Movie Night with Gregg Araki: SOMETHING WILD

Friday, April 7, 2023

35mm print!
Post screening conversation with Gregg Araki to be moderated by film critic Jourdain Searles!

IFC Center is proud to present “Movie Night with Gregg Araki: SOMETHING WILD,” a special event with the acclaimed writer-director in conjunction with the April 7 opening of a new 4K restoration of the director’s cut of THE DOOM GENERATION. Araki will appear in person to screen and discuss a personal favorite: Jonathan Demme’s beloved 1986 comedy, starring Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith and Ray Liotta.

“I was fresh out of USC Film School in 1986 when SOMETHING WILD was released in theatres. As a fledgling wannabe auteur (complete with artsy, Paul Weller-inspired asymmetrical haircut!), I loved the film’s style, its spunky postpunk attitude and especially its revisionist spin on one of my all-time film school favorites Howard Hawks’ BRINGING UP BABY (1938). The archetype of a sexy, wild card antagonist who turns a straightlaced character’s world upsidedown was the template of both THE DOOM GENERATION and my 1992 movie THE LIVING END. 

Demme was a personal hero for me – not just because he was such a film school-centric director (trained at that greatest film school of all, the Roger Corman factory) but also because he was a devotee of the alternative music scene that was and continues to be my primary source of inspiration. His seminal New Order video, the Talking Heads concert film STOP MAKING SENSE (a poster of which was visible on my wall/the set of my first film THREE BEWILDERED PEOPLE IN THE NIGHT), casting Su Tissue of the legendary Suburban Lawns in SOMETHING WILD’s reunion scene – the man did it all. And I’m so grateful for this opportunity to pay my respects and also to see the movie again for the first time in decades!” 

– Gregg Araki

In the ongoing “Movie Night” program, IFC Center invites special guests to present a screening and acknowledge the brilliance of a timeless classic, spotlight an unsung gem, or defend a guilty pleasure. Other past guests include filmmakers Paul Schrader, Miranda July, David Gordon Green, Terry Gilliam, John Cameron Mitchell, Gaspar Noe, Steve James, David Lowery, Guy Maddin, Paul Verhoeven, Frederick Wiseman, Catherine Breillat, Eskil Vogt, Alex Ross Perry and Michel Gondry; Slovenian theorist and philosopher Slavoj Zizek; artist and filmmaker Takashi Murakami; musician-actor Will Oldham; author Jonathan Lethem; actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini; comedian and Saturday Night Live and Portlandia star Fred Armisen; and members of the band Interpol.

  • Year 1986
  • Running Time 113 minutes
  • Format 35mm
  • Distributor Park Circus
  • Director Jonathan Demme

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.