Monday, September 14, 2009

Little hand says it's time to rock and roll.

Sorry for the short notice, but good opportunities for rooftop movies this time of year are harder to come by than in July and August, and with the early week warm front and the fact that Angel and I are otherwise disposed later in the week, tomorrow night is looking like an excellent night to sit under the stars with a movie.

With that in mind, we're making last year's Patrick Swayze tribute (which kicked off with Roadhouse) an annual event with a screening of his 1991 action masterpiece, Point Break, in which he plays a bleached blonde surfer who accepts FBI agent Keanu Reeves into his surf-gang as Reeves is learning how to surf in order to bust a ring of Presidentially-masked robbers who the Bureau also suspects are hanging ten in their time away from crime. Reeves goes a little native as he is seduced by the thrill-seeking allure of the waves, while Swayze is perhaps more than he first appears to be. All in all, a classic.

It's also directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who I'd say is now a shoo-in for a Best Picture nomination for this year for The Hurt Locker, and like her latest, it's yet another example of why she's one of the best action directors in Hollywood, even if she's sadly underemployed and, it seems, passed over for more marquee properties in favor of male directors who are usually incapable of making action flicks quite as gripping and smart as she is at her best. So we have Patrick Swayze (reason enough for you to show up), Keanu Reeves in a role you won't hate him in, Gary Busey before he went batshit insane, and some of the best action sequences ever put to film. Sold, see you there!

Bring a hoodie, or a blanket, or a slanket, or a snuggie, because it can get a little chilly up there in September. Flasks of whiskey also help.