Grab a seat in the cool, dark Fox Tucson Theatre on Saturday, July 18 and be transported aboard the Nostromo when the historic venue hosts a special screening of 1979 sci-fi horror thriller classic Alien. Ridley Scott's penchant for suspense combined with designer and artist HR Giger's industrial gothic aesthetic creates a visually-stunning and tense flick that, through the use of real special effects and not crummy CGI, stands the test of time over 35 years later. Plus, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is a total badass.

However, that's not the only sci-fi flick showing at the beautifully restored '30s-era movie house. E.T., The Matrix and Close Encounters of the Third Kind will all be projected in 35mm on the big screen on July 25, Aug. 1 and Aug. 15, respectively.

All screenings begin at 7:30 p.m. and are $7 for entry. For tickets and more information, visit the Fox Tucson Theatre website.

And, without further ado, here's Ripley being totally rad:

Probably the best part about a contemporary art museum is its inherently inclusionary nature. You want to stack some shellacked pieces of compost in a clever way? Sure. You want to paint a big black dot on a white canvas? Go for it. You're considering transforming the museum into a dumpster pool? Deal.

Well, in keeping with that tenet, Tucson's Museum of Contemporary Art is getting a little gritty and a lot loud for a punk-imbued double feature on Saturday, July 11.

First up, Tucson-born artist and director Dean Dempsey will be presenting his new film (released October 2014) that blurs the lines between reality and the film's narrative. Candy Apple follows Bobby (Dempsey) and his relationship with his father ("Trash" a.k.a. Terry "Texas" Trash) and their many vice-filled, dark and yet somehow still funny misadventures following a move to the Big Apple.

Then, the real Trash with hit the MOCA stage to perform live with the seminal Tucson punk outfit known simply as Texas Trash and the Trainwrecks. As with the film itself, the event promises to blur the lines between art and reality in a way that's nearly indistinguishable. Plus, it's an interesting overall look at one of the Old Pueblo's most legendary real characters, so you won't want to miss it.

The screening and live show begin at MOCA (265 S. Church Ave.) at 8 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are $5 for museum members and $10 for everyone else. Due to the film's (and possibly the concert's) subject matter, kids under 18 need a parent or guardian to attend.

Candy Apple Trailer 2015 from Dean Dempsey on Vimeo.

Editor's note: Terry "Texas" Trash is a finalists in Best of Tucson® this year. Which category? Vote to find out!

 
If you're into Amy Schumer, movies in Oro Valley or free stuff, get excited. We've got a ton (so so many) tickets to see the upcoming film Trainwreck.

There is a catch. The passes (which each admit two people) are only good at AMC Foothills 15 (The Foothills Mall theater) on Tuesday, July 14 at 7 p.m.

Want to go? Come by our office. 7225 N. Mona Lisa Rd. Ste. 125, Tucson AZ 85741—It says “Explorer” above the door, and “Tucson Local Media” on the door. We are located one block West of the Foothills Mall on Ina. Our newsroom closes at 5 p.m., and we're only here on weekdays. We're not even raffling these tickets off—come and pick 'em up.

Limit one pass (which, again, admits two adults) per person. I'll update this post when we're out of passes.

Attention movie/Blythe Danner/Sam Elliott fans: We've got a few passes to see "I'll See You in my Dreams" and you should take 'em. 

Each pass admits two people, and the passes can be used at any of the Century Theatres showings in town between today (Monday!) and Thursday, June 11. 

We'll give the tickets away today and tomorrow. You have to be able to pick the tickets up at our office on the Northwest side. We close at 5 p.m. every day.

The movie currently has a pretty solid rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Here's some details on the film, from Rotten Tomatoes as well:

MOVIE INFO
In this vibrant, funny, and heartfelt film, a widow and former songstress discovers that life can begin anew at any age. With the support of three loyal girlfriends (June Squibb, Rhea Perlman, and Mary Kay Place), Carol (Blythe Danner) decides to embrace the world, embarking on an unlikely friendship with her pool maintenance man (Martin Starr), pursuing a new love interest (Sam Elliott), and reconnecting with her daughter (Malin Akerman). C) Bleecker Street

Rating: PG-13 (for sexual material, drug use and brief strong language)
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Directed By: Brett Haley
Written By: Brett Haley, Marc Basch
In Theaters: May 15, 2015 Limited
Box Office: $1.9M
Runtime: 1 hr. 35 min.
Bleecker Street

Grab your biggest blanket and head to the Demeester Performing Arts Pavilion at Reid Park this summer for free movie events that are fit for the whole family. 

From June 6 until August 14, the Southern Arizona Arts and Culture Alliance and Cox Communications will be showing five movies in the park. The free, all ages events take place starting at 5:30 p.m. when attendees can do a range of activities like face painting, crafts, balloons and more. Food trucks will also be on-site for the events.

Then when the sun sets, approximately 7:45 p.m., the movies will begin. Those interested in going are encouraged to bring their own seating, be it chairs or blankets, to Reid Park located at 900 S. Randolph Way.

Here's the full line-up of movie events.
June 6: Big Hero 6
June 19: Shrek
July 17: Frozen
July 31: How to Train Your Dragon 2
August 14: The Princess Bride

Back in December the country was ablaze with the news from Sony Pictures that Seth Rogen and James Franco's North Korean comedy The Interview would no longer be allowed to screen due to terrorist threats surrounding the movie's release. Around that time The Loft Cinema was planning their annual fourth of July movie sing-a-long bash featuring Paramount's Team America: World Police.

However, it seems the nonexistent backlash of The Interview has Paramount spooked and they've decided to not allow The Loft Cinema to screen the movie for their event. In a statement released online on Thursday, May 28, the theatre explains that, despite several attempts to get a response from Paramount, the company "seems to be stuck in the hysteria of mid-December 2014."

Are we angry that an apparently dead issue is blocking our ability to celebrate America’s birthday? Yes!

Are we miffed that we’re being denied the ability to show this ridiculous little puppet movie for the 10th year in a row? You betcha!

Are we irritated that our annual potty-mouthed celebration of FREE F***IN’ SPEECH is being silenced? Yeppers!

Are we going to sit back and do nothing about it? Hell no!

You can expect an announcement of a replacement program soon. It won’t be Team America, but it will be patriotic, it will involve singing, and it will be FUN. May God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America. 

What musical do you think the Loft should play in lieu of Team America to celebrate the fourth of July?

I don't normally recommend films, but I'll make an exception here. The Salt of the Earth, a documentary about photographer Sebastião Salgado playing at The Loft, is a terrific film for anyone interested in photography and social justice—and photography used as a tool for social justice. For my money, Salgado, born in Brazil and trained as an economist, is the foremost living black and white photographer. He's turned his camera on the teeming gold mines of Brazil (pictured above), famines and immigrant camps in Africa, oil fires in Kuwait and, most recently, the Earth in an almost primal state. His photos have brought worldwide awareness to social and economic problems. They're powerful, often painful, and stunningly beautiful.

The documentary is directed by Wim Wenders, a first rate director, and Salgado's son Juliano. The images alone are worth the price of admission (you can see a small selection in the gallery on the film's website), and the story of Salgado's evolution as a photographer and a human being, as well as the stories of the places he photographed, are moving and informative.

Campus rape is a difficult issue, for all kinds of reasons—victims sometimes have spotty memories as a result of alcohol consumption or because they were drugged against their will; there may not witnesses; sometimes it boils down to a he-said/she-said situation; and pursuing charges can be even more traumatizing for a victim. That shouldn't be read as an excuse to ignore claims of rape, but as an acknowledgment of the difficulty of proving it in a court of law. (And it's not a new issue; more than a decade ago, contributor Vicki Hart took an in-depth look at the issue for the Weekly.) Rolling Stone's recent disgraceful reporting on the topic didn't help matters any, either.

Filmmaker Kirby Dick has dug into the topic with The Hunting Ground, which opens tonight at the Loft Cinema. Dick will be there both tonight and tomorrow to introduce the film at the 7 p.m. screenings. Here's the Loft's description:

After 30 years working at Casa Video, Tony Jensen is going to recommend his last movie (at least in a professional setting) on Friday, April 24. However, before he goes, we had a few questions for the long-time pillar in the Tucson movie community.

What did you do before Casa Video?
I worked on the Burlington Northern Railroad but they would lay you off for four months in the winter. One year I decided to go back to school and repair computers and VCRs.

What kept you in the movie rental business for 30 years?
I love movies and lots of patience.

Why do you think Casa survived while Blockbuster and other stores went out of business?
I think Casa Video survived because of the inventory of movies. We have over 60,000 titles—and our staff—you can come in and just have a couple of phrases from a movie and 90 percent of the time they know it. We have customers that come in and spend hours looking for a film to watch. Besides, we are a family owned business, not corporate. We care, I think, more for our customers.

Do you have a Netflix account?
What is Netflix?

What’s one movie you see rented a lot year after year that surprises you?
Ulysses With Kirk Douglas

Public Access TV can be glorious, or it can be horrible, or it can be somewhere in-between, but it's always the efforts of your neighbors creating their own vision on a low budget and big dreams. A retrospective of one of the better efforts to create a show, 20 Years of Madness, will be showing this weekend at downtown's Screening Room as part of the Arizona International Film Festival. And it will benefit Access Tucson, our own public access station that has been on the ropes as city officials have steadily cut its funding and threatened to sell its downtown headquarters in recent years.

Here's the film's description. There's a warning that you'll see nudity and hear bad words:

20 Years of Madness is a feature-length documentary following Jerry White Jr., founder of the Public Access TV Show 30 MINUTES OF MADNESS, as he leaves Los Angeles and returns to Metro Detroit to make a new episode on its 20-year anniversary. Jerry reconnects with the friends he grew up with as they discover whether the magic of their show was a fleeting youthful experiment or a creative community they will share for the rest of their lives.

The film shows at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 18. More details on it and the rest of the Arizona International Film Festival here.