Thursday, February 13, 2014

Cinema Showdown: The "Why Isn't Anybody Playing 'My Bloody Valentine' on Valentine's Day?" Edition

Posted By on Thu, Feb 13, 2014 at 2:30 PM

Sorry folks, looks like I made a mistake last week! Funny Face was not the Audrey Hepburn film playing last week at the Loft Cinema, it was the 1954 film Sabrina, starring Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. Tonight is Funny Face, the 1957 film version of George Gershwin’s musical with Hepburn and Fred Astaire. It starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are regular admission.

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and a few of Tucson’s theaters are delivering up the goods for you and your special someone. Over at the Loft you can check out the 1971 cult classic Harold and Maude, starring Bud Cort as a morose young man and Ruth Gordon as a senior citizen bursting with life. Not only is it one of the best love stories on celluloid, but I often forget how funny this film is. Good luck with getting the Cat Stevens soundtrack out of your head for the next few days! The film starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are regular admission.

If you’re a couple that fancies yourselves as a modern day Bonnie & Clyde, might I suggest you check out True Romance at the Loft, also playing on Valentine’s Day. Released in 1993, True Romance was directed by action-film auteur Tony Scott with a script by a then white-hot Quentin Tarantino. This was a year before Pulp Fiction and two years after Reservoir Dogs. True Romance stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as a young, pop-culture obsessed couple on the run from all sorts of seedy types. Going along for the ride are Dennis Hopper as Slater’s rent-a-cop dad, Christopher Walken as a terrifying hitman for the Mob, Brad Pitt as a stoner who never leaves the couch, Val Kilmer as the ghost of Elvis/Slater’s moral conscious, and Gary Oldman as a scene-stealing psychotic pimp. True Romance starts at 10 p.m. Tickets are $6 and $5 for Loft members. There’s a repeat performance at the same time on Saturday, Feb. 15. For further information, visit loftcinema.com or call 795-0844.

Over at the Fox Theatre, they’re rolling out When Harry Met Sally, the 1989 romantic comedy starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. Shhhhhhh… I have a secret. I don’t think I’ve actually seen this movie. I’ve never been a fan of Crystal, but I hear it’s pretty good. You can judge for yourself or see it again at 7:30 p.m. Visit foxtucsontheatre.org or call 624-1515 for more information.

Exploded View is having a different kind of Valentine’s party. Titalating Fetish photographer Eric Kroll is opening an art show called Unobtainable, featuring photos and 8mm from an unknown artist named “Arthur.” It seems Arthur was obsessed with women with long, flowing locks in the 1960s and meticulously documented his fetish. Exploded View will be covered floor to ceiling with Arthur’s photos, and local jazz band Thy Odd Birds will provide a live score to the 8mm films. Out of sight! The party starts at 7:30 p.m. and admission is $5. For more information, visit explodedviewgallery.org.

Finally, The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St., is playing Machete Language, a 2012 film from Mexico about a young couple involved with music, activism, and terrorism. I haven’t seen it, but the trailer looks downright explosive. See what all the hubbub is at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5, and there’s a second screening on Saturday, Feb. 15, also at 8 p.m.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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