How will you spend your WarriorFest? The ultimate NYC movie is The Warriors, which captures New York during a much more dangerous era - where gangs ruled the city and terrorized people while wheeling around on rollerskates or drssed in baseball uniforms. Can you dig it? We follow the Warriors as they battle their way back to Coney Island. Director by Walter Hill (who also brought us 48 Hrs.), the movie is 35 flippin' years old! To celebrate, Saturday Feb 8th is WarriorFest: a cinematic extravaganza marking the most iconic cult movie in New York history. Question: Will the Warriors come out to play-yay?
The gang at Rocks Off are throwing the party at Le Poisson Rouge this Saturday to expeience New York City when it was terrorized by the likes of Turnbull AC's, The Orphans, The Warriors, The Lizzies, The Punks, and The Gramercy Riffs. DJ Small Change will be spinning the tunes from The Warriors soundtrack before and after the movie. Prizes and random free drinks will also be given out to those who represent the best dressed members of the gangs from the film! Q+A with Apache Ramos from The Orphans and other stars of the film! Hosted by NYC punk rock icon John Joseph!
We spoke with Rocks Off's WarriorFest founder, Jake Szufnarowski about the craziest event of the weekend!
Den of Geek: Why did you start WarriorFest?
Jake Szufnarowski: All my life I have been an event junkie. I think it has to do with coming from a shit town (Lowell, Massachusetts) where there was nothing to do. So I moved to the one place in the world where there is ALWAYS something to do. Yet there still wasn't always something that I wanted to do, so I started Rocks Off, which was basically an outlet for me to create the types of events I would want to attend. I thought it would be amazing to get a few hundred people in a room to dress as their favorite gang, drink beer, and shout along at the screen! I had been kicking around the idea of a WarriorFest for a few years, but just never pursued it too far, until about a month ago when I realized that we were coming up on the 35th Anniversary so we pulled the whole thing together pretty quickly. Hopefully this will become an annual thing. Next year I'd like to include a Polar Bear swim out at Coney Island as part of the festivities.
Why do you love the film so much?
It's a cinematic love letter to the gritty, seedily romantic New York City I wish I had gotten to live in - for good and bad. And it's underdog theme is universal - us against the world, which resonates with anybody regardless of geography.
What does it say about NYC? How would you describe the fans of The Warriors?
So many people from so many walks of life identify with this movie. Not just punks or street kids or skaters or gangsters. So I can't really describe fans of the movie. We will find out on Saturday night when they are all in the same room. I'm very curious to see which gangs are most represented by people who come dressed up. I'm hoping for a big contingent of the Lizzies.
What gang do you most identify with and why?
I'd have to say I most identify with the Warriors. Partly because they are the heroes, partly because of their amazing vests, partly because they beat the odds, and mostly because the first time I ever saw somebody get stabbed with a broken bottle, it was at Coney Island in 1997.
What can people expect if they attend WarriorFest?
They should expect to get laid. Same as anybody expects on a Saturday night, I guess.
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