Movie Night

I was dismayed to hear that the Howard Johnson's in Times Square recently shut down for good. Because for about 8 years (circa 1990-1998) I was there almost every Friday Night.

Because it was Movie Night.

For those of you who never heard of it, on Movie Night a bunch of people (numbering from 2 to 60, depending on the night) would get together at the back of the Times Square HoJos restaurant, where for about an hour and a half we'd eat and talk. And then, at midnight, we'd go see a movie in Times Square.

The thing that gave it cachet was that it was set up by Penn Jillette, who for long stretches was there about 60% of the time. Holy crap. Fucking Penn Jillette.

(Okay, now I'm going to start dropping names, but I'm not going to do it in an "I'm cool because I was once in the proximity of famous people" kind of way. In fact, to counteract these charges, let me establish up front that I am not cool. I'm Newman from Seinfeld.)

(Actually, the other day while waiting for a table at a restaurant, a man thought I was Laker's coach Phil Jackson. Which is flattering, except for the fact that Phil Jackson is about EIGHT INCHES TALLER THAN ME. So... maybe a thin Newman, crossed with a short Phil Jackson, if Phil Jackson wasn't cool. And you're drunk in a restaurant waiting area.)

When Penn Jillette started Movie Night, he actually would pick up the tab at HoJos, until too many hangers-on started showing up; then it was pay-your-own-way. But I didn't care; I wasn't there for the free food. I was there because it was Penn Jillette, who when he was there would dominate the table, with stories and anecdotes and just being Penn (and for the record, Penn in real life is just like Penn in his act. Teller, on the other hand, talks, though he was never there much).

And he'd bring the occasional celebrity along with him. Lou Reed was there one night. Another night, I sat next to Debbie Harry (who was quiet, but nice). Michael McKean was there once, and I think I asked him some really stupid question about Spinal Tap, though I guess that's better than asking him to do his Lenny.

And the movie itself was a kick too. We'd go to see the worst movie opening that weekend in Times Square, which usually provided a wide range of options, some which you've never heard of (the first movie I ever saw at Movie Night was "Crackhouse". I think Anthony Geary was in it.) The rules said that everyone had to sit in the front row of the theater, plus there was a bunch of esoteric rules as well -- when a character in the movie said the name of the movie, everyone had to politely clap (I think "Candyman" holds the record). When a character said the name of another movie, you had to say "wow". It was goofy stuff, but fun, and we tried not to piss off the other people in the theater too much (though, if you go to see a crappy movie in a Times Square theater at midnight, you have no reasonable expectation of audience silence).

(And yes, when I had my brief (18 month?) stint as a Times Square movie theater manager, I used to get the group into my theater for free. And I'm sure, if I ever ran into Penn today, he'd give me a vague look, and maybe say "Oh yeah (lying) I remember you. (Politely) How's it going?)

Sometimes we had to range a little farther to find a movie that fit the criteria. One night we wound up seeing "Longtime Companion", a very serious AIDS movie, which managed to do it so well that everyone was dead quiet throughout. Some nights a few brave souls would go see a second movie, around 2:30 in the morning, at the Embassy Theater, which was open all night; it would be four guys in the front row, and about 30 sleeping, snoring drunks in the seats behind us. Good times.

And there were long stretches when Penn didn't show up. And that was cool too. Because when he wasn't there, it was a smaller, non-Penn-dominated crowd. The other regulars were nice people, and it was nice to have a place to go every Friday night, where people just showed up or didn't, but you always knew that someone would be there. And the other regulars were interesting too, most just ordinary people -- Sal was a dentist, Maryanne wrote magazine articles, Jamy was the best close-up magician I ever saw. Another guy had a great act in which, among other things, he ate a lightbulb. But he was still an ordinary guy.

At a certain point, Penn moved out to Vegas, and then (aside from Penn's few-times-a-year visits) it was just a core group of regulars, 5-12 people every Friday night. But we kept it going, people joining, people leaving. I finally moved out to L.A. in 1998, but I heard the group was still meeting every week for a while. And then I lost touch.

Long before I came out here, another regular moved out, and tried to get Movie Night started in L.A. But it's a different culture -- there is no real Times Square equivalent, no ready source for bad midnight movies. Still, if anyone has any ideas -- and wants to set up a regular Friday Night gathering in the L.A area, I'm all ears.

Goodbye, Ho-Jos. I hope there are still a few regulars who have found a new place in Times Square to get together on Friday nights.

And if you are ever in a Times Square movie theater on a Friday night at midnight, and hear polite clapping coming from the front row, tell them Scott said hi.