The Thing on Thurs. Jan. 9 + a Note on The Thing from Gabe!

Come see The Thing on January 9!

🗓️ Thursday, January 9 at Dormouse Theatre | 🎟️ Get tickets!
⏰ Doors and Antarctic pre-show around 6:30pm, The Thing starts around 7:30pm
🎬 The Thing (1982, 1hr 49min, dir. John Carpenter)
🎬 Cast: Kurt Russell, Keith David, Wilford Brimley
🎬 Music by: Ennio Morricone, John Carpenter

Join us for a cold weather classic! For our pre-show we’ll be playing silent archival Antarctic footage from about 6:30pm - 7pm, and then moving toward more contemporary Antarctic footage with sound around 7pm.

When an alien being begins killing off and assuming the identities of Antarctic scientists, it's up to rough and rugged R.J. MacReady (Kurt Russell) to battle the creature as well as his paranoid colleagues. Featuring mind-boggling practical special effects from Rob Bottin and tension that can only be cut with a flame-thrower, The Thing is best viewed on the big screen with a crowd. Who knows, the person sitting next to you in the dark may not be who they seem…

The Thing Lives!

By: Gabe!

I’ve been sitting on writing this little introduction for The Thing for a couple weeks now. One part of me has been giddy about the opportunity to write something to you all about this wonderful film. Another part of me has felt at a total loss for how to articulate what I love about the movie and what makes it so special. But as the credits roll on this latest viewing, I look out the window at the first heavy snowfall of the new year, and I think about the fact that it’s 2025 and I’m still watching The Thing. And I’m still completely captivated by it.

I first watched the film in my early childhood; some might say too early in my childhood, but I think it’s good to see these kinds of movies when you’re not “supposed” to. It left a deep impression on me and introduced me to John Carpenter and Ennio Morricone behind the camera, and Kurt Russell and Keith David in front. I continued to revisit it throughout my life, sharing it with friends and family until it became a shared object of affection. One friend of mine just rewatched The Thing around the same time as me actually, and their review on Letterboxd simply reads: “I’m forcing everyone at my funeral to sit through the entirety of this!” And as all of these things flash through my mind, looking out my window at the first snow of 2025, I think about the fact that The Thing was released in 1982.

I could drone on and on with everything I love about The Thing, but I’d end up keeping you here all day. I think the essence of what I want to say about the film can be summed up by William Friedkin speaking on the enduring legacies of other classics: “2001 was made in 1968 and holds up like gangbusters. It’s better than all this other similar crap… and Citizen Kane was made in 1941, and it lives!” As much as that interview makes me chuckle to think about, I also think earnestly about the truth of that statement. “It lives!,” such a succinct description of what makes a classic. And as we gear up to screen it here in lil’ ol’ Kalamazoo, Michigan as our first movie of 2025, it can hardly be argued that this doesn’t apply to The Thing. So come and join us this Thursday, and start the new year off right with John Carpenter’s masterpiece. Relive the magic, or bring along a friend that’s never seen it! Watching someone watch The Thing for the first time is almost as good as the movie itself!

Final Film Favorites List for Season 1

Thanks to everyone for coming to Tangerine only 6 days before its plot takes place on Christmas Eve! It was so much fun to watch with others, and (personally speaking) the film, and particularly its soundtrack, humor, and emotion, hit so much harder on a big screen around Christmas with a crowd. We had a couple film suggestions from this show to share, along with the final list of film suggestions from attendees throughout Season 1!

Sam
A Serious Man (2009, dir. The Coen Brothers)
Favorite Coen Brothers movie, hilarious stuff.

Garrett
The End We Start From (2023, dir. Mahalia Belo)
Apocalyptic fiction as an allegory for childbirth? Sure, why not?!!

This season we ended up with 51 films suggested by folks in our community, across a wide variety of decades and genres, with convincing reasons why we should watch them. Some were chosen multiple times by multiple people! It’s worth a look, and if you’re like us you’ll definitely end up with a bunch more films on your watchlist!

On January 9 The Dormouse Theatre is the warmest place to hide…

That’s it for now, see you next time. Grab your tickets, tell some friends, and we’ll see you all at Dormouse Theatre on Thursday for The Thing! Links for tickets are below, and there will be delicious popcorn and non-alcoholic drinks for purchase!