“Total Recall,” “Rent” and the Found Footage Festival are among this week’s events
It’s a busy week for movies.
With “Choke,” “Eagle Eye” and “Miracle at St. Anna” all hitting theaters on Friday and a slew of movie events planned locally, I’ll probably find myself scurrying from screening to screening like a demented mongoose. I say, “Why scurry alone?”
Here’s the rundown for upcoming Central Coast movie screenings:
San Luis Obispo’s Palm Theatre starts the party tonight with “Total Recall.”
The year is 2084, and construction worker Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) keeps having vivid dreams about Mars.
He approaches Rekall, a company that sends its customers on mental vacations by implanting fake memories, and buys an “ego trip” package: a harmless fantasy about life as a spy. It works.
In fact, it works a little too well.
When the Rekall doctors dredge up actual memories, Quaid discovers that his job and his marriage to sexy Sharon Stone is a hoax. He’s actually a Martian secret agent dedicated to taking down Martian dictator Cohaagen. And he’s in big, big trouble.
“Total Recall” couldn’t be farther from its inspiration, Philip K. Dick’s “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale,” but it’s campy, violent fun nonetheless.
“Total Recall” screens at 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. tonight at The Palm Theatre, 817 Palm St. Tickets are $7.50.
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Tonight and Friday, HopeDance Magazine sponsors two screenings of “The World According to Monsanto.”
A French documentary by independent filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin, “Monsanto” takes a penetrating look at the American biotech giant that provides much of the world’s genetically engineered corn, soybean and cotton seeds. The film is subtitled “From Agent Orange to Genetically Modified Crops.”
“The World According to Monsanto” will be shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday, following an hour-long potluck, at Dancing Deer Farm, 2975 Vineyard Rd. in Templeton. You can also attend an outdoor nighttime screening Friday at Nature’s Touch, 107 Seventh St. in Templeton.
A $5 donation is encouraged. Call 369-0203 for more information.
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Long-running rock opera “Rent” may have closed on Broadway, but it’s back in theaters in two local screenings.
Jonathan Larson’s musical, based on Puccini’s iconic “La Boheme,” follow a group of starving artists looking for love and acceptance in New York City’s East Village. It won a Pulitzer prize and four Tony Awards in 1996, inspired a 2005 movie, and spent 12 years on the Great White Way, becoming one of Broadway’s longest running shows.
“Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway” will be shown today and Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Fremont theatre, 1025 Monterey St. in San Luis Obispo.
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Quirky videos are the focus of the Found Footage Festival, Thursday night in San Luis Obispo.
Self-appointed curators Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett scour garage sales, thrift stores and Dumpsters across the nation for odd and hilarious videos.
They create an hour-plus program based on their finds — bizarre home movies, befuddling commercials, cable TV outtakes and more — and take the result on the road as the Found Footage Festival. This screening will be their only appearance in San Luis Obispo.
Some of this year’s highlights include a talent show called “Stairway to Stardom,” an instructional video for a terrifying cosmetic face mask, and exercise videos starring Mark Wahlberg, O.J. Simpson and rapping pregnant women.
Catch the festival at 7 p.m. tonight at The Palm Theatre. Tickets are $10.
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On Friday, film noir meets pinor noir with Salisbury Vineyards in the Avila Valley.
Enjoy dinner, dessert and a private wine tasting as you watch a movie on the winery’s outdoor patio. This week’s selection is “His Kind of Woman,” starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell.
Admission is $50 for wine club members and $60 for non-members. That price includes a $10 voucher for beverages and a complimentary wine glass.
It all starts at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Salisbury Vineyards, 6985 Ontario Road in San Luis Obispo. Part of the proceeds benefit the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival.
The series continues next month with two film noir classics: “Double Indemnity” (Oct. 3) and “The Postman Always Rings Twice” (Oct. 10).
For reservations, call (805) 595-9463.
She Likes to Watch 
Gonna try and make that found footage fest. Thanks for posting about it.
Great blog. I love movies/films that I can get lost in 🙂
Just re-watched Recall again last weekend. Wish it was playing in a theater – that would be a great one to see on the big screen. Predator, too. Some things you can’t see too many times…