Omaha - Getting Hipper Every Day

So, my friends keep telling me that Omaha is blossoming into one of the best towns to be found between New York and Los Angeles. Here's further proof: a brand-new art house theater. The opening festival is curated by the ultra-hip, ultra-smart producer-writer-director Alexander Payne - an Omaha native.

The new, non-profit theater - Film Streams - will run a combination of fab first-run films along with fantastic classic movies, foreign flicks and and other fun stuff. Their grand opening runs July 27-August 30 with Payne's selections -- starting with the awe-inspiring Seven Samurai from Akira Kurosawa, and including such gems as To Be or Not to Be, Modern Times, and The Last Detail. The gentleman has an eye for quality.

From someone who spent some of the best years of her life in North Dakota, here's wishing Film Streams a boffo opening, and a long and happy sojourn serving the cultural needs of the wide prairie!