Community Movie Night continues to explore the issues!

Once a month, Hoodlums gets together with Changing Hands Bookstore and some of our other neighbors and present Community Movie Night.  We show a free movie shown at Changing Hands, and Hoodlums and other vendors will offer special discounts to our customers.

A fair amount of people have been showed up for our recent string of documentaries (Wetback, Religulous, Sicko), so the Changing Hands gang and the Hoodlums’ gang have decided to keep pushing the boundaries with documentaries and discussions about the issues and politics that affect our community.

Does that mean we have to talk about controversial subjects, Steve?  Well, it might.  We don’t mean to bug ya… so if you aren’t in the mood to hear from all sides on one issue or the other, it might not be your cup of tea.  But if you want to continue to see what the the fearless filmmakers have to say about things – and talk with others about the film or the issue – please join us.

This month:

July: Fuel on July 23

In this feature-length documentary, filmmaker and biofuel advocate Josh Tickell explores the origins of America’s dependence on fossil fuels, eventually detailing the cross-country road trip that he took in his biodiesel-converted van, campaigning for the more sustainable, environmentally friendly fuel. Tickell interviews people in his film from all over the spectrum of fuel use, from oil company executives to those devastated by water contamination stemming from oil companies to Midwestern families considering buying Hummers. Hoping to paint as complete a picture as possible of American fuel use, Tickell explores how we fuel our lifestyle in the present and how we can hope to in the future.

Like we said, we’d love to have you join us.  All movies starts at 6:00 and are FREE to attend.

Did we mention the bonus?  Anyone who attends will be given a hand stamp for 10% off all regular prices at Hoodlums after the show.

Your hand stamp will entitle you to the following discounts on movie night only:

- Free topping with ice cream purchase at Baskin Robbins
- Free fountain drink with meal at Wildflower Bread Company
- 15% off total bill at Mac’s Grill and Bar (excluding alcohol)
- 10% off all regular prices at Hoodlums
- 10% off associated book at Changing Hands

So come down, watch a movie, and score big with the Tempe Square merchants.  See ya there!

Upcoming Films:

Friday, August 27th – Children Underground

Plot Synopsis (from allmovie.com) by Mark Deming:

When Romanian dictator Nicolei Ceaucescu outlawed the use of contraceptives and encouraged his subjects to have more children in a bid to increase his nation’s population, his campaign had a terrible and dangerous side effect — thousands of children were born to broken or dysfunctional families in a nation mired in political and economic instability, resulting in a large and rapidly growing population of homeless children in the city of Bucharest, with their numbers estimated at over 20,000. Children Underground is a documentary that explores this ongoing tragedy, offering a view of the larger problem and taking a closer look at the lives of five children living on the streets of Bucharest. Sixteen-year-old Cristina survived physical torture and a stay in a mental institution before escaping to Bucharest’s Victory Plaza, where she’s the hard-bitten leader of a gang of young hoodlums. Fourteen-year-old Macarena is a lost soul who gets through her days by sniffing paint fumes. Twelve-year-old Mihai comes from a home so fearsome he has opted to be homeless rather than stay with his abusive father, who once chained him to a radiator so he would not run away. Ten-year-old Ana is often beaten by older children, and like Macarena, blots out her misery by sniffing paint; she tries to protect her eight-year-old brother, Marian, who already bears the emotional scars of his violent and chaotic childhood. The first feature from documentarian Edet Belzberg, Children Underground received an enthusiastic reception and many positive reviews after its screenings at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.

Friday, September 24th – Collapse

Plot Synopsis (from allmovie.com) by Mark Deming:

Michael Ruppert is an independent journalist who has made a minor career out of telling people news that most folks do not want to know. Ruppert, a former police officer, predicted the Wall Street debacle of 2008 several years before the fact, at a time when most analysts were still imagining infinite growth for the stock market and major investment banks. Since then, his vision of the world’s future has grown only darker. As Ruppert sees it, civilization and the global economy has yet to wean itself off fossil fuels, and when the world’s supply of oil finally runs out, it will lead to a global financial catastrophe that will leave no one unscathed. But while most of what Ruppert has to say bears the ring of truth, there’s a small audience for his dire message — the primary medium for his work is a self-published newsletter, and his most recent book has done so poorly in the marketplace that he faces eviction from his home. Is Ruppert right? And if he is, why doesn’t anyone care? Filmmaker Chris Smith profiles Michael Ruppert and gives him a chance to explain his apocalyptic vision of the future at length in the documentary Collapse, which was an official selection at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival.

Friday, October 29th – Dirt! The Movie

Plot Synopsis (from allmovie.com) by Mark Deming:

The expression “common as dirt” wouldn’t exist if there weren’t an awful lot of dirt in this world. But is there as much as we think — or even as much as we need? And what’s been happening to it? Dirt is the outer layer of the Earth and the place where nearly all the world’s vegetation comes to life, but the 20th Century was a bad time for dirt — the rise of corporate farming practices have led to reliance of fertilizers with negative long-term effects on the soil, while clear-cutting of rainforests and global warming are making it harder to grow the food the world needs, making workable soil an increasingly scarce commodity. Filmmakers Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow offer a witty but incisive look at dirt, what’s in it, how it’s used and how we must protect it in the documentary Dirt! The Movie. Adapted in part from the book Dirt! The Ecstatic Skin of Earth by William Bryant Logan, Dirt! The Movie received its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.