Pete's weekend movie roundup: Cheap movies at the Vine, green movies at the Rheem, RIP David Carradine

Check out your neighborhood theaters for great deals and green films.

I took my dad to see DRAG ME TO HELL this week and haven't had that much fun at the movies in a long time. Sam Raimi's newest horror-thriller, about a loan officer cursed by a nasty old gypsy, harkens back to his terrific Evil Dead movies, with some Exorcist and Poltergeist thrown in for good measure. If that sounds delicious, check it out, if it makes you want to bump all of Keira Knightly's movies to the top of your Netflix queue, stay away.

I also went to see Spamalot, the Monthy Python musical, at the Golden Gate Theater in San Francisco. It's fun, and silly, and featherweight light, which is kind of refreshing in these tough times. I don't think I laughed as much as everyone else in the theater, who howled with delight at every joke and Holy Grail reference.

Here's some tips for movie fans for the week ahead.

$5 movies at the Vine: This charming little two-screener on Livermore's First Street has to compete with a new nine-plex just down the street and the monstrous Hacienda Crossings megaplex in Dublin. I think they have the right approach with their new strategy of showing more art-house (The Soloist) and foreign-language films (Sin Nombre), as well as second-run family fare (Monsters Vs. Aliens, 17 Again) for just $5 in the evenings and $4 at matinee times.

Green movies at the Rheem: The wonderful Rheem Theatre, an art-deco gem tucked away in the hills of Moraga, is a great place to see movies for $6 on weeknights. The theater is also hosting an eco-themed film once a month, and this Thursday, June 11, they'll be screening the documentary A Passion for Sustainability. Contra Costa Farmers Market reps will be in the lobby giving out free veggies!

Classics at Hacienda Crossings: I'm no fan of the massive Hacienda Crossings multiplex in Dublin, especially when things get crazy on Friday and Saturday nights. But I have to tip my hat to the classic film lineup they have scheduled for Thursday evenings this summer: Full Metal Jacket (June 11), The Fifth Element (June 18), 12 Monkeys (June 25), Jerry Maguire (July 9), Dazed and Confused (July 16), Apollo 13 (July 23).

Another Hole in the Head Horror Film Festival: This indie horror fest rocks every year, and this year its being held at the charming Roxie Theater in the Mission district. I've always loved this most indie of indiehouses, and its good to see the cinema pcking in the crowds over the past weeks with rare film noir double features and now these sci-fi and splatterfests.

RIP David Carradine: Actor David Carradine died in Thailand the other day, and details of his death are bizarre. I'll remember the great work Carradine gave us as an actor, most notably on TV's Kung Fu and in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films. Carradine was also fantastic in the 1976 Best Picture nominee Bound For Glory, in which Carradine played folk singer Woody Guthrie. And he made a small horror comedy called Dead and Breakfast, which was filmed in Livermore in 2004,

Posted at 12:27 PM in Pete's Popcorn Picks | Permalink