Film / News
Eighties yuppie nightmare double-bill back on the giant screen at the former IMAX cinema
If you’re old enough to remember the 1980s, you won’t need reminding that there are plenty of films that were hugely successful back then but are rarely screened today. Many of these enjoyed a long afterlife on VHS, providing a valuable source of income for legendary Bristol video shop 20th Century Flicks.
They’ve been instrumental in bringing the city’s former IMAX cinema back into use as a screening venue and have now organised a double-bill of ‘yuppie nightmare’ comedies – a genre that was especially popular back then.
Jonathan Demme’s Something Wild (1986) pays homage to the screwball comedy with its tale of a squeaky-clean New York businessman (Jeff Daniels) who walks away from a diner without paying, attracting the attention of bargain basement femme fatale Melanie Griffith. Soon, the odd couple fall into a weekend of boozing and bondage, until Griffiths’ ex-convict ex Ray Liotta turns up to spoil the fun
Martin Scorsese’s After Hours (1985) casts Griffin Dunne as an uptight computer programmer who goes on a date with unhinged Rosanna Arquette in New York’s SoHo district, only to find himself trapped in a nightmare in which the whole of the Big Apple seems to conspire against him returning home alive. Scorsese’s black comedy was not an enormous box office hit, but did bag him the Best Director prize at Cannes and went on to become a cult favourite.
Both films have recently been remastered by Criterion and have never looked or sounded better. They’re on screen on Sunday 22 October, with tickets costing as little as £4 per movie. Go here for tickets and further information.
Main image from Something Wild: Criterion Collection
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