This weekend sees the climax of May’s Mike McCarthy love-in. Friday night, May 23rd, Black Lodge Video hosts the DVD release party for Cigarette Girl, McCarthy’s latest feature, first released in 2009 and remastered and handsomely packaged by Music+Arts Studio. The DVD includes a director’s commentary from McCarthy, loads of special features, and a CD of Jonathan Kirkscey’s brilliant score. The party starts at 9:30 p.m., and it will include live music from Mouserocket and Hanna Star (McCarthy’s daughter).
Saturday night is the main event, with a marathon of McCarthy’s films showcased just where they ought to be: at a drive-in. Time Warp Drive-In celebrates 20 years of Guerrilla Monster films with a screening of Cigarette Girl, Teenage Tupelo, The Sore Losers, Superstarlet A.D., Elvis Meets the Beatles, Midnight Movie, and more. Among the “more”: live music from the Subtractions and popcorn baptisms (!).
Time Warp Drive-In is the work of McCarthy, Malco’s Jimmy Tashie, and Black Lodge’s Matthew Martin. They launched Time Warp Drive-In last Halloween season with a “Shocktober” screening of horror classics such as A Nightmare on Elm Street and Evil Dead 2.
“Let’s have fun,” McCarthy says of the concept. “I talk about the past a lot, but I’m actively living in the present and looking forward to the future. But I want the past to travel with me.”
In April, Time Warp Drive-In settled into a regular format, screening the last Saturday of each month. April was tagged Soulful Cinema, with Hustle & Flow, Purple Rain, Superfly, and Coffy; June has road classics like Two Lane Blacktop and Bullitt; July celebrates Stanley Kubrick’s birthday; August memorializes death week with a selection of Elvis films; August also revs up for bike films such as The Wild One and Girl on a Motorcycle; September honors Tim Burton; and October brings Shocktober back with more horror.
“I can’t say enough nice things about Jimmy Tashie at Malco,” McCarthy says. “He is this presence who understands the 20th century and what the drive-in was originally there for.”
McCarthy’s films will look great projected in the Memphis night air.
Cigarette Girl DVD Release Party
Friday, May 23rd, 9:30 p.m.
Black Lodge Video
Time Warp Drive-In Presents the Underground Cinema of Mike McCarthy
Saturday, May 24th, dusk
$10 per person
Malco’s Summer Drive-In
