For over a decade Red Hook Flicks has taken great pleasure in bringing our community together every summer down at the pier. We’ve put off making this announcement until now in the hope that circumstances would suddenly, radically improve and Red Hook Flicks would still be able to bring you a 2020 summer season. Although the city is slowly reopening, the logistical difficulties of safely organizing a large public gathering right now are legion, and the local businesses that have faithfully sponsored us throughout the years are facing their own challenges. Sadly, we will be taking a hiatus this year, but we have every reason to expect that we will return in 2021. You can keep an eye on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts for updates and reach out to us directly at redhookflicks@gmail.com. Thank you for all your support and be well.
BOYZ N THE HOOD . . . coming 8/20!
18 Aug
In honor of the late, great John Singleton, who left us all-too-early this year, we’re screening his first and arguably greatest film this Tuesday: BOYZ N THE HOOD. Starring Cuba Gooding, Jr., Angela Bassett, Ice Cube, and Laurence Fishburne, the film depicts the lives of three young men growing up in South Central L.A. Loosely based on events in Singleton’s own life and people he knew, the film revolutionized black cinema at the time and launched the careers of its stars. Singleton, just twenty-four at the time, received an Oscar nomination for Best Director, making him both the first African-American and the youngest person ever to be nominated for the award.
BOYZ N THE HOOD is brought to you by the O’Connell Organization. And while there won’t be dinner served at the pier this Tuesday, we do encourage everyone to check out Red Hook’s latest restaurant, Hoek Pizza, located just across from Valentino Park on Ferris Street. They’re open until 11 P.M. and serve their Roman-style brick oven pizza to go. And as always, Steve’s will stay open late so you can partake of their famous key lime pies and swingles.
See you at the pier!
THE DARK CRYSTAL is a go at the Pier!
13 Aug
The weather gods have shined on us. While it may have been looking pretty grey and stormy all day, the radar is showing clear skies ahead for Red Hook this evening and we’re going to keep things out doors, just the way we like them. THE DARK CRYSTAL starts at 8:30 this evening, and to warm things up we’ll be opening with a special short film from our screening partner ART21 about the artist Alex Da Corte. See you at the Pier!
THE DARK CRYSTAL . . . coming 8/13!
11 Aug
In just a few weeks Netflix will release it’s DARK CRYSTAL prequel AGE OF RESISTANCE and whether you’re a fan of Jim Henson’s groundbreaking original film, or curious what all the brouhaha is about, Tuesday night’s screening is for you. Directed by Henson and Frank Oz, THE DARK CRYSTAL was a decided departure from typical muppet’s fare. The pioneering fantasy follows Jen, the last of the Gelfling race, as he tries to reunite the warring tribes on his world by restoring the missing piece of a powerful gem that once provided balance to the universe.
THE DARK CRYSTAL is brought to us this week by Fulla Shirts and Mark’s Pizza, who will be on hand serving up slices of their classic New York pies. And as always Steve’s Key Lime will be open late to dish out his signature tarts and swingles. So come on down and we’ll see you at the pier!
REAL GENIUS . . . coming 8/6!
4 Aug
This summer we’re doubling down on one of the eighties singular stars–Val Kilmer. Before he was Iceman in TOP GUN, he played the wise-cracking Chris Knight in Martha Coolidge’s campus comedy REAL GENIUS. Loosely inspired by actual events at Cal Tech, the film follows a group of university students who realize the “extra credit” project they’ve been working on has a more sinister purpose than they ever suspected. With career-defining performances from Kilmer and costar William Atherton as the ethically-challenged Dr. Hathaway, REAL GENIUS is an eighties comedy classic.
This week’s film is brought to us by Wet Whistle Wines and Dolce Brooklyn. Come early and enjoy live blues and roots music from the Brooklyn Corn Dodgers while snacking on some fantastic gelato and sorbetto from Dolce. Flavors include: Cookies and Cream, Espresso, Strawberry Basil, and Apricot ($5).
HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS . . . coming 7/23!
21 Jul
This tuesday is the first of our two kids’ movies this season and also the first night looking like it might be a rain out. But that’s ok, if there are storm clouds on the horizon, you can watch the Rick Moranis classic about an absent-minded professor with a shrinking ray and his wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time kids at our fantastic rain location–Rocky Sullivan’s–instead. Check back here or on our Facebook and Twitter for weather updates on Tuesday. We’ll make the call by 6:00 P.M.
HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS is being brought to us this Tuesday by Erie Basin and Brooklyn Ice House. And regardless of whether we wind up watching the movie at the pier or Rocky’s, Ice House will be on hand to serve up a fabulous dinner of pulled pork sandwiches with cole slaw ($6), hot dogs ($3), and mac and cheese ($5). Wash it all down with flavored seltzers ($2) and it’s a meal fit for a kid, no matter their size.
But that’s not all, this Tuesday we’ll also be fortunate enough to have some pre-movie music in association with Jalopy Theater. Come early and catch Nora Brown on banjo and Jackson Lynch on fiddle as they play an old-time set from 7:45-8:30. They are not to be missed!
MAJOR LEAGUE . . . coming 7/16!
14 Jul
Time to fight fire with fire: since the heat shows no sign of letting up this week, we’re just going to have to bring some of our own. Come on down to the pier this Tuesday for MAJOR LEAGUE, starring Charlie Sheen as a myopic pitcher with a 101 MPH fastball alongside Tom Berringer, Corbin Bernsen, and Wesley Snipes, as they try to pull the Cleveland Indians out of an epic losing streak.
Rene Russo and Bob Uecker also star in David S. Ward’s comedy classic, which is brought to us this week thanks to the sponsorship of Dry Dock Wine + Spirits and Fort Defiance. Wondering what’s on deck for dinner on Tuesday? BLTs, tomato salad, potato salad, and, of course, Cracker Jacks, all courtesy of Fort D.
So gather up your rum for Jobu and we’ll see you at the pier!
TOP GUN . . . coming 7/9!
7 Jul
Do you feel the need for speed? Well do we have the movie for you! This year at the pier, we’re doing an entire season of eighties classics and we’re kicking things off with TOP GUN. While we wait with baited breath for next summer’s long-promised sequel, we can relive the glory of the original, which helped launch Tom Cruise’s career into a stratospheric orbit that, over thirty years on, shows little signs of decay.
Also starring Anthony Edwards, Val Kilmer, Kelly McGillis, and Tom Skerritt, TOP GUN is brought to you by SHARED Brooklyn and Hometown Bar-B-Que. Lucky for you, our friends at Hometown have cooked up a menu fit for a fighter pilot: “The Maverick,” a sandwich of brisket sausage, fried onions, currywurst sauce, and chives on a toasted baguette, served with potato chips or German potato salad ($10); “The Goose,” a veggie Banh Mi sandwich on a toasted baguette with chips or German potato salad ($10); and, to wash it all down, “The Iceman,” your choice of sweet tea or lemonade over shaved ice ($5). And as always Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies will be staying open late so that you can partake of their pies and swingles.
Fire up the jets and we’ll see you at the pier!
SAVE LIDGERWOOD! SAVE VALENTINO PARK!
4 Jun
***7/9 UPDATE***
For those following the fight to save Lidgerwood and protect Valentino Park, the community meeting will be tonight at 6 PM. Stop by on your way to our opening night screening of TOP GUN. If you can’t make the meeting, please consider signing the petition.
***UPDATE***
This just in from Nydia Velazquez’s office (6/4/19, 5:37 PM):
THERE WON’T BE A FRIDAY MEETING BECAUSE OF POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS
The community meeting is being postponed because of a very positive development. In a nutshell:
UPS’s chief engineer ordered a new engineering analysis this morning, informed by community desires to preserve a portion of the south façade of the Lidgerwood building. While the analysis is taking place, no additional demolition of that portion of the Coffey Street façade side will take place, though demolition will continue on other parts of the site.
UPS is also creating a dedicated email: redhookcommunity@ups.com (will be active tomorrow) for community input for ideas that might help with the new engineering analysis and design . In fact, UPS has already gotten very helpful ideas and suggestions from 9 people in the community and they want an organized way of collecting additional input, hence the specific email address. They also want to be sure to get people’s phone numbers for quick communication and idea exchanges as they work through doing the new engineering analysis and developing the site plan.
As soon as UPS has something ready to share we will schedule a community meeting with them. This seems fair as the meeting and new email account, set up specifically to collect input, will help to frame the new engineering analysis.
This is good news–for now. We will post updates on the fate of Lidgerwood here on the site in between our usual summer programming news.
***
As we get ready to announce our summer slate of films, something else is weighing heavily on our minds at Red Hook Flicks. The Lidgerwood Building, seen above, has long been part of the backdrop of Valentino Park and, for over a decade, our series.
UPS now owns it and instead of adaptive re-use, they have rushed to demolish it, despite community protest and a request to landmark, in order to build a big box distribution center across from Valentino Pier. Part of the building is already lost, but much of the facade seen here still exists. We fear what a large, industrial building with flood lighting and constant truck traffic will do to the iconic character of the area, as well as the environment of Valentino Pier and the respite it has long provided for the neighborhood and visitors alike. The fabric of this beloved waterfront park, bounded on three sides by historic buildings, some dating back to the Civil War, will be irreversibly torn apart.
Red Hook has already lost so many of our historic buildings to the wrecking ball, if you’d like to help prevent another, please consider signing this petition. More importantly, UPS has granted the community a meeting this Friday, June 7th, at 7 PM in Red Hook to finally hear our concerns. This will be our one chance to show up in force and communicate to UPS how important this park is to us–and that as a neighborhood we matter. We will update with a location as soon as it becomes available.
DR. STRANGELOVE or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb . . . coming 8/28!
26 Aug
It’s hard to believe but this Tuesday is our final film of the season, and in many ways we’ve saved the best for last. Stanley Kubrick’s Cold War satire DR. STRANGELOVE ranks among not only his greatest films, but as one of the best films ever made and one of the first to be selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Starring Peter Sellers in several roles, including the titular doctor, George C. Scott, and Slim Pickens, the film mines black comedy gold out of Mutually Assured Destruction, following the aftermath of a U.S. Air Force general (Scott) gone completely off the rails and the politicians and military leaders scrambling to walk back the nuclear attack he’s just triggered.
DR. STRANGELOVE is brought to you by Wet Whistle Wines and Pizza Moto, who will be down at the pier slinging pies from their mobile pizza oven. And you know what goes great with pizza? Key lime pie! Steve’s will be open late as always so you can partake of his tarty key lime goodness. See you at the pier!
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