- One of the maddening things about the mad dash to disparage human rights education is how recent this “history” is. Film can be a great way to cut through the lies and noise, and that is why you should get to Benson Theater on July 8-9 for a free screening of “Divisible” (divisibledoc.com). The documentary is about redlining in Omaha. Our city is still confronting the repercussions from this racist practice of housing discrimination because it happened until very recently. This is the sort of thing that everyone who lives here should know about, but we don’t because learning makes some people feel icky. Fixing the sins of the past begins by admitting and understanding the sinning, so get thee to the theater for this forced confession.
- Given the all-out blitzkrieg on LGBTQIA+ rights in America, we should add a week to Pride month for every piece of hate legislation proposed. By my count, Pride now lasts until 2042 or so. Anyway, Film Streams (filmstreams.org) gets it. In July, the arthouse will show queer films that are straight bangers. “Pink Flamingos,” “The Watermelon Woman,” and “Bound” run July 7-13 at The Ruth Sokolof Theater, with “Hedgwig and the Angry Inch” screening on July 13 at The Dundee Theater, which is where I first saw it, when my knees didn’t sound like an Orville Redenbacher orchestra. What a splendid small collection of truly exceptional cinema certain to make someone in government want to do a censorship.
- Speaking of revenge, Sam Raimi gets a lot of horror love, but my favorite film of his may be his western. “The Quick and the Dead” is a wild, weird “horse opera,” which is a real thing they used to call cowboy movies. The Alamo Drafthouse (drafthouse.com/omaha) is bringing the 1995 cult classic back to the big screen on July 26 at 7 p.m. It features Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. If you haven’t seen it, you gotta get to this “oater,” which is another real thing they used to call cowboy movies. Packed with brutality and Raimi’s trademark goofiness, this “grass blaster,” which is not a real thing they used to call cowboy movies, is worth seeing.
Cutting Room for July 2023
