SHATFEST returns to the East Bay May 20
Poster by Miles Goodrich
I hear a lot of excuses from people who miss Thrillville because of the various "remote" locations I've been doing it for the past year, in the "distant" burgs of San Francisco and San Jose. "Why can't you do it in the East Bay again?" I keep getting asked, and many former patrons of the defunct Parkway aren't even aware that Thrillville still thrives. Now, I have been hosting multi-media theme nights at Kingman's Ivy Room and Forbidden Island (my new monthly home base), in Albany and Alameda, respectively, but as far as movie theaters go, I only go where I'm invited. It's also proven difficult to survive as a freelance programmer, logistically speaking - one big reason I'm winding down my bigger shows, and Thrillville is being gradually downsized into Chillville, with a few annual exceptions. One of those exceptions will always be my most popular regular event: THRILLVILLE'S SHATFEST: A TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM SHATNER, which I began nearly a decade ago, reviving Big Bill's more obscure, outre oeuvre. Nobody can emote like Shatner - even if it's in Esperanto! For my debut this Thursday at Livermore's Vine Cinema - which, like the Parkway, offers beer, wine and food in a comfy environment, and which, incidentally, for the bridge-o-phobic, is in the East Bay, even though some seem to think it's on the East Coast - I'm bringing back the perennial favorite IMPULSE (1974), Shat's immortal, immoral grindhouse serial killer thriller, directed by notorious schlockmeister William Grefe, on a double bill with the "Spanish spaghetti Western" WHITE COMANCHE (1968), in which Shat plays twin half-breed Indians - one good, one evil. Both are as good - and as bad - as they sound. Also on the Shat-bill: surprise Shat-subjects, including his legendary performance of "Rocket Man," and live comedy by The Shatner Butt Girls! Hope to see you there, cheers. 
THRILLVILLE'S SHATFEST
Thursday, May 20, 7:30, $10
Vine Cinema, 1722 First St., Livermore
