“Weird Wednesday: Allan Arkush’s HEARTBEEPS (1981) in 35mm”
August 22, 2018
Heartbeeps
10:15 pm
Containing Andy Kaufman, Bernadette Peters, Jerry Garcia, Christopher Guest
Showcasing comic genius Andy Kaufman’s final performance (a continuation of his iconic character Latka on TAXi), this surprisingly sincere STAR WARS knock-off could be the greatest 1980s sci-fi existential kids flick you’ve never heard of.
Universal Studios took a $10 million dollar chance on this transcendental comedy of a group of robots who escape their factory job and find themselves fugitives on the run. Stan Winston received an Oscar nomination for his remarkable special effects transforming Andy Kaufman and Bernadette Peters into robots, while Jerry Garcia (of The Grateful Dead) provides guitar sounds to voice their baby robot.
Throw in comic legends like Christopher Guest, Mary Woronov, Paul Bartel, Randy Quaid and a long lost musical score by John Williams and you’ve got an unfairly maligned and misunderstood sci-fi children’s flick that was way ahead of its time.
Presented by MiDNiTES FOR MANiACS and hosted by Jesse Hawthorne Ficks.