Ty Watches "Shredder Orpheus"

Last night my buddy Kirk and I went to the Arkadin for Strange Brew night. Strange Brew night is a theme night where some weird, bottom of the bin type cult movies are shown. And when I saw "bottom of the bin", I mean hidden gems. These movies are delightfully weird and low budget and perfect for a spot like the Arkadin. Last night's selection was a skateboarding movie from 1990 called "Shredder Orpheus".

The host opened by telling us a few things about the movie, and then we were on our way. "Shredder Orpheus" was low budget, featured no big time stars, was clearly made amongst friends and it was gloriously ridiculous. I was pretty much all in from the jump. "Shredder Orpheus" takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where television runs society. We have the EBN, Euthanasia Broadcasting Network, who kind of runs the world now. They try to control all the viewers and they want everyone to become zombies basically. We also have the people who live in the Gray Zone. These are the gutter punks and people who tend to do their own thing. They don't conform to modern society and they're happy about it. This is where we meet Scratch, a young kid and a former soldier, the narrator of the movie. We see the movie through their eyes at the start. The world is bad. It is gross. There's nothing to really do besides skate and play music. Scratch and the young kid are pretty good on their boards. And Scratch is one hell of a percussion player. Scratch does play the "drums" on old oil drums, but it still sounds pretty solid.

After a little backstory, we finally get introduced to Orpheus. He is the frontman of his band, The Shredders. I do want to say, I really dug the music in this movie. The music was described online as punk, but I got much more of a prog/alternative rock vibe. The guitar was rad. The drums too. I wasn't too keen on the singing, but I couldn't really hear any lyrics anyway. But the music is besides the point. Orpheus is in love with a dancer named Eurydice, and they do eventually get married. At the party after the ceremony, Eurydice is killed by some bad dudes in all white makeup. Now, some of you may be thinking that this story sounds familiar, and you're right. This is the filmmakers take on the Greek Tragedy about Orpheus. I did not know this was the case until Kirk told me before the movie. I think they did an okay enough job telling this story too. Anyway, after Eurydice dies, the movie follows the Greek Tragedy pretty well, with its own twists. The skateboarding was pretty cool in the movie when they did show it. That was my biggest critique of the movie, I wanted more skateboarding. But, when skateboarding was onscreen, it was cool. I also thought the portrayals of the Greek figures were solid. Hades and Persphonne were so odd and so wild and I really enjoyed their crazy execution onscreen. The females who couldn't believe Orpheus didn't love them were terrifying and nuts. Cerberus was horrifying and I liked that he was an elevator attendant. Orpheus' parents were solid comic relief. The people who worked for the EBN really gave it their all. But, for me, Orpheus' manager was far and away the best. He was odd, funny, loud, boisterous and made the most sense of anyone speaking in the movie. It wasn't a total surprise to me when I looked him up and saw that he has been steadily working ever since this movie, appearing in a single episode of many procedurals.

Finally, when I really thought about it, when Kirk and I talked about it afterward, this was the exact type of movie I want to see when going to the Arkadin on Strange Brew night. The host was awesome. The crowd was perfect. The setting was ideal. And now I'm going to search out more and more movies of this ilk. I really enjoy these oddities and I'm stoked to have a friend and a place to go watch this stuff. And of course I recommend seeing "Shredder Orpheus" if you can get your hands on it, or if a cool indie theater near you shows it. It has to be seen to be believed. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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The Arkadin is Must Visit in St. Louis

Yesterday a buddy of mine treated me to a Lifetime movie that we watched with some other people. The movie was called "A Deadly Garage Sale". This was a bad, bad movie. Let's not get it twisted. The writing was poor, the actors, while going for it, are clearly second or third rate, the action was boring and dull and it was absolutely insane. I don't make it a point to watch Lifetime movies, and last night's picture was a prime reason. But, the setting, the people I was with, the comic roasting the movie while it was going on and the venue made this one of the more fun nights in my life. I had an absolute blast watching this movie with other people that were there for the same reason as me and my friend.

First off, the movie was held at a place here in STL called The Arkadin. This is a cool new spot for me. I had never been here before. But, walking out of the screening last night, I will assuredly be back. The vibe was akin to a lowkey bar with a movie screen inside of it. When we walked in there was a little bar to get drinks and concessions. There was also a table where a local business was selling some of their food. Then you walk behind a curtain and are met with about eight rows of seats that lead way to a decent sized screen. The first six rows were typical movie theater seats. The next two rows were way cooler. The row we sat in was nice comfy lazy boy chairs. They didn't recline, but man were they cushy and cozy. The row behind us was a bar with some bar seats. I feel like we had the best seats in the house. The screen, while not as big as a typical movie theater screen, was still bigger than the tv in my house. It was the perfect size for the room we watched the movie in. Next to the theater was an exit and some restrooms. It was not the biggest theater, but it was the perfect size for what they are doing there.

Another cool thing I noticed about The Arkadin. Before the movie they were advertising upcoming movie nights they were having there. They're showing the original "Blade Runner" this Friday, followed by some kind of uncut body dysmorphia sci-fi movie that looked terrifying. That was only seven dollars to get into. They have theme nights. We went to Knifetime last night, which shows a bloody Lifetime movie. They have sci-fi nights. They had something called vaporware night. They have family friendly movie nights. They even have a VHS night. That entails bringing in a VHS, the staff picks one to show the audience, and the person who brings the winning tape gets free concessions during the screening. I love this idea. In fact, I love everything they're doing at The Arkadin. It's cool to go see old time movies or kitschy things to make fun of with a crowd. I like how involved they want the audience to be. I like the whole idea of the community they're trying to build in this place. I was looking at their website when I got home last night and more times than not they had something going on that I would love to see.

I cannot say enough good things about this spot. My buddy that suggested this made my night with this viewing. He knows I like this type of thing and it was right up my alley. I'm positive we will be returning in the very near future. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you have a cool place like this near you, please go and support. We need more stuff like this. It's a nice little escape and it's fun to be around other people who may be into the same nonsense that you're into. I'm stoked we have The Arkadin here in STL. I'll be back there many, many more times. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.