Monday Movies return on June 23!

THIS TOWN WILL KILL YOU!

8pm: The Warriors Dir. Walter Hill (1979) 99 mins

10pm: Escape from New York (1981) 93 mins

The Warriors (1979) 99 mins – D. Walter Hill; S. Michael Beck, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, David Patrick Kelly, & James Remar. “Let’s get down to it, Boppers.” Cyrus is the one man who can unite 100 NYC gangs and take over the city, but he’s wasted by the leader of the Rogue’s at a conclave in the Bronx. Blame falls on Coney Island’s The Warriors and “war chief” Swann (Beck) must lead his small band of “warriors” home to safety with every gang and cop in the city hot on their tail. Great fight choreography is the highlight of this fast-paced thriller. And you’ve gotta love the comic book nature of the gangs, including the multi-racial skinhead Turnbull A.C.’s of Pelham Parkway, the bat-wielding Baseball Furies of 96th Street, the roller skate wearing Punks of Union Square, and, of course, The Lizzies (you figure it out). Bonus points to PHD candidates for comparing Swann’s long journey home to that of Odysseus in The Odyssey.

Escape from New York (1981) 93 mins – D. John Carpenter; S. Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Adrienne Barbeau, Isaac Hayes, & Harry Dean Stanton. “The rules are simple: Once you go in, you don’t come out.” It’s 1997, and Manhattan Island is a maximum security prison. S. D. (“Call me, Snake.”) Pliskin (Russell) is a decorated war hero on his way to doing a life sentence in NYC for knocking over the Federal Reserve when Chief Hauk (Cleef) makes him an offer: a full pardon for rescuing the President (Brit-born Pleasence) whose plane crashed in Midtown thanks to a terrorist attack. But Snake will only have 22 hours to succeed before the surgically implanted bombs in his carotid arteries explode! He’ll need the help of a group of misfits inside the prison, including Brain, Cabbie, and Adrienne Barbeau as the requisite “Hot Babe”, in order to outsmart the Prez’s captor: The Duke of New York (Hayes)! This Sci-Fi classic features a glider landing on top of the World Trade Center (!), gladiatorial contests, and a great Stick It To The Man-ending!