Johnny Cupcakes takes retro gaming to the Coolidge

Last Saturday night at midnight, Johnny Cupcakes brought late-80s gamer geek classic The Wizard to the Coolidge. People who crave their fix of both Nintendo nostalgia and exclusively designed Powerglove posters flocked to the theatre early that night. I arrived at 11:15 to find the line stretched down the alley. Attendees wore Cupcakes merch and traded cred about Super Mario Bros., Ninja Gaiden, Donkey Kong, and the rest. Most hadn't had the opportunity to catch The Wizard on the big screen as kids, and all were excited to get another chance.

Everyone got a few freebies for the night (including a Mario trading card and Johnny Cupcakes logo pin with a Mario-inspired Mushroom cupcake), as well as a raffle ticket. I happened to win one of the raffle prizes, a box of six pairs of earrings. Johnny himself then challenged audience members to beat him at a round of Dr. Mario on the Coolidge's big screen. Johnny found himself soundly defeated and awarded the winner a console for old-school games (I believe it was one of these). Then, we all sat back and enjoyed the performances of then-young Fred Savage, Christian Slater, and Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley fame).

The next Johnny Cupcakes film event is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on June 13th, and the showing comes with the promise of both pizza and more exclusive paraphernalia.