SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents
Part of our THE HEART WANTS Series, Monday, February 20, 2023
Also Playing on Tuesday, February 21st
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 WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (1989, dir. Rob Reiner, Columbia, USA, 96mns, 35mm)
9:30pm SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE (1993, dir. Nora Ephron, Columbia, USA, 105mns, 35mm)
Tonight we do two by Nora Ephron (and Rob Reiner and Meg Ryan when you get down to it) as we screen When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, often considered two of the best romantic comedies of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.
Interestingly, both movies reference a classic romance movie from Hollywood’s golden era as a touchstone. In When Harry Meets Sally, it’s Casablanca. In Sleepless in Seattle, it’s An Affair To Remember. And it’s fun to see how Ephron uses the plot points and debates in the classic movies to inform her characters’ emotions and actions in her modern day riffs.
When Harry Met Sally really is the gold standard when it comes to romantic comedies from the 1980’s to even our present moment. It’s hard to think of any rom-com that comes close to the sustained love and joy this movie has brought generations of moviegoers.
Directed by Rob Reiner, starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, When Harry Met Sally has the nifty setup of showing us three key times Harry (Crystal) and Sally (Ryan) meet across their lives.
Though Harry and Sally start like oil and vinegar (don’t they all?) during a post-college road trip and a hilarious flight several years later, they surprise themselves by actually becoming friends in their 30’s.
As they go through setbacks, divorces, disappointments, they find themselves watching their best friends (Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby) fall in love and marry while Harry and Sally continue to strike out with the folks they date.
Of course. . . .ultimately we know where this is going. But how it gets there is so fun, so well-observed, so honest, yet so entertaining, that the movie only grows richer with repeated viewings.
We follow this with Ephron’s solo directing rom-com mega-hit 1993’s Sleepless in Seattle starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan (again!). Here, Ephron uses the classic Cary Grant-Deborah Kerr An Affair to Remember as the touchstone to tell the story of recently widowed Sam (Hanks) whose son gets him to open up on a radio talk show. Thousands of women hear the segment and journalist Annie (Ryan) is intrigued by the phenomenon.
Though Annie is engaged and Sam is focused on his son and they live in completely different cities, forces of fate, friends, and family conspire to get them to meet. As in When Harry Met Sally, Ephron channels an earnest good-heartedness in her characters that makes their love story moving.
And Hanks and Ryan had such fascinating chemistry that they were paired in two other movies (Joe vs the Volcano and You’ve Got Mail).
So if you just want to have a great Valentine’s Date Night of honesty, laughter, and good old fashioned rom-com goodness join us for this double!
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.