SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents
Part of our SMC BIRTHDAY Series, Wednesday, June 14, 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 TOP GUN (1986, dir. Tony Scott, Paramount, USA, 110mns, 35mm)
9:50pm TOP GUN: MAVERICK (2022, dir. Joseph Kosinski, Paramount, USA, 130mns, DCP)
That’s right, our very own Elise Metcalf has chosen Top Gun on 35mm as her birthday pick. And since we’re going to be showing the original on 35mm, we have to show the (even better?!) sequel Top Gun: Maverick back to back for the full Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, jet fighter experience.
First up is Top Gun, the mid-1980’s movie that simultaneously made Tom Cruise a superstar (a perch from which he’s wobbled but never fallen), Tony Scott a go-to action director, and the military suddenly a hot recruiter again (this movie saw an uptick in sign ups).
At its heart, Top Gun is about impossibly good looking fighter pilots doing the dangerous deed, partying hard, but ultimately coming together to fight the good fight. Here we meet Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise), his co-pilot “Goose” (Anthony Edwards), and their rival Iceman (Val Kilmer) as they all jockey and vie to be the “Top Gun” in the Navy’s jet fighter pilot program.
Of course Maverick also finds time to fall in love with instructor Charlotte Blackwood (Kelly McGillis in a part based on an actual female instructor of fighter pilots), get in trouble, and find redemption.
Filmed in the mid-80’s MTV music video style that would soon dominate almost all summer movies for a generation (and further pushed by the likes of Michael Bay), Top Gun may be ridiculous and a bit too jingoistic but it also has some crazy LGBTQ subtext, a near soft-core porn all male volleyball game, and a bunch of young actors going gonzo and giving it their all.
Nearly thirty years later, Cruise would suit up again to reprise “Maverick” and much to everyone’s surprise, not only would the movie be a mega-hit even bigger than the original Top Gun but it would go on to become one of 2022’s most lauded movies: the kind of Hollywood blockbuster action feel good picture that seemed almost impossible to make anymore.
Here Top Gun: Maverick benefits from the history that has passed amongst all its stars. Cruise is still the wildly talented but insubordinate Maverick who now gets recruited (against the wishes of his superiors) by Iceman (Kilmer in a touching role who is now the commander of the Pacific fleet) to train a new cadre of young, insubordinate pilots for a near suicide mission. Among the new pilots is “Rooster” (Miles Teller) the son of Maverick’s deceased best friend “Goose” from the original. Rooster has axes to grin, Maverick has to overcome his own self-destructiveness, and all have to pull together to accomplish the mission.
Top Gun: Maverick in many ways finds a way to a more centered balance than the original Top Gun and thus won plaudits from everyone all sides of the political spectrum.
So join us to celebrate the birth of Elise Metcalf and the stardom of the irrepressible Tom Cruise.
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.