Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.

I love midnight movies.

Always have. One of the first film books I remember buying was called MIDNIGHT MOVIES, which led me to the great series of CULT MOVIES books, which led me to the PSYCHOTRONIC GUIDE, which led me to... well, in a roundabout way, I guess that all led me here.

There's something I've always loved about theaters specifically programming films for that midnight slot, and it's been interesting to see how that programming has changed over the years from fare like ERASERHEAD and EL TOPO and PINK FLAMINGOS to the '80s mainstays like ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (a film I learned to despise when working as an usher/projectionist in a theater showing the damned thing) and Alan Parker's PINK FLOYD - THE WALL to the unfortunate market of today, where the idea seems to have almost completely expired.

Almost.

I'll give Landmark Theaters credit for imagination. They are getting ready to try a series of midnight screenings here in Los Angeles at the historic and much beloved Nuart Theater. What? You doubt me? You doubt the Nuart?! Well, check out this LOS ANGELES TIMES article from yesterday if you don't think my word's good enough. The Nuart isn't just another arthouse theater. It may well be THE arthouse theater. You know the Movie Geek on Comedy Central's new BEAT THE GEEKS game show? Where do you think they found him? He was the Nuart's projectionist and assistant manager.

If the midnight screenings in LA go well, there's a good chance Landmark will try screenings in other cities, like San Francisco, Berkeley, San Diego, Austin, and Chicago, where Landmark also has reperatory houses, and if they can make the idea work, expect other chains to rip them off. And in this case, that's a good thing. We want to see the idea of the midnight movie come back into style. Especially with a whole new type of programming in the works.

Yes, it's true. If you venture down to the Nuart tonight, Friday, February 08, 2002, you're going to find a theater full of '80s nuts watching John Milius' RED DAWN. The very first film to be awarded the PG-13 rating. The film that was said to have the most acts of violence in a film ever at the point it was released. "GO, WOLVERINES!!" Come on down. Roll around in that great big Basil Poledouris score with us. Savor such exchanges of dialogue as "DOGFACE! I SHOW YOU HOW SOVIET DIES!" "I've seen it before." and "All that hate will burn you up." "Keeps me warm." And if you show up tonight... you won't be alone. For one thing, I'm going to be there. More importantly, though, we're going to have some genuine RED DAWN survivors there. Yep, as one friend of mine put it, "Deer-blood-drinking, STAR WARS-cap-wearin' C. Thomas Howell and homing-beacon-swallowing Mayor's son Darren Dalton" are both going to attend the screening, (also both from THE OUTSIDERS -- which reminds me... I wonder why C. Thomas didn't "stay gold") and both Smilin' Jack Ruby and myself have put in calls to try and sweettalk our favorite Purdy-wielding-madman John Milius to attend as well.

Why plug the screening? Because I want more screenings like it. Landmark is going to be watching ticket sales closely here. If you want to see some of your favorite '80s films on the bigscreen, what are you waiting for? Check out what's playing in the weeks ahead at both the Nuart and Landmark's Rialto in Pasadena:

Nuart: "Adventures in Babysitting" Friday, February 15

Rialto: "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" Saturday, February 16

Nuart: "Monty Python and the Meaning of Life" Friday, February 22

Rialto: "The Neverending Story" Saturday, February 23

Nuart: "The City of Lost Children" Friday, March 1

Rialto: "The Goonies" Saturday, March 2

Nuart: "Explorers" Friday, March 8

Rialto: "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" Saturday, March 9

Nuart: "The Dark Crystal" Friday, March 15

Rialto: "Used Cars" Saturday, March 16

Nuart: "Performance" Friday, March 22

Rialto: "Saturday Night Fever" (Original "R" cut) Saturday, March 23

Nuart: "The Secret of NIMH" Friday, March 29

Rialto: "Raiders of the Lost Ark" Saturday, March 30

Nuart: "The Princess Bride" Friday, April 5

Rialto: "Airplane!" Saturday, April 6

Nuart: "Clue" Friday, April 12

Rialto: "Rocky Horror" Saturday, April 13

Nuart: "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" Friday, April 19

Rialto: "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" Saturday, April 20

And you can expect to see guests showing up at some of those screenings in both locations. There's some stuff on that list I haven't seen on the bigscreen since the initial release, and if there's a chance in hell I can go see EXPLORERS and talk with Joe Dante afterwards, then damn it, I want to put the word out and support the idea.

As you get older, you get fewer and fewer opportunities to turn the clock back and get in touch with that simple, pure, unfettered joy you had when watching films as a kid. I'm going to take advantage of these opportunities and hope to see you guys at some or all of the screenings.

Good thing I wasn't planning to sleep anyway.

Landmark's Nuart: 11272 Santa Monica Blvd (310-478-6379)

Landmark's Rialto: Fair Oaks at Oxley in South Pasadena (626-799-9567)