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.
Varsity Cinema
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Iowa is steeped in cinema history — and historic cinemas. But keeping an indie theater ticking isn’t easy
In Tommy Haines’ and Andrew Sherburne’s 2017 documentary Saving Brinton, Iowa history teach Mike Zahs discovers a treasure trove of old film reels in a farm basement, including rare footage of Teddy Roosevelt and a never-before-seen film by Georges Méliès (A Trip to the Moon, The Impossible Voyage). Zahs then embarks on an international odyssey […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
From Cannes to Des Moines, violinist Geneviève Gros-Louis is making sure ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ audiences hear the Osage story
The occasion, as stated on the Varsity Cinema marquee, was the Des Moines premiere of Killers of the Flower Moon, another hefty, late-period offering from Martin Scorsese. Yet the night, and each of the 235 seats in the sold-out theater, belonged to Geneviève Gros-Louis, a Huron-Wendat Nation composer who played violin in the Des Moines […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
As ‘Oppenheimer’ drops, local cinemas focus in on nuclear films, Iowa’s atomic history
With the highly anticipated premiere of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer on the summer calendar, FilmScene staffer Lee Sailor decided to curate a Nuclear Movies series over a few weeks in July. The Iowa City cinema’s series typically last longer, but “we were slightly concerned about how many people would want to go see the world end […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
UI alumni, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, return to Iowa with new movie, talking dinosaurs and Adam Driver
For Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, working on their latest $45 million dinosaur movie was reminiscent of their student film days. “The scope of the film is massive compared to anything else we’ve done, and yet at the same time it doesn’t feel much different from when we were at the University of Iowa,” said […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Des Moines’ historic Varsity Cinema reopening after four-year, $5 million renovation project
The Varsity Cinema near Drake University is reopening its doors to the community after being closed for four years. The historic Des Moines theater features “a variety of programming including prestige new releases, the best of art house & international, curated repertory series and classics, upscale genre and late-night movies, kids and family series” according […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
Built in 1917, Varsity Cinema is getting a $5 million upgrade thanks to Des Moines film lovers
In the mid-1990s, Ben Godar started making the drive from Ames to Des Moines to go to the Varsity Cinema. “Back then, the Varsity was just one of those places that would get films that nobody else had,” he recalls. Now, as four years of renovations on the Varsity come to a close, Godar, who […]
