Roxie screening honors cult classic
Hey, fans of “The Warriors,” come out and playyy-ay.
A 40th anniversary screening of Walter Hill’s 1979 cult classic at the Roxie is scheduled for 8:45 p.m. Thursday, May 23, but it won’t be just a screening — it’s a full-on party. Analog Time Machine has put together a music set by DJ Nutzeffekt, featuring pre-film visuals, with beer supplied by Local Brewing Co., as a warm-up to the movie about a Coney Island gang making a 30-mile trek across New York, running a gantlet of rival gangs and cops.
Hill once said his inspiration “came from Greek history: the story of Xenophon and the march of 10,000 (mercenary soldiers) to the Black Sea.” Yeah, but Xenophon never had to face gangs that include apparent mimes (in whiteface, suspenders and black caps); the Baseball Furies, a group decked out in pinstripes, stirrups and blueface and wielding Louisville Sluggers the way Luke Skywalker swings a lightsaber; and others such as the Boppers, the all-female Lizzies and the Gramercy Riffs.
The Warriors themselves have such names as Swan (Michael Beck), Ajax (James Remar), Mercy (Deborah Van Valkenburgh) and Rembrandt (Marcelino Sanchez).
By the way, the distinctive fan chant during these championship years of the Golden State Warriors — “Warrrr-iors! Warrrr-iors!” — comes from this movie. Analog Time Machine presents “The Warriors”: 8:45 p.m. Thursday, May 23. $9-$15. Roxie Theater, 3117 16th St., S.F. 415-863-1087. www.roxie.com