Looking for a place to satisfy your craving for popcorn covered in more “”butter”” topping than three heart attacks waiting to happen? Need a new alternative for the weekend instead of a visit to the ol’ frat house? Or maybe, just maybe, you really like movies. Either way, Tucson has more than one spot to hit up when you’re in the mood for cinematic goodness.
Of course, the usual suspects offer up a place to go chow down Junior Mints while watching a movie after aimlessly wandering through clothing stores. Both Park Place Mall, 5870 E. Broadway Blvd., and El Con Mall, 3601 E. Broadway Blvd., have numerous theaters for multiple screenings of the biggest blockbusters just released. With plenty of seats, you and a hundred of your closet friends can enjoy the latest and greatest in air-conditioned darkness.
The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd., offers up a chance to see less conventional cinema. It is often home to documentaries and indie films that never got the chance to make it onto numerous amounts of screens but deserve the same amount of appreciation. Plus, in addition to showing the quirky films, it offers the chance to see cult classics on the big screens again. You know you couldn’t get enough of “”The Rocky Horror Picture Show”” or others like “”Super Troopers”” the first time through, so now you can watch them every Friday and Saturday night.
The Fox Tucson Theatre, reopened a few years ago, also offers up classics – but of a more old-fashioned kind. Located in downtown Tucson at 17 W. Congress St., it shows what some would consider the golden era of film with movies like “”Citizen Kane”” as a part of their Summer Classic Movie Series. Later in the year, look for the Tucson Film Festival and screenings of “”It’s a Wonderful Life.””
For those of you who missed the big movies the first time around or just don’t want to put in the effort of walking all the way down to the closest Blockbuster, 1927 E. Speedway Blvd., the UA offers up its own effort. The Gallagher Theater, in addition to holding lectures, shows films on its big screen right around the time they hit the rental stores. Sometimes they even get new movies before release with the occasional sneak previews.
In addition to the usual movie rental stores across town like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video, Tucson’s unique rental store, Casa Video, 2905 E. Speedway Blvd., is like none other.
Since the early 80s, it has been the sole venue to rent current, classic, foreign and more obscure films. They have great specials, lower prices and the best variety in town.
Although you won’t find any star-studded premieres like you would one state over in California, that doesn’t mean film options in Tucson are limited or lackluster. If anything, proven by the list above, it’s anything but that.
