- It’s that time of year again: Time to get mad at the people who are mad at the people who love the fall and fall-related fun! It’s also time for The Alamo Drafthouse’s “Drafthouse of Horrors 2017!” Throughout October, Omaha’s Alamo will “remember the horror” by showing 31 classics of the genre. This year’s films are stupendously well-selected. Vampire Hunter D (Oct 15), The Craft (Oct 22), The Babadook (Oct 21) and Shaun of the Dead (Oct 26) are among the impossibly great choices included in this year’s crop. Also, there’s an attendance program: Five visits get you free popcorn and 2 tickets, 9 visits gets you a free shake and 2 tickets, 12 visits gets you a free entrée and 4 tickets, 15 visits gets you entered into a raffle for passes for a future festival and 25+ visits gets you a customized “I Survived Drafthouse of Horrors 2017” T-shirt and a mention in the 2017 recap. Also, 25+ visits presumably gets you letters from your friends and family saying “We miss you. Please either skip a movie or invite us.” With no less than a dozen flicks I absolutely love, I’ll be tossing pumpkin spice like LeBron James once tossed chalk, yelling “I love fall!” To be clear, I will yell “I love fall!” LeBron never yelled that. That we know of.
- Film Streams has also really “stuffed the pumpkin” this October. Please help that phrase for copious fall activities catch on. First up, the 2017 Local Filmmakers Showcase is here! It’s 123-minute program carefully curated by the bad-asses at Hello Holiday. A record 66 submissions was cut down to 12 shorts from artists who live around these parts, including a Student Spotlight film. The premiere is Oct 19 at 7 pm, with a post-party to let the filmmakers sniff that Hollywood spotlight feel. Regular showings will happen on Oct 22 and Oct 25, but you’ll have to provide your own post-party. Then, on Oct 12 at 7 pm, Nik Fackler will introduce a special screening of Lovely, Still in memory of its lead actor, Martin Landau, who died this past July. It was shot in Omaha and also features Elizabeth Banks and Adam Scott. I only just now realize this means that Adam Scott was in Omaha, and I missed my chance to become his best friend. This is a terrible moment for me, but please go see this movie he’s in. Don’t let my pain hold you back any longer. Finally, Film Streams has two fall series: Forever Young Family & Children Series Fall 2017 (Sept 30 – Dec 31) and Restorations and Revivals Fall 2017 (Oct 10 – Dec 14). The first one has Halloween fare like Beetlejuice and Teen Witch along with the holiday epic The Muppet Christmas Carol, which is the only telling of that story I acknowledge. The latter series has recently restored classics like Night of the Living Dead, The Graduate and a documentary on tap dancing, which seems strange paired with a zombie movie. Although, now I really want to see a tap-dancing zombie movie… Enjoy stuffing your pumpkins!
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 Movieha!, a weekly podcast, catch him 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.