Audience finds “great stuff” at Monday Night Movie Club screening of “The Goonies” • Atascadero News

The Movie Club shows nostalgic films on selected Mondays in the Colony Cinemas

ATASCADERO — Film lovers and movie fans were treated to a treat at the Monday Night Movie Club at Colony Cinemas on Monday, July 15. This week, a capacity audience participated in an interactive screening of the 1985 coming-of-age classic “The Goonies.” Atascadero News was there to join in on all the fun, which included trivia about the film, props from and about the film, throwing Baby Ruths into the audience, prizes, and everyone getting prints of the Astoria Ledger featured in the film. The cherry on top, aside from the film itself, was a presentation and personal Q&A with local resident Jack Johnson, who worked as a set designer on The Goonies.

The film club is run by three friends: Danny Foster, Dan Waybright and Bryan Bergman. They love films and present them to the audience in an unforgettable way.

“We love classic movies, so I think we started with Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in May.

“We probably had about 50 people show up for ‘The Phantom Menace,’ which was pretty cool for a Monday night,” Waybright said of the club’s opening.

The last two films, including this one, have seen the film club’s auditorium almost sold out. In fact, the club has become so popular that the cinema has started opening up the first two rows of the auditorium to accommodate everyone. This means that over 200 people flock to the cinema for the special screenings.

“We encourage everyone when the villain comes on screen to boo him,” Waybright added. “It’s just a lot of fun. It kind of came out of a very grassroots initiative. Just a bunch of movie geeks, and it was a lot of fun.”

Foster responded to an SOS from Colony Cinemas General Manager Luke Phillips asking for someone to host the Monday Night Movie Club. Foster had previous experience hosting similar screenings back in the Galaxy Theater days and jumped at the chance to jump back into hosting screenings and get people back into the theater.

“I have no problem with it at all. I have a lot of contacts and I want them here. I want this for the audience. I want them to enjoy it,” Foster said. “I want it to be as personal as possible. It’s like doing a movie night with 200 friends. I can’t get them all into my garage, so I’m very grateful this fell into my lap. I have a bigger venue.”

So how did Foster find out about Jack Johnson and ask him if he wanted to get in on all the Goonies fun? In fact, it was local man Rick Evans who contacted Foster and told him he had a framed picture of a local artist who had worked on the film. Foster did a little snooping and two days later he was at Johnson’s house and got confirmation that Johnson would be happy to come to the screening.

“What a great and very humble guy,” Foster said of Johnson.

In his presentation, the “Goonies” illustrator discussed parts of the set design he helped create, as well as his work on other films, such as “Edward Scissorhands” and “Big Fish,” to name a few.

“I got to design sets before they were built. Most of you think illustrators are storyboard people, and I do some of that, but most of it was illustration,” Johnson explained.

The creators of The Goonies didn’t want to spend money on building a 1:3 scale model of the ship, but with the help of Johnson’s illustration of the captain’s cabin and a few others, they were able to build some sets for the ship, saving production costs while maintaining the integrity of the film. Johnson also illustrated many of the underground scenes, the bone piano, and more. Although some of the designs changed slightly due to construction, set designers, and art directors, it was Johnson’s sketches that inspired what we saw on screen.

“I get paid very well to do what I enjoy and I consider myself very lucky,” added Johnson, who is currently working on a book about his artistic adventures in Hollywood.

Everyone had a great time as we then watched the popular movie about a group of children who find One-Eyed Willy’s “big stuff” – aka treasure – and save their families’ homes.

“It means something to me, and I want it to mean something to these people,” Foster said. “Whatever they take away from it, as long as it’s not like, ‘I saw a movie about kids getting a treasure.’ I want them to feel like they’re part of the adventure or they’re behind the scenes with Jack (Johnson) or they’re having fun with us. It’s like an all-encompassing experience.”

The Monday Night Movie Club returns on Monday, August 5th with a screening of “Dirty Dancing.” Local choreographer and dancer Doriana Sanchez, who starred in the film, will also be in attendance. Tickets are $8 and more information can be found at atascadero.themovieexperience.com closer to the screening date.

Featured image: (From left) Monday Night Movie Club host Danny Foster, “The Goonies” illustrator Jack Johnson and co-host Bryan Bergman are seen at a special screening of the film at the Colony Cinemas. Photo by Rick Evans

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