The Grand Illusion

🎶Summer beavs make me feel fine🎶 Sixteenth encore screening!

Our friends at Central Cinema are generously helping us keep the beavers gnawing away while we search for a new home. 60% of ticket sales go to our relocation fund!

In this 19th century, supernatural winter epic, a drunken applejack salesman must go from zero to hero and become North America’s greatest fur trapper by defeating hundreds of beavers.

Created by Mike Cheslik and Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, the duo behind the modern cult hit LAKE MICHIGAN MONSTER (2018).

Named one of the 10 best movies of 2024 by Ty Burr of The Washington Post and Amy Nicholson of The Los Angeles Times.

“Starts strange, gets stranger, and yet remains resolutely adorable… embraces the defiant glee of art cinema and distills it into something so thoroughly pure and sincere that it is surely hard not to fall in love with it.” Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Alliance of Women Film Journalists

“It’s sure to develop a significant cult following with its unique mix of silent-era slapstick, animation elements, theme-park-style critter costumes, and general air of inspired absurdity.” Dennis Harvey, Variety

“Steroidally swollen with gags and smarts.” Guy Maddin

Exclusive screenings of the brand new documentary about Cro-Mags founder Harley Flanagan, with Harley and his wife and manager, Laura Flanagan, joining for in-person Q&As after each showing!

Founder of the pioneering band Cro-Mags and a legend of the NYC Hardcore scene, Harley Flanagan is a punk rock icon who has defied the odds and come out the other side. But while his career has been a no-holds-barred ride, WIRED FOR CHAOS isn’t just about the music, it’s about a man forged in fire – a survivor of neglect, sexual abuse, drugs, violence and PTSD – who’s lived to tell the tale.

Featuring interviews with Henry Rollins, Flea, Darryl Jenifer of Bad Brains, and more!

Please note: Here-After is a 21 and over establishment. The entrance is via the alley in back of The Crocodile building. Get there early to order tasty beverages from the bar and delicious food from Tat’s Deli!

“Chances are if it happened in New York and it was important and interesting, Harley Flanagan was somewhere in the room.” Anthony Bourdain

“This film floored me… It’s a glorious portrait of the human spirit and of a person’s ability to change for the better.” Steve Kopian, Unseen Films

PREY. SLAY. DISPLAY. 20th anniversary of the wildly entertaining camp-adjacent slasher!

A group of college friends, including Wade (Jared Padalecki) and his girlfriend, Carly (Elisha Cuthbert), are en route to a school football game when they wind up with a flat tire on the outskirts of a ghost town, forcing them to seek help in the only place that appears to be open: the town’s local wax museum. Once inside the spooky and seemingly abandoned building, they find the works on display are not quite what they seem — and quickly discover they must fight to survive to keep from becoming the next exhibit.

With a cast mostly made up of pretty TV actors and, of course, Paris Hilton, HOUSE OF WAX is more of an entry in the teen slasher genre than a remake of the 1953 Vincent Price vehicle of the same name. The tropes are there: broken down car, middle of nowhere, couples splintering off, weirdo locals – but the inventiveness comes from the wax museum set up, the gnarly death scenes, and the creepy villains, providing plenty of fun scares and memorable set pieces.

Part of our Summer Camp series at Here-After.

Please note: Here-After is a 21 and over establishment. The entrance is via the alley in back of The Crocodile building. Get there early to order tasty beverages from the bar and delicious food from Tat’s Deli!

“…an example par excellence of aughts horror.” Jordan Crucciola, Vulture

“It takes confidence and hubris to challenge horror fans with remakes that become a different beast. When House of Wax swings, it swings so immeasurably hard that you become engulfed by the originality taking a new shape.” Matt Donato, Bloody Disgusting

30th anniversary of the legendary cult classic!

Running from a troubled past and possessed of a raw and riveting dancing talent, Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkley) is soon introduced to the arena of the sensual, pulsating stage shows on the storied Las Vegas Strip, and the powerful men and women who run them. One of those drawn to Nomi’s beauty and talent is Zack (Kyle MacLachlan), the ambitious entertainment director at the Stardust. Another is Cristal (Gina Gershon), the glamorous, coke-snorting star of the stage show “Goddess,” who may make Nomi… or break her. As the complex bonds of jealousy and love form between them, Nomi is drawn deeper into the world she so desperately desires and the allure of the spotlight she craves. It’s a world of passion, power, and personal moral choices where everything–and everyone–has a price.

Part of our Summer Camp series at Here-After.

Please note: Here-After is a 21 and over establishment. The entrance is via the alley in back of The Crocodile building. Get there early to order tasty beverages from the bar and delicious food from Tat’s Deli!

“Showgirls is one of those movies that doesn’t so much divide opinion as defy it.” Steve Rose, The Guardian

“Showgirls is the north star of camp.” Joshua Goodstein, Screen Speck

Jessie Maple became one of the first Black women to direct an independent film with this raw, unflinching portrait of heroin addiction and recovery. Shot on location in Harlem, WILL stars Obaka Adedunyo as the title character, a former All-American basketball star who has fallen from grace because of his dependence on junk. Soon after Will promises his wife, Jean (Loretta Devine, in her screen debut), that he’ll go straight, he becomes a father figure to Little Brother (Robert Dean), a street-tough teen who appears to be following in Will’s footsteps. By wising Little Brother up to the needle’s harsh realities, and by coaching a girls’ basketball team, Will renews his sense of purpose and begins to come out from under the influence—though dangerous temptations loom for both him and his young charge. This landmark of Black cinema was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress and embodies Maple's trailblazing determination to reflect the stories of her community onscreen.

Restored from the 16mm camera negative and magnetic sound elements by the Black Film Center & Archive (BFCA), the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Time-Based Media Archives and Conservation staff, and the Center for African American Media Arts, with generous funding provided by the SI-NMAAHC Robert Frederick Smith Center for the Digitization and Curation of African American History.

“A blunt cinematic instrument of immense power… Will’s crisis has a spiritual dimension, and Maple evokes it, dramatically and symbolically, in a wide-ranging and documentary-based view of Harlem.” Richard Brody, The New Yorker

“A hard-hitting, slice-of-life drama… Maple’s love for her neighborhood and her neighbors is obvious, as she paints an unflinching portrait of the struggle and resiliency of the community.” Tambay Obenson, IndieWire

45th anniversary of the woefully underseen summer camp classic!

In the fleeting summer days of 1980, fifteen-year-old girls Ferris (Tatum O’Neal) and Angel (Kristy McNichol) attend Camp Little Wolf outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Coming from different walks of life, with the privileged Ferris at odds with the scrappy, streetwise Angel, the two immediately end up in a disagreement during their bus ride to camp, which is only exacerbated by their lodging accommodations once they arrive, bunking next to one another. Fueled by their competitive peers, the two enter into a contest to see who will lose their virginity first. Through the trial, the two learn as much about each other as they do themselves, turning a ribald competition into budding days of friendship.

Long elusive on home video, LITTLE DARLINGS was recently restored from archival elements and looks more pristine than ever. This charming teen sex dramedy is an evocative, funny, and surprisingly tender antidote and precursor to the more raucous (and masculine) sex comedies of its era, full of more earnestness and sophistication than its original advertising might lead one to believe. Written by Dalene Young and Kimi Peck, and featuring supporting performances from Armand Assante and a very young Matt Dillon, LITTLE DARLINGS is the epitome of an underrated gem.

Part of our Summer Camp series at Here-After.

Please note: Here-After is a 21 and over establishment. The entrance is via the alley in back of The Crocodile building. Get there early to order tasty beverages from the bar and delicious food from Tat’s Deli!

“…what’s truly ahead of its time about this cult classic is the respect it showed for the vulnerabilities and preternatural wisdom of a generation of girls forced to grow up fast. O’Neal and McNichol share a magnetic chemistry but McNichol, in particular, delivers a fierce, iconic performance that sparked countless young gay crushes.” UCLA Film & Television Archive

IT’S SCENTSATIONAL!

For his first studio picture, filth maestro John Waters took advantage of his biggest budget yet to allow his muse, Divine, to sink his teeth into a role unlike any he had played before: Baltimore housewife Francine Fishpaw, a heroine worthy of a Douglas Sirk melodrama. Blessed with a keen sense of smell and cursed with a philandering pornographer husband, a parasitic mother, and a pair of delinquent children, the long-suffering Francine turns to the bottle as her life falls apart—until deliverance appears in the form of a hunk named Todd Tomorrow (vintage heartthrob Tab Hunter). One of Waters’ most hilarious inventions, POLYESTER is replete with stomach-churning smells, sadistic nuns, AA meetings, and foot stomping galore.

Each attendee will get an official Odorama card at the door in order to smell along with the movie. With Odorama, smelling is believing!

Part of our Summer Camp series at Here-After.

Please note: Here-After is a 21 and over establishment. The entrance is via the alley in back of The Crocodile building. Get there early to order tasty beverages from the bar and delicious food from Tat’s Deli!

“It’s a very funny [movie], with a hip, stylized humor that extends beyond the usual limitations of [Mr. Waters’s] outlook.” Janet Maslin, The New York Times

A gaudily-colored camp-romp satire, Jamie Babbit’s beloved queer comedy stars Natasha Lyonne as Megan, a high school senior with a secret eye for her fellow cheerleaders. Hoping to nip their daughter’s nascent lesbianism in the bud, Megan’s parents send her to the True Directions conversion therapy camp, where she winds up meeting and falling for the rebellious Graham (Clea DuVall). Adding to the fun is a crackerjack supporting cast featuring Cathy Moriarty, Melanie Lynskey, Michelle Williams, John Waters regular Mink Stole, and an out-of-drag RuPaul as the camp’s ostensibly cured counselor.

Part of our Summer Camp series at Here-After.

Please note: Here-After is a 21 and over establishment. The entrance is via the alley in back of The Crocodile building. Get there early to order tasty beverages from the bar and delicious food from Tat’s Deli!

“A delightfully subversive sendup of homophobia and ridiculously rigid gender roles that still feels all too relevant more than 20 years after its release.” Abbey Bender, Nylon

25th anniversary of one of the greatest dance movies ever made!

A dozen adolescents begin their training at the renowned American Ballet Academy, where they encounter tremendous physical and mental stress while vying for a coveted spot in a celebrated dance company. Jody Sawyer (Amanda Schull) has talent but the wrong proportions, the fiery Eva Rodriguez (Zoe Saldaña in her feature film debut) can’t seem to get along with her instructors, and Maureen (Susan May Pratt) is having a hard time enduring the emotional highs and lows that accompany ballet school.

Along with Schull, the film features a bevy of real-life professional dancers, such as Ethan Stiefel and Sascha Radetsky, both of whom were principals with the American Ballet Company. And although it’s far from the first film one would think of when considering campy movies, CENTER STAGE could conceivably be described as camp-adjacent. Regardless of its camp credentials, our Summer Camp series provides as good an opportunity as any to showcase this cult classic for its silver anniversary.

Please note: Here-After is a 21 and over establishment. The entrance is via the alley in back of The Crocodile building. Get there early to order tasty beverages from the bar and delicious food from Tat’s Deli!

“…an irresistible mélange of teen movie, dance drama, and clog-stuffed ’00s-era time capsule.” Hillary Busis, Entertainment Weekly

“…has proven itself to be the greatest dance movie of our generation. Thanks to its intense rivalries, dramatic dance-offs, and a memorable soundtrack, Center Stage was granted a place by fans among canonical dance films… It delivered camp… and incredible ballet sequences.” Ilana Kaplan, Marie Claire