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.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
The last time E.T. was in the headlines, a self-described ufologist had presented his unlicensed likeness to Mexico’s Congress. Now, with co-star Dee Wallace claiming there was an axed love affair between E.T. and Elliott’s mom, the tabloids are abuzz again. Somehow, this has nothing to do with the suggestively wrinkled E.T. Finger Light produced by Knickerbocker Toy Company. But I’ll be in Winterset to try and spy evidence of any light-up funny business.
The Iowa Theater, Winterset, Thursday, June 12, 7 p.m.
Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)
Directed by Michael Patrick Jann
The Varsity opened Pride Month a couple days early with Paris Is Burning, a capital-E education in and capital-X extravaganza of the late 80s Harlem ballroom scene. Drop Dead Gorgeous is kind of like the straight small-town mock to Paris’s queer big-city doc. The category is … County Fairest of Them All, or maybe, Serving Hot Dish. The contestants are … Kirsten Dunst, Denise Richards, Brittany Murphy and Amy Adams.
(Drop Dead Gorgeous was also featured in Little Big Screen’s Diablo-Coded programming for the 15th anniversary of Jennifer’s Body, if sharp and/or forked tongues speak to you.)
Varsity Cinema, Des Moines, Thursday, June 12, 10 p.m.
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Directed by Steve Miner
Something tells me I’m more likely to be stabbed repeatedly in shorts weather. The butt-tracking shot in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre deserves much of the blame for this lizard-brained belief, since I’ve always opted for a five-inch inseam, but the muggy lakeside killings in Friday the 13th movies also deserve their share. Wear your favorite pair of Baggies to FilmScene if you dare.
FilmScene, Iowa City, Friday, June 13, 10 p.m.
Bound (1996)
Directed by the Wachowskis
You can’t go wrong with The Fleur’s free Pride screenings, but you’re here for a recommendation, and I’ll tell you to see Bound. The Wachowskis’ debut, a very nearly NC-17 neo-noir, is set almost entirely at an apartment building. Only Italians and lesbians live there. Skulls rattle through the pipes. Gina Gershon does maintenance in a ribbed tank (or mob-wife respecter). And the whole thing’s so good that Warner Bros. were like, “Yeah, let’s give these directors millions of dollars to make The Matrix.”
The Fleur Cinema, Des Moines, Wednesday, June 25, 9 p.m.
F1 (2025)
Directed by Joseph Kosinski
The high point of moviegoing in 2025 is still “croissant,” or whatever you would call the word that comes out of Gerard Butler’s mouth in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. Just behind the hard “t” heard round the world is the IMAX trailer for F1. There’s one shot towards the end, when a camera mounted on one zooming object turns to look at another zooming object, almost like someone riding shotgun on I-80 would turn to look at a Hyundai Palisade in the next lane over, that makes me want to run around in circles like a dog.
More to come on Kosinski, the director of Top Gun: Maverick, and also, dude from Marshalltown, Iowa, in Little Big Screen later this month.
Opens Thursday, June 26, The Last Picture House, Davenport, and The Fleur Cinema, Des Moines. Opens Friday, June 27, FilmScene, Iowa City.
More big-screen events:
Des Moines
Sunday, June 15 at 7 p.m., Daddyfest: Mamma Mia! with Audience Interaction, Varsity Cinema
Tuesday, June 17 at 7 p.m., The Empire Strikes Back with Audience Interaction, Varsity Cinema
Thursday, June 26 at 10 p.m., Mausoleum – Presented with The Fright Zone Podcast, Varsity Cinema
Friday-Sunday, June 27-29, Interrobang Film Festival, Des Moines Public Library
Sunday, June 29 at 7 p.m., Faust – Silent Film with Live Metal Score, Varsity Cinema
Iowa City
Sunday, June 15 at 8:45 p.m., Out of Sight, FilmScene Ped Mall Rooftop
Wednesday, June 18 at 6:30 p.m., Screening and Q&A: The Negro Artist, Coralville Center for the Performing Arts
Saturday, June 21 at 9:15 p.m., FilmScene in the Park: Clue, FilmScene
Saturday, June 21 & Sunday, June 22, Thursday, June 26 at 3:30 p.m., The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, FilmScene
Wednesday, June 25 at 7 p.m., The Maya Deren Project: Live Score Event
Sunday, June 29 at 8:45 p.m., Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion, FilmScene Ped Mall Rooftop
Quad Cities
Thursday, June 12–Saturday, June 14 at 8:30 p.m., Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Last Picture House Rooftop
Thursday, June 19–Satuday, June 21 at 8:30 p.m., Reservoir Dogs, The Last Picture House Rooftop
Thursday, June 26–Saturday, June 28 at 8:30 p.m., Tommy Boy, The Last Picture House Rooftop
