritty, high octane slice of sleaze that NEVER gets shown on the big screen despite being a very entertaining 90 minutes. That’s the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that goes into the programming of these kung fu films.