For a generation of boys and girls, 1990’s live-action film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was beyond essential viewing. It was a way of life. Even though critics at the time panned the comic-book adaptation, mocking its sloppy production design and noting the sometimes-problematic nature of mining Japanese culture for source material while broadly depicting Asians as villains, first-wave millennials (though we weren’t called that at the time) ate it up. Throughout the early ’90s, countless kiddos across the country lay on living-room floors watching and rewatching their VHS copies of TMNT to the point of tape degradation, laughing along to foam-suited, buzzword-spewing, pizza-loving mutants who swung blades at their enemies and somehow managed to never spill any blood. For those who haven’t seen the film in about a quarter-century, there are lots of little bits you may have forgotten or never even known about — like a young Sam Rockwell’s appearance as a greasy street tough, or the fact that it was edited in part by longtime Quentin Tarantino collaborator Sally Menke. But all the cheesy, campy, poorly shot wackiness is still there; perfect fodder for a Midnight Movie. Show up early to the Belcourt to participate in a pre-screening pizza-eating contest. D. PATRICK RODGERS
Midnight Movie: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
