This free screening of Major League, a 1989 film that let Charlie Sheen begin his spiral into megamaniacal fame and gave Wesley Snipes a leg up into the world of Hollywood blockbusters, is paired with episodes of HBO's Eastbound and Down, a recent series starring Danny McBride as an alcoholic pitcher whose ego has run him into the ground.
Rick Vaughan, Sheen's character in Major League, is a young, mohawked pitcher whose antics on the mound irk the older players on his team; McBride's Kenny Powers is an out-of-shape has-been who dreams of returning to the spotlight. The themes in both are similar—redemption, aging, lots of locker-room humor—but what's most striking is how similar the real Sheen of today is with Kenny Powers. Both use plenty of drugs and somehow manage to get plenty of women, but Powers' journey back to North Carolina after walking away the major leagues is a descent into personal hell that Sheen seems to be reveling in now. An interesting double feature, this free event promises a "dude-style" drink special.
Major League (1989) & Eastbound and Down
Sunday, July 24
8:30 p.m.
Black Cat
1811 14th St. NW, Washington D.C.
Free
