Double Feature: THEY LIVE, 1988, Universal, 97 min. Dir. John Carpenter. Construction worker Roddy Piper learns that the world has been taken over by grinning skull-headed aliens who are permeating society with subliminal messages to mindlessly consume. (Sound like some corporations you know?) Glimpsing the truth with the aid of special sunglasses that strip away the phony layers of manufactured reality, he and fellow drifter Keith David join the underground to rebel against the mind control in this searingly satirical sci-fi jaunt, one of Carpenter’s best and wildest films. Co-starring Meg Foster.
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New 35mm Print! BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, 1986, 20th Century Fox, 99 min. Dir. John Carpenter. Ultra-colorful adventure in the grand tradition of 1930s serials, starring Kurt Russell as a cocky truck driver who finds himself battling ancient Chinese warlords and hideous demons to save feisty Kim Cattrall ("Sex and the City"). A great guilty pleasure, and one of Carpenter’s most purely entertaining genre films.
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Added by AmericanCinematheque on August 26, 2010