Freaking out about North Korea and the threat of nuclear war? It's practically the 1950s all over again. Might as well come out of your bunker at 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays in July for the Humboldt County Library's Classic Cold War Sci-fi Series (free). Those of you who survived the series kick-off with the Ray Harryhausen creature feature It Came from Beneath the Sea, hold onto your sweater sets because there's more on the way.
This week, on July 10, the Journal's Art Beat columnist Gabrielle Gopinath hosts The Blob (1958), directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. and Russell S. Doughten Jr. In this one, Steve McQueen and all the cool kids are on the run from a gelatinous alien, um, blob. It's a scream.
Come back for director Robert Wise's The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) on July 17. Bob Doran introduces this alien diplomacy picture starring Michael Rennie as Klaatu, who informs the people of Earth that they'll have to figure out how to make peace or be destroyed. Good luck, Earthlings!
Finally, on July 24, yours truly presents The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), directed by Val Guest. In this one, a hangdog journalist (Edward Judd) scrambles to cover apocalyptic disasters as nuclear tests shift the climate and send the Earth hurtling toward the sun and holy crap, is this too real for anybody else?
Already got chills.