It's no secret that we love movies. We devoted the entire month of August to it! We especially love our community partner and kindred spirit The Loft Cinema. The Loft Cinema has been dedicated to bringing Tucson indie and foreign films, cult classics and of course their famous Rocky Horror Picture Show Midnight Sign-A-Longs since 2002 when it was turned into a membership-supported, nonprofit arts organization. This out-of-the-ordinary film house not only offers you films off the beaten path but also unorthodox concessions such as vegan cookies, pizza from the local Fresco Pizzeria, fine chocolates, beer and wine.

For over five years NERDVANA has been providing the East Valley Tribune with all things nerdy. What do we do to celebrate? Partner up with 2nd Friday in Downtown Mesa and throw a party! Whether you want to check out local technology projects, enjoy a great cult film, have fun competing in strategy games or meet and greet local comic-book artistic talent, 2ND Friday's NERDVANACON-themed event has something for you.

Sing a song, bang a gong, blow a horn! This Saturday at Bookmans Speedway we host our second Local Music Teacher Festival. These teachers' expertise will range from drums, piano, keyboard, woodwinds, brass, ukulele, strings and other instruments. Find the perfect teacher and instrument for you.

Tragedy whores. We aren't fond of this term. Carole Radziwill pins it to the reader and that judgment makes the story she wants to tell you about Carolyn and John Kennedy, Jr. uncomfortable to read, like watching The Real Housewives of New York City. Theirs isn't even the compelling story. Radziwill's fixation on the Kennedy's story distracts from hers, the brutal story of a fairy tale marriage cut short by cancer. Fortunately, that story is also redeemingly contained within the pages of What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love.

Grab your Jedi robe and lightsaber and head to Bookmans Phoenix this Saturday for Star Wars night. We've invited our friends, the Mandalorian Mercs, for a night of free family fun that even the dark side couldn't resist. We'll have a lightsaber craft for the kids, Star Wars-themed freebies and custom Death Star cake pops from our pals at Kiki's Cupcake Service. Bring a camera because there will be costumed characters for you to pose with.

Animated films transcend language barriers for the pure joy of entertaining kids, but films by Hayao Miyazaki hit a level of creativity and visual intrigue that put them in a class of their own. The Tokyo native started as an animator early in his carrer and had his directoral debut in Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro in 1979, but was most noted for winning the Japanese Academy Award for Best Film Princess Mononoke in 1997. Miyazaki was nicknamed the Japanese Walt Disney for good reason, producing memorable films including My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and Ponyo.

From My Neighbor Totoro via The Hayao Miyazaki Web.

For some of us back-to-school time washes us with warm waves of nostalgia (or crashing waves of miserable memories). Others of us still view back-to-school time as just another annual occurrence. Either way, this Movie Madness Month we want to psych you up for the season by perusing our shelves for our favorite films that take place on campus, in a castle or even during the summer.

With the recent release of Brandi Carlile's fifth major label album release Bear Creek and after almost a decade of touring with twin bothers and band members Phil and Tim Hanseroth, the self-confessed "road dogs" and "dirty pioneers" are back with a bang. The Rialto in Tucson brings us singer and songwriter Brandi Carlile with Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra at 8 p.m. on Sunday, August 19.

Proclaiming their love of New Orleans music with their new release Save My Soul and carrying on the tradition of the legendary big bands and orchestras by touring non-stop, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy comes to Tucson. This Ticket Tuesday, we're sending someone plus one to see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy with Outlaw Rebels perform at 8 p.m. on Friday, August 24 at The Rialto Theater in Tucson.

Everyone has Henry Mancini's iconic tune burned into our brains and recognizes the famous cartoon character but do you know the famous actor that started it all? Peter Sellers emerged in the comedy world in 1950 but graced the screen with his most notable comedic performance in 1963 in The Pink Panther. Introducing the world to the bumbling French Police Inspector Clouseau and his innate ability to solve the mystery ass-backwards, Sellers used his comedic timing and racist tendencies to poke fun at stereotypes and everyday banality. Audiences weren't new to physical comedy, the great Charlie Chaplin and Jerry Lewis preceded him, but Sellers use of Bond references and fearlessness of costumes brought out his ingenuity and spirit.

Backpacks are full, apples are shined, pencils are sharpened, but is your mind full, shined and sharpened? School is in full swing and classes are in session and we hope you're ready for the hunt because we're dishing up a prize package worth $75 but as always there is work involved. Get ready to crank those gears but be aware that only an adventurous attitude and local know-how will land you this grand treasure.

Put down Fifty Shades of Grey. We've got something equally smutty but infinitely smarter to recommend. How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran is a feminist manifesto like none you've ever read. Most of us don't go around reading feminist manifestos but this one is for everyone -- even if you are a dude and maybe even especially so.

How to Be a Woman passes our funny-lady-memoir test. We still long to be Moran's friend even after we read the last word of her foul-mouthed, opinionated, TMI account of every experience from menstruation to pornography to abortion. You will be horrified if you hate the word vagina even as Moran herself declines the usage in favor of a more literary word. If you think you would be offended, please read One Call Away: Answering Life's Challenges with Unshakable Faith by Brenda Warner and Jennifer Schuchmann. Warner's story is compelling and has everything memoir readers love including football. But if you think you can take Moran's in-your-face drive for equality, then give How to Be a Woman a consensual whirl.