This is what I'm talking about. Tomorrow is Friday the 13th, and since horror's most infamous day just happens to occur in the same month as Halloween this year, the Whistler Village 8 is hosting a special, late-night Friday the 13th/Scary Movie marathon.
Before you start in with the, "I've seen Friday the 13th and I can smoke more weed at home" argument, be advised that Jason the machete murderer is not running in this marathon. Instead, the Village 8 is screening the 2016 claustrophobic thriller Lights Out, about a family stuck in a house with a supernatural demon that lurks in the shadows. Also on the bill is the original 1968 Night of the Living Dead from the legendary George A. Romero. This one essentially created the zombie subgenre and, like all the best horror or sci-fi flicks, turned a mirror on the society of the day with sly socio-political undercurrents. Sadly, very little has changed in the half-century since.
Rounding out the screening, the Village 8 is presenting Zombieland, a 2009 horror-comedy that stars Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Woody Harrelson (Cheers) and Emma Stone (who won the Oscar for La La Land, but actually throws down a way stronger performance in the upcoming tennis film Battle of the Sexes). Bill Murray and that ultrafox Amber Heard (All the Girls Love Mandy Lane, The Rum Diaries) also make appearances in this stylized zombie apocalypse road movie.
It's gonna be an awesome night and good on the Village 8 for doing something different. These kinds of events help keep theatres relevant in the on-demand future and you can bet there will be a sweet buzz in the crowd. The good times run 9 p.m. till 2 a.m., tix are $25 in advance or $30 at the door and include all the pop and popcorn you can cram into yourself. Let the record show that staff will confiscate any alcohol they notice, (those wine bras, or friends with a hollow leg are always good this time of year.)
And the good times keep rolling for horror fans as we draw closer to All Hallows' Eve. Opening Friday, Happy Death Day is a slash-ploitation flick about a college girl stuck in a time loop: she keeps reliving the same day (her birthday), but gets murdered every night, only to wake up and do it all again until she uncovers her masked killer's identity. There were no pre-screenings (good sign for a horror) but this one looks like the plot of Groundhog Day was tortured by Final Destination's penchant for creative death premonitions while wearing a creepy-as-eff animal mask. So it sounds pretty awesome and comes from the Blumhouse, the company behind Get Out and Split.
Speaking of awesome, shred film season is upon us and Numinous, local ripper Kye Petersen's collaboration with Dendrite Studios, is now available on iTunes. Entirely shot in B.C., you'll not see better big mountain ripping in any film this year. Numinous is the download of the week.
On a shittier note, it has been no secret over the past 30 years that ultra-successful producer/studio executive Harvey Weinstein is an asshole, but this week it became apparent that he's also a creep, who has routinely used his power and position to sexually harass young women in the film industry. While it's encouraging that Weinstein is finally going to face the music, it remains to be seen what the long-term repercussions will actually be.
This is, after all, the same industry that continues to embrace Woody Allen and Roman Polanski despite very public accusations, and serial bigot Mel Gibson is slated to star in Daddy's Home 2 this November.
The more we read on this the better. For perspective on where Weinstein's f*ckery fits in the larger picture of Hollywood and beyond, writer/director Lena Dunham recently wrote a piece for the New York Times:
"Abuse, threats and coercion have been the norm for so many women trying to do business or make art. Mr. Weinstein may be the most powerful man in Hollywood to be revealed as a predator, but he's certainly not the only one who has been allowed to run wild. His behavior, silently co-signed for decades by employees and collaborators, is a microcosm of what has been happening in Hollywood since always and of what workplace harassment looks like for women everywhere."
Be vigilant dear readers, don't let the bastards wear you down. And let's teach our kids what it means to be human.
