Here at Owl and Bear, we love movies. Our increasing amount of film reviews may have tipped you off to that fact, but in case it didn’t, here’s another way for us to show our love. Beginning on June 14, Owl and Bear will be presenting the 16-week Summer Midnight Series at San Diego’s beloved Ken Cinema.

The Ken Cinema has gotten lots of press in recent weeks for its brush with death and subsequent salvation. We’re thrilled that the Ken is going to remain a local institution, and we’re celebrating by helping to bring you screenings of some of our favorite movies.

The midnight series kicks off on Saturday, June 14 with Tommy Wiseau’s campy The Room — largely regarded as one of the best-worst movies ever made — and subsequent weeks will include classics like David Lynch’s demented debut Eraserhead and Quentin Tarantino’s unparalleled Pulp Fiction.

But since we’re also a music blog, we’re most excited about the musical movies in the midnight series. If you’ve never seen John Cameron Mitchell’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch before, you are in for a treat. In addition to having one of the flat-out best soundtracks ever, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a near-perfect movie, expertly balancing its musical, comedic, and dramatic elements to create something touching and unique. Hedwig has been in the news lately for its Neil Patrick Harris-starring Broadway adaptation, but it’s impossible to top Mitchell’s original. (Fun fact: Hedwig is so good that at least one Owl and Bear writer sports a tattoo from the movie.)

The other musical entry in the Ken series needs no introduction. The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been inspiring feverish devotion for almost 40 years. If you haven’t seen it in a while, or even if you have, the dual Ken screenings will be worth your attention. Each showing will feature the shadow cast Crazed Imaginations pantomiming the movie, handing out props, and leading the audience in increasingly convoluted rounds of call and response. The shadow actors are every bit as crazed as their name would have you believe, and seeing Rocky Horror with their bizarre augmentations is an experience you’re unlikely to forget.

Owl and Bear writer Miguel Rodriguez — who you may also know from his Horrible Imaginings festival and Monster Island Resort podcast — will be on hand to host many of the screenings, so come by and give him a warm Owl and Bear hoot and holler. You can see the first eight entries in the 16-film series below, and we’ll be back with the second half of movies at a later date.

Tickets for the screenings are only $8.50 for general admission and $7.50 for kids or seniors. You can get yours here.

First Eight Screening Dates:
6/14: The Room* (with audience participation)
6/21: The Rocky Horror Picture Show* (with live shadow cast ‘Crazed Imaginations’)
6/28: Eraserhead
7/05: Akira
7/12: The Room* (with audience participation)
7/19: The Rocky Horror Picture Show* (with live shadow cast ‘Crazed Imaginations’)
7/26: Hedwig and the Angry Inch*
8/02: Pulp Fiction*
* = presented in a 35mm print