It will be a good week for movie fans, with three very different events offering the chance to catch some worthwhile programming on the big screen. First, the Insomniac Cinema series at the Tropicana Cinemas, which plays vintage and cult movies every Wednesday, is showing the restored 35mm print of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather on March 25. The movie was restored under Coppola’s supervision in a process that took years, and was released on DVD in 2008 after a limited theatrical run. Unlike a lot of old, often worn prints use in revival showings, this should look crisp and clean and perhaps even better than it did nearly 40 years ago.
Calendar
- The Godfather
- March 25, 7:30 p.m., $8.
- Tropicana Cinemas, 438-3456.
- Trouble the Water
- March 26, 7 p.m., free.
- UNLV Student Union Theater
- UNLV Movies
- Dead Alive, White Zombie & Horror Hotel
- March 28, 7 p.m., $5.
- Sci Fi Center, 792-4335.
Then, on March 26, UNLV’s Movies That Matter organization is sponsoring a screening of the Oscar-nominated documentary Trouble the Water, about Hurricane Katrina. The movie didn’t win the Best Documentary Oscar this year, but it did take away the Grand Jury Prize for best documentary at Sundance in 2008, and make a number of critics’ top 10 lists last year. As of right now, there is no DVD release date set and no theatrical opening booked in Vegas, so this is your only chance to see the acclaimed film, which includes on-the-scene footage shot during the storm by New Orleans resident Kimberly Roberts.
Finally, on March 28, the Sci Fi Center will be showing a triple feature of classic horror movies Dead Alive, White Zombie and Horror Hotel. Dead Alive is an early “splatstick” effort from Peter Jackson, who is best known for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but started off in his native New Zealand with a number of low-budget gross-out horror comedies. The 1932 White Zombie, starring Bela Lugosi, is generally regarded as the first film to feature zombies, and was the inspiration for the heavy metal band of the same name. Horror Hotel (also known as City of the Dead), from 1960, stars horror legend Christopher Lee, and has also been a heavy metal touchstone.
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