The headlines haven’t been too kind to libraries of late, what with the book ban nonsense and slashed funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services. To plant some good press in your newsfeed, Little Big Screen is letting everyone in on a little secret. Kanopy, one of the best streaming services, is free […]
Film
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The Iowan-produced ‘Bob Trevino Likes It’ premieres at Varsity Cinema, FilmScene Friday
What does it mean to foster a chosen family? To find a community so welcoming, it becomes another unit of intimacy altogether? For film producer Edgar Rosa, it meant cultivating a hub of artistry at an early age. Born in California, but raised in Iowa, Rosa was involved with the Des Moines Playhouse by age […]
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On the Big, Big Screen: Five movies you’ve gotta go see in local theaters this month
LV film columnist Benjamin McElroy recommends five screenings happening this month at Iowa’s independent movie theaters.
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Little Big Screen: Say goodbye to Hy-Vee’s Wahlburgers with ‘Boogie Nights’ and other Marky movies streaming this month
Just two short years ago the Wahlburgers franchise had 109 locations, and for some reason, 79 of them were attached to Hy-Vee grocery stores. On February 4, Hy-Vee lopped off the last of these Boston-green growths. The split could mean Mark Wahlberg, the youngest of the three brother-founders, has sheltered in his last West Des Moines basement and signed his last tequila bottle at Wall to Wall Wine & Spirits.
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Your holiday film traditions + festive movies to go see this season
The sacred, sometimes scary, feeling of seeing yourself in the movies feels slightly different during the holidays, amplified even. Everyone’s got their go-to’s during the season.
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Are film critics artists? Of course! Jonathan Rosenbaum and Marya E. Gates compare ideas on what makes a good movie — and a good movie review
During last month’s Refocus Film Festival, Little Village film columnist Ariana Martinez had the opportunity to chat with renowned film critics Jonathan Rosenbaum and Marya E. Gates in a panel entitled “Writing on Film.” The trio’s discussion ranged from career highlights and how to approach interviewing different directors to what it means to call yourself […]
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Swallowing a tooth, and other ways local poets ‘harness a feeling’ in short films at Refocus
“It is October. Everything is overturning,” writes Hannah Bonner in her debut book of poetry, Another Woman. “I pack a suitcase to get through October and drive to the shore with a video camera,” begins the poem “Video Footage” in Julia Anna Morrison’s Long Exposure, her first book of poems. It is October. And with […]
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Little Big Screen: ‘The Funhouse’ and other superlatively spooky movies to stream in October
I disagree with the anti-mischief spirit of the tradition, but Beggars’ Night deserves to live forever as a decent piece of Des Moines trivia. That said, the present and future of the Halloween season both here and everywhere is Spooktober.
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Big pictures, smaller screens: Gearing up for the 17th Annual ICDOCS online
From Thursday, April 30 to Saturday, May 2, the 17th Annual ICDOCS film festival will be presented as a free live-streamed event due to health concerns over the spread of COVID-19. Q&As with the filmmakers following the film screenings will still take place, albeit entirely online. Jurors will also still review programmed films in competition. […]
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Laughter in the dark: ‘The Death of Stalin’ turns grim history into comedy
Stalin was one of the bloodiest tyrants of the 20th century, an era that had no shortage of bloody tyrants, so it’s only natural to wonder whether his final days, filled with murderous paranoia, and the bureaucratic struggle to seize power following his death are really fitting material for a comedy. The Death of Stalin follows the path cut by Mel Brooks, whose classic comedy The Producers, which revolves around a musical about Hitler, hit movie theaters just 22 years after the end of World War II.
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Crowdfunding campaign underway for ‘Gridshock: A Film about Sex Trafficking in Iowa’
Three Iowa natives are raising funds to begin production on the documentary Gridshock: A Film about Sex Trafficking in Iowa, a “wake-up call” regarding the world’s fastest-growing criminal enterprise. Gridshock will be an exploration of the sex trafficking trade in Iowa, uncovering “the underground and horrendous crimes that are running rampant in our communities,” according […]
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Win tickets to another “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You”
Bob and the Trees FilmScene — Sunday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. By now, we’re all fully aware that the nomenclature of the Best Film(s) Not Playing at a Theater Near You series that just wrapped up its 10th year at the Museum of Modern Art in New York doesn’t apply to us here in […]
