Students graduating from The University of Arizona School of Media Arts bachelor of fine arts program will screen their senior thesis films at the annual “I Dream in Widescreen.”

Students in film and video production will present what is being slated as an unusually diverse and ambitious array of films. The students wrote, directed and crewed their own films, which often feature local talent.

The lineup includes a teen genre musical, a meditation on Jewish identity, a fantasy epic about a fiddler turned dragonslayer and a comedic series of commercial spots. A Q&A session with all of the graduating filmmakers follows the presentation.

Local newspaper columnist and KXCI Community Radio program host Ernesto Portillo Jr. will host the screening.

When: Doors open at 6 p.m. with the screenings beginning at 7:30 Friday Where: Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. Price: free Info: 626-1405, www.uanews.org

UA film students to screen works

Being able to afford designer clothes is among the perks Miguel (Algeniz Perez Soto) discovers in his new life in America.

LOS ANGELES – With “Sugar,” writing-directing partners Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have pulled off the kind of miraculous trick Darren Aronofsky did last year with “The Wrestler.”

They’ve taken an overly familiar, potentially cliched sports story, stripped it down and, in doing so, completely reinvented it. Rather than focusing on an athlete past his prime, Boden and Fleck tell the tale of a baseball player on the rise — a subgenre with all its own formulas and expectations.

“Sugar” defies them every time.

No score swells to a crescendo when Dominican pitcher Miguel “Sugar” Santos experiences his first triumph on the mound in the United States. There’s no slo-mo of the ball leaving his hand on a magical summer night and landing with an amplified thud in the catcher’s mitt. Even the obligatory training montage feels different, accompanied by a song from TV on the Radio.

Instead, you get pure, intimate and – above all – honest storytelling, the same approach they took with their outstanding 2006 debut, “Half Nelson.” It’s so fundamental and compelling, it makes you wonder why more filmmakers don’t jettison the gimmickry and pursue such a powerful path. (“Sugar” might seem too slow at times; then again, some complain that baseball itself is too slow. They’re the ones on whom the intricacies of throwing a knuckle curve, Sugar’s toughest pitch, will be lost.)

It’s also surprising that, given the tremendous influence of Latin players – and especially superstars from the Dominican Republic like David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez – we’ve seen very little of this element of the game depicted on screen before. “Sugar” is a baseball story but it’s also about the hardships of immigration and, more universally, about finding your place in the world.

As the title character, Algenis Perez Soto lets us feel all the enthusiasm and nerves that go along with that journey; being a non-actor, his performance always seems natural and realistic.

Sugar is an assured 19-year-old from a poor village. His talent and hard work take him from a local baseball academy to a Single-A team in Iowa. (“Donde esta I-A?” he asks when he sees his name next to the state’s postal code.) It’s not Yankee Stadium, where he dreams of pitching someday – his favorite player is the team’s second baseman, fellow Dominican Robinson Cano – but it’s a start.

There he lives on a farm with Helen and Earl Higgins (Anne Whitney and Richard Bull), elderly baseball junkies who’ve been opening their home to minor leaguers for years. And this is one of the loveliest parts of “Sugar”: the way Boden and Fleck treat the Midwest, and its residents, without any camp or condescension. The people who surround Sugar are warm and decent. They love the sport and they want to see him succeed – even the Higgins’ teenage granddaughter, who invites him to her Christian youth group but gives him mixed signals about her true intentions.

A fish out of water, he struggles to assimilate and learn English, even with the help of a stud shortstop from Stanford (the charismatic Andre Holland) who guides him through American pop culture. Still, Sugar’s seemingly unshakable faith in himself – like his pitching ability – slowly fades.

To tell you what happens to him from here would be a tremendous disservice. We’ll just say that, refreshingly, nothing about it is sickly sweet.

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‘SUGAR’

Rating: R for language, some sexuality and brief drug use. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Length: 114 minutes

Playing at: Opens Friday at the Loft Cinema

Grade: B+

Gael Garcia Bernal (left) and Diego Luna play a pair of competitive brothers who, while opposites, both enjoy soccer. When they are discovered by a talent scout, the two find themselves pitted against each other.

LOS ANGELES – “Rudo y Cursi” is enormously hackneyed in concept yet surprisingly enjoyable in execution, thanks to some amusing, surreal details and the genuine camaraderie of Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal.

You think you know where it’s going, this story about the rise and fall of a couple of aspiring soccer players (who happen to be competitive brothers, another familiar theme). But the naturalism of writer-director Carlos Cuaron’s approach is too compelling, as is, conversely, the liveliness of co-stars Luna and Garcia Bernal, longtime friends reunited for the first time on the big screen since the 2002 hit “Y Tu Mama Tambien.”

Cuaron, who co-wrote that movie, makes his feature debut here; it’s also the first film from brother Alfonso Cuaron and fellow Mexican directors Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Guillermo del Toro through their new company, Cha Cha Cha. So it’s all very comfortable and chummy.

Alfonso Cuaron has said that the relationship between the main characters isn’t necessarily a reflection of his own childhood with his younger brother, but Carlos Cuaron has a clear affection for the way these guys tease, torment and ultimately stick by each other.

Beto (Luna) and Tato (Garcia Bernal) work on a banana plantation and spend their free time playing soccer on the neighborhood team in Jalisco. They barely make enough money to get by, which is even tougher for Beto, who has a wife and two young kids as well as a serious gambling problem. Tato, meanwhile, wants to move to Texas and become a singer. Beto is the serious one, Tato is the dreamer.

Both of their lives change when traveling talent scout Batuta (Guillermo Francella) notices their skills on the field and offers to take them under his wing – trouble is, he can only take one at a time. (We probably could have done without Batuta’s frequent narration, which is heavy on the soccer-as-life metaphors.)

Tato gets to go first and, after adjusting to life in Mexico City with its luxuries like Cup O’Noodles (with freeze-dried shrimp!), he eventually comes off the bench and becomes a star on his team, even earning the nickname “Cursi,” or corny, for his passionate style of play. (He also finagles a recording contract out of Batuta, which includes a fabulously cheesy video for his Spanish cover of Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me.”) Beto eventually joins him and ends up on a different team; as a goalie back home, he’d already gone by the nickname “Rudo,” or tough, which follows him to the big time.

While it may seem obvious which brother is responsible and which is the flake, both Rudo and Cursi are equally flawed, one of the film’s realistic charms. Both indulge in their newfound fame but through differing methods: Rudo with even higher-stakes betting and eventually cocaine, Cursi with expensive tastes and a sexy, scheming TV-star girlfriend (the leggy Jessica Mas).

Even the climactic Rudo vs. Cursi showdown – which is de rigeuer for any sports movie – doesn’t exactly turn out the way you might expect. Then again, “Rudo y Cursi” isn’t really a sports movie; in retrospect, Cuaron doesn’t depict that much soccer. Rather, it’s about relationships, and how they’re imperfect, but how they can also evolve and thrive.

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‘RUDO Y CURSI’

Rating: R for pervasive language, sexual content and brief drug use. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Length: 103 minutes

Playing at: Opens Friday at Century 20 El Con Mall, Harkins Tucson Spectrum 18

Grade: B

Many students in the digital arts department collaborated on "Estaban's Ride" (above) and "Todas Almas" (right), drawing upon their individual areas of interest and specialties. The two feature films will be shown with about 30 student-produced shorts over the weekend.

It’s Friday at the Pima Community College digital arts department. Post production is down to the wire. Technically, films should be finished today.

One student sits in front of a computer, modifying sound for the film “Todas Almas” while director Jesse Powell watches over his shoulder. As the film begins to play on the screen the sound man clarifies there is still work to be done.

“Just keep in mind the audio’s not done on it,” he says.

Powell jokingly shouts at him.

“You got 20 minutes, 15!” Then with an air of resignation, he says, “We’re coming in on Sunday.”

Over the weekend Powell, as well as Grant Hunker, the director of “Estaban’s Ride,” will put the final touches on their films, preparing for Pima’s screening this Saturday and Sunday. The screening is the culmination of a semester’s work for Pima’s digital arts students. About 30 short films will be showcased alongside the features “Estaban’s Ride” and “Todas Almas.”

“Estaban’s Ride” follows the struggle of a son coming to terms with his father, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. In “Todas Almas,” a woman is reunited with her dead husband through an All Soul’s Day tradition of writing letters to the dead. While the films’ plots are very different, they share a common thread.

“They are (companion films) in the sense that they encapsulate different feelings of the Southwest,” Powell says. “We brought the culture that we experience here in Tucson and southern Arizona and put those feelings into the films.”

Both films are collaborative works of the 2008-09 Pima digital arts program. At the beginning of the school year, the scripts for “Estaban’s Ride” and “Todas Almas” were presented to students and they were allowed to apply for positions on the production team.

“They gave us two scripts that were workable, within our means of making a film and set the task for us to take over,” Powell says. “We were basically given a script. Then they said, ‘Go for it!’ ”

Both Hunker and Powell were eager to have the opportunity to direct their respective films.

“Estaban’s (story) I knew right away,” Hunker says. “When I grew up my grandfather had Alzheimer’s. It’s sad to lose that connection with someone you love. You’re not sure what’s going on with that person, and it’s hard to imagine what they’re going through.”

For Powell, it was a love of tradition that connected him to “Todas Almas.”

“I grew up in between Arizona and Mexico so I have ties to that culture,” he says. “I felt that I could communicate the ideas of the (All Souls Day) holiday through this film.”

After filling out applications and essays, Hunker and Powell were chosen as the directors of the films.

Together with the rest of the students, the directors spent the first semester focusing on aspects of pre-production such as casting and shooting. In the fall, their focus shifted to post-production aspects of film such as editing and cutting. Students from the entire department participated according to their area of interest or specialty.

“The whole department is intertwined in this production and that’s what’s really cool,” Powell says. “You’re working with your friends. You know what to expect from people. It turns into a family with this program.”

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IF YOU GO

What: Pima Community College Digital Video and Film Arts Screening

When: 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Where: PCC Center for the Arts Proscenium Theatre, West Campus, 2202 W. Anklam Road

Price: free

Info: www.pima.edu

Mink Stole has been a staple in John Waters' films.

Mink Stole is the Philip Seymour Hoffman of John Waters’ world. The actress has played leads (“Desperate Living”), supporting (“Pink Flamingoes”) and smaller roles (“Serial Mom”), creating compelling characters no matter what their prominence.

Even if she’d appeared only in Waters’ films, Stole would still be a cult film queen. (Maybe wearing the crown she attempted to share with Queen Carlotta in “Desperate Living”?) But in addition to the high trash of Waters, Stole has appeared in dozens of films. In an e-mail interview after shooting her latest, a women’s prison movie called “Stuck,” Stole talks about her many “mother of the gay” roles and her best buddy on the “Female Trouble” set. That film is the reason – well, today, anyway – for thinkin’ Mink: Stole will attend a special screening of the Waters classic Saturday at the Loft Cinema.

What are you doing right now? Where are you?

It’s about 7 p.m. and I just got home from Macon, Ga. I was there working on a new film by Steve Balderson called “Stuck.” It’s a black-and-white women-in-prison movie about a young woman mistakenly accused of killing her mother and sentenced to be hanged. It has all the good stuff you’d expect from a death-row film noir: the innocent one, tough-on-the-outside-cream puff-on the-inside lesbians, vicious prison guards and the religious fanatic – that’s me. We filmed all the cell block scenes on a soundstage, but used the local jail for the prison yard stuff, and a beautiful, real antebellum mansion for a dream scene. Macon is absolutely gorgeous, so pretty that (Gen. William) Sherman decided to spare it on his horrific destructive march through Georgia during the War Between the States, and we, the cast and crew, were treated with true Southern hospitality. Many of us stayed in private homes and by the time we left we all felt like we had become members of the family. I stayed with Kim and Terrell Sandefur and their 10-year-old twins, Nina and Wyatt, and I already miss them.

We’ve read that Taffy Davenport, your woman-child role in “Female Trouble” – is your favorite of the many fabulous characters you’ve played in John Waters’ films. What is it about her that you so love?

I’ve always felt a really strong connection to Taffy, probably because as a kid most of the time I felt misunderstood and unappreciated. I’m the fifth of 10 kids – hardly an only child like Taffy was – and I deeply resented being “the problem child,” so of course I acted out, which made things worse. I’ve always felt that Taffy was just like that, just trying to be good, but nobody wanted to believe her, so she got attention however she could. And from an actor’s POV, it’s always fun to play extreme characters, so Taffy was a blast. We shopped the children’s departments of the local thrift shops for her wardrobe. It was also great to be able to film so much inside – a real change from the bitterly cold exteriors of “Pink Flamingos.”

Who of the rich cast of folks from “Female Trouble” were you most comfortable with, most likely to grab a cup of coffee with?

Probably my best friend on the set was David Lochary. We spent a lot of off-camera time together, but this was the fifth movie I’d worked on with John and most of the same cast members and crew, so we were all good friends by then. Vincent Peranio, our production designer, and Van Smith, our costume/ makeup designer, and Pat Moran, the production chief, were just like family, too. We all socialized together off set.

What has been your favorite non-John Waters film and/or role?

I really enjoyed playing Natasha Lyonne’s mom in “But I’m a Cheerleader” a few years ago, and Robin Greenspan’s mom in “Girl Play” in 2004. Both of those were “mother of the gay” roles, another of which I did in “Eating Out 2″ in 2006. My favorite role is usually the one I’m either working on at the moment or have just completed, so right now I’m totally in love with Esther, the devout death-row inmate in “Stuck,” and Evelyn the librarian in “All About Evil,” the Joshua Grannell film just wrapped in San Francisco. This was the first horror movie I’ve been in where I’ve actually been tortured, and it has an amazing cast, including Natasha Lyonne. I loved working with her again, as well as Thomas Dekker, Cassandra Peterson and Patrick Bristow. It’s really funny and really bloody. I don’t know when “All About Evil” will be released, but we expect “Stuck” to premiere at MAGA, the Macon, Ga., film festival in February 2010.

How does your filmography reflect who you are (your politics, beliefs, etc.)?

Hmmmmm. I’m a yellow-dog Democrat and a tolerant atheist. I believe in human rights (including gay marriage) and animal rights. I’ve never chosen films because of any of these beliefs, but the way I think and live have definitely had an influence on the roles I’m offered.

The only recording we’ve heard of Mink and Her Wonderful Band is “Sometimes I Wish I Had a Gun.” Are there other recordings out there? How active is the band?

When I moved from Los Angeles back to Baltimore in 2007, I had to leave my band behind, which broke my heart. I’ve put together a great group here in Baltimore, and we’ve done one concert so far, but are hoping to do more. What I’d really love is to be the house band in some supper club for a while, but I have been out of town way too much to put that together. “Gun” is the only tune that’s been released but, although I have no specific dates or plans, I will do an album as soon as I can. I’ve been very lucky to work with some wonderful musicians, and I want to record with them all.

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IF YOU GO

What: actress Mink Stole screens “Female Trouble”

When: 7 p.m. Saturday

Where: Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd.

Price: $8 general, $6 Loft members

Info: 795-7777, www.loftcinema.com

Gay- and lesbian-themed movies at the Tucson International Jewish Film Festival were just too fabulous for their own good. The flicks were so creative, piercing and abundant that TIJFF organizers decided to give them a festival all their own. In an e-mail interview, TIJFF co-chairs and life partners Bob Nichol and Bob Polinsky discuss the genesis of the event.

Question: How did the Fabulous Faygeleh LGBT Film Festival come about?

Answer: Traditionally the Tucson International Jewish Film Festival has included at least one LGBT film in the main festival program in January. However, while our film jury was vetting films for the 2009 festival, we found that there were several excellent LGBT films with universal LGBT themes and that were either from Israeli filmmakers or addressed LGBT interests from the Jewish perspective. We wanted to have more time available to show more of these excellent films. Since there was not room in the January festival schedule for more films, we decided to launch a new program dedicated entirely to LGBT films that spoke to universal LGBT themes and that had some Jewish content or connection.

What do you hope to accomplish through the festival?

Entertainment, together with information about universal LGBT themes. We want our audiences to have a great time at the movies, but also to leave the auditorium with increased understanding of the universal themes of tolerance and the struggles of LGBT persons, regardless of the country in which they live their daily lives.

How did the folks from the local International Jewish Film Festival and the JCC react to your idea?

When we introduced the idea of a new festival event to our committee, they were nothing short of enthusiastic about the idea. Consistent with its policy of support for the LGBT community, the management of the Tucson Jewish Community Center did not hesitate to provide the venue for the festival. We were on our way.

How did you select the films? What were you looking for?

Our film jury is constantly searching for new films and previews potential films every week. In the course of vetting dozens of films for the annual festival program, we find many high quality LGBT films that meet our criteria for high production value and universal LGBT themes. We work very hard to find films that provide quality entertainment while encouraging cultural diversity, intellectual growth and dialogue within our audience. We look for films that challenge long-held assumptions and stereotypes.

It seems that more gay- and lesbian-themed movies are coming from Israel. Why do you think that is?

Israel has a very vibrant new film industry, with young, innovative and creative filmmakers. They are finding their voice in world cinema and it is only natural that LGBT themes would find a powerful voice in the universal language of film.

Besides the screenings, what other activities are planned for the festival?

Our Sunday afternoon program is devoted to education and participation by our community partners, Southern Arizona Aids Foundation (SAAF), TIHAN (Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network), Wingspan (Tucson’s LGBT Community Center) and the Jewish LGBT Inclusion Project (Jewish Community Relations Council). The first film on Sunday, “Mom, I Didn’t Kill Your Daughter,” is a powerful and touching film that follows the personal odyssey of a F2M transgender person in Israel. The film will be followed with a panel discussion on transgender concerns and an audience Q&A. The second film, “Darling: The Story of Pieter Dirk Uys,” tells the story of the controversial South African activist, Pieter Dirk Uys, and documents his efforts to bring accurate AIDS prevention education to South Africa’s schoolchildren. That film will be followed with a panel discussion on AIDS education and prevention with participation by SAAF and TIHAN. AIDS infections are once again on the rise in Arizona and we believe that this film has an important message for everyone. A single ticket purchase on Sunday afternoon will be good for both of the afternoon shows.

How did you come with the name for the festival?

It practically created itself. The word “faygeleh” is old Yiddish and means “little bird.” Over the years the word has been used as a euphemism when referring to a homosexual person. Now, the word is losing its negative connotation and when used in the name of the festival, the alliteration of the words was too much fun to pass up.

How hopeful are you that the festival will become an annual event here?

We are already vetting films for the 2nd annual Fabulous Faygeleh Film Festival in May of 2010. The Tucson International Film Festival volunteer team and the management at the Tucson Jewish Community Center are very pleased and gratified by the enthusiastic reaction to the new festival from the greater Tucson and Pima County community. We are confident that the Fabulous Faygeleh Film Festival is destined to be a permanent part of the Tucson arts scene. Also, we hope that people will keep in mind that you don’t have to be Jewish to come to the festival and enjoy the films. These movies are for everyone.

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IF YOU GO

What: Fabulous Faygeleh LGBT Film Festival

When: Various times Thursday-Sunday

Where: Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E. River Road

Price: $6

Info: 299-3000, www.tucsonjewishfilmfestival.org

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MOVIE SCHEDULE

• 7 p.m. Thursday: “Jerusalem is Proud to Present,” a compelling documentary from director Nitzan Gilady reveals the events of the summer 2006, when Jerusalem was host to the World Pride events. The events spurred turmoil in the politically charged city, where Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders banded together in opposition to the gay festivities.

• 7 p.m. Saturday: “Antarctica” – Is love dead, or are we all just looking in the wrong places? That’s the question posed in writer/director Yair Hochner’s film, the first Israeli queer romantic comedy. In this sexy romp, Omer is about to turn 30. He works in a library, where he is happy to spend his time reading books and avoiding life.

• 1 p.m. Sunday: “Mom, I Didn’t Kill Your Daughter,” from director Orna Ben Dor. An Israeli F2M transgender couple struggle to find their identity in a world that doesn’t understand them.

• 3 p.m. Sunday: “Darling: The Pieter Dirk Uys Story” – When he was 15, Julian Shaw witnessed a one-man show by the controversial and brilliant South African political satirist Pieter Dirk Uys. A half-Jewish, half-Afrikaaner, anti-apartheid activist and entertainer, Uys was renowned for his drag alter ego, and passionate critique of South Africa’s failure to educate children about the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Both of the afternoon movies are included with the purchase of one ticket.

• 7 p.m. Sunday: “The Secrets,” a dramatic religious mystery from director Avi Nesher where women search for their own voice in an ultraorthodox, patriarchal world. The film is set in Safed, the site where the mystical texts of the Kabala were first received, and focuses on a vibrant community of scholars.

Question-and-answer sessions about issues of AIDS education and prevention, and the struggle for gender identity follow each screening May 17. The Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation (SAAF), Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network (TIHAN) and Wingspan are community partners for this Sunday afternoon program.

"Angels & Demons" has traded in the dense, dreary tone of "The Da Vinci Code" for more action, complete with dialogue such as, "Can you deactivate the device?" Tom Hanks (left) returns in the sequel and is joined by Ayelet Zurer (center) and Ewan McGregor (right).

LOS ANGELES – Blessedly, “Angels & Demons” is more entertaining and less self-serious than its predecessor, the dense and dreary yet enormously successful “The Da Vinci Code.”

In adapting another of author Dan Brown’s religious-mystery page turners, director Ron Howard wisely gave in to its beat-the-clock thriller elements, which makes for a more enjoyable summer movie experience. The brouhaha has long since abated among Catholics, albinos, “Da Vinci Code” purists, what have you, and all that’s left is air-conditioned escapism.

But its twists, turns and revelations are just as ridiculous as those in the first film – perhaps even more so – and it breezes through arcane details with just as much dizzying speed.

Besides Howard, the key players are back from that 2006 international hit, including Tom Hanks as Harvard professor and symbologist Robert Langdon and Akiva Goldsman as screenwriter (with David Koepp collaborating on the script). Joining them are Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgaard and Armin Mueller-Stahl among the estimable supporting cast, all of whom have enjoyed the benefits of stronger material but manage to supply gravitas nonetheless.

Although “Angels & Demons” preceded “The Da Vinci Code” in book form, the film is positioned as a sequel to take advantage of the strained relationship between Langdon and the Vatican – only this time, it’s his expertise the folks there reluctantly need.

With the pope dead and the College of Cardinals about to meet in conclave to choose a replacement, a secret society known as the Illuminati has kidnapped the four likeliest candidates. Howard and cinematographer Salvatore Totino, who also shot “The Da Vinci Code,” cloak all these proceedings in dark, ominous shadows, and Hans Zimmer’s score rather obviously adds to the feeling of foreboding.

Langdon is brought in to decipher clues at various churches and historical sites throughout Rome to prevent the killing of the cardinals, one every hour, leading to a bomb explosion at the Vatican. He gets help along the way from Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer), an Italian scientist who worked at the lab where the combustible vial of anti-matter was stolen for the planned attack. Her arrival also allows for such standard action-picture dialogue as, “Can you deactivate the device?”

Never mind that Vittoria is sexy and mysterious, not middle-aged and frumpy. (And we gotta say, Hanks is looking pretty good here, too. The first time we see him, he’s tanned and trim, swimming laps in a Speedo in the Harvard pool.) Never mind that the time frame is impossible – that they must dash across the city at night, with its narrow streets and tourist traps packed with visitors, in time to stop each killing. And never mind that one person appears to be responsible for orchestrating these elaborate and very public deaths.

But wait, we haven’t even gotten to the most laughable part of the story yet! We won’t give it away entirely for those who haven’t read the book. We’ll just say it involves an exploding helicopter and a crucial character parachuting out of it just in time. Because it is summer, after all, despite the aura of religious solemnity.

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‘ANGELS & DEMONS’

Rating: PG-13 for sequences of violence, disturbing images and thematic material

Length: 138 minutes

Playing at: Opens Friday at Century 20 Park Place, Century 20 El Con Mall, Century Park 16, Foothills, DeAnza Drive-in, Tower Theatres at Arizona Pavilions, Harkins Tucson Spectrum 18, Century Theatres at the Oro Valley Marketplace

Grade: C

Credit Erika O’Dowd with inexpensive fun for the family – dogs, too

Cinema La Placita draws veterans and newcomers week after week.

You would think Erika O’Dowd dreams in black and white.

O’Dowd is the driving force behind Cinema La Placita, where black-and-white movies dominate each Thursday evening from early May through October.

Oh, O’Dowd loves movies, had parents who woke her up in the middle of the night because a movie with “the most beautiful woman in the world” (Audrey Hepburn, “Sabrina”) or a Ray Milland murder mystery was on TV.

But, curiously, showing movies is not the primary motivation for her weekly outdoor movie screenings on the plaza at La Placita Village, 110 S. Church Ave. Generally, she doesn’t even see much of the movies because she’s busy doling out popcorn or doing whatever needs to be done.

“My focus is more just finding a reason to get people together,” O’Dowd said. “I enjoy movies but I’m not the most well-versed person. My real interest was to create an event, a reason not to go home after work.”

This month launched the 10th season for O’Dowd’s nostalgic and quirky creation, which has created a firm subculture that averages 200 spectators and has drawn as many as 350, she says.

These Thursday night movies – “Cool Hand Luke” with Paul Newman at 7:30 p.m. May 14 – draw Cinema La Placita veterans and newcomers week after week.

“On any given night, 10 percent of the people are here for the first time,” O’Dowd said. “I can tell because they ask where’s the bathroom and how much is the popcorn. Ten percent say they’ve been coming since the beginning.”

Barbara McCale has been to a few Cinema La Placita screenings the past two seasons and last week brought Bill Palser for his first movie under the stars.

“I think it’s great that you can sit outside,” Palser says. “We went and got something to eat and then she said, ‘Let’s go see a movie.’ ”

Cinema La Placita offers plastic chairs, table seating and the lawn around the gazebo. McCale and Palser chose the chairs, but otherwise she’s been on the lawn.

“When I don’t bring him, I bring my dogs,” McCale says.

Palser delivered newspapers in the 1940s and remembers Speedway Boulevard and Swan Road as dirt roads. Black-and-white movies are fine by him.

“At least there is no computerized crap” Palser says.

Couples that started coming to the movies here as twosomes now bring elementary school children. Singles have met here and married – O’Dowd among them.

O’Dowd met Josh Pope at Cinema La Placita in the second season; they later married. Their daughter, Tulla, who is 2 1/2 years old, has been part of the La Placita scene since the cradle

O’Dowd describes Ken and Christi Friskey as the poster family for Cinema La Placita. They’ve been coming for nine seasons – before kids Dean, 8; Justin, 6; and Sagan, 5, were born.

“Even when we had newborn infants, we’d come with a stroller,” Ken Friskey says. “They’ve been coming here since they were days old.”

Christi Friskey says that sometimes her parents and grandparents join the family at La Placita Village to make a four-generation movie outing.

“Once you have kids, it’s hard to go to movie theaters,” Ken Friskey says. “This is a perfect venue for us.”

O’Dowd reveals the schedule only one month at a time because flexibility is both a necessity and a benefit. She needs to make sure chosen movies, mostly inexpensive rentals (hence the many B&W movies), are available. Rainouts can be rescheduled more easily and the open calendar allows her to schedule movies to coincide with current events.

“I did ‘Manchurian Candidate’ (Sinatra version) the same day Bush addressed the (Republican) convention in 2004,” she says. “We were able to show ’3:10 to Yuma’ (Glenn Ford version) the day before the remake came out.”

For a woman who largely shows black-and-white movies, O’Dowd’s favorites list is slightly more contemporary and mostly color: “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Notorious,” “Manhattan,” “Crimes and Misdemeanors” and “The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance.”

If you see “Rosemary’s Baby” in the lineup, know that you’re getting an O’Dowd personal favorite.

“I have a huge crush on Cary Grant,” she says. “I have a big crush on Audrey Hepburn. I get a lot of input from the audience. If it’s available and not too expensive, I try to fit that in.”

Scheduling only one month ahead also allows people willing to donate $500 to sponsor a movie screening of their choice.

“If somebody calls me and says, ‘Our anniversary is June 28,’ great,” says O’Dowd, adding that for $500 that couple can choose the movie to celebrate with.

O’Dowd tries to fit a theme or two in each year. This season she plans to show a Paul Newman movie each month and perhaps a movie from 1929, 1939, 1949, 1959, 1969, 1979 “but not 1989.” “China Syndrome” and “Kramer vs. Kramer” are the 1979 candidates.

Cinema La Placita started in 2000 while O’Dowd was marketing director at La Placita and her boss, La Placita director Jane McCollum (now the force behind Main Gate Square) told O’Dowd to come up with a weekly event.

The first two seasons were funded with a $24,000 city Downtown Projects grant. Since then, funding has been a challenge, but O’Dowd never gave up: “I guess I’m a little stubborn.”

Admission is free, but the suggested $3 donation to see a movie bridges the gap between the roughly $10,000 this season will cost and the $4,000 in sponsorships from Bourn Partners (owners of La Placita Village), Betts Printing, Twice as Nice and individual movie sponsors.

“I need everybody to give me $3,” she says. “If everybody gave me $3, we’d be set. The event costs about $650 a night.”

The sponsorships in the past were as high as $6,500. O’Dowd reined in the budget from $12,000 and pared down the paid staff to the projectionist. Paid staff in the past set up and put away chairs, but this year O’Dowd is calling on movie attendees to show up early and stick around to help with chairs and cleanup.

Larger donations count as going to a nonprofit because Cinema La Placita is a program of the Cultural Exchange Council.

From 2004 to 2008, the movies were a program of the Loft Cinema.

Seating - and pre-movie picnic space - is available on the lawn.

Barbara McCale usually brings her dogs, but was accompanied by first-timer Bill Palser last week on opening night.

Christi and Ken Friskey have regularly attended screenings for nine seasons, and often make it a family affair, bringing four generations together.

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CINEMA LA PLACITA

La Placita Village, 110 S. Church Ave.

Showtime: 7:30 p.m. every Thursday

May 14: “Cool Hand Luke”with Paul Newman

May 21: “Topper” with Cary Grant

May 28: “We’re No Angels” with Humphrey Bogart

May 30: a special 8 p.m. Saturday screening of “The Wizard of Oz” in conjunction with the Meet Me Downtown run.

"Slumdog Millionaire" child star Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, center, stands amid the remains of his demolished home in Mumbai, India, Thursday. City workers bulldozed the home of Azharuddin Thursday as part of the demolition of dozens of shanties in a Mumbai slum.

MUMBAI — City workers bulldozed the home of a “Slumdog Millionaire” child star Thursday as part of the demolition of dozens of shanties in a Mumbai slum.

Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail was asleep when a police officer woke him up and told him to leave his family’s home, he said. Shortly after that, the shack and about 30 more were destroyed.

“A police officer took a bamboo stick to hit me, and I was frightened,” said 10-year-old Azhar.

Authorities say his family will be given a new home elsewhere.

Eight Oscars and $326 million in box office receipts have so far done little to improve the lives of the film’s two impoverished child stars, Azhar and Rubina Ali — who were plucked from the slum to star in the blockbuster.

They have been showered with gifts and brief bursts of fame, but their day-to-day lives are little changed.

Thursday morning, city workers flanked by policemen arrived as part of a slum demolition drive — common in India’s chaotic cities, where officials struggle to keep crowding under control.

“They didn’t give prior notice. We didn’t even get a chance to take out our belongings,” said Shameem Ismail, Azhar’s mother, who has lived in the shanty town for more than 15 years. She has no legal right to the land.

“I don’t know what I am going to do,” she said, sitting on a bed she had dragged from the wreckage. Next to her was a plastic bag stuffed with belongings.

U.D. Mistry, an official with the city’s Bombay Municipal Corporation, said the razing was part of a “pre-monsoon demolition drive.

He said only illegally built shanties — not homes that were legally owned — were bulldozed.

“They were removed. That is the principle,” he said, adding he was not aware that the child star lived in that slum.

Mistry said residents who have lived in the shanty town for more than 15 years — including Azhar’s family — would be resettled elsewhere in government-built housing. He gave no other details, and such official promises of resettlement often amount to nothing. When slum-dwellers are given housing, it is often in poor-quality buildings on the outskirts of cities and far from jobs.

“Slumdog” filmmakers say they’ve done their best to help the young stars. They set up a trust, called Jai Ho, after the hit song from the film, to ensure the children get proper homes, a good education and a nest egg when they finish high school. They also donated $747,500 to a charity to help slum kids in Mumbai.

Producer Christian Colson has described the trust as substantial, but won’t tell anyone how much it contains — not even the parents — for fear of making the children vulnerable to exploitation.

Political pundits are always fond of saying, “We get the government we deserve.”

Now the pop culture pundits can chime in with “We get the movies we deserve.”

If thousands of teens buy tickets to see thrill-ride action pics, and only a few thoughtful adults stop by the multiplex to enjoy an intellectually stimulating film, guess which genre gets all the attention from high-rolling studio execs with personal income equal to the national budgets of a smaller Third World country.

Hollywood has now reached the point where studios can turn out 100 special effects extravaganzas for every drama of substance aimed directly at getting an Academy Award nomination.

So write this date down in your movie diary and remember it: April 17, 2009.

That is the day Russell Crowe’s $60 million “State of Play,” a serious film of ethical consequences, opened against “17 Again,” a sophomoric comedy with an infinitely smaller budget, starring youthful Flavor-of-the-Month Zac Efron. Of course Efron’s box office returns stomped all over Crowe’s turnstile earnings.

It’s just like how guys will buy a hefty pickup truck instead of some wimpy little car that’s good for the ecology.

Duhhhh.

So what happens to the true cineast? Where is the art part? Surely our educated citizenry with all that disposable income can’t spend all its time hunched over a laptop on Wi-Fi. Wouldn’t these intellectually curious folks take a little time out to read a book or wonder what’s playing this weekend at the Loft Cinema?

For years, we’ve been saying all the interesting films are smaller budget, independent films. In recent years, a number of famous and bankable actors have gone a little dilettante on us – such as Heath Ledger doing “Brokeback Mountain” – putting out pictures that nobody sees on the big screen but that become little treasures as video rentals.

Sure we all know about that, but here’s the big twist. After the major studios bought up all the little, so-called boutique studios to make the arty movies, audiences still didn’t show up in very large numbers. The extremely excellent “Frost/Nixon,” with one of the most unappreciated performances of all time by Frank Langella as Nixon, couldn’t even reach $19 million in ticket sales.

It is especially cruel that what we remember most about “Frost/Nixon” is its weak performance at sucking money out of people’s pockets. Instead, people should remember that Langella’s profound portrait of Nixon as a world leader in decline is worthy of Shakespearian tragedy.

Believe it or not, with the free-market forces having no hesitation stuffing art up the fireplace, those of us who love moving pictures as an art form are turning to television!

Once you’ve seen each week’s movies at the Loft, there is plenty of week left but no where else to turn. Believe it or not, in the byzantine bazaar of cable TV there are nooks and crannies that resemble the unappreciated FM radio stations of the 1960s.

Remember how the boomer version of rock ‘n’ roll was midwifed by FM radio? Once the kids who were janitors sweeping out the FM radio stations at night could pick the records those stations played in the daytime, rock ‘n’ roll filled the air.

Of those fabled 500 channels of TV, only 400 (more or less) are dedicated to reality reruns. The other cable channels are opening up when low budget but idealistic filmmakers come knocking.

What this means, fellow cineasts, is that we can’t snub television any longer. Too many of the indie flicks are cramming themselves onto those little screens. True, it will be like watching art displayed through a knothole, but we’ll just have to squint a little more and like it.

Head to Swan Park on Saturday evening to celebrate its new playground and to watch “Madagascar 2″ on a three-story-high inflatable screen.

Cox Communications is hosting the free movie from 6-8 p.m. at the park, 1700 S. Swan Road. The 5.53-acre park also has barbecue grills and picnic sites.

ST. LOUIS – Mickey Carroll, the diminutive actor whose appearance in an iconic film classic granted him lifelong fame, died at his home Thursday morning. He was 89.

Carroll, whose real name is Michael Finocchiaro, grew up in St. Louis and made it to Hollywood to perform in the “Wizard of Oz” role that defined his life. He spent a lot of time on charitable work, and would talk to anyone, at any time, about his part as a Munchkin in the movie.

Of the 125 Munchkins who starred in the “Wizard of Oz,” only seven are still alive. Most recently, actor Clarence Swensen, who played one of the Munchkin soldiers, passed away in late February at the age of 91.

There’s an odd twist to Carroll’s story. About the same time he died, a lawyer was filing suit on his behalf, asking for an accounting of his finances, and raising concerns that his caretaker Linda Dodge had improperly taken control of his finances and his personal affairs.

Dodge said Carroll moved in with Dodge and her husband in December as his health deteriorated. Carroll’s nephew, Frank Parenti, also moved in.

Dodge has become caretaker not only of Carroll’s health, but his memory too, pushing for him to be included in various Walks of Fame, and having him promoted at various events celebrating the “Wizard of Oz” movie. She said he played three roles in the film: as a soldier, a fiddler and town crier.

But attorney Patrick McCarthy said Carroll’s family believes he was also being manipulated and had signed paperwork giving Dodge control of his life.

McCarthy said the state department in charge of adult affairs is investigating the case and a probate judge has called for a hearing next week to hear the allegations.

Among them are that Carroll signed a power of attorney when he was in fact mentally incapable of doing so.

In addition, McCarthy said there needs to be an accounting of Carroll’s finances and he wonders why Dodge kept Carroll from talking to his family members. Dodge denies wrongdoing and said the suit is just a family spat over money, as much as $1 million.

A Catholic Mass for Carroll on Wednesday at the St. Louis Cathedral will be preceded by a court hearing on the matter.

Anton Yelchin (from left), Chris Pine, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, John Cho and Zoë Saldana revive characters from the popular TV series in "Star Trek," the movie.

LOS ANGELES – J.J. Abrams’ hugely anticipated summer extravaganza “Star Trek” boldly goes to the past within the distant future of the “Trek” universe, years ahead of the TV series and the myriad movies and spin-offs it spawned.

And in doing so, he and his longtime collaborators, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, change everything you know – or obsess about, if you’re into this kind of thing – about the kitschy pop-culture phenomenon.

It’s a daring and exciting approach that’s sure to tickle and provoke purists, while at the same time probably cause neophytes to feel a bit lost.

A major plot twist pops up – which includes the arrival of Leonard Nimoy – about halfway through the film, a twist that doesn’t exactly work and from which the film never completely recovers.

Having said that, Abrams clearly aimed to appeal to the broadest possible audience with this dazzling visual spectacle while also leaving plenty of Easter eggs for the hardcore fans to find. If there’s any social or political subtext, as in the original series, it’s difficult to determine; this “Star Trek” seems solely made to entertain. It’s an absolutely gorgeous film with impeccable production design – the lighting is wondrous, almost heavenly – and lovely, tiny details frequently emerge from within the larger, grander images.

Abrams certainly puts on a good show – between television’s “Lost” and the 2006 “Mission: Impossible” sequel he directed, there’s no question the man knows how to stage an action sequence, and the opening gets things off to a thrilling start. He efficiently and satisfyingly presents the back stories of the men who will become Capt. James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and the half-Vulcan, half-human Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto) and puts them on a collision course with each other, which ups the excitement level early.

Kirk and Spock, you see, weren’t always pals – at least not in this revisionist history. This “Star Trek” pits them as opposites and adversaries until they must reluctantly learn to function side by side for the greater good. Kirk was a brilliant young hotshot causing trouble in rural Iowa, talented beyond his years but self-destructive nonetheless; Spock was a brilliant young math whiz whose mixed ethnic heritage made him the target of Vulcan bullies who were just as geeky as he was. Pine gets the womanizing and the ego of Kirk, but in a younger state there’s also a likable boyish enthusiasm about him; Quinto, meanwhile, plays Spock as a little more tentative and less Zen-like. But maybe that sense of inner peace comes in time.

All that informs their interaction once they join the Starfleet Academy and ultimately climb aboard the shiny U.S.S. Enterprise – which looks familiar but has been significantly updated from 40 years ago. Among them are the usual cast of supporting characters: Communications Officer Uhura (the graceful Zoe Saldana, who gets more to do than Nichelle Nicholls ever did on TV); over-the-top Medical Officer Leonard “Bones” McCoy (Karl Urban, who gets to growl familiar lines like: “Dammit, man! I’m a doctor, not a physicist!”); Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (Simon Pegg in a lively bit of casting); reliable Helmsman Sulu (John Cho, showing he can do much more than comedy) and 17-year-old supergenius Chekov (Anton Yelchin, doing an intentionally cartoony Russian accent as an homage, even though he really is Russian).

Their shared enemy is the angry Romulan leader Nero (Eric Bana, borrowing Mike Tyson’s elaborate facial tattoos), whose sharp, spiky ship resembles a malevolent version of Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia. The source of his vendetta against Spock, and the entire Federation, is revealed as the film progresses, and it’s a crucial part of that distractingly perplexing twist we mentioned earlier.

Either you’ll go with it or you won’t. Regardless, based on Abrams’ ambition and scope in rejuvenating the franchise, it’s clear it still has plenty of room to live long and prosper.

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‘STAR TREK’

Rating: PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence and brief sexual content

Length: 127 minutes

Playing at: Opens Friday at Century 20 Park Place, Century 20 El Con Mall, Century Park 16, Foothills, DeAnza Drive-in, Tower Theatres at Arizona Pavilions, Harkins Tucson Spectrum 18, Century Theatres at the Oro Valley Marketplace

Grade: B-

Donald Faison (right) finds trouble when he accidentally delivers a package of cocaine to the wrong apartment.

The filmmakers behind “Next Day Air” probably have posters of Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino lining their bedroom walls. The movie is like a fanboy love letter, but you end up wishing director Benny Boom simply sent his heroes bouquets instead.

The overpopulated action comedy is centered on a package of cocaine that is dropped off at the wrong apartment. Leo (a frantic Donald Faison) is the pothead delivery man responsible for the mistake; the rubber-faced actor is much easier to take in his role on TV’s “Scrubs.”

Cisco Reyes and Yasmin Deliz play the couple who is waiting for the coke in their seedy apartment building. Mike Epps and Wood Harris are two low-level crooks who live down the hall and receive the package instead. That sets off a chain of events that leads to a predictably violent conclusion.

Newcomer Boom directs the script by Blair Cobbs, another first-timer. Neither shows a lot of imagination and the stereotypes run deep throughout.

On the plus side, the film does have a certain frenetic energy, and Epps can wring a laugh out of the driest material. But really, you should just rent a double bill of “Reservoir Dogs” and “RocknRolla.”

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‘NEXT DAY AIR’

Rating: R for pervasive language, drug content, some violence and brief sexuality

Length: 90 minutes

Playing at: Opens Friday at Century 20 Park Place, Century 20 El Con Mall, Harkins Tucson Spectrum 18

Grade: D+

Author Bryan Burrough (above), whose book was the basis for the movie starring Johnny Depp, has a walk-on role in the film.

MILWAUKEE – When federal agents gun down John Dillinger in front of a theater, the man who runs up to the body is a reporter, his figure barely visible from the helicopter carrying the crew filming “Public Enemies.”

The reporter is actually Bryan Burrough, an author who has played out this scene before: His book was the basis for this summer’s film starring Johnny Depp as the notorious gangster. On the same slab of Chicago where Dillinger was shot 75 years ago, Burrough, offered the part as an extra, races to Depp’s side in the climactic scene.

“Johnny Depp goes down on the same exact piece of pavement that John Dillinger went down on,” Burrough says in a phone interview from his home in Summit, N.J. “To see what (director Michael) Mann had done with the period costumes, the period automobiles, everything looking as everything must have looked. For someone who put five years into writing about that, it just kind of gave you chills.”

Writers Ronan Bennett and Ann Biderman and Mann used Burrough’s book “Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34″ to help craft the screenplay for “Public Enemies,” out July 1. Burrough has said the screenplay is not 100 percent historically accurate, but “it’s by far the closest thing to fact Hollywood has attempted.”

As an extra, Burrough was put in makeup and costume and spent 12 hours on an overnight shoot in Chicago. He isn’t sure anyone will make him out since Mann filmed that scene from a helicopter. But, “I will be able to tell my kids: ‘See that little ant down there running toward Dillinger’s body? That is your father.’ ”

Not that he can yet be sure: Burrough said he hasn’t been able to make any of the early screenings.

“I don’t know what to expect. I assume, you know, it’s a big Johnny Depp movie opening on July 4 (weekend),” he says. “I assume an awful lot of people will go see it. I assume given the people that have made this movie, I assume it’s going to be pretty darn good. And I assume that I am going . . .to be tickled to death.”

Gannett News Service