The Last Picture Shows
Directed by
Rustin Thompson
SHOWTIMES
Movies start 6-8 minutes after listed showtime
*Indicate showtimes with captions
Thu 8/27: 7:00p
GENRE
Documentary
RATING
RUN TIME
1h18min
Circle Cinema invites our members to a special benefit screening of:
The Last Picture Shows
A new documentary about the importance of the independent cinema experience and the trends that may threaten its survival.
7:00 p.m. Thursday, August 27, 2026
Tickets $50 each in support of the Circle Cinema Foundation. Funds raised by this screening will help Circle Cinema upgrade its projection system, ensuring a crisp, clear visual and sonic experience in our historic theater.
About the Film: 1h18min - Doc - Not Rated - English
Filmmaker Rustin Thompson journeys into the American West to search for traces of what was once a center of our communities: the movie theater. On the trip, he finds long abandoned and forgotten cinemas; movie houses that have fallen into disrepair; theaters recently closed, theaters struggling to hold on, and theaters that—thanks to their thoughtful caretakers—are not only surviving but thriving. Between the stops along the way, Rustin poetically intersperses excerpts from Peter Bogdanovich’s 1971 classic film The Last Picture Show, as well as reflections on past and present hardships facing the film exhibition industry. The Last Picture Shows is not only a timely portrait of an industry in crisis, one facing the headwinds of consolidation, streaming, and the diminishing theatrical experience, but it also reminds viewers that even in vast cinema deserts, there are oases of community and gathering that remain, where the movie house continues to be a place of wonder, contemplation, and connection.
