FILM GUIDE JANUARY 2015 www.loftcinema.org THE UNBELIEVERS WITH LAWRENCE KRAUSS & GUS HOLWERDA IN PERSON! THE ROOM AND THE NEIGHBORS: A TOMMY WISEAU DOUBLE FEATURE! VISIT OUR NEW AND IMPROVED WEBSITE: WWW.LOFTCINEMA.ORG See what films are playing next, buy tickets, look up showtimes and much more! JANUARY 2015 SPECIAL ENGAMENTS 3 - 17 ESSENTIAL CINEMA 4, 17 LOFT JR. 5, 14 ART ON SCREEN 5, 12 LOFT STAFF SELECTS 6, 14 SCIENCE ON SCREEN 6 REEL READS SELECTION 6 LOFT MEMBERSHIPS 8 MONTH-LONG SERIES 15 - 16 NEW FILMS 19 - 28 MONDO MONDAYS 29 LATE NIGHT CULT CLASSICS 30 THE LOFT CINEMA 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Tucson, AZ 85716 SHOWTIMES: 520-795-7777 THEATRE INFO: 520-795-0844 LOFT OFFICE: 520-322-5638 EMAIL: info@loftcinema.org WEB: loftcinema.org FREE MEMBERS SCREENING SONG OF THE SEA (SEE PAGE 27) FRIDAY, JANUARY 30 • TIME TBA REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES Tickets are available to purchase online at: $9.25 $7.50 $6.25 $5.75 or by calling: 520-795-0844 - loftcinema.org/showtimes Adult | $6.75 - Matinee* Student, Teacher, Military Senior (65+) or Child (6 - 12) Loft Members Phone orders are subject to a $1 surcharge. PLEASE NOTE: Screen 2 is not wheelchair accessible. There is a $1 surcharge for all 3-D screenings. *MATINEE: ANY SCREENING BEFORE 4:00PM OR AFTER 9:45PM. HEARING LOOP AVAILABLE IN SCREENS 2 & 3. Made possible by Paul & Mary Koss. NEW AT THE LOFT! Late Night Matinees! Now see all regularly scheduled films starting at 9:45pm or later at the matinee price! BEER OF THE MONTH: WINTER SOLSTICE SEASONAL ALE ANDERSON VALLEY BREWING COMPANY ONLY $3 ALL THROUGH JANUARY! RENT THE LOFT! Each of our theaters are available to rent for Private Screenings, Corporate Events, Fundraisers, Birthday Parties, College Reunions, Weddings, Video Game Tournaments... Anything you can dream up, you can make happen here. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON RENTING THE LOFT CALL: 520-322-5638 Ext 4# EMAIL: info@loftcinema.org VISIT: www.loftcinema.org LOFT FILM GUIDES ARE AVAILABLE AT: • • • • • • • • • • • • • aLoft Hotel Antigone Books Aqua Vita Art Institute of Tucson AZ Title Security Bentley’s Black Crown Coffee Bookman’s Bookstop Brooklyn Pizza Café Marcel Café Passe Caffe Luce • • • • • • • • • • • • • Casa Video Chocolate Iguana Clues Unlimited Coyote Wore Sideburns D&D Pinball Epic Café Espresso Art Fantasy Comics First American Title Fresco Pizza Fronimos Heroes & Villains Hotel Congress • • • • • • • • • • • • • How Sweet It Was Humanities Seminars Imagine Barber Shop Jewish Community Ctr KXCI Maynard’s Market Metro Tucson Libraries No Anchovies OLLI Parks and Recreation Pima Community College R-Galaxy Raging Sage • • • • • • • • • • • • Revolutionary Grounds Rincon Market Rocco’s Little Chicago Rogue Theatre Santa Barbara Ice Cream Shot in the Dark Café Southern AZ Aids Foundation SW U of Visual Arts Ted’s Country Store Time Market Tooley’s Tucson Museum of Art • Tucson Racquet and Fitness • Tucson Visitor’s Bureau • UA Media Arts • Vila Thai • Whole Foods • Wingspan • Xoom Juice • Yikes Toy Store • Zia Records 3 SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS FIRST FRIDAY SHORTS THE YES MEN ARE REVOLTING FRIDAY, JANUARY 2 AT 9:00PM SUNDAY, JANUARY 4 AT 1:00PM $200 MONTHLY GRAND PRIZE! $1,000 YEARLY GRAND PRIZE! Special Preview Screening featuring a postfilm Q&A with director / star / Yes Man Andy Bichlbaum! Co-presented by Sustainable Tucson and PSR – Physicians for Social Responsibility. GENERAL ADMISSION: $6 • LOFT MEMBERS: $5 REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES On the first Friday of each month at 9:00pm, Red Meat’s Max Cannon hosts the biggest, baddest short film contest in town – just bring us your short films and we’ll play them on the largest movie screen in Southern Arizona! In case you’ve never been to a First Friday Shorts show, here are the rules: We’ll play anything you’ve made that’s under 15 minutes long and is brought to us on a DVD, thumb drive or BLU-ray (one film per person, and DVDs must be playable on a regular DVD player and films on drives need to be in by 8:00pm). Submissions are only taken on the day of the event, and all entries MUST BE RECEIVED PRIOR TO THE START OF THE ACTUAL SHOW (we cannot accept films after the show has begun, or during intermission). All films are played in the order they’re received. Every film is guaranteed to play for 3 minutes, but after that the audience can call for the dreaded “gong” if they’re displeased. If the gong is struck, our intrepid host stops the film and the next movie begins. But don’t despair … if your film is gonged, you can re-work it and bring it back to see if the changes you’ve made have pleased the audience. This is a great way for filmmakers to try out new ideas and see how an actual audience responds, so take advantage. You cannot submit the same film more than once unless it has been re-worked. Remember, the audience decides the winner each and every month, so keep them happy! PLEASE NOTE: We only take the first 15 films that are brought in each month and the spots have been filling up really fast. We start taking submissions as soon as we open the day of the show so get your films in early! PLEASE BE ADVISED: Since we don’t pre-screen First Friday Shorts entries, we don’t know what each month’s “film content” rating will be. Be advised that some material may not be suitable for all audiences. Congratulations to Carl S. Miller for winning December contest with his short film, Yo, Billy Got A Knife! the Fans of comic documentaries can rejoice. If you’ve never heard of the Yes Men, you’re in for a treat; if you’ve followed their antics in earlier films, you’ll delight in a new barrage. Either way, you’ll find in this film a fresh reflection on the question: How does one sustain a life of activism? The Yes Men Are Revolting chronicles the past five years of pranksters Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno (not their real names), the infamous activists known for duping the media with their impersonations of corporate shills and government stooges. At this stage of their career, the Yes Men have climate change at the top of their agenda, which takes them to Washington, Copenhagen, Uganda, and the Albertan tar sands. Laura Nix and the Yes Men team up as directors, recording every step of Bichlbaum and Bonanno’s journey as they meet with collaborators and pull off their witty stunts. Their planning and execution is filled with anxiety and improvisation, some pranks fizzling while others turn into media whirlwinds — and one case brings a threat of legal action more serious than any the Yes Men have ever encountered before. But things become even more challenging as the pair enters a new chapter in their lives. Having crossed into middle age, Bichlbaum and Bonanno now have more at stake than did their younger selves. The stress of nurturing relationships presents greater complications to their lifestyle, giving rise to tensions that threaten to fracture the duo’s long partnership. Even as they question their future, they move forward with one more daring action, gathering a roomful of defense contractors and government officials under absurdly false pretenses. You won’t want to miss how it turns out. (Dir. by Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno & Laura Nix, 2014, USA, 90 mins., Rated PG) SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS L’AVVENTURA ROCKIN’ THE WALL TUESDAY, JANUARY 6 AT 7:00PM WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7 AT 7:00PM PART OF OUR ESSENTIAL CINEMA SERIES See classic art films the way they were meant to be seen - with an audience, on the big screen! WITH WRITER / PRODUCER LARRY SCHWEIKART IN PERSON! FREE ADMISSION! • $5 SUGGESTED DONATION One of modern cinema’s trailblazing works, and often cited as one of the greatest films ever made, L’Avventura is a gorgeously shot tale of modern ennui and spiritual isolation, wrapped inside a tantalizingly ambiguous mystery involving a young woman’s disappearance during a yachting trip off the coast of Sicily. Legendary Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni’s (Blow-Up, The Passenger) controversial international sensation was initially booed but ultimately fêted at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival, winning a Special Jury Prize for its beauty and “for seeking to create a new film language.” Antonioni’s “adventure,” co-written with Tonino Guerra, has a yachting party of wealthy Italians landing on a deserted volcanic island, where Anna (Lea Massari) disappears after quarrelling with her fiancé Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti). Sandro and Anna’s friend Claudia (Monica Vitti) then spend the rest of the film looking for her — and falling in love with each other. Or are they merely in love with the idea of being in love? And what has become of poor Anna? Antonioni departed from conventional plot, narrative, and resolution in favor of a new, reflective aesthetic that uses cinematic time and space to explore psychology and metaphysics. L’Avventura demonstrates his great mastery of composition, long-take sequence shots, and real time; his linkage of his characters to architecture and landscape; his unusual use of absence and irresolution. All is put to startling, unsettling effect: L’Avventura expressed “the great emotional sickness” of the modern era — spiritual malaise; a society adrift; men and women unable to communicate — like no film had before it. Mysterious, allusive and audacious in both its visual and narrative design, Antonioni’s provocative look at love gone wrong stands as one of the most influential and radical films of the 1960s. (Dir. by Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960, Italy/France, in Italian with subtitles, 143 mins., Not Rated) 4 FREE ADMISSION! “10 Stars! Classic rock fans / followers should especially be interested.” – Gary Brown, Classic Rock Radio Rockin’ the Wall is the compelling story of rock and roll’s part in bringing down the Berlin Wall and smashing the Iron Curtain. Told from the perspective of rockers who played at the time, on both sides of the Wall, and from survivors of the communist regimes who recalled the lifeline that rock music provided them, Rockin’ the Wall features new interviews and several original songs written exclusively for the film. The message that emerges is that music is a force of liberation, and in a society like America’s, where it is seldom – if ever – truly suppressed, music failed to ignite a social revolution. Behind the Iron Curtain, where the mere act of expressing one’s individuality constituted a potential act of revolution, music provided the key thread upon which the anti-communist struggle gained ground. The movie features interviews with a veritable Who’s Who of classic Rockers including Robby Krieger of The Doors, Mark Stein of Vanilla Fudge, Mother’s Finest, Rudy Sarzo of Quiet Riot, David Paich of Toto, Hollywood composer John Van Tongeren, Jimmy Haslip of the Yellowjackets, and Leslie Mandoki, a European star who escaped from communism, and more! (Dir. by Marc Leif, 2010, US, 84 min., Not Rated) 5 SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE JOHN SATURDAY, JANUARY 10 AT 10:00AM SUNDAY, JANUARY 11 AT 11:00AM; MONDAY, JANUARY 12 AT 7:00PM; THURSDAY, JANUARY 15 AT 11:00AM FREE ADMISSION! PART OF OUR LOFT JR. SERIES A free monthly series showcasing great new and classic family-friendly films from around the world! Presented by Trail Dust Town! Pre-show activities hosted by Mildred & Dildred Toy Store and the National Harry Potter Alliance starting at 9:15am! “A red-blooded adventure movie, dripping with atmosphere and surprisingly faithful to the novel.” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times This is the one that started it all! Based on the best-selling novel by J.K. Rowling, this first installment in the beloved Harry Potter franchise is a fun-filled fantasy adventure from director Chris Columbus (Mrs. Doubtfire). Upon his 11th birthday, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), who lives in misery with an aunt and uncle that don’t want him, learns from a giant named Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) that he is the orphaned son of powerful wizards. Harry is offered a place at prestigious Hogwarts, a boarding school for wizards that exists in a realm of magic and fantasy outside the dreary existence of normal humans or “Muggles.” At Hogwarts, Harry quickly makes new friends, including Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), and begins piecing together the mystery of his parents’ deaths, which appear not to have been accidental after all. Featuring an all-star cast of legendary British actors, including Richard Harris, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, John Cleese and Fiona Shaw. (Dir. by Chris Columbus, 2001, UK/US, 152 mins., Rated PG) PRESENTED BY NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE GENERAL ADMISSION: $15 • LOFT MEMBERS: $10 Please Note: We cannot accept passes or Groupons for this screening. PART OF OUR ART ON SCREEN SERIES Enjoy the performing arts on the big screen, with thrilling opera, ballet and theatre productions from around the world, captured live and presented in beautiful high definition! “Powerful and absorbing.” – Evening Standard “Hannes Langolf is extraordinary.” – Sunday Times “Bold, involving and utterly unique. Hannes Langolf’s central performance is simply devastating in its impact and empathy.” - Daily Telegraph Internationally renowned DV8 Physical Theatre bring their powerful new production to the National Theatre. DV8 Physical Theatre has produced 18 highly acclaimed dance-theatre works and four films for television, which have garnered over 50 national and international awards. The company’s new production, John, authentically depicts real-life stories, combining movement and spoken word to create an intense and moving theatrical experience. Lloyd Newson, DV8’s Artistic Director, interviewed more than 50 men asking them frank questions, initially about love and sex. One of those men was John (played by Hannes Langolf). What emerged was a story that is both extraordinary and touching. Years of crime, drug use and struggling to survive lead John on a search in which his life converges with others, in an unexpected place, unknown by most. Don’t miss this eagerly anticipated new production, broadcast live from the National Theatre. (Running time TBA, Not Rated / Contains adult themes, strong language and nudity. Suitable for ages 18+) SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS 6 LA HAINE THE UNBELIEVERS SUNDAY, JANUARY 11 AT 7:00PM GENERAL ADMISSION: $6 • LOFT MEMBERS: $5 TUESDAY, JANUARY 13 AT 7:00PM REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES PART OF OUR LOFT STAFF SELECTS SERIES A monthly series showcasing film favorites chosen by our amazing Loft Cinema staff! This month’s Loft Staff Selects film was chosen by J.J. Giddings, Marketing Director! PART OF OUR SCIENCE ON SCREEN SERIES “One of the most blisteringly effective pieces of urban cinema ever made.”- Wendy Ide, Times (UK) Mathieu Kassovitz (The Crimson Rivers) took the film world by storm with La haine (Hate), a gritty, unsettling, and visually explosive look at the racial and cultural volatility in modernday France, specifically the low-income banlieue districts on the outskirts of Paris. Aimlessly passing their days in the concrete environs of their dead-end suburbia, Vinz (Vincent Cassel), Hubert (Hubert Koundé), and Saïd (Saïd Taghmaoui)—a Jew, an African, and an Arab— eke out a living from petty crimes and small-time drug dealing, giving human faces to France’s immigrant populations. When their friend is brutally assaulted by policemen before a violent street riot, their bristling resentment at their marginalization slowly simmers until it reaches a climactic and shocking boiling point. A thrillingly bruising work of rough, tough beauty, La haine is a landmark of modern French cinema and a gripping reflection of its country’s ongoing identity crisis. The film, a box-office smash in its native country, was highly controversial upon release thanks to its inflammatory portrayal of the French police and suburban youth. Director Kassovitz won the Best Director award at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, and the film went on to garner several 1996 César Awards, including Best Picture. (Dir. by Mathieu Kassovitz, 1995, France, in French with subtitles, 98 mins., Not Rated) The program is designed to pair thought-provoking films, old and new, with insightful contextual discussions with local experts and academics to create illuminating and entertaining programming that will bring the exciting world of science alive on the big screen. Made possible by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation. Featuring a post-film discussion with theoretical physicist and cosmologist Lawrence Krauss and filmmaker Gus Holwerda! The Unbelievers follows evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss across the globe as they speak publicly to sold-out halls, advancing a thoughtful dialogue about the importance of science and reason in the modern world. Dawkins, the world’s most famous atheist, and Krauss, director of the esteemed Origins Project, are dedicated to furthering the (r)evolutionary idea that science, above all else, should inform man’s understanding of the universe. Filmmaker Gus Holwerda follows these “rock stars of reason” as they embark on a most modern crusade to encourage people to cast off antiquated ideologies and assume a purely rational approach to important current issues. Refusing to engage with those who advance divisive and extreme fundamentalist positions, Dawkins and Krauss show how sometimes sensitive and provocative ideas can be discussed respectfully and with intellectual rigor. Fans, including Ricky Gervais, Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, Stephen Hawking, Woody Allen and Werner Herzog, share their impressions and support, while arenas full of admirers and the curious eagerly receive them. As engaging as the subjects themselves, The Unbelievers offers an exciting glimpse into two of the world’s most influential minds at work. (Dir. by Gus Holwerda, 2013, USA, 77 mins., Not Rated) JANUARY’S REEL READS SELECTION Purchase a copy of The Physics Of Star Trek and/or A Universe From Nothing by Lawrence Krauss during the month of January and receive a special “Loft Reel Reads” discount off the cover price – 20% for Loft Members and 10% for the general public. Copies of each book are available at The Loft Cinema and Antigone Books. 9 SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS LITTLE WHITE LIE ROGER & ME THURSDAY, JANUARY 15 AT 7:00PM SATURDAY, JANUARY 17 AT 7:00PM REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES TUCSON INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL GENERAL ADMISSION: $10 (INCLUDED WITH TIJFF SEASON PASS) Please Note: We cannot accept passes or Groupons for this screening. Opening night of the 2015 Tucson International Jewish Film Festival! Featuring a post-film Q&A with director Lacey Schwartz. Tickets not available at The Loft. Visit: tucsonjcc.org or Call: (520) 299-3000 “NYT CRITIC’S PICK! Provocative… a searing portrait.”– Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times Daring to ask questions about her true identity, around which her parents had kept a careful silence through her entire childhood, filmmaker Lacey Schwartz pulls back the curtain on matters of race and family secrets in her deeply personal and fascinating documentary. Growing up unselfconsciously Jewish and Caucasian in the leafy, largely white town of Woodstock, New York, Lacey and her extended family cheerfully explained away her tawny complexion by pointing to a picture of her father’s swarthy Sicilian Jewish grandfather. But her parents’ fraying marriage and her own nagging doubts compelled the bright Georgetown undergraduate to begin tugging at the threads of her identity, fearlessly documenting the unraveling of family mysteries. Little White Lie manages to be both a particular family’s story of the price of living in denial, but also raises larger questions for us all: What factors — race, religion, family, upbringing — make us who we are? And what happens when we are forced to redefine ourselves? (Dir. by Lacey Schwartz, 2014, USA, 65 mins., Not Rated) This screening is made possible by the Bob Polinsky Memorial Media Arts Fund FEATURING A LIVE POST-FILM SKYPE Q&A WITH OSCAR-WINNING FILMMAKER MICHAEL MOORE! BRAND NEW 25TH ANNIVERSARY DIGITAL RESTORATION! “The film itself remains a hard kick in the head - a funny, angry inquiry into what the hell happened to the American dream.” – Noel Murray, Dissolve “America has an irrepressible new humorist in the tradition of Mark Twain – he is Michael Moore. Roger & Me is rude, rollicking… witty… leaving the audience rolling with laughter.” – Vincent Canby, New York Times “Funny… gutsy… outrageous… it’s enormously engaging.” – J. Hoberman, Village Voice Michael Moore triumphantly burst upon the moviemaking scene in 1989 with the groundbreaking hit Roger & Me, a hilarious, penetrating forerunner of the American independent film movement which was inducted to the 2013 National Film Registry by the Library of Congress and the National Film Preservation Board. In this alternately comic and tragic documentary, Moore doggedly and hilariously tried to do what every working stiff dreams of: talk to the man at the top. His efforts to meet General Motors Chairman Roger Smith and persuade him to visit Flint, Michigan, frame a film that brilliantly uses biting humor to illuminate bitter truth. While slyly lampooning corporate America, Roger & Me exposes the devastating first stirrings of the economic tsunami that swallowed Flint, Detroit and all of southeastern Michigan. (Dir. by Michael Moore, 1989, USA, USA, 91 mins.,Rated R) SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW SATURDAY, JANUARY 17 AT MIDNIGHT GENERAL ADMISSION: $6 • LOFT MEMBERS: $5 Whatever happened to Saturday night? It was locked in a closet with The Rocky Horror Picture Show and it hasn’t been the same since! Unleash your inner Sweet Transvestite when the mother of all cult classics hits the big screen with the “Heavy Petting” shadow cast, live and in your face! You’ll see a healthy young couple inducted into the world of absolute pleasure, Transylvanians doing the pelvic thrust and a sexy scientist trying to free us of all our inhibitions (not to mention our clothing)! So pull up your fishnets and get ready to become a creature of the night at the strangest, sexiest “science fiction double feature” of all-time, a Loft tradition for 36 years and counting! (Dir. by Jim Sharman, 1975, UK/USA, 98 mins., Rated R, 20th Century Fox) Digital 10 THROUGH A LENS DARKLY: BLACK PHOTOGRAPHERS AND THE EMERGENCE OF A PEOPLE MONDAY, JANUARY 19 AT 5:00PM FREE MLK DAY SCREENING! “An extraordinary new documentary… a deep, rich dive into the history of African American photography.”- Mia Tramz, Time Magazine “CRITICS PICK! Absorbing… fascinating… a groundbreaking excavation of a vital and neglected photographic tradition.” – A.O. Scott, New York Times The first documentary to explore the role of photography in shaping the identity, aspirations and social emergence of African Americans from slavery to present, Through a Lens Darkly traces the nearly 200-year struggle to counter demeaning and stereotyped images with positive and authentic ones, probing the recesses of American history by discovering photographs that have been suppressed, forgotten and lost. The story begins with slavery and the Civil War, followed by the call for new images by such leaders as Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and W.E.B. Du Bois. Pioneer portraitists such as the Goodridge Brothers in Pennsylvania and James Vanderzee in Harlem paved the way for inspirational figures like Gordon Parks, Roy DeCarava, and Carrie Mae Weems. Bringing to light the hidden and unknown photos shot by both professional and amateur African American photographers, the film opens a fascinating window into the lives, experiences and perspectives of black families that is absent from the traditional historical canon. Inspired by Deborah Willis’ book Reflections in Black, photographer/filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris links the broader picture to his own personal and family history, crafting a moving, wide-ranging and often astonishing chronicle through lively interviews and an incredibly rich trove of unforgettable photographs. (Dir. by Thomas Allen Harris, 2014, USA, 92 mins., Not Rated) 11 SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS IN THE AMERICAS THURSDAY, JANUARY 22 AT 7:30PM GENERAL ADMISSION $2 ADMISSION INCLUDES RAFFLE TICKET Please Note: We cannot accept passes or Groupons for this screening. A Gala Evening Presentation, presented by The Southwest Center and the Center for Latin American Studies. In the Americas with David Yetman, the new HDTV series by multiple Emmy Award-winning producer and director Dan Duncan and internationally renowned writer, host, and producer David Yetman, takes a fresh look at the lands that make up much of the Western Hemisphere. Each country contains landscapes, peoples, and history that have not received the attention they deserve on the world stage. In the Americas with David Yetman undertakes a new approach to travel and adventure. Part 1 will be the segment “Yakima: The Quest for Hops.” The explosion of craft beer brewing across the United States has created a widespread interest in the process of beer making. A beer festival in Tucson, Arizona, leads us to some local brewers and sends us on a quest to the origin of what makes beer different—hops. Nearly all our hops are cultivated around Yakima, Washington where we follow the annual harvest. We sample as many products of hop production as possible. Part 2 will be the segment “Favelas & Samba – Brazil.” The shanty towns for which Río de Janeiro is famous (or notorious) play a pivotal role in the city’s cultural history. Favelas, as they are known, rise precipitously from near the ocean far up the hillsides. Often bereft of minimal municipal services, they are home to a rich cultural life, their own social organization, and along the way in their history, have provided the artistic and dramatic talent for Brazil’s most important international artistic contribution, Carnaval in Río. THE ROOM AND THE NEIGHBORS A TOMMY WISEAU DOUBLE FEATURE! SATURDAY, JANUARY 31 AT 7:00PM REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES A Tommy Wiseau Double Feature! Receive a free plastic spoon with every ticket! Come dressed in your best Room costume, and you could win your very own pair of officially-licensed TW Underwear, “The Best Underwear in the World,” designed by Tommy Wiseau. Be warned: each pair of TW Underwear features “Tommy’s Secret Pocket.” “The man who made the worst movie ever made has now made the worst sitcom ever made… The Neighbors is every bit as remarkable as The Room.” – Ryan Bort, Esquire Oh hi, everybody! Get ready for the Tucson premiere of The Neighbors, the latest highly-anticipated masterpiece from director/star Tommy Wiseau! This jaw-dropping half hour sitcom (the pilot for a TV series that may or may not actually be coming soon) follows the wacky adventures of a group of people who live, love and party in a swinging apartment complex, and it could only spring from the unique mind of Tommy Wiseau. As the official synopsis explains: “This cocktail of characters always guarantee (sic) plenty of surprises.” In this pilot episode, Marianna is obsessed with bugs in her apartment, while Monica catches her boyfriend, Den (a shout-out to our beloved Denny?), in bed with a dude named Patrick. And did we mention the awesome underwear party? Naturally, Wiseau himself plays the building manager: a blonde-wigged, leather jacket-wearing jock named Charlie. What does it all mean? Who knows? Ten years in the making, and filled with all the bad wigs, strange acting and head scratching plot twists anyone could hope for, The Neighbors is a purely, perfectly Wiseau-ian extravaganza of epic proportions. Following The Neighbors, settle in for a screening of the one-and-only cult classic The Room, a hypnotically awful, undeniably amazing cinematic experience unlike anything you have ever seen – an electrifying, soul-searing explosion of love, passion, betrayal and lies, not to mention footballs, Skotchka and … SPOONS! (The Neighbors, dir. by Tommy Wiseau, 2014, USA, 35 mins., Not Rated); (The Room, dir. by Tommy Wiseau, 2003, US, 99 min., Rated R) SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS OF MICE AND MEN THE OSCAR NOMINATED SHORT FILMS 2015 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1 AT 11:00AM TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3 AT 7:00PM THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5 AT 11:00AM DOCUMENTARY SHORTS: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4 AT 7:00PM PRESENTED BY NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE GENERAL ADMISSION: $15 • LOFT MEMBERS: $10 Please Note: We cannot accept passes or Groupons for this screening. PART OF OUR ART ON SCREEN SERIES Enjoy the performing arts on the big screen, with thrilling opera, ballet and theatre productions from around the world, captured live and presented in beautiful high definition! “A moving masterpiece.” – Time Magazine “Steinbeck’s work comes to vivid, heartwrenching life. A distinguished revival.” – Huffington Post “James Franco crackles with intensity. Chris O’Dowd is a revelation.” – Daily Telegraph Golden Globe-winner and Academy Award-nominee James Franco (127 Hours, Milk) and Tony Award-nominee Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids, “Girls”) star in the hit Broadway production Of Mice and Men, filmed on stage by National Theatre Live. This landmark revival of Nobel Prize-winner John Steinbeck’s classic play is a powerful portrait of the American spirit and a heartbreaking testament to the bonds of friendship. Of Mice and Men is directed by Tony Award, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circles award-winner Anna D. Shapiro (Broadway’s August: Osage County), and features Leighton Meester (Country Strong) and Tony Award-winner Jim Norton (The Seafarer). This acclaimed production was nominated for two Tony Awards, including Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Chris O’Dowd. (Running time 150 mins., which includes one intermission) 12 LIVE ACTION SHORTS: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11 AT 7:00PM ANIMATED SHORTS: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18 AT 7:00PM REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES Catch all of this year’s Oscar nominated short films before the 87th Annual Academy Awards telecast on Sunday, February 22! “Thank the gods of cinema for this annual release of Oscar nominees.” – Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle And the winners are… Once again, The Loft is proud to present this nationally-touring program highlighting all of the Documentary Short Films, Live Action Short Films and Animated Short Films that received Academy Award nominations this past year. The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2015 program offers viewers the rare opportunity to experience the year’s best short films from across the globe, collected together in this special cinematic showcase courtesy of Shorts International and Magnolia Pictures. At the screenings, pick up an “Oscar Shorts Prediction” ballot in the lobby, check off your favorite film, and all those who correctly guess the winner (the winning films will be announced at the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 2) will be entered into a drawing for free movie passes to The Loft! Pass winners will be notified the week following the Oscar telecast. Don’t miss your golden opportunity to experience all of this year’s Oscar nominated short films, exclusively at The Loft Cinema! Film titles TBA. 13 SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7 AT 7:00PM COSTUME CONTEST AT 7:00PM • SING-A-LONG AT 7:30PM GENERAL ADMISSION: $10 LOFT MEMBERS & CHILDREN 12 AND UNDER: $8 ADMISSION INCLUDES A FREE GREASE GOODIE BAG! Calling all T-Birds and Pink Ladies! You’ll rule the school as we once again celebrate everyone’s favorite rock-n-roll movie musical at The Grease Sing-A-Long! We know that for all of you who’ve remained hopelessly devoted to Danny, Sandy, Rizzo, Kenickie and the whole Rydell High gang, Grease is still, and will always be, the word, so we’re bringing back one of our most popular sing-a-longs ever! Your chills will be multiplyin’ and the mood electrifyin’ as we screen a specially-subtitled Sing-A-Long version of Grease that will help you belt out such hit tunes as “You’re the One That I Want,” “Greased Lightning,” “We Go Together,” “Summer Loving,” and many more at this fun-filled screening of the 1970s movie about the 1950s that’s still going strong in 2014! We guarantee you’ll be shouting “tell me more, tell me more!” But wait, there IS more! Come dressed to impress (make sure your bangs are curled and your lashes twirled) for our Rockin’ Rydell Costume Contest. Grease-y prizes will be awarded for the best Grease-inspired look (and if you can do a couple rounds of the “hand jive,” all the better), and whether you’re naughty or nice, spandex-suited or cardigan-clad, you’ll ALWAYS be the one that we want ... whoo hoo hoo, honey. You’ll also receive a Grease Goodie Bag filled with props and fun surprises to use throughout the movie to help you get your Grease on! Get your tickets now because this high school social is sure to be packed to the rafters. And don’t worry if you sing off key ... there are worse things you could do. Like miss this only-at-The Loft Grease Sing-A-Long extravaganza! “Rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong!” (Dir. by Randal Kleiser, 1978, USA, 110 mins., rated PG) Digital SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS 14 MELVIN AND HOWARD A LITTLE PRINCESS SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8 AT 7:00PM SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14 AT 10:00AM PART OF OUR LOFT STAFF SELECTS SERIES PART OF OUR LOFT JR. SERIES A free monthly series showcasing great new and classic family-friendly films from around the world! Presented by Trail Dust Town! Pre-show activities hosted by Mildred & Dildred Toy Store starting at 9:15am! GENERAL ADMISSION: $6 • LOFT MEMBERS: $5 A monthly series showcasing film favorites chosen by our amazing Loft Cinema staff! This month’s Loft Staff Selects film was chosen by Jonathan Kleefeld, Finance Director! Director Jonathan Demme created one of his most enduring, rewarding films in this warmly funny sleeper, a hymn to independent dreamers everywhere. Featuring a priceless, Oscar-winning performance by Mary Steenburgen as Melvin’s lovable, slightly daffy wife, Melvin and Howard also won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. (Dir. by Jonathan Demme, 1980, USA, 95 mins., Rated R) AMERICAN WINE STORY TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10 AT 7:00PM REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES Co-presented by Edible Baja Arizona and The Loft Cinema. Featuring a free wine sampling before the movie! See Sonoita, AZ winery Dos Cabezas WineWorks highlighted in the film! American Wine Story offers an entertaining, inspiring and eye-opening look at the transformative power of a humble beverage to fuel passion and reshape lives as it examines oenological aficionados chasing their dreams with a bottle in one hand and a corkscrew in the other. (Dir. by David Baker, 2014, USA, 74 mins., Not Rated) FREE ADMISSION! “An astonishing work… A Little Princess is that rarest of creations, a children’s film that plays equally well to kids and adults.” – Todd McCarty, Variety A privileged, free-spirited young girl tries to adapt to life in a strict boarding school in this charming, critically-acclaimed children’s fantasy. Adapted from the classic novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett (also the author of The Secret Garden), the story opens in New York just before the outbreak of World War 1, when young Sara (Leisel Matthews) is enrolled in private boarding school while her father goes off to war. Filled with wild stories and a playful attitude, the unconventional Sara becomes popular with her classmates but quickly comes into conflict with the wicked headmistress, Miss Minchin (Eleanor Bron), who attempts to quash the child’s individuality. But fate unexpectedly intervenes and Sara faces a stern reversal of fortune. Suddenly impoverished, she is forced into life as a servant. Treated as a lesser class of person by her former companions, Sara instead befriends her fellow servants and turns to wild flights of fancy in order to maintain hope for the future. A moving rags-to-riches story punctuated with a series of lush, imaginative fantasy sequences that celebrate the power of a child’s imagination to overcome adversity, A Little Princess is one of the best family films of the ‘90s, directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). (Dir. by Alfonso Cuarón, 1995, USA, 97 mins., Rated G) T hroughout the 1960s, cinephiles eagerly awaited the latest film (or two) by JeanLuc Godard. A founding father of the French New Wave, the former Cahiers du Cinéma critic was the New Wave’s most restlessly innovative and consistently subversive filmmaker, with each new work seemingly rewriting the grammar of film. Jump cuts, asynchronous soundtracks, self-narration, cinema as essay, cinema as collage, self-referential cinema, cinema of anarchy … you name it, Godard’s 1960s oeuvre redefined “cutting edge.” Through Godard’s movies, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg and Anna Karina became New Wave icons, with the dark-eyed Danish beauty Karina doubling as the director’s muse through several quintessential collaborations - and a tumultuous four-year marriage. Over forty years after the upheavals of May 1968, and blessed with 100% hindsight, one can almost see the chaos coming through the satire and social criticism in Godard’s chronicles of “the children of Marx and Coca-Cola.” Starting in the 1970s, his evermore-outré stylistic leaps would further push the boundaries of cinema, exhilarating some viewers and confounding others, but his restless search for new ways to redraw the map of film has never ceased, culminating in the spectacular Goodbye to Language 3D, his 39th feature-length film and winner of the Jury Prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. S ee all four movies in the series and you’ll be entered into a FREE RAFFLE for a GODARD GIFT BAG, including a 50th Anniversary Breathless poster, the brand-new Criterion release of Godard’s Every Man for Himself (1980) on blu ray, and more! Regular admission prices for each film. “Movies should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order.” – Jean-Luc Godard Breathless Contempt “Breathless still feels entirely original. It still has the power to defy conventional expectations about what a movie should be while providing an utterly captivating moviegoing experience... much as it may have influenced what was to come later, there is still nothing quite like it. – A.O. Scott, New York Times “They don’t make them like this anymore. Point of fact, they never did; Godard’s Contempt is a once-a-century cultural constellation.” – Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7 AT 7:00PM With its lack of polish, surplus of attitude, anything-goes narrative involving two lovers on the run from the law, and effervescent young stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg, Breathless (À bout de soufflé) helped launch the French New Wave and ensured that cinema would never be the same. (Dir. by Jean Luc- Godard, 1960, France, in French with subtitles, 90 mins., Not Rated) WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21 AT 7:00PM Godard’s subversive foray into big-budget commercial filmmaking is a gorgeous, star-studded Cinemascope epic filled with eye-popping visuals and dark-hued emotions. Contempt (Le mépris) stars Michel Piccoli as a screenwriter torn between the demands of a proud European director (played by legendary filmmaker Fritz Lang), a crude and arrogant American producer (Jack Palance), and his disillusioned wife, Camille (Brigitte Bardot), as he attempts to doctor the script for a new film version of Homer’s The Odyssey. (Dir. by Jean-Luc Godard, 1963, France, in French with subtitles, 103 mins., Not Rated) Band of Outsiders WEEKEND “Blends a love of semi-trashy pop entertainment with a love of poetry, art and high moral seriousness. It’s a young person’s movie that retains its mysterious pull even as the film and we get older.” – Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune “Restless… revolutionary… Weekend is like a Molotov cocktail lit by cinema’s most irascible auteur.” – Scott Tobias, AV Club WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14 AT 7:00PM Four years after Breathless, Godard reimagined the gangster film even more radically with Band of Outsiders (Bande à part). This audacious and wildly entertaining French New Wave gem is at once sentimental and insouciant, effervescently romantic and melancholy, and it features some of Godard’s most memorable set pieces, including the headlong race through the Louvre and the unshakably cool Madison dance sequence. (Dir. by Jean Luc- Godard, 1964, France, in French with subtitles, 95 mins., Not Rated) WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28 AT 7:00PM Determined to collect an inheritance from a dying relative, a bourgeois couple (who each plan to have the other killed) travel across the French countryside while civilization crashes and burns around them. Featuring a justly famous sequence in which the camera tracks along a seemingly endless traffic jam, and rich with historical and literary references, Weekend is a surreally funny and disturbing call for revolution, a depiction of society reverting to savagery, and – according to the credits – the end of cinema itself. (Dir. by Jean Luc-Godard, 1967, France, in French with subtitles, 105 mins., Not Rated) 17 SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS CASABLANCA CARMEN JONES SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14 AT 7:00PM TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17 AT 7:00PM Celebrate your Valentine’s Day with Bogart and Bergman in one of the most romantic films of all-time, the one-and-only Casablanca! Enter our FREE PRIZE RAFFLE for Valentine goodies, and take the stage for our pre-show Casablanca COSTUME CONTEST (fedoras and trench coats encouraged, or course), where you could win a special prize. PLUS: Join us in a swoon-inducing sing-a-long of “As Time Goes By” to kick the movie off! “Here’s looking at you, kid.” PART OF OUR ESSENTIAL CINEMA SERIES See classic art films the way they were meant to be seen - with an audience, on the big screen! REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES Iconic. Unforgettable. A national treasure. And even as time goes by, Casablanca remains one of the greatest romances ever made. It could’ve been just another average wartime studio picture—no one was expecting a great movie. But luckily for everyone, destiny intervened with story, lighting, music, and the unparalleled acting chops of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman coming together with gloriously perfect precision and unparalleled craftsmanship. There’s a lot more that could be said about cynical, heartbroken American expatriate Rick Blaine (an exceptionally world-weary Bogart) and Ilsa (a never-morebeautiful Ingrid Bergman), the mysterious woman who walks into his Moroccan gin joint from out of the past and insinuates her way back into his life, but it all comes down to this: If you miss this opportunity to see Casablanca on the big screen on the most romantic night of the year, you’ll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life. Winner of three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and featuring a stellar line-up of supporting actors, including Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet and Conrad Veidt, Casablanca is an American classic that can be watched (and fallen in love with) over and over again. (Dir. by Michael Curtiz, 1942, USA, 102 mins., Rated PG) FREE ADMISSION! “A completely original, exciting and tremendous picture… a real masterwork.” – Los Angeles Examiner Carmen Jones is Otto Preminger’s daring, audacious, one-of-akind film musical, a black opera based on Oscar Hammerstein’s Broadway version of the Bizet classic set in the American South during wartime. In this sultry tale of burning passion and doomed romance, the electrifying Dorothy Dandridge stars as Carmen Jones, the restless and ultimately destructive siren who toils as an employee at a parachute factory, though she yearns to live “the good life.” Harry Belafonte plays Joe, a young, straightarrow military officer on a Southern military base during WWII. Joe is set to attend flight school and marry his hometown sweetheart, the virginal Cindy Lou (Olga James), when fate has him cross paths with the tempestuous Carmen Jones, sending him down the road to ruin. When Carmen gets into a fight with another girl, she is placed under arrest and put in Joe’s charge. In short order, Joe is swept up in Carmen’s carnal anarchy and her all-consuming desire to escape her unhappy life. When an impulsive act of shocking violence puts Joe’s future into question, Carmen must decide whether to save him or destroy him, leading to tragic consequences. Considered a cinematic landmark as one of the first all-black, big-budget Hollywood studio films, Carmen Jones is a flamboyant musical unlike any other, featuring classic Oscar Hammerstein Jr. songs reworked from George Bizet’s opera Carmen, dazzling choreography and a superb supporting cast including Pearl Bailey, Brock Peters, Diahann Carroll and Olga James. But it’s Dandridge’s stillsizzling, defiantly sexy performance as the wild femme fatale Carmen Jones that makes this a truly groundbreaking film for the ages, as the young star became the first person of color to earn a Best Actress Oscar nomination. (Dir. by Otto Preminger, USA, 1954, 105 mins., Not Rated) 19 NEW FILMS THE INTERVIEW NIGHTCRAWLER STARTS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25 STARTS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26 “Comedy is most effective when it’s taking a risk. Here, the directors took a big risk, and managed to finesse something shocking and novel out of the familiar Franco-Rogen dynamic without overplaying their hand.” – Tess Hoffman, Playlist “Nightcrawler is pulp with a purpose… a smart, engaged film powered by an altogether remarkable performance by Jake Gyllenhaal.”Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES “The Interview is laugh out loud funny all the way through, and once again proves that Rogen and Goldberg will do anything, no matter how dark, for a big laugh.” – Drew McWeeny, HitFix In the action/comedy The Interview, Dave Skylark (James Franco) and his producer Aaron Rapoport (Seth Rogen) run the popular celebrity tabloid TV show “Skylark Tonight.” When they discover that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is a fan of the show, they land an interview with him in an attempt to legitimize themselves as journalists. As Dave and Aaron prepare to travel to Pyongyang, their plans change when the CIA recruits them, perhaps the two least-qualified men imaginable, to assassinate Kim Jong-un. (Dir. by Evan Goldberg & Seth Rogen, USA, 112 mins., Rated R) REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES “A deliciously twisted piece of work… Nightcrawler curves and hisses its way into your head with demonic skill. When the laughs come, they stick in your throat.”– Peter Travers. Rolling Stone Nightcrawler is a darkly-satirical, pulse-pounding thriller set in the nocturnal underbelly of contemporary Los Angeles. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Lou Bloom, a driven young man desperate for work who discovers the high-speed world of L.A. crime journalism. Finding a group of freelance camera crews who film crashes, fires, murder and other mayhem, Lou muscles into the cut-throat, dangerous realm of nightcrawling, where each police siren wail equals a possible windfall and victims are converted into dollars and cents. Aided by Nina (Rene Russo), a veteran of the blood-sport that is local TV news, Lou tumbles headfirst into this seductively dark world, blurring the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story. (Dir. by Dan Gilroy, 2014, USA, 117 mins., Rated R) NEW FILMS 20 [REC] 4: APOCALYPSE SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS STARTS FRIDAY, JANUARY 2 STARTS FRIDAY, JANUARY 2 The terrifying climax to one of the most consistently entertaining horror franchises of the past decade, [REC] 4 Apocalypse is what fans have been waiting for: the ultimate final showdown. Jaume Balagueró, who co-directed [REC] and [REC] 2 with Paco Plaza (Plaza directed [REC] 3 solo), returns to helm the fourth instalment of the saga and finish the series off with a spectacularly bloody bang. (Dir. by Jaume Balagueró, 2014, Spain, in Spanish with subtitles, 96 mins., Rated R) “It’s extraordinary just watching the peerless Ms. Rowlands wring the most out of the repartee in this adaptation of a play by Richard Alfieri.” –Nicolas Rapold, New York Times REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES “An authentic, poignant, often quite funny piece… gives equal weight to both the trials of growing old and the struggles of youth.” – Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times “Chock full of witty one-liners and a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. – Rex Reed, New York Observer TOP FIVE STARTS FRIDAY, JANUARY 2 REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES Top Five digs under the surface of show business, politics, rap, and the exigencies of being black and famous today – holding it all up to the light in the way only Chris Rock can. Mingling echoes of Woody Allen and Dick Gregory with the energy of Kanye West and Jay Z, the film is a heartfelt and razor-sharp comedy starring Chris Rock, Gabrielle Union, Rosario Dawson, Tracy Morgan and J.B. Smoove. (Dir. by Chris Rock, 2014, USA, 102 mins., Rated R) Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks is a touching and human comedy about a formidable retired woman, Lily Harrison (two-time Best Actress Oscar-nominee Gena Rowlands, A Woman Under the Influence), who hires an acerbic young dance instructor, Michael Minetti (Cheyenne Jackson, “30 Rock”), to give her private dance lessons —one per week for six weeks— in her gulf-front condo in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida. What begins as an antagonistic relationship blossoms into an intimate friendship as these two people from very different backgrounds reveal their secrets, fears, and joys while dancing the Swing, Tango, Waltz, Foxtrot and Cha-Cha. Michael and Lily learn to overcome their outward differences and discover an unlikely but profound connection. By the final lesson, Lily shares with Michael her most closely guarded secret and he shares with her his greatest gifts, his loyalty and compassion. Co-starring Oscar-winner Rita Moreno (West Side Story), two-time Oscar-nominee Jackie Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook), Julian Sands (A Room with a View) and Kathleen Rose Perkins (Gone Girl), and based on the popular stage production of the same name, Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks is a poignant comedy filled with music and dance that also addresses more serious issues of ageism and intolerance. (Dir. by Arthur Allan Seidelman, 2014, USA, 107 mins., Not Rated) 21 NEW FILMS THE KING AND THE MOCKINGBIRD THE SEARCH FOR GENERAL TSO STARTS FRIDAY, JANUARY 9 STARTS FRIDAY, JANUARY 9 “Marvelously colorful, casually inventive and completely wacky, The King and the Mockingbird just might be the best animated film of the year.” – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times “Finger-lickin’ good… a culinary Searching for Sugar Man.” – Scott Foundas, Variety REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES “It’s a wonderful spectacle: a hugely ambitious loose adaptation of a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale that’s enthralled just about every Parisian child since its first release.” —Alex Dudok de Wit, Time Out Based on Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale “The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep,” this long lost and newly restored animated French classic is both a delightful adventure story for children, and a devilish political satire for adults. The King and the Mockingbird, a collaboration between animator Paul Grimault and writer Jacques Prévert (Children of Paradise), spins the wonderfully offbeat tale of a shepherdess and a chimney sweep who seek to escape from the dastardly clutches of a tyrannical king. Started by Grimault and Prévert in 1948, the film was taken over by Grimault’s partner, André Sarrut, in 1950, and he released a highly truncated version in 1952. Grimault spent the next 15 years retrieving the rights to the material, and the decade after looking for financing to complete the project. Grimault and Prévert’s delightful film, finally finished in 1980, incorporates two-thirds of the original animation into a whole new film – a handcrafted work of tremendous beauty and breathtaking inventiveness. Credited as a profound influence on the work of celebrated Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, as well as such recent animated classics as Brad Bird’s The Iron Giant, The King and the Mockingbird is at last back on the big screen in a dazzling new digital restoration. (Dir. by Paul Grimault, 1980, France, in French with subtitles, 83 mins., Not Rated / Suitable for all ages) REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES “This quirky food doc is more fun and more enlightening than an investigation into a menu item should be.” – John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter “Fascinating… cleverly joyful… an offbeat culinary road trip.” – Elias Savada, Film Threat This mouthwateringly entertaining documentary travels the globe to unravel a captivating culinary mystery. General Tso’s chicken is a staple of Chinese-American cooking, and a ubiquitous presence on restaurant menus across the country. But just who was General Tso? And how did his spicy/sweet chicken dish become emblematic of an entire national cuisine? Director Ian Cheney (King Corn) journeys from Shanghai to New York to the American Midwest and beyond to uncover the origins of this iconic dish, turning up surprising revelations and a host of humorous characters along the way. Told with the verve of a good detective story, The Search for General Tso is as much about food as it is a tale of the American immigrant experience. (Dir. by Ian Cheney, 2014, USA, 73 mins., Not Rated) NEW FILMS 22 BURROUGHS: THE MOVIE IDA STARTS FRIDAY, JANUARY 9 STARTS FRIDAY, JANUARY 16 “A unique cinematic artifact, a wholly transparent visual biography of a literary giant.” – Oleg Ivanov, Slant Magazine “NYT CRITICS PICK! One of the finest European films in recent memory. I can’t wait to see it again.” – AO Scott, New York Times “A wonderful biography… it offers America in the ‘80s a refreshingly irreverent meditation on itself.” – Village Voice “A film of exceptional artistry whose emotions are as potent and persuasive as its images are indelibly beautiful.” - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES “Bizarrely funny… rarely is a documentary as well attuned to its subject as Howard Brookner’s Burroughs: The Movie.” – Janet Maslin, New York Times The long-lost, recently-discovered documentary Burroughs: The Movie explores the life and times of controversial Naked Lunch author William S. Burroughs, with an intimacy never before seen and never repeated. Originally released in 1983, the film charts the development of Burroughs’ unique literary style and his wildly unconventional life, including his travels from the American Midwest to North Africa and several personal tragedies. Burroughs: The Movie is the first and only feature length documentary to be made with and about Burroughs. The film was directed by the late Howard Brookner. It was begun in 1978 as Brookner’s senior thesis at NYU film school and then expanded into a feature which was completed 5 years later in 1983. Sound was recorded by Jim Jarmusch and the film was shot by Tom DiCillo, fellow NYU classmates and both very close friends of Brookner’s. Featuring appearances by Allen Ginsberg, Patti Smith, Terry Southern, Jackie Curtis, John Giorno, Francis Bacon and Brion Gysin, and digitally restored and remastered for this new release, Burroughs: The Movie is a gritty, riveting and intimate portrait of an inconoclastic artist and his times. (Dir. by Howard Brookner, 1983/2014, USA, 86 mins., Not Rated) REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES From acclaimed director Pawel Pawlikowski (Last Resort) comes Ida, a moving and intimate drama about a young novitiate nun in 1960s Poland who, on the verge of taking her vows, discovers a dark family secret dating from the terrible years of the Nazi occupation. 18-year old Anna (stunning newcomer Agata Trzebuchowska), a sheltered orphan raised in a convent, is preparing to become a nun when the Mother Superior insists she first visit her sole living relative. Naïve, innocent Anna soon finds herself in the presence of her aunt Wanda (Agata Kulesza), a worldly and cynical Communist Party insider, who shocks her with the declaration that her real name is Ida and her Jewish parents were murdered during the Nazi occupation. This revelation triggers a heart-wrenching journey into the countryside, to the family house and into the secrets of the repressed past, evoking the haunting legacy of the Holocaust and the realities of postwar Communism. An astonishing work, both graceful and haunting, the film’s beautiful black-and-white imagery is so artfully composed that every frame belongs in an exhibition (evoking the work of such European arthouse masters as Ingmar Bergman). The setting—a somber, 1960s Poland—suggests an austere combination of Catholicism, Communism, and the Holocaust, but Ida is vibrant and intimate, a subtle portrait of two fascinating, contrasting women: the sheltered Ida, who is exploring her faith, and Wanda, who— having seen the worst of humanity—has no faith left. (Dir. by Pawel Pawlikowski, 2013, Poland/Denmark, in Polish with subtitles, 80 mins., Rated PG-13) 25 NEW FILMS BOYHOOD LATE PHASES STARTS FRIDAY, JANUARY 16 STARTS FRIDAY, JANUARY 16 “A one-of-a-kind movie. It touches something deep and true.” – Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly “This satisfying chiller is not to be missed.” – Laura Kern, Film Comment REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES “A masterpiece that isn’t quite like anything else in the history of cinema.” – Andrew O’Hehir, Salon Filmed over 12 years with the same cast, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood is a groundbreaking story of growing up as seen through the eyes of a child named Mason (a breakthrough performance by Ellar Coltrane), who literally grows up on screen before our eyes. Starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as Mason’s parents and newcomer Lorelei Linklater as his sister Samantha, Boyhood charts the rocky terrain of childhood like no other film has before. Snapshots of adolescence from road trips and family dinners to birthdays and graduations and all the moments in between become transcendent, set to a soundtrack spanning the years from Coldplay’s “Yellow” to Arcade Fire’s “Deep Blue”. Boyhood is both a nostalgic time capsule of the recent past and an ode to growing up and parenting. It’s impossible to watch Mason and his family without thinking about our own journey. (Dir. by Richard Linklatter, 2014, USA, 164 mins., Rated R) REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES “A howlin’ good time… oozes pleasantly wicked werewolf craftsmanship.” – Matt Donato, We Got This Covered “A masterpiece of the werewolf genre… certain to satisfy fans of the classic creature features of the ‘80s.” – Patrick Cooper, Bloody Disgusting Crescent Bay is not the ideal place to spend one’s golden years, especially since the once-idyllic retirement community has been beset by a series of deadly animal attacks from the ominous forest surrounding it. When grizzled war veteran Ambrose McKinley (Nick Damici, We Are What We Are) is forced into moving there by his yuppie son Will (Ethan Embry, Can’t Hardly Wait), the residents immediately take offense to Ambrose’s abrasive personality. But that take-no-prisoners attitude may be just what Ambrose needs to survive as it becomes clear that the attacks are being caused by creatures that are neither animal nor man, and that the tight-knit community of Crescent Bay is hiding something truly sinister in its midst. With Late Phases, Spanish horror master Adrián García Bogliano (Here Comes the Devil) has delivered a true love letter to ‘80s monster movie buffs and all those hankering for a good old-fashioned werewolf flick. Boasting frighteningly effective “man-in-a-suit” creature effects that forgo modern CGI trickery, a surprisingly kickass/ heartfelt performance by Nick Damici as the film’s grumpyold-man-turned-monster-hunter, and a complete roster of cult favorite ‘80s horror movie players including Tom Noonan (The Monster Squad), Lance Guest (Halloween II) and Caitlin O’Heaney (He Knows You’re Alone), Late Phases is a horror treat worth howling about! (Dir. by Adrián García Bogliano, 2014, USA, 95 mins., Not Rated) NEW FILMS SON OF A GUN MR. TURNER STARTS FRIDAY, JANUARY 23 STARTS FRIDAY, JANUARY 30 REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES “Engaging fun… Lyttelton, Playlist with a stellar 26 REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES cast.” – Oliver “Leigh’s glorious picture is a hilarious, confounding, wholehearted and dazzlingly performed portrait of an artist as an aging man.” – Ian Nathan, Empire Magazine “As ever with Leigh, Mr. Turner addresses the big questions with small moments. It’s an extraordinary film, all at once strange, entertaining, thoughtful and exciting.” – Dave Calhoun, Time Out London In the criminal world, life is like a game of chess. To gain control, you have to stay a few moves ahead of your opponent. Lose that control, and you risk becoming a pawn in their very dangerous game. During a six-month stint inside a west Australian prison, rookie criminal JR (Brenton Thwaites) meets the smart and enigmatic Brendan Lynch (Ewan McGregor). In exchange for protection on the inside, JR agrees to help Brendan get outside, hooking up with the influential Sam Lennox (Jacek Koman) to orchestrate a daring prison escape that frees Brendan, and inmates Sterlo (Matt Nable) and Merv (Eddie Baroo). JR is rewarded for his efforts, and with a taste of the high life and flirtations with Sam’s beautiful girl Tasha (Alicia Vikander), he gets sucked deeper into Brendan’s criminal world. But whose game is he playing? Becoming a father-like mentor to JR, Brendan convinces him to join on another high stakes job – robbing a Kalgoorlie gold mine. But with millions of dollars at stake, it’s hard to tell whom JR can trust, and whose side each player is actually on. And with his feelings for Tasha increasing, and his faith in Brendan decreasing, JR must figure out his next move… before its check, mate. (Dir. by Julius Avery, 2014, Australia, 108 mins., Rated R) Oscar-winning filmmaker Mike Leigh’s hilarious and moving biopic Mr. Turner explores the last quarter century of the great, eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner. Profoundly affected by the death of his father, and loved by a housekeeper he takes for granted and occasionally exploits sexually, Turner forms a close relationship with a seaside landlady with whom he eventually lives incognito in Chelsea. Through all of this, he travels, paints, stays with the country aristocracy, visits brothels, is a popular if anarchic member of the Royal Academy of Arts, has himself strapped to the mast of a ship so that he can paint a snowstorm, and is both celebrated and reviled by the public and by royalty. Leigh’s film is certainly a portrait of a great artist and his time, but it is also a film about the human problem of… others. Cannes Best Actor award winner Timothy Spall (The King’s Speech) gives a towering performance in the title role, and his grunting, unkempt J.M.W. Turner is a truly marvelous creation to behold as he embarks upon an endless and sometimes punishing journey toward artistic truth. A rich, funny, touching and extremely clear-eyed film about art and its creation, Mr. Turner is an unforgettable look at an unforgettable man. (Dir. by Mike Leigh, 2014, UK, 150 mins., Rated R) 27 NEW FILMS R100 SONG OF THE SEA STARTS FRIDAY, JANUARY 30 STARTS FRIDAY, JANUARY 30 “Outlandish… it’s like Fight Club directed by Luis Buñuel.” – Eric Kohn, Indiewire FREE LOFT MEMBERS SCREENING Friday, January 30. Time tba. Free for Loft members and open to the public at regular admission prices. REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES “Connoisseurs of weird, twisted sex comedy will revel in its transgressive, audacious mischief.” – Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES “Dazzling! A marvel to behold.” – Peter Debruge, Variety “One of the most blissfully beautiful animated films ever made! A gem beaming with aweinspiring, heartwarming magic.” – Carlos Aguilar, Indiewire In this audaciously kinky, meta-comedic thriller, a lonely father with a secret taste for S&M (Nao Ohmori, best known for his titular turn in Takashi Miike’s Ichi the Killer) hires a boutique dominatrix agency that specializes in guerilla acts of public degradation. Although the rough treatment and humiliation Takafumi Katayama receives from these leather-clad women–– in cafés and on the street––drives him to ecstatic pleasure, he soon finds himself over his head during a surprise house call by one of the mistresses. After a freak and fatal accident, Takafumi is forced into action with a slew of vengeful dominatrices chasing him down. With the help of his son, he’ll have to devise a plan to take on the relentless femmes fatales, who each possess a unique S&M talent by which to exact painful revenge. R100—the title a riff on the Japanese movie rating system, whose equivalent to NC-17 is R18—is directed for maximum outlandishness by Hitoshi Matsumoto (Big Man Japan, Symbol), one of Japan’s most preeminent and beloved comedic talents. (Dir. by Hiroshi Matsumoto, 2014, Japan, in Japanese with subtitles, 100 mins., Not Rated) From Tomm Moore, director of the Academy Awardnominated The Secret of Kells, comes this captivating animated film steeped in the wondrous worlds of Irish myth. Inspired by the legend of the “selkies” — magical beings who live as seals in water and humans on land — Song of the Sea follows young Ben and his little sister Saoirse on a fantastic journey. Ben and Saoirse live in a lighthouse by the sea with their father, who remains distraught over the loss of his wife several years earlier. Though Ben is aware of the responsibility that comes with being a big brother, he is easily frustrated with Saoirse, who, at six years old, has yet to utter a single word. When Saoirse discovers a shell flute that used to belong to their mother, the spellbinding music she creates becomes both a means of communication and the key to a magical secret locked deep in their mother’s past. After they are sent to live with their granny in the city, Saoirse and Ben must work together to find their way home. Ben soon realizes that his sister holds the power to bring the ancient stories their mother told them to life — but in order to keep these tales alive, she needs to find her voice, and he needs to overcome his deepest fears. With a talented voice cast including Brendan Gleeson and Fionnula Flanagan, and featuring a haunting soundtrack by Bruno Coulais and the Irish band Kíla, Song of the Sea is an enchanting and visually sumptuous adventure. (Dir. by Tomm Moore, 2014, Ireland/Luxembourg/ Belgium/France/Denmark, in English, 93 mins., PG) NEW FILMS 28 MOMMY LEVIATHAN STARTS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13 STARTS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20 Co-winner of the prestigious Jury Prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, Mommy is the latest film from Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan (Heartbeats), who at age 25 already has five prizewinning features under his belt. Daringly filmed in an unconventional 1:1 aspect ratio that mimics the aesthetics of Instagram, Mommy is shot through with dazzling displays of color and movement that intensify its affecting, outsized emotions, creating an overwhelmingly moving portrait of a mother’s unconditional love. (Dir. by Xavier Dolan, 2014, Canada, in French with subtitles, 139 mins., Rated R) “A grave and beautiful drama, at once intimate and enormous.” – A.O. Scott, New York Times REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES AMIRA & SAM STARTS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13 REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES Rousing, smart, and sweet, Amira & Sam is a charming feature debut from writer/director Sean Mullin following Sam (Martin Starr, “Freaks & Geeks”), an army veteran adapting back to civilian life after a lengthy tour overseas. Upon reuniting with his unit’s former Iraqi translator in New York City, he meets Amira (newcomer Dina Shihabi), his war buddy’s niece; suspicious of soldiers, she wants nothing to do with him. However, when Amira runs into immigration trouble, Sam offers to keep her safe at his apartment. After a rocky start, their unlikely friendship starts to blossom into something more. Refreshingly offbeat, this unconventional romantic comedy is a love letter to anyone who has ever felt like they didn’t belong. (Dir. by Sean Mullin, 2014, USA, 88 mins., Not Rated) REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES “Absolutely fantastic. Not just masterful, but hugely important.” – Oliver Lyttelton, Playlist Russia’s official selection for Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards tells the story of Kolya (Alexeï Serebriakov), who lives in a small fishing town near the stunning Barents Sea in Northern Russia. He owns an auto-repair shop that stands right next to the house where he lives with his young wife and his son from a previous marriage. The town’s corrupt mayor Vadim (Roman Madianov) is determined to take away his business, his house, as well as his land. First the Mayor tries buying off Kolya, but Kolya unflinchingly fights as hard as he can so as not to lose everything he owns, including the beauty that has surrounded him from the day he was born. Facing resistance, the mayor starts to become more aggressive, leading to a life-changing conflict. Winner of the Best Screenplay award at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, Leviathan is the latest drama from Andrey Zvyagintsev, acclaimed director of Elena and The Return. (Dir. by Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2014, Russian, in Russian with subtitles, 140 mins., Rated R) MONDO MONDAYS EVERY MONDAY AT 8:00PM! Weird, wild and wonderful flicks from the mondo side of the silver screen! Don’t forget to check out our yummy “mondo munchies” snack bucket... fill a cup for a buck! Admission is only $3! • Loft members pay just $2! MONDAY, JANUARY 5 MONDAY, JANUARY 12 MONDAY, JANUARY 19 MONDAY, JANUARY 26 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2 THE HIDEOUS SUN DEMON CRAWLSPACE OUTLAW FORCE HELLHOLE REMOTE CONTROL “You’re just inches away from a fate worse than death!” “A story of what happens when a bullet comes between a man and his family.” “As close to home as your VCR.” Legendary movie madman Klaus Kinski devours the scenery, along with everything else, as a murderously depraved voyeur with a thing for enclosed spaces and pretty young things in this certifiably wacko horror flick that must be seen to be disbelieved. “Captives… stripped naked, forced to submit to the ultimate experiment!” When a down home cowboy/ stuntman/country singer’s family is attacked by punk rock creeps, he’s forced to saddle up and hit the concrete jungle for a boot-stomping, butt-kicking, bronco-busting orgy of good old-fashioned American Revenge in this seriously shoddy action flick from the Golden Age of Direct-to Video sleaze. (Dir. by Robert Clarke, 1956, USA, 74 mins., Not Rated) “The blaze of the sun made him a monster!” Good old radiation helps transform a straitlaced scientist into a hideous reptile freak whenever he’s exposed to the sun in this classically cruddy hunk of ‘50s monster junk. Pray he doesn’t run out of zinc oxide! “A lot of fun… this low-budget gem is one of the goofiest, and yet most strangely entertaining, monster movies of the ‘50s.”Monster Minions (Dir. by David Schmoeller, 1986, USA, 80 mins., Rated R) “It’s mind-blowing, sheer balls-tothe-wall insanity… Klaus Kinski’s performance is truly and deeply bizarre, and belongs at the top of any B-movie insanity list.” – Diabolique (Dir. by David Heavener, 1988, USA, 95 mins., Rated R) “This awful ‘Cowboy Death Wish’ is a fun and crappy low-budget ‘80s action flick … it’s one of those rare direct-to-VHS gems of the ‘80s that are so bad they’re great.” – Movie Review Sunday (Dir. by Pierre de Moro, 1985, USA, 90 mins., Rated R) What happens when a bubblebrained blonde is pursued by a frizzy-haired killer and trapped in a wacky Asylum for Women where mandatory shower fights, sadistic socializing and forced lobotomies are always on the agenda? Find out in the greasy trash-fest, Hellhole! “One hell of an enjoyable trash gem… cinematic sleaze of the highest order.” – Lost Highway (Dir. by Jeff Leiberman, 1988, USA, 88 mins., Rated R) Something very weird is happening to the home video junkies who dare to rent a mysterious new VHS release called Remote Control, and before you know it they’re all having a Blockbuster Night… from hell! “A clever satire of both classic scifi flicks and the VHS boom of the 1980s … fun and unique.” – The Lightning Bug’s Lair LATE NIGHT CULT CLASSICS The greatest cult movies of all-time are back on the big screen! Admission is only $6! • Loft members pay just $5! FRI, JANUARY 2 & SAT, JANUARY 3 AT 10:00PM FRI, JAN 9 AT 10:00PM SAT, JAN 10 AT 10:00PM SUN, JAN 11 AT 11:00AM FRI, JANUARY 16 & SAT, JANUARY 17 AT 10:00PM FRI, JANUARY 23 & SAT, JANUARY 24 AT 10:00PM FRI, JANUARY 30 & SAT, JANUARY 31 AT 10:00PM TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY WILLOW SHAUN OF THE DEAD SERENITY GHOST IN THE SHELL (Dir. by James Cameron, 1991, USA 137 mins., Rated R) Schwarzenegger made good on his “I’ll be back” promise in director James Cameron’s eye-popping, thrill-packed sequel to the original Terminator – a spectacular second chapter that raised the bar for all action films that followed. “For all its state-of-the-art pyrotechnics and breathtaking thrills, this bruisingly exciting movie never loses sight of its humanity.” – David Ansen, Newsweek (Dir. by Ron Howard, 1988, USA, 126 mins., Rated PG) Adventure doesn’t come any bigger than in Willow, a whirlwind of magical fantasy and action from producer George Lucas and director Ron Howard. Threeheaded dragons, skull-faced monsters, body-morphing magic and a group of tiny heroes all add up to a non-stop thrill ride for the ages – and for ALL ages – in this ‘80s fantasy classic. “Lots of fun… filled with enough charm, excitement and good humor to please most any fan of Tolkien-inspired quest flicks.” – Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com (Dir. by Edgar Wright, 2004, UK, 99 mins., Rated R) The cracked British comedy team of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and director Edgar Wright hit the rotting corpse on the head with this gross, hilarious and spot-on comedic update of the zombie genre. “An extremely funny, sidesplitting good time.” – Jim Agnew, Film Threat (Dir. by Joss Whedon, USA, 2005, 119 mins., Rated PG-13) Before he brought the global box-office to its knees with The Avengers, Joss Whedon brought his beloved sci-if/western TV series Firefly to the big screen with Serenity, which offered proof positive that his butt-kicking Browncoats deserved a much better fate than premature TV cancellation. “Serenity is taut, immersive, and alternately hilarious and heartbreaking, a well-balanced blend of whooping Wild West action and space opera.” – Tasha Robinson, Onion AV Club (Dir. by Mamoru Oshii, 1995, Japan, in Japanese with subtitles, 83 mins., Rated R) A milestone of animated cinema, Mamoru Oshii’s scifi masterpiece has gone on to inspire a generation of filmmakers and has become one of the most revered anime features of all time, profoundly influencing the Matrix films with its cool and cruel vision of a dystopian future where humanity and technology have become inextricably intertwined. “Dizzying… for sheer mindexpanding sci-fi strangeness, this is hard to beat.” – Tom Huddleston, Time Out THE LOFT CINEMA 3233 E. 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