February-March “Picturing the West” film series Film Streams, 1340 Mike Fahey Street Select dates and times, Regular admission www.filmstreams.org
Eclectic describes this series of 12 Westerns, some period, some modern, with works by two of the genre’s key interpreters as well as unknowns. Myths loom large in Westerns and there are enough here to go around. A recurrent theme is the anti-hero in conflict with society or monied interests or changing times. There’s also the connection to and struggle with the wild. The protagonists rue the vanishing frontier and the onset of civilization’s boundaries. If you haven’t seen them, be sure to watch Lonely Are the Brave (Feb. 21, 23), The Misfits (Feb. 27, 29, Mar. 2) and Hud (Mar. 19, 20, 22). Rare for Omaha screenings of the uncut Heaven’s Gate (Mar. 12, 13, 15) and the epic Giant (Mar. 26. 27, 29) are also on tap. Making its Omaha premiere is Meek’s Cutoff (Mar. 6, 8). The series echoes Joslyn Art Museum’s Go West exhibition and the citywide “Westward O” celebration.