I don’t think I’ve ever been able to watch The Muppets after creator Jim Henson died in 1990. Besides being 12 years old and more interested in horror movies and boobs on Cinemax, I couldn’t get past Kermit the Frog’s weird new voice. If you’re like me, you’ll be happy knowing The Loft Cinema is presenting 1981’s The Great Muppet Caper on Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12. The Great Muppet Caper stars all your favorite Muppets (the whole gang’s here), plus Diana Rigg (currently playing Olenna Tyrell on Game of Thrones) as the victim of a jewel heist, the eternally monotone Charles Grodin as a sleazy thief, and great cameos by John Cleese, Peter Falk, and Jack Warden. The film plays at 10 p.m. each night, plus a 11 a.m. screening on Saturday morning for the kiddos. Admission is $6 and $5 for Loft members.

The Loft's April film series, Much Ado About Shakespeare: A 450th Birthday Celebration, continues this week with Kenneth Branagh’s enjoyable take on one of Shakespeare’s finest comedies, Much Ado About Nothing. The 1993 adaptation, about a young woman wrongly accused of being unchaste and the resulting comedic fallout, has a stellar cast (Branagh, Emma Thompson, Robert Sean Leonard, Kate Beckinsale, Denzel Washington, scene-stealing Michael Keaton and whoa, Keanu Reeves) and Branagh was at his peak here. The film plays on Wednesday, April 16 at 7 p.m. Tickets are regular admission. For more information, visit loftcinema.com or call 795-0844.

On Saturday, April 12, Exploded View , along with the U of A German Studies Department, presents Michael Klier’s Der Riese (The Giant), a film that uniquely consists of footage from surveillance cameras. Add along ominous music by Mahler and Wagner and you got yourself one chilling look at the surveillance state. It starts at 7:30 p.m. and admission is $5. Also at Exploded View this week is LA UNDERGROUND #2- BURNING BUNGALOWS: Experimental Film & Animation on the Road From LA. This is the second part in a series that looks at experimental media coming from the City of Angels. According to EV’s website, “the films tend toward an ethereal conjuring of spirits with a dystopian punk attitude.” Several filmmakers will be in attendance to present their works. Check it out on Wednesday, April 16 at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $5, and more info can be found at explodedviewgallery.org or call 366-1573.

Over at the Fox Theatre, on Sunday, April 13, is the 1968 award-winning musical Oliver!. Based on Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist, about an orphan who falls in with a den of thieves, Oliver! is a magnificent film with several catchy musical numbers. Also, you should never miss out on an Oliver Reed performance. They don’t make actors like that anymore. Ask “for more, sir” at 2 p.m. General admission is $7, but children under 12, students, seniors, and active-duty military get in for $5. Visit foxtucsontheatre.com for more information.

This week also kicks off the Arizona International Film Festival, starting on Friday, April 11. You can read my article on it here, and receive more information about it here.

Have fun at the movies!