“Nickelodeon” holds a special place in 15-year-old Hudson Purma’s heart. Oh, not the cable channel behind SpongeBob SquarePants. The 1976 Peter Bogdanovich comedy, natch. Four years ago, his dad took him to see the film at AFS Cinema.
That’s how he got hooked on the classics.
“I told my dad, ‘We need to go see more of these,’” he remembers.
Hudson’s family became regulars at the Paramount Summer Classic Film Series, catching a couple dozen movies that year. Watching the pre-show introductions from Stephen Jannise, programmer for the historic downtown theater, blew Hudson’s mind. Every old movie had a story behind it. They were works of art.
Just one problem for a budding cinephile.
“I couldn’t talk about these films with my friends, because no one had seen them,” he says.
So, Hudson started Flick Clique, a teen-oriented classic film series creating a new generation of fans for yesteryear’s greats, from Akira Kurosawa to Barbara Stanwyck. Screenings happen on the first Monday of every month at Sekrit Theater in Southeast Austin.
Their next show, George Romero’s 1968 horror gem Night of the Living Dead, plays Sept. 7. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.; the movie starts at sunset. Tickets are $5 per person and $10 per family at the door.
On a recent morning at the family’s South Austin home, Hudson wears a T-shirt with The Godfather logo on it while setting Flick Clique’s poster archive out on the dining table. A bust of W.C. Fields watches as the enthusiastic homeschool student explains the joys of director John Ford. The vinyl soundtrack album for A Fistful of Dollars sits on display like a family photo.
Flick Clique mostly shows pre-1970 films, which Hudson programs himself. So far, he’s curated series themed around Alfred Hitchcock, Shakespearean adaptations, coming-of-age stories, and more. It involves a lot of research and catch-up viewing. He’s 15, remember.
Night of the Living Dead closes out a run of monster movies, preceded by Godzilla and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. (Zombies, atomic lizards, and classic Universal monsters—a little something for every boy and ghoul.) Next up: films featuring iconic scores.
“You don’t hear anyone talking about these films, especially new people, and if they’re not talked about or watched or enjoyed, then they’re gonna die off,” Hudson says. “We’re trying to keep them alive. If you get these people inspired, and they start loving classic film, they’ll show their kids, and then it’ll be a chain reaction.”
Michael Minasi
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KUT News
A clique needs more than one member. Shows draw anywhere from 20 to 60 people. They’re not just for teens; film lovers of all ages are invited.
Jane Long, 18, got involved early on. She designs all Flick Clique’s posters. Once Hudson figures out the upcoming slate, she researches iconic images from each film and draws her concept in graphite, with final touches added digitally.
“Before this, I was not a film person,” Jane says. “I’ve come to really enjoy it as an art form. It’s not something I ever considered being as deep or meaningful as paintings or literature. But just seeing all the details—it’s a whole new dimension of communicating ideas.”
Come show night, moviegoers can admire Jane’s posters at Sekrit Theater. Hudson’s dad, Charles, queues up the evening’s film in the projection booth. The family makes a pre-show H-E-B run to stock concessions. They hand out film notes stuffed with historical context and trivia to the audience.
Michael Minasi
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KUT News
Before every feature presentation, Hudson gives an introduction. It’s his favorite part, but he still gets a little nervous, so he practices a few times beforehand.
Hudson loves hearing audience reactions. The audience raved about Paper Moon. Harvey, not so much. Jane was partial to Rear Window, Hitchcock’s 1954 thriller about the dangers of voyeurism. She really loves Jimmy Stewart.
“My favorite thing is overhearing the kids,” says Hudson’s mom, Mackenzie. “Every now and then, I’ll be like, oh my gosh, that’s hilarious—they just referenced an old classic movie. I love it.”
The Searchers, Flick Clique’s inaugural movie, is still Hudson’s favorite. “It gives you a little bit of everything,” he says about the 1956 Western epic.
The biggest challenge so far: building and maintaining an audience. Fortunately, Hudson has enough passion to go around. Before a recent showing of 12 Angry Men at the State Theatre, he promoted Flick Clique to a captive audience of hundreds. The Austin Chronicle named Flick Clique “Best Clique of Burgeoning Cinephiles” earlier this year.
After one Flick Clique screening, an audience member came up to Hudson and told him, “For an old movie, this was actually kind of good.”
“I was like, What do you mean?” Hudson says. “People think that old movies aren’t good. That blew my mind.”
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