Basically everything the Loft shows as part of their monthly Essential Cinema series is worth seeing (and c'mon people, cough up the $5 suggested donation), but this month's selection of Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion is super-essential, if that's a thing.

The film, about French prisoners of war in World War I, was one of Orson Welles' favorite films and makes those "best movies of all time" lists quite frequently. It's a haunting film about war, intelligent and emotional, plus Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels declared the film "Cinematic Public Enemy No. 1," which almost certainly makes it worth watching, right?

Here's what Janet Maslin wrote about the film for the New York Times in 1999 when the film was refurbished and reissued:

'Grand Illusion'' presents a world in transition, and like-minded individuals forced to different sides of the battle lines. ''For you and me,'' Erich von Stroheim's assertively patrician German captain tells the French officer played with supreme gallantry by Pierre Fresnay, ''dying in war is a good way out.'' The captain is appalled by the kind of upheaval that has left him on a familiar footing with men like Lieutenant Marechal, played by the magnetic Jean Gabin at the height of his glory as France's favorite working-class hero. Gabin's deeply affecting performance embodies the courage and resiliance in which the film so fervently believes.

''Grand Illusion'' looks all the more radical now as a film with no need to spell out the obvious or follow the trajectory of an ordinary plot. It seems especially disarming now in its genius for keeping its story indirect yet its meaning perfectly clear. Its greatest dramatic heights seem to occur almost effortlessly, as a tale of escape derived from the experience of one of Renoir's wartime comrades evolves into a series of unforgettable crises and stirring sacrifices. ''Grand Illusion'' ultimately defines war by indelibly showing how much it can destroy.

A brand-new digitally restored version of Grand Illusion shows tonight at 7 p.m. More info at loftcinema.com.

This week's Mondo Mondays selection at the Loft, the 1973 CBS TV Movie of the Week The Horror at 37,000 Feet, is an interesting choice. Not just because it stars William Shatner, Buddy Ebsen, the Professor from Gilligan's Island and the guy who played the Rifleman, but because it's a film about a druid artifact that possesses people's minds while on a London to Los Angeles flight. What more could you ask for?

The Horror at 37,000 Feet shows one time only (shocking, I know) at the Loft Cinema tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets are $3. More info at the Loft's website.

In the latest The Field, an occasional column written by Narco News founder Al Giordano and published on the Narco news site, Giordano tells the story of his friendship with the late investigative journalist Gary Webb. In 1996, Webb wrote an investigative series on CIA cocaine trafficking for the San Jose Mercury News. His Dark Alliance series was a first for the Mercury News, going out of its way to post the series on the Internet, along with his interviews and notes.

From Giordano's perspective, this is the story that made Internet journalism what it is today, and I'd add that along with Giordano's work, can continue to offer a light to show us where this whole new journalism world is going and should go. It's a road map that we know is there, but often we ignore it, thinking the same old thing is going to work.

The old media's reaction to the story is what Giordano handily reexamines in his column—a push was felt by Webb's Mercury-News editors at the time. The stories were taken down and those who sought to discredit the reporter, including The New York Times, won. Webb eventually resigned from the paper and in 2004 committed suicide.

But before that, there was Giordano's own lawsuit. (Hopefully you guys and gals at the journalism department are learning about Giordano's victory in 2001 when the New York State Supreme Court dismissed the National Bank of Mexico's lawsuit against Narco News, establishing that Internet journalists have the same rights as the old boys, like at The New York Times.) Webb was a part of that victory, helping raise funds for Narco News. Then he and Giordano started the School of Authentic Journalism, a project I'm still proud I got to experience, receiving a swift journalism kick in the ass.

But look, while all this is a good history lesson—I urge you to read Giordano's entire column here — Giordano also wants us ready to be on the defensive, and not just every School of Authentic Journalism grad and past visiting professor. If you care about journalism and If Giordano's fight and Webb's fight mean anything to you, then he wants you to be ready to defend the movie "Kill the Messenger," that's coming out soon with Jeremy Renner starring as Webb. Giordano says that the old media guard is already trying to cast doubt and criticism on Webb with the movie bringing this bit of history back to life.

So there. Read the latest The Field at narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/. Yo, j-school professors, MFA teachers and the rest of academia and legal folks who purport to care about the First Amendment and the future of journalism, I hope this year you bring Giordano and Webb into your classrooms.

The future depends on it.

If you're into documentaries or love the film "Dog Day Afternoon," you'll want to catch "The Dog" tonight at the Loft:

Here's what I wrote in Cinema Showdown this week:

Also at the Loft this week, an one-off screening of "The Dog," a documentary about John Wojtowicz, the real-life inspiration behind the character played by Al Pacino in "Dog Day Afternoon." Filmed over 10 years and including footage of the robbery that made him infamous, the documentary touches upon the gay liberation movement of the era and the incredibly unique character Wojtowicz was. "The Dog" shows on Monday, September 8 at 7 p.m. with tickets also at regular admission prices.

If you're looking for something a little racier and less thought-provoking (no judgement here), Roger Corman's "Stripped to Kill," showing tonight at 8 p.m. (admission $3) might be more your thing:

Keep in mind this film stars both Norman Fell (Mr. Roper from "Three's Company") AND Greg Evigan (of "B.J. and the Bear" and "My Two Dads" fame). Yes, both of them. IN THE SAME MOVIE.

More info on both films at the Loft's website.

The iconic British rock band Duran Duran will take over U.S. movie theaters on Wednesday, September 10th for a one-night-only showing of the film Duran Duran: Unstaged. This movie showcases the band’s concert at the Mayan Theatre in Los Angeles, which was part of the American Express Unstaged concert series that celebrated the band’s All You Need Is Now album and world tour. Screenvision in alliance with Phase 4 Films will screen the film in over 300 locations.

The film was directed by award-winning filmmaker David Lynch (The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, and Mulholland Drive) as part of the American Express Unstaged. Known for his unique cinematic style that masterfully blends extraordinary imagery and sound design, Lynch has captured the band’s performance in a ground-breaking, creative way that will provide fans with a visually stunning in-theater viewing experience. When it was originally filmed, the director layered images that he had created in advance of the show (live action, animation, special effects, etc.) on top of the band’s performance footage as it was being filmed live. The technique, created an ocular event unlike anything ever seen before. Special guests include Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance), Beth Ditto (Gossip), Kelis and long-time collaborator, Mark Ronson.

I've been a fan of the Florida punk act Against Me! for some time, so the last few years since frontwoman Laura Jane Grace came out as transgender in a Rolling Stone article in 2012 have been an interesting look at how an artist evolves, including the band's latest album Transgender Dysphoria Blues which discussed her longtime struggle with gender dysphoria.

Continuing that discussion, Grace is starring in a ten part documentary series for AOL (which is still a thing, I guess) called True Trans With Laura Jane Grace, debuting on October 10, in which she travels the country talking to fellow transgender men and women about the reality of their own lives. Based on the trailer (above), it seems like it should be a fascinating series.

You can watch another preview of the show (and subscribe to the series, I guess?) at AOL.

With the extended (for some people) weekend and the continued temperatures over 100 degrees, you might decide to stay in for a bit and stream something on Netflix. However, as the page turns on the calendar, some movies leave the streaming service, with new ones coming in as replacements.

Here's our top three you should try to catch before they're gone Sunday night, and three you can plan to watch Monday.

LEAVING:

1973's Black Mama, White Mama (Rated R)

Alternately titled Chicks in Chains (I WISH I WERE KIDDING), Pam Grier stars in a film that manages to exploit on gender, sexual and racial lines, but it's an entertaining enough prison break film. Plus, Pam Grier.

It's Jon Stewart's directorial debut, you know, the one he took a sabbatical for from the Daily Show leaving many of us going through J-Stew withdrawals.

All for good reason. A beautiful film with that amazing Gael Garcia Bernal out in theaters on November 7.

H/T Vanity Fair, who happened to give it some film critic love:

Last summer, Jon Stewart took a sabbatical from his Daily Show hosting duties to direct his first feature film, Rosewater, starring Gael García Bernal. The drama is based on the experiences of Iranian-born Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari, who was arrested, imprisoned, and tortured for more than 100 days after Iran’s controversial 2009 presidential election. The imagery from the first trailer is especially haunting considering the journalists who are currently being held hostage in the Middle East.

...

Variety has already given the film a glowing review. An excerpt of the write-up, from the outlet’s chief film critic, Scott Foundas:

The punishing ordeal of Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari — imprisoned for 118 days on charges of espionage — is brought to the screen with impressive tact and intelligence by writer-director Jon Stewart in Rosewater, an alternately somber and darkly funny drama that may occupy the same geographic terrain as Argo (to which it will inevitably be compared), but in most other respects could hardly be more different. Largely a two-hander between Bahari (played by Gael Garcia Bernal) and the interrogator who puts him through a gauntlet of soul-crushing mindgames, Stewart’s confident, superbly acted debut feature works as both a stirring account of human endurance and a topical reminder of the risks faced by journalists in pursuit of the truth, minus the caper antics and flag waving of Ben Affleck’s populist Oscar winner.

Ghostbusters is coming back to theaters this week for the film's 30th anniversary, remastered for the occasion, so, of course, someone asked the question: What are the logistics involved in [SPOILERS AHEAD, IF THAT'S ACTUALLY A THING WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A 30 YEAR OLD MOVIE] a giant marshmallow man wandering around Manhattan?

On the remnants left behind:

But there is a stickier problem: Uptown Manhattan is now covered in melted marshmallow, nearly 2,000 tons of it. I did the math.

The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is exactly 112.5 feet tall according to Ghostbusters' model shop supervisor. To account for his chubby arms and beer belly marshmallow belly, let's assume he's about one-third wide as he is tall. And for the sake of simplicity, let's assume he's roughly a cylinder, whose volume formula we of course remember from the SATs.

Volume of MM = π(18.75)^2*(112.5) ≈ 124,000 cubic feet

But Marshmallow Man has presumably since melted and congealed, so it's more helpful to think of his mass. Ordinary unmelted marshmallow is light and fluffy, with a density of about 0.5 g/mL. Do a few conversions and we get the total mass of sweet marshmallow guts spilled across Manhattan:

3,870,000 lbs or about 2,000 tons

And what exactly do you do with 2,000 tons of melted marshmallow? To that end, I called up some folks who regularly deal with marshmallow in industrial quantities: Just Born, the makers of beloved Peeps. "This is probably the weirdest question you've ever gotten," I said. "Yeah, it would definitely have to rank up there," Sally, Just Born's customer relations rep replied.

“Robin, Whoopi and I once were in Shea Stadium in the broadcast booth with the great Tim McCarver. It was “Comic Relief Day” for the New York Mets. Robin knew nothing about baseball. I asked him, “What’s your favorite team?” And he said, “The San Franciscos.

“So, he was a little lost in the conversation so I got an idea and I said, “Ya know, Tim, we’ve got a great Russian baseball player with us.” I looked over and his eyes got all bright, his ears perked up–it was like he was a little dog that was inside all day and the master came and said, “Hey, ya wanna go for a walk?

“So, I said, “What’s baseball like in Russia?” Without missing a beat he said, “Well, we only have one team … the Reds.” The next pitch, the batter fouled one back, it came screaming back at us. We ducked down, it slammed against the wall … Robin turned around, it bounced into his hands and he stood up and screamed, “I love America, I’m going to defect!”