- In news that Kermit would tell you “ain’t easy,” Aksarben Cinema will host the world premiere of Green on Green on Thursday, Aug 9 at 7 pm. Tickets are available at aksarbencinema.com. Filmed entirely in Nebraska, the film was written/directed by Tom Knoblauch and follows a graduate student who invites herself on a research trip in order to gain fodder for her potential memoir. This is, of course, entirely fictional, as writers are selfless people who would never, ever exploit situations just for material to write about…
- Game of Thrones won’t be back until the next installment in your favorite photographic calendar series—mine is definitely either “The Year’s Sexiest Flowers” or “Elected Representatives Bein’ Naughty!” In the absence of HBO high fantasy, may I suggest you take a Quest with Film Streams (filmstreams.org). On Monday, Aug 6 at 7 pm at the Ruth Sokolof Theater, the Urban League of Nebraska will present a free screening ($0) of the documentary, Quest, followed by a post-show discussion with North Omaha community leaders and moderated by Ashlei Spivey. Demonstrative of an attention span that is downright mythical in this era, Quest was filmed over nearly a decade and follows a wife and husband trying to raise a family while fostering a community of hip-hop artists in North Philadelphia. Prior to the screening, at 6 pm, folks from various North Omaha community organizations will be available to provide info about how those groups have affected their neighborhoods. In these troubled times, our local communities can serve as arks on which to ride out the flood. Come to this special screening and consider how others are waiting out the water and what you can do to help your people stay afloat.
- Making a full-time living as a critic must feel like riding a unicorn bareback down a lightning bolt while Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” plays. To do so and then also be nominated for a Pulitzer prize must feel like that unicorn also breakdances and that the lightning bolt hits Adam Sandler. Raised in Des Moines, but nobody hold that against her, Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post has hand-picked a six-film series that starts at Film Streams in August. Those six films are: The Best Year of Our Lives, Sweet Smell of Success, The Hurt Locker, You Can Count on Me, Old Joy and Medicine for Melancholy. On Thursday, Aug 9, Hornaday will be at the Dundee Theater to introduce a screening of Sweet Smell of Success and participate in a post-show discussion and book signing. Head to filmstreams.org for ticket info, and please don’t ask her about the breakdancing unicorn.
Cutting Room provides breaking local and national movie news … complete with added sarcasm. Send any relevant information to film@thereader.com. Check out Ryan on the radio on CD 105.9 on Fridays at around 7:40 a.m. and on KVNO 90.7 on Wednesdays and follow him on Twitter.