“Everyone's doing it … but it's not vulgar!” If you were one of the lucky people who caught that tagline during the trailer for the 1983 film that capitalized on everything from video games to titties to BDSM, Joysticks probably made you so happy that you immediately dissolved into the carbonation in your cup of RC Cola. Tonight's screening is exploitation filmmaker Greydon Clark (who also directed Without Warning and Satan's Cheerleaders) at his finest — or crappiest, depending on which dictionary of style you consult. He threw everything against the wall to see what stuck in this great, stupid teen movie: punks, nerds, Valley girls, Pac-Man. Back in 1983, what else did you need? Its plot is thin but simple: Burly Joe Don Baker plays a job creator who wants to shut down the local video arcade. With more video games per square inch than any given episode of Starcade, Joysticks remains a warped, dented time capsule from which issues the greatest of all possible guilty pleasures: nostalgia. Cinefamily, 611 N. Fairfax Ave.; Fri., Aug. 3, mid.; $12. (323) 655-2510, cinefamily.org.

Fri., Aug. 3, 2012

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