Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is bringing back the venerable David Schmader for a live annotated screening of Showgirls on Thursday March 5th!
David Schmader, the World’s foremost authority on Paul Verhoeven’s masterpiece, will be appearing at the Alamo Lake Creek to provide a live commentary to what very well could be the most terribly awesome movie ever made.
At 7:30pm on Thursday March 5th, for one night only, Schmader will be dissecting Showgirls for our entertainment. In addition to the 7:30 Showgirls Screening, we will also screen David’s one man stage show Straight with a live Q&A after the presentation.
About Showgirls with David Schmader:
Upon its 1995 release, Paul Verhoeven’s glitzy stripper drama SHOWGIRLS earned some of the most extravagantly awful reviews in cinema history. “A film of thunderous oafishness,” wrote the Los Angeles Times, with critics around the globe unanimously damning Showgirls as a failure doomed to die in infamy.
Only it didn’t. Since its original release, SHOWGIRLS has grown into a full-fledged cult phenomenon, thanks in no small part to the cinematic missionary work undertaken by David Schmader, the critically acclaimed writer and performer who hosted his first annotated screenings of the film at Seattle’s Northwest Film Forum in 1999. Part art-appreciation lecture, part sit-down comedy routine, all against the backdrop of Verhoeven’s peerlessly offensive, flesh-drenched disaster, SHOWGIRLS with David Schmader was an instant hit, packing theaters in Seattle and touring to film festivals across the country, with Schmader reintroducing Verhoeven’s hideous folly to a generation of filmgoers as the most inadvertent, surreally hilarious comedy in film history.
In 2003, Schmader’s theory was confirmed by MGM Studios, which invited Schmader to record his commentary for a special-edition, 10th anniversary Showgirls DVD box set, which was released to great acclaim in 2003.
About Straight:
Straight delves deep into the world of sexual conversion therapy, as Schmader goes undercover to expose the methods behind groups that claim to “cure” homosexuals, turning them “straight”. Like a man trying to be hypnotized while keeping one eye open, Schmader immerses himself in the movement—genuinely curious as a gay man whether or not conversion groups like Exodus are as successful as they claim to be.
He infiltrates Christian “ex-gay” support groups in the suburbs (hilariously recounting his disappointment that the members talk about everyday stresses like finances and work, rather than torrid suppressed sexual fantasies). Frustrated that he is only toying with the surface of the movement, he finally goes deep into the heartland of Texas, the state where he grew up, and participates in a long weekend retreat where gays and lesbians, wanting to reject their orientation, are paired up with ultra-straight partners to help guide them into a heterosexual lifestyle.
While Straight has an obviously easy target with Christian conservatives, Schmader surprises by throwing in criticism of the urban gay community. What makes Straight so interesting is that while mocking the methods of the conversionists, Schmader honestly admits the difficulties, emotionally and socially, of growing up and being gay in straight American society. He has honest empathy for those who genuinely wish to change.
Offering no easy answers, and ending unexpectedly on neutral ground (as though calling a truce on the whole matter), Straight is a fascinating and very funny exposé of a controversial American movement.
About David Schmader
David Schmader is a Stranger associate editor and columnist, writing the pop culture-and-politics column “Last Days” since 1998. Outside of The Stranger, Schmader’s the author of the solo plays Straight, Mansize, and Letter to Axl, which he’s performed in Seattle and across the U.S. He’s also the world’s foremost authority on the brilliant horribleness of Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls, performing annotated Showgirls screenings at film festivals across the U.S. and providing the commentary track to MGM’s special editon Showgirls DVD in 2004.
What Critics are saying about Showgirls with David Schmader:
“What Schmader does is crystallize the consistency of the movie’s badness. He brings an organization to your viewing, a recognition that even seemingly innocuous moments are part of an intricate pattern of badness that affects every aspect of the film.. Marvelous.”—Hollywood Reporter
“Funny as hell. David Schmader truly makes this really bad film a horribly enjoyable mess”— San Francisco Gate
Click here to purchase advance tickets for Showgirls or Straight. Tickets are $12.
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