December's Mystery Movie

Oh boy. When you put it all on paper, you start to wonder...

This month's move theme: The devil made me do it. 

Hints: This movie is subtitled, on the dark side of things, on the non-stop action side of things, and has some some pretty intense gross-out/shock elements. This month's movie might be the director's most straightforward film, which is sayin' somethin' about his body of work...

Content Warnings (there are many, read all the way through): This movie is FULL of blasphemy, casual misogyny, contains a smattering of symbols of American racism (in some background shots and shop windows), and even has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot of "But it's tradition!!!" blackface. [BTW, blackface is literally never acceptable, and really REALLY shouldn't be something people want to partake in so badly.] There's also a couple of right-wing-flavored racist utterances by side characters, seemingly to punctuate the terribleness of those characters, as they are buried in dialogue that sets them up as terrible people. There's a couple scenes where a character prepares freshly caught rabbit, and although the animal was certainly obtained by the film crew pre-deceased, it's preeeeetty gnarly. Less terribly, there's a long talk between two characters about virginity, but somehow it leans more to the "this is what I've chosen for myself" end of things than the "this is the only pure way to live" end. And just for funnzies, there's multiple shots of unabashed, older-man, full-frontal. (So many warnings this month, I hopefully didn't forget any, but see below if you have further questions or concerns!)

If you have additional concerns/questions about this month's film, feel free to reach out through facebook, or email info@TimMonsters.com and Tim or I will happily address any concerns, big or small. We want fun surprises for everyone!

Mutual Aid Suggestion: This month's mutual aid suggestion is to contribute to Community Driven, a non-profit that works with medium-to-small scale local grocers and restaurants, taking their potential food-waste and bringing it to appropriate food distribution non-profits. (Most food-rescue non-profits won't work with smaller scale businesses due to the amount of work it takes to obtain their surplus, and how inconsistent their surplus can be.) Community Driven's website, instagram and facebook 💖📼💖

Get Your Tickets Here: Tape Freaks presents: Mystery Movie @ the Trylon, 7pm $5

November's Mystery Movie

This month's movie might be the biggest departure from our usual range of offerings, as it might be grittier and darker than any of our other picks. This movie is just a good film from beginning to end, though not without it's genre charm; we are very curious how this one will be received! 

This month's move theme: ACAB, all power, to all people!

Hints: This movie could be considered tower-defense film, if that genre was extended to movies. This month's movie is flush with high stakes tension, and tangible consequences for all manner of actions. It also doesn't pull any punches as far as illustrating who the villains are, just as much as it highlights the importance of community action. 

Content Warnings [Two topics, SPOILERS]: CW #1 Violence, general phobic treatment, and death of LGBTQIA+ community members. The opening of this film is intentionally reminiscent of the harassment suffered by patrons of the Stonewall Inn, that lead to the Stonewall Uprising. However in this film, the harassment escalates to a different end [SPOILER]... featuring multiple brutal deaths of LGBTQIA+ people. CW #2 General police fuckery. The opening of the film uses news footage from an unlawful strike by police, which leads pretty directly into the aforementioned CW. 

[If you have additional concerns/questions about this month's film, feel free to reach out through facebook, or email info@TimMonsters.com and Tim or I will happily address them. We want fun surprises for everyone!] 

Mutual Aid Suggestion: Once upon a time, a Whole Foods higher up (maybe someone in the regional offices, maybe someone in global) decided we all needed to watch this short film edited to a commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace. They made us watch this short between Thanksgiving and Christmas, our most brutally busy time of year. With that in mind, please watch the video here and see first hand how out of touch people who work in offices are, even when they manage thousands of retail workers. And then, remember that retail workers are treated poorly from every angle, paid abysmally, and have non-work holiday stress just like everyone else. This holiday season tip well, find the joys, and spread compassion plz! 💖📼💖

Get Your Tickets Here: Tape Freaks presents: Mystery Movie @ the Trylon, 7pm $5

October's Mystery Movie

Who else has had a migraine for three days, a house full of cats and kittens, and a partner who's birthday is approaching at lighting speed?! ...oh, is it just me? Well then! That's probably why I'm writing and posting this so late! However that doesn't explain why the Tape Freaks Sirens were late though...

This month's move theme: Tim's birthday wild card! He's picked a good one too!

Hints: This movie might be the newest movie we've ever screened, but Tim feels like it's also under watched. Possibly this movie's unsettling title keeps people from watching, or possibly because it was produced and released by a small indy company. This month's movie is also a good one to watch without knowing anything though, so fits our format perfectly!

Content Warnings: There are visceral depictions of violence in this movie, and it's got some stark conversations on and depictions of unhealthy family dynamics. There is also a decent amount of alcohol abuse by one character, and a moment where one character is bullied into abandoning his sobriety from alcohol. [If you have additional concerns/questions about this month's film, or any film we screen, feel free to reach out through facebook, or email info@TimMonsters.com and one of us will happily address them. We want fun surprises for everyone!] 

Mutual Aid Suggestion: Spooky season is upon us, and that means the (statistically) worst time of year for mental health concerns isn't far behind. So our suggestion this month is to give your favorite resources that might be utilized more frequently over the holiday season a much needed jump on the inevitable squeeze. If you don't have a current fave, of ours is South Side Harm Reduction. You can give monetarily, or donate time, or even just share it as a resource for people to utilize! You truly never know who might need their services, but you very likely know someone who may have benefited from the harm reduction care they provide 💖📼💖

Get Your Tickets Here: Tape Freaks presents: Mystery Movie @ the Trylon, 7pm $5

September's Mystery Movie

This month's move theme: The gods we worship.

Hints: This month's movie is a strange 80s euro-horror, with some pretty wild effects work in parts. It also contains an inordinate amount of sheets being hung to dry... indoors... with fans blowing on them... This month's movie also apparently involves the "perfect passive participle of intexō" somehow. 

The best quality version available: This movie also follows a weird trend of us hanging on to a title to screen in hopes of a better quality version getting released, only for us to finally give up and agree to screen the lesser-quality version. Then, as soon as it's too late for us to switch titles, someone will announce a Blu-ray restoration. That's the case with this month's movie! But since the restoration isn't available yet, we're screening the best quality version Tim could find.

Content Warnings: [Third item in this list is spoilerish.] This month's movie is on the spookier side, contains arachnids, and [this one is the SPOILERISH one] ....... a creepy infant.  

But speaking of the gods we worship...: We're a bit distracted this week, because less than 48 hrs ago, the Tape Freaks household became an unofficial kitten rescue! While Tim was on his way to Cinema of the Macabre, he ran into an alley neighbor and by comparing notes, figured out a litter of five kittens living in our mutual neighbor's garage had been on their own for five days, and mom would not be able to ever return :( So Colette (me, the writing half of Tape Freaks) sprung into action! All Colette's knowledge gleaned from following too many kitten rescues came in handy all at once, and in just 4 hours those kittens went from starving, kinda dirty and confused, to full, clean and kinda stunned to have been hand-washed by a human. Now the Tape Freaks household consists of two humans, two senior cats, five chickens, and five foster kittens! Scroll for pics, and be sure to check out this month's Mutual Aid Suggestions, because these kittens are all spoken for (by our now kitten-frenzied neighbors), but our favorite metro-area cat rescues are full of babies (and adults) who need forever homes!

Mutual Aid Suggestion: So our metro (and most other regions right now) needs more vets, and independently owned veterinary clinics. (Private equity firms are buying up our vet industry like they did our human healthcare industry, and we don't need pet-healthcare to end up like human-healthcare. We also need human healthcare to be more like pet healthcare has been, and for both to be freely accessible, paid for by our taxes. Especially the taxes we just dump into the coffers of the military industrial system, but I digress.) So while you're getting yourself enrolled into vet school (or law school, or running for local office) check out these kitten rescues and support them financially, through volunteering, or by adopting through them! Kitten Revolution, Feline Rescue, and Bitty Kitty are all organizations that adopt kittens out, and are always looking for volunteers and monetary donations. MN SNAP is an organization that provides affordable vet services for people who are utilizing needs-based public assistance programs (federal or state), and offer one of the most comprehensive lists of affordable pet care services I have encountered so far; please support them any way you can, and spread the resources they have compiled far and wide! And if you want to support the burgeoning Tape Freaks Animal Rescue, consider snagging one of Tim's tees, like this little on-the-nose number. See you tonight!

Get Your Tickets Here: Tape Freaks presents: Mystery Movie @ the Trylon, 7pm $5

August's Mystery Movie

This month's move theme: Humanity vs Evil... and a cornucopia of other stuff.

Hints: Loads of action, magical battles, based on a Manga, a director responsible for multiple Tape Freaks titles; this month's movie might have it all! 

A Heads Up: This month's movie also has English subtitles, so be prepared to read. 

Mutual Aid Suggestion: Sanctuary Supply Depot has been having a hard time keeping up with needs, as the child mayor continues to destroy the camps housing the unhoused (and subsequently all the possessions they contain) needlessly endangering people's lives, contributing to the climate disaster, and not housing a single person in the process. Find all the different ways you can support them here.

Get Your Tickets Here: Tape Freaks presents: Mystery Movie @ the Trylon, 7pm $5

June's Mystery Movie

This month's move theme: Well. Far more people certainly need to see that!

Hints: This month's movie might start to remind you of a few different films as you watch, but you will be very surprised to know this movie more than likely predates them all. This month's movie is also directed by someone who is much better know for his work in special effects. This month's movie may very well be the best action movie we should have seen or heard of before now.

Content Warning: Interpersonal Racism. At the climax of the film one of the two protagonist encounters another character wielding a weapon of institutional racism, and process to use said weapon against said protagonist. They cut away and back to that scene a couple times, and while that situation is being resolved, the said protagonist explicitly addresses the problem while pretty satisfyingly dispatching said character. In other parts of the film, there are unfortunately a couple instances of the two main protagonists trading jabs that seem like they were maybe trying to set up how each of them can perceive the other through a lens of racism, but whatever the reason, it's cringy af.

Content Warning: Casual Sexism. Within the film's climax (and throughout I believe) there are some pretty casual sexist remarks. For instance a characters who remarks another character "hit(s) like a girl". For anyone who doesn't know, girls tend to hit/fight/throw/play sports/etc the way they do, because people who know how to do those things, didn't take them aside to teach them how to do those things properly. Mighty frustrating to have something we're actively kept from doing (intentionally or not) used as an insult amongst those who gatekeep the very knowledge we're lacking. 

Mutual Aid Suggestion: Have you planted a vegetable garden this year? Do you have a fruiting tree or shrub? Have you thought about what you might do with any excess you encounter this year? Consider asking your local food bank, or mutual aid kitchen if they take garden excess. Consider joining your local Buy Nothing group (or downloading the Buy Nothing app) to offer your bounty to others in your area who may enjoy or need your excess. Maybe set up a free zucchini stand on your front lawn, or at the neighborhood park. Ask your neighbors with the backyard chickens if they could use any veggies to feed their flock. Don't let your hard work and abundance go to waste! Get your food into the hands of those who will use it, and keep a bit of money out of the systems that commodify things we literally cannot live without.

Get Your Tickets Here: Tape Freaks presents: Mystery Movie @ the Trylon, 7pm $5

May's Mystery Movie

This movie is a weird, weird, weird one. Don't say we didn't warn ya! 

This month's theme: Hot-potato films. You know, those films that start out as one thing, but morph into something unrecognizable as rewrites pile up and directors are replaced during filming. 

Hints: A famous horror director was replaced while directing this movie. There are loads of recognizable actors in this film, one of whom might be more recognized for his voice than his physical appearance. The producers of this film decided they wanted to entirely change the plot of this movie, after the film was nearly complete. 

Content Warnings: Verbal and physical domestic violence. Later in the film there's a scene in a bar where a drunken man yells abuse at a woman he's in a relationship with. (There's also cops being trash throughout, but when are there not?) 

Mutual Aid Suggestion: Someone stole Involve MN's custom outdoor grill they used to cook for people street-side all over the metro. If you can donate to their gofundme, please do so they can get a replacement asap! Also share their campaign so it gets in front of the most people possible. 

Get Your Tickets Here: Tape Freaks presents: Mystery Movie @ the Trylon, 7pm $5

April's Mystery Movie

Well, this year has been just full of snoprises hasn't it? Come get out of the lousy Smarch weather and watch a weird, weird, weird movie with us!

This month's theme: Stepping out of your comfort zone.

Hints: This month's movie was directed by someone who was an established horror director at the time. This month's movie could be categorized similarly to a very recently released movie, though that movie would be in an entirely different league than our film. This month's movie is also just wall to wall wackiness, so if you try to keep track of all the wild things that happen, good luck!

Content Warnings: Brief implied animal violence. (It's not always possible for us to tell definitively if an animal was harmed, or if optical effects were just on their game, but we're 95% sure it was only implied.) There's also a good amount of gore, even though this isn't a horror film. 

Mutual Aid Suggestion: Mercury Stardust, aka the Trans Handy Ma'am, completed her annual TikTok-a-Thon for Trans Healthcare this past week, and raised an impressive amount of money! But you know who's been having hard go of it right now, even more so than normal? Trans people. So why not continue building that total and make sure our most vulnerable community members can scratch one item off their worry list, donate here! And if you're not following The Trans Handy Ma'am, fix that here!

Get Your Tickets Here: Tape Freaks presents: Mystery Movie @ the Trylon, 7pm $5

March's Mystery Movie

The worst thing about my actual birthday falling on February's Tape Freaks screening, is that March's screening will then be on the first, which the shortest time possible (I believe) between two screenings. (Interestingly, my birthday proper won't land on another Tape Freaks screening until the year 2034!) Good thing this month's movie is the one we had planned for January, it took the sting off February being so dang short. 

This month's theme: Gaslit by the Devil.

Hints: This month's movie could be considered a vacation-gone-wrong film, or a road-trip movie, or even a fairly straight forward 70s action movie. It co-stars a member of an acting dynasty, his real-life bff, and an actress who's face is inextricably linked to the work for which she is most famous.  

Content Warnings: There is an animal character's death. (That animal is also clearly drugged in one scene, in order to give the appearance of a deceased buddy.) There's also violence directed at snakes. (Why is it always snakes?)

Mutual Aid Suggestion: This month's mutual aid suggestion is to support East Phillips Urban Farm. Learn more about this project here and here. Donate to, or share their fundraiser, you'll find that here. Let city officials know that you support community lead projects, would prefer pollution be kept out of our air, and support community enrichment projects that are planned and implemented by community members. The more we are directly served by our communities, the more our communities will organically improve!

Get Your Tickets Here: Tape Freaks presents: Mystery Movie @ the Trylon, 7pm $5

February's Mystery Movie

There was some confusion at the Trylon about what we were playing this month, but we'll be playing the movie we picked out for January in March, because it's MUH BIRTHDAY MONTH!! (And on my actual birthday!)

This month's theme: Wildcard baby!

Hints: This month's movie will be, by far, our oldest movie screened to date. It's also dripping with Hollywood legends in their heyday, including an actor who was featured in another movie we screened very recently. It's also an excellent representation of how older generations have always been more progressive than they're given credit for by current conservative of all eras. That is to say this movie, not unlike me, is queer as fuck.

Content Warnings: One character in this month's movie is mute, but the term this movie uses for that condition is "dumb". Later another character uses the same term to disparage her own intelligence. 

Mutual Aid Suggestion: Each month we suggest a way to participate in mutual aid, and this month's suggestion is one we suggested a couple months back, but this time it's because our federal government is ok with letting a pandemic thin us out a bit. (And if you think I'm being paranoid, just look at what they let the AIDs crisis do to gay men.) Wear a mask. Wearing a mask decreases the spread of most of our socially-communicable diseases and that directly impacts our disabled community members, our working-poor community members, our "customer-facing" community members, our elder community members, our immune compromised community members, our medical care working community members, as well as ourselves and our own families and friends. If you're out in public, wear a mask. Easy breezy, and effective as fuck. 

Get Your Tickets Here: Tape Freaks presents: Mystery Movie @ the Trylon, 7pm $5

NO SCREENING THIS MONTH

OK! We collectively decided to cancel this month's screening, because it's a snow-show out there! 

We'd rather save this month's movie for a time when everyone has more access to attend, and when travel/parking won't be treacherous for those who would Minnesota-brave the elements anyway. If you purchased a ticket for tonights screening it will be good for next month!

But this isn't the first time we've canceled a screening! The very first Tape Freaks was canceled because I (Colette, the writing half of Tape Freaks) was run over by a pickup. The rest of that year's lineup was pretty stellar, so maybe it's a good omen to boot.

Stay safe, drink something warm, and still participate in mutual aid! This month's suggestion from us is Feeding Frogtown. They've started a campaign to fundraise a refrigerated truck to help them with their weekly food deliveries, and they need the funds quickly. Give a little or a lot, share their campaign, and remember that when we help each other keep our needs met, our community is stronger for it.