Come On, Let's Go!

A A A Comments By Cory Casciato Thursday, May 6 2010

What better opportunity than Cinco de Mayo to return to the excellent 1987 bio pic La Bamba, about the life and death of one of rock history's most promising and tragic figures, Ritchie Valens? "It's not an official, citywide event, but the Cinco de Mayo celebration is that weekend," explains Keith Garcia, programming manager for the Denver Film Society. "And I just thought, when you're done walking around, sit down at 10 p.m. and reminisce about one of Latino culture's great icons."

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The beloved film, which stars Lou Diamond Phillips, focuses not on the usual rock-god lionization and tales of excess, but on the small, intimate details of Valens's life and family dynamics. As a result, it still stands as one of the best rock biographies ever made, as entertaining and impressive today as it was when it was released more than twenty years ago.

"They didn't make them like that afterward," Garcia says. "Every one I saw after that never really tugged at my heartstrings like La Bamba did."

See it at 10 p.m. tonight and tomorrow at Starz FilmCenter, in the Tivoli building on the Auraria campus. Tickets are $9.75, $7.25 for seniors, $7 for DFS members and $5 for students. For more info, visit www.denverfilm.org or call 303-595-3456.
Fri., May 7, 10 p.m.; Sat., May 8, 10 p.m., 2010

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