Take-Up Productions' latest monthly series will showcase some of Johnny Depp's work before his days as a drunken, eyeliner-wearing pirate. Well before he became a megastar from those silly "Pirates" movies, he worked with some great directors and gave memorable, idiosyncratic performances every time out. "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (1998) is the first in the series, and screens this weekend at the Trylon. Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam ("Brazil") directed this adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's famous gonzo drug-fueled American road odyssey, and the result was an inspired drug movie (perhaps the ultimate drug movie). Depp is fantastic in the film, channeling the writer's persona by contorting his walk and posture and always biting on that infamous Thompson cigarette holder. He's matched by the bloated Benicio Del Toro as Dr. Gonzo. Together they hit the road, and encounter bat country, while consuming one drug after another. Gilliam's visual ingenuity proved a good match for Thompson's writing, and Depp and the rest of the cast were up for the challenge of bringing the supposedly un-filmable novel to the screen. "In Deppth" rounds out with "Ed Wood" (Jan. 8-9), "Dead Man" (Jan 15-16), "The Ninth Gate" (Jan. 22-23) and "Cry-Baby" (Jan. 29-30).
- When: 7 and 9:20 p.m. Jan. 1-2
Where: Trylon Microcinema
$8
