See also: Photos of Colorado's first Alamo Drafthouse, opening with a Pam Grier party
Along with films like 9 to 5, To Kill a Mockingbird, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Foxy Brown was chosen for the November series for its strong female lead. "Alamo as a whole decided that we wanted to push awareness of Catching Fire, the Hunger Games sequel -- and the fact that Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence's character) is a really cool female protagonist," says Keith Garcia, creative manager for the Alamo in Littleton. "We wanted to pay tribute to that with all of cinema's tough female protaganists."
Though Alamo Drafthouse has a set list of films that will be shown at all of its theaters during "Tough Women," Garcia also chose several movies that he felt applied to the theme. In advance of Grier's appearance tonight and the screening of Foxy Brown, he gave us a quick rundown of the movie and some of his other favorites celebrating badass female leads.
Foxy Brown (1974)
I couldn't offer a month of films saluting tough ladies and not pay tribute to Pam Grier once again. With our new Color Commentary program that we started here in Littleton, I couldn't think of a better thing to do than have her come out and and do live commentary over Foxy Brown. That will be particularly special, because it's different than just bringing her in for a Q&A. She's literally going to have a microphone and be talking during the film, telling stories about the making of the movie.
The Legend of Billie Jean (1985)
One of my favorite movies from the '80s. It stars Helen Slater as this girl who seeks justice for a terrible incident that happens to her brother and his motor bike. It ends up sort of tearing the town apart. She kind of becomes this modern-day-via-the-'80s Joan of Arc. It's such a cool movie with a great soundtrack -- Pat Benatar wrote a great song for the movie. If you've seen it, it is definitely a wonderful, female empowerment, coming-of-age movie.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
Well, it's Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (Laughs.) Even though that movie did not end up how creator Joss Whedon really wanted his story told -- he eventually got to tell it in the really amazing TV series. But the movie itself is worthy of a good look. It's got Kristy Swanson, Donald Sutherland, Paul Reubens and, of course, Luke Perry.
The Lady Eve (1941)
Gilda (1946)
I'm really excited about The Lady Eve and Gilda -- two true classics of cinema. They are also two films featuring women who were way ahead of their time. Barbara Stanwyck and Rita Hayworth play these characters that didn't need men to tell them what to do.
Tonight's Color Commentary with Pam Grier starts at 7 p.m.; tickets are $20. To buy tickets or to get more information on the "Tough Ladies" series, visit the Alamo Drafthouse's website.
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