TLA Video and Philebrity.com have teamed up for the first-ever TLA Philebrity Screening Series, to be held from December through February at National Mechanics in historic Old City. The series will feature seven Thursday night screenings, with each film hand-selected by prominent Philebrities and introduced/hosted by those very Philebrities.

For the series, the team at Philebrity has rounded up a group of influential and diverse Philadelphians, from MayorMichael Nutter to WIP’s Anthony Gargano to DJ King Britt. Each has been asked to select a film that is either a personal favorite or has been influential to their careers, and host the event with opening remarks. Movies will be projected in a large-screen format via high-end digital projection at the National Mechanics Bar & Restaurant at 22 S. 3rd St.; all events are free and open to the public.

The schedule is as follows:

1/24/08 – Legendary Philly DJ/musician King Britt presents The Wiz

1/31/08 – Mayor-Elect Michael Nutter presents his favorite movie

2/7/08 – Musician Dan Yemin (Paint It Black, Kid Dynamite, Lifetime) presents Dr. Stangelove

2/21/08 - Y-Rock Programmer/WXPN drive time DJ Jim McGuinn presents The Harder They Come

2/28/08 – R5 Productions’ Sean Agnew presents Real Genius

3/6/08 - Joseph A. Gervasi of Exhumed Films and Diabolik DVD presents The Cremator

3/13/08 – WIP’s Anthony Gargano presents Sexy Beast

3/27/08 – Greg Weeks of Espers/The Valerie Project presents his favorite movie

All screenings take place on Thursday nights at 7:30pm at National Mechanics, 22 S. 3rd Street. They’re all free and there’s drink specials each week!

This Thurdsay At The TLA Screening Series: Greg Weeks And Alucarda!

About our host: Greg Weeks (pictured) is a producer, musician, studio owner and co-founder of Language of Stone, a label manufactured and distributed by Drag City. He earned greatest notoriety as front man to Philadelphia’s own Espers, a psych folk band that pioneered the genre’s 21st century resurgence. The Philadelphian divides his time between producing/recording artists at Hexham Head studio and working on his own myriad projects.

Other Favorite Films: Sweet Movie, Day Of The Locust, Over The Edge, L’eu Foid, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Weekend, La Calvaire, War and Peace (Banduchuck), Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, Stalker, Suicide Club, Irreversible, Le Eclisse, The Thing (Carpenter), Holy Mountain, Taking Off, Travolta and Me, There Will Be Blood, Thundercrack

About Alucarda in Greg’s Words: Alucarda stems from a tradition in Spanish language cinema that revels in storytelling through surrealism, metaphor and a muted yet overarching degree of hyper-styalization. Here, Juan Lopez Moctezuma, a compatriot of legendary surrealist Alejandro Jodorowsky, pushes genre limits to the edge, saturating every aspect of his Vampire film in histrionics so vibrant they nearly mirror nature’s own. For those interested in maximizing the screening-room/bar potential I suggest taking one drink every time Alucarda screams in angst or cries “Justine!” Barkeep, keep those pitchers coming!!!