Burning Bash!—Hard to believe, but Burning Paradise, Albuquerque's one and only cult/foreign/trash cinema video store, is turning one year old this July. The store, a regular sponsor of the Alibi Midnight Movie Madness screenings, has done an incredible job of promoting Hong Kong action, Mexican wrestling, Japanese monsters, Italian zombies and good old American exploitation among Albuquerque's psychotronic sub-sect. In order to celebrate the occasion, owner Kurly Tlapoyawa will be throwing a mind-bending bash at the Launchpad (618 Central SW) on Thursday, July 8. The theme will be Battle Royale. Burning Paradise was the first to alert Albuquerque viewers of this controversial cult film about a group of Japanese school kids who are forced to slaughter each other in an annual, government-sponsored elimination tournament. If you haven't seen the film, you should get down to Burning Paradise and rent a copy! Either way, ladies in full Japanese school girl outfits will get preferential treatment at the Burning Bash. Local bands Dead on Point Five, Destructamathon, Jackson 4 and Ready Samsara will be providing the ear-pounding tunes. Doors open at 9 p.m. Admission is $5. For more information, log on to www.burningparadise.net
Reel World
Television Premiere—Local comedy/acting/filmmaking troupe (and self-proclaimed “biggest silent movie stars of the century”) Kids on Coffee are inviting all of Albuquerque to check out a screening of their recent film Bollocky Simper. After showing the film at international film festivals during the 2003-04 season, KOC has decided to come back home and air the film on Albuquerque's Community-Access Cable Channel 27. The silent, black and white romantic comedy will premiere on Friday, July 9, at 9 p.m. For more information, log on to www.kidsoncoffee.com
Reel World
Summer in the Dark—Santa Fe's Center for Contemporary Arts dims the lights for another Summer in the Dark. CCA's annual film noir festival will take place from Friday, July 9, through Thursday, July 15. Over the course of the week-long festival, film fanatics will be treated to Nicholas Ray's They Live by Night, Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, Joseph H. Lewis' The Big Combo, Anthony Mann's Side Street and many more crime classics. As usual Eddie Muller, author of The Art of Noir and Dark City Dames will be on hand to introduce the opening weekend films. As a bonus, Julie Poole Garfield, daughter of late, great actor John Garfield, will be there to discuss her father's films (including Body and Soul, Force of Evil, The Postman Always Rings Twice and Fallen Sparrow) on July 9, 10 and 11. The CCA is located at 1050 Old Pecos Trail. For more information, log on to www.ccasantafe.org.
