Sunday, June 19th at 1:00 p.m.at Loft Theater, 3233 E. Speedway
Admission: $8.00 general; $6.00 Loft members
35mm presentation

PLUS: see the new documentary, “HEY, BOO: HARPER LEE AND TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD”, at The Loft on Wednesday, June 22nd at 7:30 p.m.!

Celebrate Father’s Day with the legendary Gregory Peck starring as Atticus Finch, one of Hollywood’s all-time greatest dads, at this special 35mm screening of the classic 1962 Oscar-winner TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD! Bring dad, mom and the kids (after all, who doesn’t love this movie????), enjoy a refreshing “Tequila Mockingbird” drink special (available at the snack bar), and sign up for our free “Dad Raffle” to win father-friendly prizes that will really make you say HEY BOO!

Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiographical novel was vividly translated to the big screen in 1962 by screenwriter Horton Foote and director Robert Mulligan (Summer of ’42, Up the Down Staircase).

Set a small Alabama town in the 1930s, the story focuses on scrupulously honest, highly respected lawyer Atticus Finch, magnificently played by Gregory Peck. Finch puts his career on the line when he agrees to represent Tom Robinson, a black man accused of assaulting a white woman. The trial and the events surrounding it are seen through the eyes of Finch’s six-year-old daughter, the rough-around-the-edges tomboy Scout.

While Robinson’s sensational trial gives the film its momentum, there are numerous occurrences and adventures rounding out the story: Scout’s ever-strengthening bond with older brother Jem, her friendship with precocious young Dill Harris (a character based on Lee’s childhood pal Truman Capote), her father’s no-nonsense reactions to such life-and-death crises as a rampaging mad dog, and especially Scout’s relationship with Boo Radley (Robert Duvall, in his star-making movie debut), the mysteriously reclusive “village idiot” who turns out to be Scout’s unexpected savior.

An instant classic and a perennial fan favorite (ranked #34 on the American Film Institute’s list of 100 Greatest American Films), TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD won Academy Awards for Best Actor (Peck), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Art Direction, and is guaranteed to create a lump in the throat of anyone who has ever had a father.

I read this book years ago, and have seen this movie a number of times– a true classic, just in time for Father’s Day 2011. Happy day to all fathers!

Back in 1982 American author Bruce Feirstein wrote a humorous book entitled “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche” (A Guide to All That is Truly Masculine). This book elicited a lot of fervor in both the media and the women’s movement, resulting in the subsequent book “Real Women Don’t Pump Gas” (click here for my previous article about Real Women). Both books are in hardcover as well as paperback, and is available at www.amazon.com, or probably at Bookman’s Used Books in town.

book cover

Here are some examples of humor from the book’s chapters: Chapter 4 Real Men’s Quiz #2 (Q: “How many real men does it take to change a light bulb? A: None. Real Men aren’t afraid of the dark”), Chapter 10 Three Things You Won’t Find in a Real Man’s Pocket (“1. Lip balm 2. Breath freshener 3. Opera tickets), Chapter 16 Great Lines from Real Man’s Movies (“I stick my neck out for nobody” –Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” – Robert Duvall in Apocaplypse Now.)

Author Feirstein says in Chapter 4, “Essentially, the world today can be divided into two categories of men: those who eat quiche and those who don’t. The famous line from the book (which caused me to purchase it back then) was “Could John Wayne ever have taken Normandy, Iwo Jima, Korea, the Gulf of Tonkin, and the entire Wild West on a diet of quiche and salad?” (Chapter 2)

It is 28 years later, and a decade into the 21st century. What are “real men” like now? Do any still exist? Are they the guys who drive 4 x4 trucks out into this Southwest desert looking for rattlesnakes, with their rifles concealed safely under their seats?

I bet they still don’t eat the quiche & salad at Bentley’s House of Coffee and Tea on Speedway (which serves delicious quiche by the way.) Or do they?

Let me know ladies and gentlemen, what you think about “real men” nowadays. Is President Barack Obama (a smoker) a real man? Is champion snowmobile racer Todd Palin (married to former Governor Sarah Palin)? Does this label have any relevance today?

And if you’re not sure of the definition of a real man, I recommend you hunt down this humorous book and read it. I actually own my own (blue) copy.

Note: I confess I do eat quiche, but author Feirstein says in Chapter 26 (A Few Words About Real Women) that “Real women are not afraid to eat quiche.”