In case you haven’t heard, BIRDEMIC: SHOCK AND TERROR is this year’s – oh, I don’t know – REEFER MADNESS, maybe, or PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE? Perhaps “this year’s TROLL 2” would be more apt, what with the TROLL 2 documentary BEST WORST MOVIE currently making the rounds of art houses. In any case, BIRDEMIC, is one of those movies that, almost inexplicably, becomes embraced because of – rather than in spite of – its cinematic ineptitude (which includes laughably bad CGI that wouldn’t pass muster in a kid’s videogame). The difference between BIRDEMIC and its camp movie precursors is that, whereas REEFER MADNESS, PLAN NINE, TROLL 2, and others of their ilk took years, even decades, before their badness was recognized for its entertainment possibilities, BIRDEMIC has been embraced right out of the gate.
Picked up by Severin Distribution, writer-director James Nguye’s 2008 debut effort – basically a riff on Hitchcock’s THE BIRDS – has been screening to enthusiastic crowds for several weeks, eliciting derisive howls in cities across the country, and it is now expanding its reach to Canada and the U.K. (Let’s hope this doesn’t hurt international relations any.) The no-name cast includes Alan Bagh, Whitney Moore, Janae Caster, and Colton Osborne. Somehow, THE BIRDS’ Tippi Hedren was persuaded to make a cameo appearance.
If you want to see what all the screaming and laughing is about, check out these screenings:
- May 21st & 22nd — COLUMBIA, MO — Ragtag Cinemas (encore screening)
- May 28th & 29th — SAN FRANCISCO — The Roxie Theater (SF encore screenings)
- May 28th — LONDON, UK — The Curzon Soho (Official UK Premiere! James Nguyen in attendance)
- May 28th & 29th — OTTAWA, ON — The Mayfair Theatre
- May 28th – 30th — SPRINGFIELD, MO — The Moxie Cinema
- June 2nd — PORTLAND, ME — Space Gallery
- June 4th — NOTTINGHAM, UK — Broadway Cinema (Director James Nguyen and star Adam Sessa in person)
- June 4th & 5th — TEMPE, AZ — MADCAP Theater (4th encore screening)
- June 4th & 5th — DALLAS, TX — The Inwood Theater (Landmark Midnight screenings)
- June 4th-6th — BOSTON, MA — The Brattle Theatre
- June 5th — BRADFORD, UK — National Media Museum (Midnight showing as part ofhte 9th Fantastic Films Weekend)
- July 9 – London, UK – Prince Charles Cinema (encore screening)
- July 10 Auckland, New Zealand – The New Zealand International Film Festival at the Rialto Newmarket
- June 11th — DENVER, CO — The Esquire Theater (encore screening!!)
- June 11th & 12th — CLEVELAND, OH — The Cleveland Cinematheque
- June 12th — TORONTO, ON — The Bloor Cinema
- June 15th/18th/20th — ATLANTA, GA — The Plaza Theater
- June 16th — AUSTIN, TX — Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Info coming soon!)
- June 18th — LOS ANGELES, CA — Cinefamily — (w/ LIVE PERFORMANCE BY DAMIEN “HANGIN’ OUT WITH MY FAMILY” CARTER.
- June 18th & 19th — SASKATOON, SK — The Broadway Theatre
- June 18th & 19th — CHICAGO, IL — The Music Box Theater (Chicago premiere! Ticket info coming soon! Director James Nguyen in person)
- June 25th & 26th — SEATTLE, WA — The Egyptian Theater (Landmark Midnight screenings)
- June 25th & 26th — COLUMBUS, OH — The Drexel Theater (Encore Midnight screenings)
- June 26th — TORONTO, ON — The Bloor Cinema
- June 26th — LONDON, ON — Rainbow Cinemas (That’s London, Ontario, Canada)
- July 7th — AUSTIN, TX — Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (4th encore show)
- July 9th & 10th — OMAHA, NE — The Dundee Theatre
- July 10 & 13 Auckland, New Zealand – The New Zealand International Film Festival at the Rialto Market
- July 16 & 22 – Wellington New Zealand – The New Zealand International Film Festival at the Paramount
- July 16th & 17th — WASHINGTON DC — E Street Cinema (DC encore shows)
- July 16th & 17th — TUCSON, AZ — The Loft Cinema (Birdemic returns to AZ for late night shows & midnights)
- July 23 & 24 – Albuquerque, New Mexico – The Guild Cinema (encore screening with Q&A by star Whitney Moore)
- July 24th — SAN DIEGO, CA — The Ken Cinema (Special Landmark Midnight screening during Comic Con)
- July 30 & 31 – New York, New York – IFC Center (two midnight shows)
- August 6th & 7th — ST. LOUIS, MO — Tivoli Theater (Landmark midnight screenings)
- August 6 & 7 New Orleans, LA – Prytania Theatre (midnight showings)
- August 11th — AUSTIN, TX — Alamo Drafthouse Ritz
- August 20 – London, England – Prince Charls Cinema (encore)
- August 21 – Edinburgh, Scottland – The Fix presents the Scottland Premiere.
- October 1 & 2 – Madcap Theatre in Phoenix, AZ
- October 8 – Carousell CInema in Greensboro, NC (midnight screening)
- October 15-16 – Chicago, IL – The Music Box Theatre (encore midnight shows)
- October 16 – Cleveland, OH – Cleveland Art Institute (encore)
- October 23 – Leeds, England – The Hyde Park Picture House
- November 19 & 26 – Cosford Cinema in Miami, FL (midnight screenings)
Check for screening updates here.
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