Midnite Movies presents Fantastic Planet
Written by Joe D on April 28th, 2009As a youth I often ventured to the Midnite Movies at a (somewhat) nearby theater, the Park in West Caldwell, NJ. I saw many a strange and wonderful film there until the place mysteriously burned to the ground. Was the neighborhood fed up with hordes of hippie types exiting at 2AM, trailing clouds of marijuana smoke, walking across manicured lawns, crashing through bushes. Who knows. But here is a trailer for one of the Midnite Movies I saw there, a hallucinatory animated feature called Fantastic Planet. See it if you can, hopefully surrounded by love children in an old movie palace, the acrid fumes of cannabis wafting by.
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A memory almost as intoxicating as the smoke that hung in the air. The Park Theatre ran double- and triple-bills with a theme… three Phillip Marlowes, for example — Bogart, Elliot Gould, and Robert Mitchum. I vividly recall a Beatles triple: Help, Hard Day’s Night, and at midnight, Magical Mystery Tour. As shovelfuls of spaghetti are being heaped on Ringo Starr, one viewer wailed, “Oh, man… I can’t take it!” The local constabulary were always present for the midnight show, mostly as babysitters, and laughed along with the audience. As always, a (secondhand) good time had by all.
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Big W
I think I saw that Marlowe triple bill. Also I saw Magical Mystery Tour at Midnight. What a great venue!
Joe D
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Hey Joe,
You may have already heard, but I’m really excited that Fantastic Planet is coming out on Blu-Ray in the UK, released by the wonderful Masters of Cinema label. Releases July 26.
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FW,
I didn’t know. Thanks for the information.