WILLOW at the ‘Reel Late at the Tivoli’ Midnight Series this Weekend

Though WILLOW (1988) was one of director Ron Howard’s few box-office disappointments, it definitely deserves a second look and you’ll have the opportunity to do so this weekend (May 17th and 18th) when it plays at midnight Friday and Saturday at the Tivoli as part of the Reel Late at the Tivoli Midnight series.

At once an epic celebration and a gentle spoof of the sword-and-sorcery genre, WILLOW was a collaborative effort between Howard and George Lucas and the pair threw an eclectic bunch of elements is thrown into the stewing pot – much like what Lucas did with Star Wars. Val Kilmer as the hero looks like Conan the Barbarian but acts like a clumsy Han Solo; the chief Villainess looks like a real-life version of the evil queen in Disney’s Snow White; the chief baddy looks like Darth Vader. Willow is well, a Hobbit.

There are even some fairies like Tinkerbell. The plot involves a mythical messiah who will rid the land of the despotic queen’s rule. All the first-born are summarily killed, except for the messiah-like figure who is set loose in a cane basket to float down a river and . . . well, you’ve got enough unobtrusive Biblical imagery to go around.

Admission is only EIGHT BUCKS!

I won’t be there this weekend doing my trivia/intro thing because I’ll be at Wonderfest in Louisville as a presenter at the Rondo Awards and as the host of the RAY HARRYHAUSEN SUPER-8 TRIBUTE SHOW, but I’ll be back at the Tivoli Memorial Day weekend for the midnight shows of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY…….also….I have a cat named Willow.

The Tivoli is located at 6350 Delmar in The Loop.

Visit Landmark’s The Tivoli’s website HERE
http://www.landmarktheatres.com/market/st.louis/tivolitheatre.htm

Here’s the rest of the Reel Late at the Tivoli Midnight schedule for the next couple of months:

May 24-25 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
May 31-June 1 A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
June 7-8 BRAZIL (European Cut)
June 14-15 CASABLANCA
June 21-22 BATMAN (1989)