Doing some Van Dammage at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Yonkers, NY
January 19th, 2015 by Mr. C
(Cristina Cacioppo and Alamo programmer from Austin hosting the event)
There was definitely some Van Dammage done last weekend as we celebrated the ‘split personality films of the muscles from Brussels – Jean Cleade Van Damme! There was a secret 4 movie marathon held at Alamo Drafthouse Yonkers, NY in honor of JCVD and the movie selection probably surprised a whole lotta folks! None of the classic Van Damme films were shown like Bloodsport, Kickboxer, or No Retreat No Surrender – the three films that really lifted him into stardom with the suave attitude and kickass persona that we would link him to. The four films they did show at the marathon in order of appearance was: Sudden Death, Lionheart, Knock Off, & Hard Target – all in 35mm format. Sudden Death and Lionheart were great to see again! I had forgotten how fun and illogical Sudden Death was! So much effort was put into this eventful sudden death Stanley Cup finals game all just to extort money! Then again it wouldn’t be a Van Damme film if it wasn’t this epic! Lionheart took us back to Van Damme’s roots of being a kickass underground fighter all the while exposing his ass to the ladies! Knock Off really knocked me off out of my seat literally, I’ve never seen this Jean Cleade – Rob Schneider – Paul Sorvino comedy/action/drama mash up directed by none other than Tsui Hark. The film looked great in terms of production and action choreography no doubt but the film was so disjointed in many places that it was hard to take in at times. I love me a really silly Rob Schneider film anyday but the story was so weird and out there that it made the chemistry between the cast so ‘what the fuck’. I have to say there were some scenes with explosions and ass-kickery that entertained the hell out of me though. I also very much enjoyed the filming location in Hong Kong, too! The last film was a dead give-away because of the contest they had prior to the screening. The contest involved punching and eating snakes! Hard Target was an absurd blend of the high kicking, charismatic, & questionable acting chops of JCVD with the often slo-mo, violent but stylistic blood shed scenes of John Woo. The Woo definitely made Van Damme look extra cool flapping those guns around while doing those infamous JCVD kicks! The plot of the movie was very much contrived but who watches a John Woo and Jean Cleade films for the story? Consider your ass kicked!! Ding Ding Ding!
Thanks to Alamo Drafthouse for organizing such a fun event including the delicious and creative Van Dammage menu! The Sudden Death Chicken and Waffles was a winner! The double impact fries had me doing the deuce by the end of the night!
Also thanks to Alamo Drafthouse’s creative programmer – Cristina Cacioppo and her partner in crime from Austin for MC’ing the event! Love the JCVD pin!
(Uncle Douvee’s mason jar & the JCVD pin! – Photo courtesy of Alamo Drafthouse Yonkers,NY)
Sandwiched in between the surprise films were fun trailers, commercials, and past appearances by Jean Cleade Van-Damme and the special Q/A session with JCVD – you really can’t make any of this stuff up!
(Van Damme’s famous split in the Volvo Commercial)
(“This test was set up to demonstrate the stability and precision of Volvo dynamic steering.”)
(Jean Cleade showing of his speed & accuracy by kicking the bottle off the man’s head)
(Jean Cleade working out to Johnny Kemp’s song – Just got paid)
Tags: alamo drafthouse, jean cleade van damme, van dammage
Posted in movies, mr. c, photos | Comments (0)
