At the Chazen: Cinematic Messages From Our PlanetExplorers | USA | 1985 | 35mm | 109 min. Director: Joe Dante

Cast: Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, Jason Presson
Junior high-schooler Ben (Hawke, in his first movie), the recipient of interstellar psychic instructions for space travel, recruits nerdy pal Wolfgang (Phoenix) and tough kid Darren (Presson) to help him build a spacecraft out of a rusted Tilt-a-Whirl carriage. The boys’ odd and surprising journey beyond the stars and their encounter with alien life is rendered with a bounty of classic movie references and satirical flourish.