From early avatars like Major Tom and Ziggy Stardust to later, darker alter egos like Alladin Sane and The Thin White Duke, the late great David Bowie made an art of self invention. Unlike many pop stars, Bowie was also successful at translating his stage charisma and sex appeal to the silver screen in a series of unusual roles. In this program, we look back at Bowie's chameleonic career in film: playing a homesick alien, a dying vampire, a melancholic POW and a baby-snatching goblin. We close out the Bowie program with his delightfully dark turn in Jim Henson's fantasy fable Labyrinth.

Forced to babysit her infant brother Toby, fifteen-year old Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) wishes he'd simply disappear. Toby is suddenly snatched up by Jareth, the Goblin King (David Bowie), a villainous character from the play she's been rehearsing. Jareth imprisons the baby in a castle, surrounded by a labyrinth, and gives Sarah 13 hours to solve the maze before Toby is turned into a goblin. Sarah sets out on her journey, befriending an assortment of curious creatures to help resist the Goblin King and rescue Toby. Muppet creator Jim Henson's final film is a visually-inventive fantasy populated by imaginative characters and designed to deliver a moral lesson about friendship to younger children. But it's also an unusually sensitive story about a girl's passage from adolescence to young adulthood. As Jareth, Bowie is both sinister and seductive, revamping his pop star persona for Hot Topic teens. Though it failed at the box office, Labyrinth now has a devoted cult following. Join it. Watch the trailer. 

Directed by Jim Henson, 1986, UK/USA, 101 min. In English. 

Bar opens @ 18:30.
Admission is free, but donations are welcome. 
After the film, we'll celebrate all things Bowie with a music video dance party until midnight.