“When it comes to awe-inspiring filmographies, few directors can match Akira Kurosawa. Arguably the most celebrated Japanese filmmaker of all time, Kurosawa had an epic, long-running career that spanned from the Second World War to the early nineties and stands as a monument of artistic and personal achievement. Thanks to his massive international success, it’s no wonder that Hollywood quickly took notice of Kurosawa’s unmatched ability to elevate genre to art, and that countless generations of filmmakers were (and continue to be) inspired to pay tribute to the Master with their own variations on his work (and in turn, Kurosawa himself had many influences, with a number of his films being loose re-workings or direct adaptations of everything from westerns and film noirs to Dostoyevsky and Shakespeare). Thursday nights in January and February, The Loft Cinema is proud to present some of Akira Kurosawa’s greatest films on the big screen, paired with the classic Hollywood riffs, remakes and re-workings they inspired!”

Film series starts with “Yojimbo” on January 5, continues into February. See our Upcoming Movies link for the other Japanese movies. Loft Cinema is at 3233 E. Speedway Blvd, in Tucson.