Fast Times in Syracuse

No shirt, no shoes, no dice: Sean Penn plays surfer dude Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, screening Friday at Eastwood’s Palace Theatre.

On Friday, March 5, the third “Brew and
View” event will begin unspooling at 10 p.m. at Eastwood’s Palace
Theatre, 2385 James St. The monthly film series also has a monthly
theme; March’s extravaganza, dubbed “1980s Dance Party,” features 35
millimeter prints of the 1982 Phoebe Cates-Sean Penn flick, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, as well as the 1985 “Brat Pack” detention drama The Breakfast Club.
But whereas most theaters encourage a “no-talking” atmosphere
practically as soon as the ticket-taker slips you a stub, the Brew and
View is more of a social outing.  

“It’s not like a regular movie
experience,” said organizer Jeff Meyer, also the projectionist at the
IMAX theater at the Museum of Science and Technology. “It’s an
interactive, sociable event that in between each movie, people can buy
a beer and talk to other people in a setting that is unlike any other
in Syracuse.”

Available for sale in the lobby before,
between and during flicks, are bottles of beer poured into a plastic
cup that you can bring back into the theater’s seating area if you
choose. Also, a deejay will be spinning the synthesized drum-machine
beats of the New Wave era in the lobby before and between movies.

A dress code, which will also save you a
couple of bucks on admission, encourages the fads of the 1980s:
acid-washed jeans, Ray-Ban shades, leg warmers, Flock of Seagulls
hairdos or whatever other “material” girl or boy attire you can
concoct. At last month’s Brew and View, on Friday, Feb. 13, several
theatergoers came dressed in character of the night’s slasher flick
theme, as Friday the 13th Part IV and Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho were screened.

The unexpected can also be expected at
Brew and View. During last month’s triple feature, Meyer spontaneously
announced a drinking game before he reeled out the final movie of the
night, Juan Piquer Simon’s 1982 cult classic Pieces. The
audience responded with good-natured hoots and hollers until the final
credits rolled. “Even the people who were drinking soda had a real good
time with it,” noted Meyer.

This is not just the only event of its
kind in the Syracuse area; it’s the only event of its kind in the
Northeast. “What makes this special is that we’re doing things they’re
doing in Los Angeles, Chicago and Denver,” continued Meyer. “In New
York City, they screen classic movies but don’t add anything different.”

Meyer has also organized the Shaun Luu
Horror Fest at the Palace for the past five years. The all-day,
all-night event held in June features live music and several ghoulish
films in honor of Meyer’s late friend Luu, who passed away June 10,
2005, from cancer. There have also been similar “View” nights in the
last year. But it wasn’t until he tagged on a rhyming buzzword that he
realized he could turn these one-night film fests into a monthly
occurrence.

“All of the events have been
non-alcoholic until we decided to sell beer at a zombie-themed event
last October,” said Meyer. “We’ve been doing this for five years, and
it wasn’t until we did the theme nights and added the beer that people
started becoming more aware of it. It’s kind of bizarre how you throw
the word ‘brew’ or ‘beer’ in the title of an event that people start to
really recognize it.”

One group of people that have recognized
the efforts of Meyer from the beginning, are the folks at the Golisano
Children’s Hospital. Proceeds from every Shaun Luu Horror Fest have
been donated to the hospital, with last June’s event raising more than
$4,000. These Brew and Views serve the same function.

“I’m not making a penny off of this,”
said Meyer. “The people at the Palace really liked the idea, so we
worked it out where half the ticket sales go to Golisano and the other
half to the Palace. Our goal is to raise over $4,000 for a nurse’s
station to be built with a memorial plaque in honor of Shaun Luu.”

Several local establishments have teamed
with Meyer to help sponsor the event, also adding to the down-home
feeling. The Recess Coffee House (110 Harvard Place) will be sponsoring
April 10’s Brew and View, an all Arnold Schwarzenegger night, while
Cloud City Comics (3216 Erie Blvd. E., DeWitt) presents a night of
fantasy flicks like The Princess Bride and Labyrinth on
May 8 and the Masonic Lodge No. 501 (608 Oswego St., Liverpool) will
back an evening of Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns on June 5.

“This is an event not just for movie
buffs,” continued Meyer, “but also for people who are fed up with
current Hollywood movies and having to pay $10 to watch one, instead of
$8 to see two like we offer. The {Brew and View} is also here to bring
back memories while having a good time in the here and now and it seems
to be working.”

Meyer said that Brew and View will
usually be a triple bill, but the Palace had an event already booked
for the 1980s night so he could only schedule two. Tickets for
admission to both movies cost $8, or $6 if you come dressed up in 1980s
gear. For more information call 436-4723 or visit
www.myspace.com/35mmbrewandview.

—Tom Kahley