It's hot-as-hell and you're not gonna take it anymore! Okay, drama mama, why not head over to the Loft? Not only do they have AC (what! what!), but they also have a grab-bag full of movies playing. Take your pick!

On Friday, join Red Meat's Max Cannon as he hosts "the biggest, baddest short film contest in town," a la the Loft's website. If interested, bring your own short film (15 minutes or under) and they'll play it on the big screen. The Grand Prize is $200! Now that could buy you a lot of fireworks. Show starts at 9 p.m. Admission is $6 general/$5 for Loft members. Below is last month's winner, Eva Julieta Alcazar, who won for her animated short, "Niche."

Niche from Eva Alcazar on Vimeo.

Like War flicks? Come back Monday, July 4th, when Liberty Watch Radio and Inside Track present the action-packed, Oscar-winner, "Battleground." Come before the movie for burgers and dogs and ice-cool drinks on the patio. Show starts at 12 p.m. Admission is $6 general/$5 for Loft members.

If you like more irreverent war movies, stick around Monday night for the "TEAM AMERICA" sing-a-long! Curse and cuss your heart out with those little, filthy puppets. Come again (no pun intended) for the pre-show burgers and dogs. Pre-show starts at 6p.m. Show starts at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $8 general/$6 for Loft members.

Fore more details, visit the Loft's website.

Somehow I missed that there was a third Mission: Impossible film, which is strange since I usually don't have much going on other than seeing movies about technology happy spies, but now that there's a fourth installment hitting theaters this winter that actually looks entertaining, maybe I'll go back and catch up. Stuff exploding! Fancy giant iPads! Jeremy Renner looking mean! Good times all around.

I personally have really good intentions about seeing movies in the theater (Tree of Life, for example, which I really want to see, but I'm sure I'll end up missing), but there was a time period when I worked nights that I would just go see movies to get out of the house in the afternoon and have someone else pay for my air conditioned comfort. Back then, I would have gladly signed up for Moviepass, a new service debuting in San Francisco this week.

Essentially, Moviepass is a internet service that allows you to pay a flat rate per month ($50 in San Francisco, although since their movies are priced about $5 ahead of ours here, the service might be cheaper here) and see as many movies as you'd like, as long as you get your tickets through the site (or forthcoming iPhone app). In exchange for offering a discount for avid filmgoers, the studios will get information about what movies you're seeing to use to invite you to exclusive screenings, try to sell you DVDs and such, etc. Maybe not such a bad deal, as long as you're really dedicated to film and think there are are more than four movies a month worth seeing.

[Wired]

You'll have to wait a little less than a year, but it looks like Pixar gets back on track with the fairy tale Brave in 2012. To be honest, I'm just happy Larry the Cable Guy isn't involved.

Now showing (and continuing for an additional week) at The Loft: Bill Cunningham—New York Times photographer—is more than just some cute-old-man-snapping-pics-on-a-bike. He's a living legend who's been chronicling fashion trends for decades. And he does it all on the streets—smack dab in the middle of the action in NYC.

It's a little strange to think of a Pixar movie as not being universally loved, even by critics. Even the studio's sequels are wildly acclaimed, with reviewers discussing how Toy Story 3 brought them to tears, but it looks like Cars 2, hitting theaters tomorrow, might break their winning streak.

Right now, the film is at a 37% approval rating on film review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, hands down the lowest rating ever for a Pixar film. There have been Pixar films that would have received a perfect 100% on the site if it weren't for one or two bad reviews (semi-famously, former Star movie critic Phil Villarreal was one of two critics to screw up Wall-E's perfect score). There are critics giving the film a positive review, but there are quite a few prominent writers who, like New York Times critic A.O. Scott, are not thrilled by the sequel's focus on supposedly charming hick, Tow Mater:

Mostly, though, there is Mater, who tags along with Lighting on the grand prix circuit before falling in with the secret agents. Through it all, he talks and talks and talks, mangling idioms and missing the point in an exaggerated drawl that would make even the cast of “Hee-Haw” wince. As if to prove that certain groups have escaped the protection of political correctness, the Southern-fried Mater is dumb, excitable and puppy-dog loyal, his idiot-savant automotive expertise grounded in humble, blue-collar simplicity. I doubt anyone will protest much, but Pixar has now found its redneck Jar-Jar Binks. Such a proud moment.

In the end, maybe it doesn't really matter if Cars 2 is actually good or not. Disney will certainly make a bazillion dollars from the movie and the wave of merchandise that accompanies it, and the core audience (which includes my two kids) couldn't be more excited and it's not like my nine year old son consulted the New York Times to see if he really wanted to spend all week bugging me about the film's release date. For me, if the movie's terrible, it's just disappointing. One thing you could count on from Pixar is that they'd make movies that my entire family would enjoy while managing not to be just a two hour ad for a line of toys. A four year run of movies I genuinely loved as films (Ratatouille, Wall-E, Up, and Toy Story 3), a stinker was bound to emerge eventually, right?

See our review in next Thursday's issue to find out whether the Weekly ends up being one of the lone voices in the wilderness enjoying the movie or whether we kick Cars 2 while it's down.

Tonight, the Loft takes a look at the life of Harper Lee with Hey, Boo, a documentary about the reclusive author of To Kill a Mockingbird. One night only, 7:30 p.m. showtime.T

More from the Loft:

Filmmaker Mary McDonagh Murphy's illuminating new documentary HEY, BOO explores Lee's life and unravels some of the mysteries surrounding the beloved author, including why she never published again, why she stopped speaking to the press in 1964, and the ambiguous details of her childhood friendship with author Truman Capote, whose influence on the novel has been a controversial topic of debate for decades. It also brings to light the context and history of the novel's Deep South setting and the social changes it inspired after publication.

The Geasa-Marana library will be screening the 2009 film Two Spirits, which looks at traditional ways Native American cultures understand gender and sexual identity through one mother's tragic loss as a free one night show, Wednesday, June 15, at 5 p.m. A discussion will follow.

For more details on the film, check out http://twospirits.org/

Clearly what the world needs is a live-action full length movie of Thomas the Tank Engine, but since the script was co-written by one of the guys behind the "Let's see if we can't get a little more cash out of what was once a decent concept" film Shrek the Third, I'm sure this won't be just an excuse to create another line of toys or anything, but a touching tribute to the bond between a father and his son.

You people didn't give a great children's film like The Iron Giant the attention it deserves, so now this is what we get. Thanks.

HIT Entertainment, rights holder to the Thomas the Tank Engine kiddie juggernaut, is moving forward with its first live action theatrical film. Shane Acker, who directed the 2009 animated film 9, will direct a film set in Sodor, the island of talking trains., where Thomas is among a litany of characters . Weta Workshop and Mattel's entertainment properties design team have joined the creative team, and the financing and distribution is being sold by Cinetic Media and the UTA Independent Film Group. the script was written by Chris Viscardi & Will McRobb. and Shrek the Third's Josh Klausner.

[...]

"I'm a recent father, with a 20-month old daughter," he told Deadline. "We lead such busy lives in Hollywood, always running and hustling, but children tend to slow you down a bit and reconnect you with that inner world. It reinvents your imagination, seeing things through a child's eyes It was transformative for me and that is what inspired me about the possibilities here. The tale will revolve around a pre-teen boy who has drifted apart from his father. The son is introduced into this world of Sodor, a place his father visited as a child but can't remember. There is a bonding experience."

[HT: Pop Culture Brain]

You've got two chances this week to see Rififi on the big screen at the Loft Cinema: Sunday, June 12, at 1 p.m. and Tuesday, June 14, at 7 p.m. Both screenings are free, although The Loft does suggest you consider a $5 donation.

Here's the Loft's summary:

RIFIFI, Jules Dassin's 1955 masterpiece of French film noir, is the stunningly gritty and devilishly entertaining crime thriller that served as the classic blueprint for pretty much every heist film that has followed in its sizable wake.

Blacklisted Hollywood exile Dassin - raised in the Bronx - went to France and turned a Spillane-esque potboiler by Auguste le Breton into an existential heist film that earned him the Best Director prize at Cannes and set the standard for screen robberies for decades to come. Jean Servais is poker-faced gangster Tony Le Stéphanois, back from prison after taking a rap for Jo le Suédois (Carl Möhner), and ready to settle a few scores. First up is former mistress Mado (Marie Sabouret), whom he strips and whips in one of the most shocking scenes of any era; then it's on to masterminding a jewelry heist with comrades Möhner, Robert Manuel, and safecracker "César the Milanese" (director Dassin himself using the pseudonym "Perlo Vita") before the gang is undone by crime and circumstance.

A worldwide smash, RIFIFI was one of the first films to transcend the crime genre with its groundbreaking juxtaposition of sudden violence, casual humor, and unsavory sexual situations, as well as its generally amoral outlook - including the depiction of a drug addict and the realistic depiction of criminal methodology - all of which led to its condemnation by the Legion of Decency, its outright banning in several countries, and an enduring place in the pantheon of Film Noir. The famous robbery scene - a tense 30-minute sequence without dialogue or music - went on to become an obvious influence on countless films, including Reservoir Dogs and Mission: Impossible 2, and the word "Rififi" was subsequently stolen for titles of various non-related thrillers. Featuring gorgeous location shooting and silky black and white cinematography that perfectly captures Paris in the '50s, RIFIFI is a one-of-a-kind thriller that has yet to be topped.