SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents
Part of our INTERNATIONAL KICKASS ACTION Series, Friday, September 8, 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 1917 Bay St building. Our entrance is NOT on Bay Street. You access our entrance from Wilson Street by turning into the street art alleyway/corridor in the back of the building. Look for our signs which are always posted on Wilson and in the corridor to guide the audience.
7:30pm THE RAID: REDEMPTION (2011, dir. Gareth Evans, Sony Pictures Classics, Indonesia, 101mns, 35mm)
9:45pm THE RAID 2 (2014, dir. Gareth Evans, Sony Pictures Classics, Indonesia, 150mns, 35mm)
Much of the greatest action cinema of the latter 20th century and early 21st century has been coming from around the world. We want to throw the spotlight on movies that kick ass, take unique narrative approaches to their mix of story and cinema, AND say something interesting about the cultures in which they were made.
Tonight, we screen (on 35mm!) two of the most kick-ass martial arts movies of the last 15 years: The Raid: Redemption and The Raid 2.
Interestingly, though both these movies take place in Indonesia, feature almost entirely Indonesian casts, and focus on the Indonesian martial arts style pancak silat, they were written and directed by Welsh filmmaker Gareth Evans.
They both star Pencak Silat martial arts superstar Iko Uwais as rookie cop Rama.
Raid: Redemption jumps us right into one of the greatest action set-ups of the last fifty years. Rama’s police team is called into taking down a drug dealer and his henchmen holed up in a large multi-story apartment building. But when they get inside, the whole thing turns into a set-up and the cops have to fight for their lives to escape a brutal punishing execution at the hands of henchmen who occupy every floor.
Rama, trained in Pencak Silat, works to use his brains and his martial arts skills once trapped inside.
The stunts, sequences, and action make you lose your breath. You will be sitting on the edge of your seat for 100 minutes until the very final sequence. And Evans and his team wisely introduce a number of high emotional stakes so the fight sequences take on added resonance.
We follow this with The Raid 2: Berendal which picks up just minutes after The Raid: Redemption ends. The Raid 2 takes on a much bigger epic gangster canvas as Rama goes undercover in a jail then infiltrates a crime family to try and root out the police corruption and collaboration with Jakarta gangsters that was at the heart of the first Raid.
Evans and team channel their inner-anime and gangster epic souls to deliver an expansive martial arts movie that dares to essentially become one long multi-varied stunning action sequence from roughly the mid-point of the movie to the very end.
Both these movies will get your adrenaline going, satisfy your action jones, blow your mind with their incredible filmmaking. And both are on 35mm!
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.