Revisiting Wings of Desire

Slate writer Jessica Winter recently reflected back on Wings of Desire upon its Criterion release. She wrote, "it's surprising how beautifully Wings of Desire holds up 20-plus years after its release..." Read the full article here.

Wings of Desire plays Sunday January 17th at 1:00 and Tuesday January 19th at 7:00 for free as part of The Loft's Essential Cinema series.

The Legend of Cao Cao's Tomb

The dreaded warlord villain of Red Cliff, Cao Cao, was a real-life dude at one point, and Chinese officials claim to have uncovered his tomb. News of the find broke yesterday. Thanks to our buddy Mitch for the tip! Read more about it here.

Red Cliff continues through January 7th, and maybe longer!

Stuff We Like: Stingray Sam

Cory McAbee, the genius behind The American Astronaut (one of our favorite films of the decade) and The Billy Nayer Show, is giving you a gift: free art! Go to www.stingraysam.com, where you can download the first two episodes of this new six-episode marvel for $0.00. Hopefully you'll get hooked and want to buy the rest; you won't regret it if you do.

If you're still not convinced, here's one of our favorite scenes from The American Astronaut:

November First Friday Shorts Review

by Shipherd Reed, via AZNightbuzz.com

Shout it from the rooftops, sing it in the streets, Max is back with a sly wise-crack and his hosting can’t be beat! At least that was my opinion, and many seemed to share it at intermission. Great appreciation to Mike Sterner for keeping the ship on course while Max was AWOL for two months. He’s just so good at this job. The theater was packed, the joint humming with conversation, the faces lit by smartphones texting. Max stepped to the stage, took the mic, and warmed up the crowd like he never left us. But that’s enough gushing. It was a very entertaining night, the films rocked, and it was a happy reminder that this event has a rare ability to surprise and delight.

Max kicked it off with a ringer, a mock preview titled “Poltergeist Activity” that shows a guy attempting to have sex with his girlfriend in the visual style of the indie horror hit “Paranormal Activity.” Way funny. Then Sarah Haber and Katie Gault kicked off the films in competition with “We Own The Sky” about a daughter who covers for her dad when he blasts off into space in a homemade rocket and the media hounds her for answers. Impressively well made with some strong acting.

Joshua Lamb’s “Snack Attack” followed, a man versus vending machine tale about a guy who takes a really long time to chose which candy bar he wants, and the other dude waiting for him to make a damn choice. It seemed promising, but had no twist or payoff in the end. After that Don Smith’s film, “Whatareyougonnado?,” featured a guy walking around the Princeton campus and musing on life. Rambling yet amusing, but the crowd needed to vent and GONG! no more to do.

An incomprehensible zombie movie came next, followed by another ringer, this one called “We Are Douchebags,” a hilarious mockumentary in which crass dudes stand up for their rights and dignity as douchebags. Catch it on the web. Next in competition came Zach Bloom’s “Mammal Mama,” a marvelously trippy strange primordial kaleidoscopic music video with chant music that I loved. So delightfully different. Mark Hanson’s “Shoes” about a bad date was apparently ingenious but I missed the visual punch line. Lots of other people laughed, however, so I’m getting slow.

Mike Williamson’s music video “Mindtrap” had some cool sfx (again with the kaleidoscopic) and it was followed by Eli Roth’s fabulous faux trailer for the grindhouse horror flick “Thanksgiving” (a ringer, if you’re familiar). See it on the web. As Max quipped “That puts the grim back in pilgrim.”

To keep the slasher vibe going, Josh Zientarski then screened his comic horror flick “The Cutting,” in which four happy campers trash-talk a machete wielding killer even as he chops them up. And to keep the blood flowing, Amber Welsh gave us “I spit your heart out” about two young women who kill a rapist, tear out his heart, and eat it. For a bit more levity, Buck & Steve brought us “A Bit of BS” in which one of three friends thinks that he has turned into a velociraptor, and it was funny. But not as funny as the ringer that followed, “One Dead Mule,” which is an art film version of a mega-store phone order for supplies to survive the apocalypse. Yes, hard to explain and it is ingenious. On the web, check it out.

That was followed by two teenage girls, one in drag, dancing to a “Nasty Bitch” rap song in their video “The Nasty Bitch” and it was weird and entertaining and I’m not sure what it says about the female libido. Stalwart experimentalilst Joe Carmonica and his trusty muse Diana Stapleton screened “Mischief Night at the Central Arts Collective,” which was hard to watch and mercifully roused the GONG! and we moved on. On to Tullar brother John whose James Bond spoof “Last Chance To Kill” featured cool opening titles, a full narrative with story arc, costumes, funny lines, the whole enchilada. The tale followed a pompous secret agent who has his license to kill revoked and trouble ensues. It killed. The crowd loved it. Robert Noble’s music video for the rap song “Hell House” closed the evening, and it worked okay.

So after a night with so many strong films in competition, plus an abundance of exceptional ringers, who took home the prize? John Tullar of course! “Last Chance to Kill” spun the applause meter and the Tullar brothers continue their dominance of 2009. Will they take December’s contest? I’ll see you at the Loft on Friday to find out and Happy Holidays to all!

An Education Staff Review

From the first bouncy notes of its opening credits, “An Education” springs onto the screen with all the energy and joie de vivre of a bevy of chattering schoolgirls, and maintains this breezy pace and an appropriately, refreshingly lighthearted tone through to the very last frame. Carey Mulligan, playing the luminous, precocious protagonist Jenny, has been repeatedly likened by critics to Audrey Hepburn — and while her charm and expressiveness are a little reminiscent of Hepburn in her breakout role in “Roman Holiday,” Mulligan is a delight as Jenny not because she is pretty and perfect, but because Jenny is naïve and arrogant, confused and disillusioned, just like so many other bright teenagers galloping headfirst toward the humbling place that is the real world.

The film, set in post-war, pre-Beatles Britain, centers upon Jenny’s budding relationship with David (Peter Sarsgaard), a charming thirtysomething man of questionable repute, who picks her up one rainy afternoon on the pretense of keeping her cello dry. One can almost read her mind as the two sit in David’s car chatting: This man is intoxicatingly sophisticated compared to the boys Jenny is used to — is the age difference simply what it takes to keep up with a sixteen-year-old girl praised by teachers for her cleverness and groomed for Oxford by her parents? It seems that way to Jenny, at least.

David’s courtship of Jenny, juxtaposed with the pitiable-yet-humorous efforts of one of her classmates, gradually progresses. His worldliness and affability help him win over Jenny’s well-intentioned petty bourgeois parents, played brilliantly by Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour, who seem just as dazzled by his world of fine art, nightclubs, and spontaneous jaunts to Paris as Jenny is. All they want is for their little girl to have a more prosperous, more glamorous life than they’ve had, and David seems to be offering one — for free.

The story — criticized by some as “safe” and “predictable” — is admittedly a fairly straightforward coming-of-age tale. But the conventional plot is precisely what allows the rest of the film to shine: Mulligan and Molina are tender, humorous and wonderfully real, Olivia Williams (“Rushmore”) and Dominic Cooper (“The History Boys”) provide solid support, and Emma Thompson is hilarious and horrid as the cold-hearted headmistress. A dynamite soundtrack is present throughout — with the exception of a very out-of-place modern number during the final credits — featuring less predictable artists, like Mel Tormé instead of Frank Sinatra, for instance, who give the film a vibrant atmosphere without being so familiar as to distract viewers. The production design, costumes and makeup are slick and stylized without forfeiting accuracy, making pre-swinging London look as pristine and chilly as a glittering Swarovski figurine.

The unrelenting lightness of “An Education” is what makes the film truly great; director Lone Sherfig and writer Nick Hornby allow the darker moments to flit by in a way that creates a gripping sense of tension as the older and wiser audience realizes the dangers Jenny is dancing frightfully close to. Humorous moments, too, are peppered throughout, particularly whenever things threaten to take a turn for the sentimental. (“If it does happen, it will never happen again,” says Jenny before sleeping with David. Why? Well, she clarifies, the first time can only happen once, can’t it?) Though the resolution of this fairly brisk film is a bit rushed, not a minute of any of it is dull. “An Education” will be opening at The Loft this Friday.

The Loft's Favorite Films of the '00s

Combined List:



1. tie Mulholland Dr. / George Washington
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Let the Right One In
4. Downfall
5. tie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind / Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
6. tie Grizzly Man / Mister Lonely
7. Moon
8. tie In the Mood for Love / The Pianist
9. tie Shaun of the Dead / Amélie / Amores Perros / Pan’s Labyrinth
10. tie Memories of Murder / Synecdoche, New York, / The Royal Tenenbaums

Jeff, Program Director



1. Mullholland Drive
2. George Washington
3. Waking Life
4. Far From Heaven
5. Mr. Lonely
6. Ghost World
7. Synecdoche, NY
8. Sexy Beast
9. Das Experiment
10. Ginger Snaps

Dave, Facilities Manager



1. Synecdoche, New York
2. The Fountain
3. Big Fish
4. A Scanner Darkly
5. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
6. Pan's Labyrinth
7. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
8. Amores Perros
9. Inland Empire
10. Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten

Dale, Projectionist



1. Downfall
2. Che
3. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
4. Brick
5. City of God
6. Baader Meinhoff Komplex
7. 28 Days Later
8. The Aviator
9. Volver
10. Old Boy

Anthony, Floor Staff



1. Let The Right One In
2. Memories of Murder
3. There Will Be Blood
4. Grizzly Man
5. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
6. Adaptation
7. The King of Kong: A Fist Full of Quarters
8. The Incredibles
9. A History of Violence
10. Kill Bill Vol. 1

Dan, Assistant Manager



Amelie
Me and You and Everyone We Know
The Darjeeling Limited
Lost in Translation
Sideways
The Royal Tenenbaums
A Very Long Engagement
Anchorman
Superbad
Punch-Drunk Love

Tim, Floor Staff



A Girl Cut In Two
Bad Santa
Brokeback Mountain
Elegy
Kill Bill 1
Kill Bill 2
Serenity
Shaun of the Dead
Serenity
Volver

Luanne, Membership Director



In the Mood for Love
49 Up
Adaptation
Afghan Star
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Dancer in the Dark
Dead Snow
Donnie Darko
Frozen River
Gosford Park
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
House of Flying Daggers
Kill Bill
La Vie en Rose
Let the Right One in
Man on Wire
Me and You and Everyone We Know
Moulin Rouge
Mulholland Drive
Seabiscuit
Spellbound
Spirited Away
The National Parks: America's Best Idea
The Station Agent

Daniel, Projectionist



1. Shaun of the Dead
2. There Will Be Blood
3. No Country for Old Men
4. High Fidelity
5. The Wrestler
6. Snatch
7. 28 Days Later
8. Let The Right One In
9. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
10. Frailty

JJ, Operations Director



1. George Washington
2. Mister Lonely
3. Mulholland Dr.
4. Irreversible
5. American Astronaut
6. Gozu
7. Taxidermia
8. Grizzly Man
9. The Piano Teacher
10. Amores Perros

Zach, Director of Theater Operations



1. Mulholland Dr.
2. George Washington
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
4. In the Mood for Love
5. There Will Be Blood
6. Lord of the Rings
7. Grizzly Man
8. Memories of Murder
9. Amores Perros
10. Punch-Drunk Love

Amy, Development Director



1. Y Tu Mama Tambien
2. Departures
3. The Pianist
4. Gran Torino
5. Juno
6. The Kite Runner
7. Wanted
8. Elf
9. Best in Show
10. Traffic

Steve, Office Manager



1. Old Joy
2. Elephant
3. I’m Not There
4. INLAND EMPIRE
5. Grizzly Man
6. In the Bathtub of the World
7. Trouble Every Day
8. The Piano Teacher
9. Mutual Appreciation
10. Punch-Drunk Love


Peggy, Executive Director



Irreversible
George Washington
Mr. Lonely
In the Mood for Love
Breath (Ki-Duk Kim)
Infernal Affairs Trilogy
Man Push Cart
Tarnation
Duck Season
Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Pedro, Assistant Manager



1. Pan’s Labyrinth
2. Downfall
3. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
4. Let The Right One In
5. Memento
6. No Country For Old Men
7. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
8. 28 Days Later
9. A History of Violence
10. The Aviator

Christian, Floor Staff



1. Amelie
2. The Royal Tenenbaums
3. There Will Be Blood
4. Moon
5. Mysterious Skin
6. Brick
7. Elephant
8. Ghost World
9. Secretary
10. Love, Actually

Alyson, Floor Staff



1. I Served the King of England
2. An Education
3. The Pianist
4. Almost Famous
5. Lost in Translation
6. Downfall
7. Ghost World
8. American Psycho
9. Moon
10. Love, Actually

Kyle, General Manager



1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Amores Perros
3. Grizzly Man
4. Moon
5. Spirited Away
6. Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World
7. Station Agent
8. Dancer in the Dark
9. Memories of Murder
10. The Darjeeling Limited

The Baader-Meinhof Complex Staff Review

The Baader Meinhof Complex is a highly stylized and pretty well-paced film, clocking in at over 2 hours long. The film does not stray far from the facts, yet such a history lesson in late 60’s through the better parts of the 70’s West German socio/political upheaval never disappoints, except maybe in that it is missing some of this man’s favorites in the German acting world. But I do digress. The film starts out with the humble beginnings of what would later become the Red Army Faction, also known as the Baader Meinhof gang.

We see the respected leftist journalist Ulrike Meinhof played by the stunning actress Martina Gedeck coming into her own as a politically active journalist when she takes the side of student demonstrators who, while peaceably protesting the visiting Shah of Iran, were attacked by the Shah’s entourage, then later the German police force. Her compassion for the students' and leftists' views were obviously not stomached well by the establishment’s right-wing eyes. But nonetheless Ulrike strikes a chord with the burgeoning student subversive groups. The political situation at this time in Germany was one of much suspicion towards those in political and economic power on both respective sides of Germany. Former Nazis still managed to find their way back into positions of power in the political and business sectors. And great suspicion of Nazism and/or American Imperialist influence did not sit well with the distrustful younger generation. Enter social unrest, the setting for the rest of our film.

Johanna Wokalek delivers a sexy and substantial breakout performance as Gudrun Ensslin, the other intellectual brain of the early RAF days. She drives the film and the newly born terrorist group like a jockey at the bridle. She also holds the bridle to the movie's other namesake, Andreas Baader, the psychopathic strong-arm of the RAF. Moritz Bleibtreu plays Andreas with a rageaholic’s vigor, both convincingly and fearfully. I cannot truly express the delivery these actors employ in their powerful roles as real life figures. Even after watching the film a second time I can’t with all honestly say I have seen any blatant over-acting, which one could expect from people who have the chance to play idealistic Marxist radicals (the vilified enemy of the Cold War generation) in a movie.

The first half plays like a youthful deviant’s joy ride in a stingray corvette of yesteryear. The last half is still a fever dream-paced ride, but in said stingray with blown struts and grinding gears as our proto-terrorist heroes begin their downward spiral in the same fashion of their fiery rise. Once again the film never strays far from fact; as the grueling trail and prison confinement grates on the souls and sanity of the group's incarcerated founding members, friendship and organizational dynamics take a boot to the head as solitary confinement and hunger strikes work chaos and ravage their respective psyches. The trailer does not lie about the birth of modern terrorism, as these influential but tragically egotistical miscreants help set off a tirade of international events in their wake, even after their capture. Excitement and a damn good history lesson is what one gets from The Baader Meinhof Complex.

Once again my only qualm with the film is that I would have loved Alexandra Maria Lara to have a speaking line and not just be gratuitous eye candy. And a bit more screen time for the ever-brilliant Bruno Ganz. But, none of this diminishes from the film itself. Hollywood should take note of Uli Edel’s direction and learn how one can make a film that is sexy, fast-paced and dripping with style that can somehow still contain substance. In closing, the film is more than worth seeing, not only for educational and entertainment value but also for its relevance to today’s trouble with terrorism and the consequences of free market capitalism. It brings food for thought to anyone who grew up in the 80’s and 90’s seeing the fall of the great enemy of communism and its ideology, and forces you to wonder if both sides took their views too far in one direction. Which in the end was perhaps a loss to both sides. Come watch the film and take from it what you will. Love, D.

The All-Night Scream-o-Rama 2009!

The Loft Cinema's ALL-NITE SCREAM-O-RAMA returns with 12 hours of eye-popping, mind-blowing, stomach-churning horror movie classics, ghoulish guests, trashy trailers, scary shorts and spooky surprises ... it's a Dusk till Dawn nightmare you'll never forget!

Meet legendary Scream Queen BRINKE STEVENS, the sultry star of such clas-sicks as SLAVE GIRLS FROM BEYOND INFINITY, NIGHTMARE SISTERS, SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE, HAUNTING FEAR, TEENAGE EXORCIST and many, many more (hundreds more, to be not-quite-exact)!

Below are trailers for the films with their VERY APPROXIMATE start times. Be there this FRIDAY THE 13TH or be DEAD!

Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama with Special Guest Brikne Stevens in Person! 7:00PM:


John Carpenter's The Thing 9:30PM:


Pieces 11:00PM:


Hellraiser 1:00AM:


Fright Night 3:00AM:


City of the Walking Dead AKA Nightmare City 5:00AM:

Grindhouse Movie Trailer Massacre Winners

Congratulations to all of the winners of The Loft's recent Grindhouse Movie Trailer Massacre, a 48 Hour Film Challenge.



BEST FILM: "Freak Mart" by Team A.L. Baer

AUDIENCE AWARD: "Kung Fu Killbots" by Team Grindhouse

BEST ACTING/PERFORMANCE: "Stumpy" in "They Called Her Stumpy" by Greenless Pictures

BEST SCREENPLAY/STORYLINE: "Arbor Day" by Red Productions

BEST EDITING: "Biker Babes from Beyond" by Tall Ship Productions

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: "They Called Her Stumpy" by Greenless Pictures

Bonus Categories:

BEST GORE: "Freak Mart" by Team A.L. Baer

BEST NUDITY: "The Cheerleaders' Bloody Pom Poms" by Ninja Kill Squad

Now strap on your 3-D glasses for "They Called Her Stumpy," which has already been put up on Youtube by its web-savvy director.

Big Fan Gets Big Props

Big Fan's accolades continue to grow. In addition to being called "easily one of the best, and most creative, films of the year" by the Tucson Weekly's James DiGiovanna, Big Fan recently made a splash at the Gotham Independent Film Awards, where it was nominated for Best Feature, as well as serving as the springboard for Robert Siegel's Breakthrough Director and Patton Oswalt's Breakthrough Actor nominations. Catch it at The Loft while you can.

The Loft at Pride in the Desert

THANKS to all of our fabulous LGBTQ friends and allies who stopped by our booth at Pride in the Desert this past Saturday! We will be announcing the winners of our ENTER TO WIN sweepstakes next week! Look for the winners right here and check your email inbox too!

A Late Thank You

We were remiss not to post this last week, but a big thank you to the readers of the Tucson Weekly, who voted us Best Movie Theater in Tucson for the seventh year in a row! Here's the blurb:

The Loft is more than a movie theater—it's a celebration of cinema in all its wonder. Besides the rotation of new art films, foreign movies and other top-grade releases, the Loft shows cult movies like The Big Lebowski and Planet of the Apes on weekends; wacky stuff like Plan 9 From Outer Space on Mondo Mondays; cinematic classics—for free!—on Sunday afternoons; and short films by local filmmakers on the first Friday of every month, in a mini-marathon hosted by local cartoonist Max Cannon. And that's not even mentioning the festivals, the contests and the best concession stand in town. What else can we say? Lights, camera, action!

Found Footage

In case you're not familiar with what the Found Footage guys do, here's a short video interview conducted when they were here before.

This Saturday at 8 and 10PM, they'll be back to present their treasures and film the show for their new DVD release. It's always a blast, and you're pretty much guaranteed to laugh harder and more often than you ever have or will again in a movie theater. For good measure, here's another interview.

Rogue Film School

In the file under "insane weekend" department, Werner Herzog now has a film school, teaching such valuable lessons as "the art of lockpicking. Traveling on foot. The exhilaration of being shot at unsuccessfully. The athletic side of filmmaking. The creation of your own shooting permits. The neutralization of bureaucracy. Guerrilla tactics. Self reliance." Sign us up.

Volunteer Vignette

Loft volunteers do many things. We sit at the membership table before screenings and talk to people about the benefits of being a member, and we talk to people about upcoming shows at the Loft. We sometimes go to special events like the UA Master’s in Film students’ final films and sit at a table talking to people about The Loft (then we can stay to watch the films if we want!). We take tickets before highly-attended shows at the theater, we sometimes help the staff with special projects, and some of us even meet Luanne in the office and do data entry.

I volunteered at the Tribute-to-Michael-Jackson-Sing-Along, which sold out—-and it sold out fast! As I looked around at the 500 people in the theater having a great time singing and dancing to the music, I realized this was how we were saying goodbye to an icon from our time and culture who gave us so many tunes and dance moves. During the dance-off at intermission, all 500 people chanted the name of the winning dancer—-a truly incredible Michael Jackson-inspired young dancer. The energy was a mixture of sentiment, spontaneity, and happiness. I felt lucky to be there that night.

A volunteer earns free movie tickets by volunteering. I volunteer for so much more than that, though of course I LOVE free tickets. I am being paid in experiences: I am witnessing the passion and the joy that art and film and music and interesting topics can incite in those around me, and each time I volunteer at the Loft, I feel in some small way that I am helping The Loft happen. I Love Volunteering at The Loft!



~ Peggy Springer, Loft Volunteer since January 2009

If you are interested in volunteering at The Loft Cinema, please visit our website for more information.

World Cinema by the Coen Brothers

Stumbled upon this "lost" short about cowboys and art films by our favorite filmmaking brothers.

Lists Are Fun

Sight and Sound magazine has picked their "Wild Bunch"--the 50 most dangerous filmmakers of all time--and, coincidentally, also some of our favorites. No disrespect to anyone on the list, but we'd have included Monsieur Godard, as well. Vive la cinema!

Firsts

We here at The Loft want to open things up a bit with this blog, throw the doors open to the public. Here you might expect to find interviews with upcoming guests, staff reviews, and links to articles we think are cool, neat, or otherwise intriguing. Cinema might not always be about fun, but at its best it should inspire strong reactions. Expect to find those here. Thanks for coming by.