SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents
Part of our THE MASTER-DISCIPLE Series, Saturday, April 15, 2023
LOCATION: The Secret Movie Club Theater, 1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90021
*Please note entrance/parking is actually in the back of the building. Make a right on Wilson Street, then a right behind the building. We’re the first set of black steps after the big gate.
5:30pm PANIC ROOM (2002, dir. David Fincher, Sony, USA, 113mns, 35mm)
8pm THE GAME (1997, dir. David Fincher, Universal, USA, 129mns, 35mm)
10:45pm GONE GIRL (2014, dir. David Fincher, Fox, USA, 149mns, DCP)
Possibly no one since Steven Spielberg so aptly should earn the mantle of a disciple of Alfred Hitchcock as David Fincher.
Neither a slavish imitator nor a robotic formalist, David Fincher is completely his own moviemaker and one of our current living greats.
At the same time, one can’t help but look at Fincher’s attention to detail, his careful preparation, his uncanny cinematic control and visual sense, and think that Hitchcock is somewhere smiling that great filmmaking continues.
In fact, Fincher also takes a page from Hitchcock in terms of Hitchcock’s use of German expressionism when it comes to art direction and production design.
Tonight we show three of Fincher’s most Hitchcockian works, if you will.
First up is Panic Room, Fincher’s confection of a suspense thriller in which divorced mom Meg (an always wonderful Jodie Foster) and her diabetic daughter Sarah (a very young Kristen Stewart) find themselves under siege by three assailants who break into their New York four story the very first night Sarah and Meg move in.
With nowhere to go, they lock themselves in the home’s “panic room” only to discover that the previous tenant might be storing what the thieves want in the very room they are locked in.
We follow this with Fincher’s wildly underrated The Game, his follow up to Seven, which follows alienated and depressed business mogul Michael Douglas as he suddenly becomes enmeshed in a strange “game” that gets stranger, more sinister, and more deadly the more Douglas plays it. The movie plays like a kind of murderous board game come to life with amazing San Francisco locales, perverse and hilarious plot twists, and an ending that delivers.
We wrap up the night with another Fincher gem (they’re almost all gems), Gone Girl, Fincher’s adaptation of the best selling pop novel by Gillian Flynn.
Very few Fincher-philes had high expectations for this movie. Most thought it was Fincher working to make a solid hit so he could move on to his next passion project.
How wrong everyone was. For while the movie is a wonderful and tight adaptation of its source material, it is also one of the darkest most bleak comedies on marriage ever made in American cinema.
The movie follows compromised professor Nick (a surprisingly game Ben Affleck) who becomes suspect number one when his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike who surprises throughout) goes missing.
However, as we learn more about both Nick and Amy, we realize the reality of what is going on is much more twisted and strange than even an abduction or murder might be.
The movie has a great mid-section twist that completely re-contextualizes everything we’ve seen come before. A twist Hitchcock would love.
So come join us for a fistful of Fincher (two on 35mm!) that is bound to be a blast.
Best always,
Craig Hammill
Secret Movie Club Founder.Programmer
*Please note that though we strive to always show titles on 35mm film if advertised, we may have to screen digitally if the print we receive is in such bad shape or if we don't receive the print in time because of a shipping delay. We will do our best to alert the audience. When this does occur, we will offer each ticket holder who chooses not to attend a complimentary ticket to a future event in exchange. (Disclaimer: Good for 90 days – Future screening must have available tickets, cannot be a fundraiser, and must be comparably priced)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
REFUNDS:
We can offer refunds up to 24 hours before showtime. Please request a refund through Eventbrite and we will process ASAP. After that, no refunds. Sorry.
However if something last minute comes up and you can’t make the screening, for whatever reason, just write to us before showtime: community@secretmovieclub.com and we’ll offer you complimentary tickets to a future screening, good for 90 days. (Disclaimer: Future screening must have available tickets, cannot be a fundraiser, and must be comparably priced)
HELPFUL SECRET MOVIE CLUB (1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, LA, CA 90021) THEATER PARKING TIPS:
We recommend that you park just outside our theater. Remember our theater is actually in a beautiful street art alleyway in the back of the 1917 Bay Street building. You get to our entrance by taking a right on Wilson, then a right behind the building. We are the first set of black steps on the right after the big gate.
There is also a parking lot at the corner of Mateo and Violet Street, just 2 blocks from our theater, which costs $7 per car.
HOW CAN WE STAY ON TOP OF NEWLY ANNOUNCED 35MM SCREENINGS, EVENTS, ETC?
You can follow us on Instagram/Twitter: @secretmovieclub or Facebook: @secretmovieclub35mm
You can also subscribe to our weekly email newsletter at secretmovieclub.com or by writing to us at community@secretmovieclub.com and using the header “SUBSCRIBE ME TO NEWSLETTER”.
HOW CAN I CONTACT YOU IF I HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS:
You can always email us at community@secretmovieclub.com with any other questions, concerns, thoughts, recommendations.