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Sometimes a movie screens for one night only, and sometimes it shows for weeks, even months, on end. That’s why when it comes to moviegoing, planning ahead is crucial.
Planners that we are, we’ve selected five must-see flicks screening in the Valley this month. Stock up on your preferred salty, sweet snacks and prep yourself for those icy cold theaters …
5. Beasts of the Southern Wild at Harkins Camelview
Benh Zeitlin’s bayou fantasy drama Beasts of the Southern Wild is the story of a young girl named Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) on a high-tides journey to find her lost mother after her father, Wink (Dwight Henry), falls ill. Reviews have been glowing, which doesn’t always give rise to must-see status. But that the imaginative work took home the Caméra d’Or prize at Cannes and Sundance’s Grand Jury award for drama makes it worthy of a trip to the theater.
Beasts opens on Friday, July 13, at Camelview. Get tickets, $9.50 for adults, through Harkins website or by calling 480-947-8778.
4. Blow-Up at FilmBar
Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up is nothing short of a cinematic, stylish classic. Depicting swinging 1960s London through the lens of photographer David Bailey (David Hemmings), this thriller finds the caddish cameraman investigating what he suspects is a murder — the scene of which he’s accidentally snapped a shot.
ACI Nouveau, the 35 and younger division of the Arizona Costume Institute, presents the screening on Wednesday, July 18, at 7 p.m. at FilmBar. Tickets are $7 and available at the door.
3. Design and Thinking @ Lattie Coor Building
AIGA Arizona presents a screening of Design and Thinking, a new film exploring the concept of and public response to the popularity of design thinking — which is, essentially, a method of creatively solving problems that designers and engineers commonly use — as well as its impact in places like elementary schools.
See the doc in room 170 of the Lattie Coor Building at ASU Tempe on Thursday, July 19, at 6 p.m. Available through AIGA, tickets are $10 for non-members, with discounts available for students and members.
2. Stop Making Sense @ SMoCA Lounge
Jonathan Demme captured three nights of Talking Heads live at Pentage’s Theater in 1983. Those filmed concerts became one of the most critically acclaimed rock ‘n’ roll movies ever made: Stop Making Sense. Featuring a sing-along-worthy soundtrack and David Byrne’s signature dance moves, there’s not much (if anything) to dislike about it.
No Festival Required presents the 25th anniversary edition of the movie at SMoCA Lounge on Thursday, July 19, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $7, and available at SMoCA or by calling 480-874-4666.
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze @ MADCAP Theaters
It’s with great giddiness we report that the next Cult Classics screening involves a quartet of tubular turtles. This is the second annual edition of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pizza party, this time featuring the second live action flick (far more light-hearted than the first) which finds the sewer crew battling the Foot Clan and seeking the story behind the gunk that made them mutants.
Scarf down your slices at MADCAP on, Saturday, July 21, at 8 p.m. Select episodes from the TV series will also be screened. Tickets, available via Brown Paper Tickets are $12 to $30, and you better get ’em fast. They sold out quickly last year.
