Shreveport cinema history: "Picasso Trigger" at RFC, Friday and Saturday at 10 p.m.

The theatrical one-sheet for Andy Sidaris' Picasso Trigger, 1988.

This weekend, I'll be hosting two 10 p.m. screenings of the late-night schlock cinema classic Picasso Trigger at The Robinson Film Center (617 Texas Street, Downtown Shreveport), Friday and Saturday nights. This unabashedly b-grade action flick was filmed on location in Shreveport and Hawaii in 1987. Director Andy Sidaris, who won an Emmy as a pioneer of sports television at ABC, spent much of his life in Shreveport and filmed parts of about a dozen movies here. Along with other regional indie mavericks like Charles B. Pierce, Jim McCullough Sr. and Jr., and Joy Houck, Jr., Sidaris went independent early and stayed that way. I'd personally argue that the names listed above matter just as much as those of better-known indie trailblazers like Roger Corman.

While this film isn't going to make you feel smarter in any way, it's entertaining to see downtown Shreveport on the big-screen circa 1988. In one scene, what is now the Capital One tower is used as a Parisian art gallery. While a shady art collector smokes outside, he's gunned down by an assassin in a motorcycle sidecar, firing from the Chamber of Commerce lawn. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Picasso Trigger is a very funny film. For Shreveport-Bossier residents, much of the fun will lie in spotting local locations and local people.

Due to an absurd amount of partial nudity, gunfire, heavy artillery, exploding helicopters, exploding motorcycles, exploding cars, and exploding hovercraft (boy, did these guys hate transportation!), the film is very much rated R.

Buy tickets or watch the trailer.

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