SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents
Part of our MARCH MUSICAL MADNESS Series, Friday, March 24, 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.
7:30pm THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME (1976, dir. Peter Clifton and Joe Massot, Warner Bros., USA, 138mns, Digital)
10pm THIS IS SPINAL TAP (1984, dir. Rob Reiner, Embassy, USA, 82mns, Digital)
We love Led Zeppelin. Unabashedly. We also love the mockumentary they and other stadium rock bands of the 1970’s and early 1980’s inspired, This is Spinal Tap, which in turn kicked off an entire rockumentary subgenre which then inspired the British The Office which then…
Okay, we’ll stop.
First, 1976. Led Zeppelin. Rock bands don’t come any bigger than this. Zep had wanted to make a movie or documentary for years and had even filmed a concert in 1970 but ultimately felt the footage didn’t work. Then in 1973, they finally aimed for a redo and filmed three concerts in New York City at a (then) whopping cost of $85,000.00. After capturing the live footage, the band then shot fantasy interludes according to thrown individual obsessions. The result may not be high art but it still is one of the most kick ass movies to showcase a rock band at the height of their success.
It’s also the closest any of us will ever come to a Led Zeppelin concert so we will crank it loud and all will rock!
We follow this up with one of the greatest comedies of the 1980’s, This is Spinal Tap. Made by the wildly talented team of Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer (all of whom would go on to individually successful careers in their own right), Spinal Tap lampoons a once famous hair metal band now in decline due to egos, excessive partying, unreliable drummers (who always end up dying in strange ways).
Spinal Tap has become a must watch for both movie lovers and rock bands both of whom revel in the slightly “too close for comfort” comedy about the rock and roll lifestyle. Modeled after bands like Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, the Misfits, Black Sabbath, Spinal Tap ended up being embraced by many of the musicians it was parodying. In fact, many bands claimed they had had the exact experience shown in the movie of getting lost in an arena’s maze-like basement ahead of a show.
Christopher Guest, in particular, so understood the possibilities of the mockumentary format that he went on a decade later to produce a string of hilarious comedies in this style including Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and A Mighty Wind (a kind of Spinal Tap for folk music).
So come join us tonight for the lover and the beloved, the object and its reflection...oh hell...come join us to rock out and laugh your ass off.
Best always,
Craig Hammill
Secret Movie Club Founder.Programmer
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.