This film night will serve up a one-two combo!
A rooftop film series will punch up its screening of “Rocky” by taking the action into the audience! When the Rooftop Cinema Club shows the 1976 boxing classic in Bushwick on Aug. 24, it will offer film-goers a free shadowboxing session with some professors of pugilism imported from Manhattan boxing gym Overthrow New York. The half-hour pre-show workout will make the audience hungry for the popcorn to come — and it might be the start of someone’s boxing career, said the night’s lead instructor.
“Whoever is going to join in, get ready to be addicted and to feel empowered. It’s so empowering, you tap into this inner Hulk,” said Alicia “Empress” Napoleon, a teacher and World Boxing Council champ.
The class will offer the same exercises as at Overthrow, plus a high-energy soundtrack that includes the “Rocky” theme. The music and routine is designed to keep you bobbing and weaving, said Napoleon.
“It’ll be like we’re dancing and boxing at the same time,” she said. “That’s exactly what boxing is — you have to have rhythm, moves, and it’ll be fun. That’s what I’m trying to show people that night.”
Budding brawlers must sign a waiver to join the half-hour session, but there is little risk of sporting a black eye the next day — the shadowboxing class is a strictly no-contact affair. And though the routine is no cakewalk, it will not leave you snoozing while you watch Sly Stallone punch sides of beef, said another trainer.
“It’s light — this will give people a good taste of what they can get at the gym. We’re not trying to make them so worn out they can’t get through the movie,” Brian Patrick Murphy said.
Trainers say you should bring a towel and some water, but the film series also lets people bring their own booze to the screening, and to order additional food from local restaurants. The founder of Rooftop Cinema Club, which gives each viewer a set of headphones so they can crunch popcorn without disturbing neighbors, said that the fighting film called for something extra.
“We’ve never done a boxing event — we’ve done dance and singalongs — so we’re very excited,” said Gerry Cottle, Jr. “Rocky is one of the greatest boxing films ever, so we were looking at it, thinking ‘What can we bring to make it much better?’ ”
A potential prizefighters who want to watch good fundamentals should keep an eye on Apollo Creed, said Napoleon — actor Carl Weathers has the best technique in the film.
“Rocky” at Rooftop Cinema Club at Office Ops roof [57 Thames St. between Knickerbocker Avenue and Vandervoort Place in Bushwick, www.rooft
