After making massive cuts at the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and rescinding grants awarded by those agencies, the Trump administration brought its sweeping and arbitrary DOGE-style cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) last week. The NEA sent out emails on Friday to […]
FilmScene
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Stick-and-pokes, baseball ghosts and the top five movies you’ve gotta see on the big, big screen this May
Hey folks, welcome back to Little Big Screen: On the Big, Big Screen, where film columnist Benjamin McElroy recommends five screenings happening at Iowa’s independent movie theaters. This month, the rotten word from Washington D.C. can’t be ducked. FilmScene and Varsity Cinema were both notified on May 2 that their National Endowment for the Arts […]
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Behind the ultimate rock-umentary — and its 20th anniversary re-release, ‘Dig! XX’ — is a sister-brother duo with an eye for mad genius
Multi-award-winning filmmaker Ondi Timoner has amassed a wide-ranging body of work about people she calls “impossible visionaries.” Her documentary subjects tend to stray from social convention and take the path less traveled, which can sometimes put hers in impossible situations. I imagine that nothing was more difficult than making Last Flight Home, a 2022 film […]
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From Swayze’s mullet to Bowie’s bulge, catch these five iconic films in local theaters this April
Hey folks, welcome back to “On the Big, Big Screen.” From courtside seats to seaside heists, film columnist Benjamin McElroy recommends five screenings happening this month at Iowa’s independent movie theaters. Then, keep on scrolling for a round-up of other special screenings, events and movies of note.
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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.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Iowa’s indie theaters have a flurry of David Lynch screenings in store for February
“Believe it or not, the answer is yes, I do have a fondness for David Lynch,” begins Ben Godar, Executive Director of Varsity Cinema in Des Moines. Losing Lynch, who passed away on Jan. 15, 2025, has highlighted just how many people agree with this sentiment.
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Little Big Screen: ‘The Beast,’ ‘The Substance’ and more of 2024’s best movies to stream and go see
Little Big Screen has the best of both screens from the year that almost was. First up, five new-release recs sitting and waiting to be streamed on your own little big screen. Then five could-be bests that’ll be making their way to the big, big screen before the year ends. That adds up to 10 movies. Just like you want from a “best of the year” thing.
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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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Deliberately scratched frames, disquieting docs, dreamy shots of Iowa: Reviews of 10 films featured at Refocus
It is officially a wrap on the 2024 Refocus Film Festival, which means it is time to unpack all I was able to see and experience following opening night.
Posted inRecreation
Bumper Crops: You don’t have to bowl to ball at SpareMe, home of plentiful pinball machines and friendly competition
October Pinball TournamentSpareMe Bowling & Arcade, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 6 p.m. As an increasingly older, increasingly grumpy Iowa City townie, I have never been more hesitant to write a glowing review of a place. But my god, if you haven’t been hanging out at SpareMe, especially on Wednesdays, what are you even doing with your […]
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There are 52 quintillion versions of the ‘Eno’ documentary. Iowans will see two of them this week.
The new documentary about glam rocker, pop producer and non-musician Brian Eno has been dubbed the “first generative feature film.” No two viewings are ever one and the same.
