Midnight Express

"For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake." When Hitchcock was talking about cinema, he was obviously not weighing in on Athens’ open-air cinemas. Let us connect the dots, then: a summer cinema experience in Athens is the icing on your (visit) cake. We could have done so much better than that, we know. Thankfully, there are people out there far more suitable than us to talk to you about cinema. The guys behind Midnight Express, for example, more specifically film critic and journalist Akis Kapranos. His idea of reviving the after midnight celluloid screenings rituals has turned into a very successful annual cult celebration. This summer’s programme has been announced and it goes like this: 

28/05: Suspiria, Dario Argento, 1977
04/06: The Karate Kid, John G. Avildsen, 1984
11/06: The Lost Boys, Joel Schumacher, 1987
18/06: Edge of Night, Nikos Panayotopoulos, 2000
24/06: Throw away your books, rally in the streets, Shûji Terayama, 1971
01/07: Ninja III: The Domination, Sam Firstenberg, 1984
08/07: Escape From New York, John Carpenter, 1981
15/07: Blazing Saddles, Mel Brooks, 1974
22/07: Withnail and I, Bruce Robinson, 1987
23/07: Bram Stoker's Dracula, Francis Ford Coppola, 1992, Palace of the Duchess of Plaisance
29/07: Top Secret, J. Abrahams, D. Zucker, J. Zucker, 1984 
20/08: City of the Living Dead, Lucio Fulci, 1980 
27/08: Companeros, Sergio Corbucci, 1970
09/09: Altered States, Ken Russell, 1980

Want to connect with the Athens film buff crowd? Join in on the Midnight Express Facebook group.