Central Cinema Upcoming productionshttps://centralcinema865.com/Knoxville's Neighborhood MoviehouseIce Cream Man (2026)https://centralcinema865.com/production/ice-cream-man-2026/Ice Cream ManAn idyllic summer town descends into madness when an ice cream man serves kids sweet delights with horrifying results. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjRmpRD7Dr8]]>Ice Cream Man (1995)https://centralcinema865.com/production/ice-cream-man-1995/Ice Cream Man 95We're closing out our run of Eli Roth's glorious new confection with an (optional) "Two Scoops Of Terror" double feature with this ultimately unrelated 1995 VHS-era relic of the same name, starring an unforgettable Clint Howard (APOLLO 13, THE MANY ADVENTURES OF WINNIE THE POOH). Individual tickets available below, or click here for a discounted double feature pass! Gregory (Clint Howard, EVILSPEAK) is the local ice cream man. And all he wants to do is sell the neighborhood children some ice cream treats. Unfortunately, the adults disrespect him and the kids fear him. So, as any recently released mental patient would do, Gregory begins brutally murdering anyone who prevents him from having a happy, happy, happy day! The most essential 1990s horrorblast ever made by the director of EDWARD PENISHANDS, ICE CREAM MAN is an absurd, gory, and hilarious direct-to-video slasher, punctuated by Clint Howard’s unleashed performance and featuring Olivia Hussey (BLACK CHRISTMAS), David Naughton (AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON), and Jan-Michael Vincent (AIRWOLF). Fully uncut and restored from its original 35mm camera negative! (AGFA)]]>Wallace & Gromit: The First Three Adventureshttps://centralcinema865.com/production/wallace-gromit-the-first-three-adventures/Central Cinema is pleased to finally present the trio of crowd-pleasing shorts that introduced the world to one of animated cinema's most beloved duos and put British stop-motion studio Aardman on the map! Join us on our anniversary weekend for a 90-minute program featuring 1989's A GRAND DAY OUT (in which Wallace and Gromit go to the moon), 1993's THE WRONG TROUSERS (in which they face down a nefarious houseguest) and 1995's A CLOSE SHAVE (in which they meet Shaun The Sheep.) These films – two of which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short – are both appropriate and highly recommended for family viewing... kids tix just $7!]]>Rashomon (16mm Presentation)https://centralcinema865.com/production/rashomon-16mm-presentation/Help us celebrate our anniversary weekend with the Akira Kurosawa classic that introduced the wider world to Japanese cinema, screening on 16mm courtesy of Film On Film series coordinator Josh Mays. (Can't make it to Friday's show? We'll be offering a digital encore screening Sunday!) A riveting psychological thriller that investigates the nature of truth and the meaning of justice, RASHOMON is widely considered one of the greatest films ever made. Four people give different accounts of a man’s murder and the rape of his wife, which director Akira Kurosawa presents with striking imagery and an ingenious use of flashbacks. This eloquent masterwork and international sensation revolutionized film language and introduced Japanese cinema—and a commanding new star by the name of Toshiro Mifune—to the Western world. (Janus Films) "It’s easy to forget that the movie offers more rewards than a dazzling superstructure... it’s beautifully shot, vividly performed and is ultimately an arresting pop treatise on the impossibility of objective truth." - Times UK]]>Jurassic Parkhttps://centralcinema865.com/production/jurassicpark/Jurassic ParkThe recent passing of Sam Neill (1947-2026) left us little choice but to dedicate part of our anniversay weekend to him with two all-time favorites. First up: Steven Spielberg's epochal entertainment machine JURASSIC PARK, in which Neill terrorizes children with fossilized claws, mock electrocutions and dinosaur facts. Paleontologists Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) are among a select group chosen to tour an island theme park populated by dinosaurs created from prehistoric DNA. While the park's mastermind, billionaire John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), assures everyone that the facility is safe, they find out otherwise when various ferocious predators break free and go on the hunt. "This movie doesn't just stand the test of time, it transcends it." - Toronto Star  ]]>Possessionhttps://centralcinema865.com/production/possession/PossessionOur anniversary weekend tribute to Sam Neill (1947-2026) continues with this striking, intense slice of psychological horror about the unexpected complications of a dissolving marriage. Banned upon its original release in 1981, Andrzej Żuławski’s highly choreographed nightmare of a marriage unraveling is an experience unlike any other. Professional spy Mark (Sam Neill) returns to his West Berlin home to find his wife Anna (Isabelle Adjani, in a role that earned her Best Actress at Cannes) insistent on a divorce. As Anna’s frenzied behavior becomes ever more alarming, Mark discovers a truth far more sinister than his wildest suspicions. With its pulsating score, visceral imagery, and some of the most grueling performances ever captured on screen, Possession is cinematic delirium at its most intoxicating. (Metrograph) "POSSESSION is like nothing else - an uncompromising and idiosyncratic vision of the divisions that exist around, between and within us all." - Little White Lies]]>Rashomon (Digital Encore)https://centralcinema865.com/production/rashomon-digital-encore/SUNDAY AUGUST 16 Help us celebrate our anniversary weekend with the Akira Kurosawa classic that introduced the wider world to Japanese cinema! (This is the digital encore screening following our 16mm 'Film on Film' presentation on Friday August 14.) A riveting psychological thriller that investigates the nature of truth and the meaning of justice, RASHOMON is widely considered one of the greatest films ever made. Four people give different accounts of a man’s murder and the rape of his wife, which director Akira Kurosawa presents with striking imagery and an ingenious use of flashbacks. This eloquent masterwork and international sensation revolutionized film language and introduced Japanese cinema—and a commanding new star by the name of Toshiro Mifune—to the Western world. (Janus Films) "It’s easy to forget that the movie offers more rewards than a dazzling superstructure... it’s beautifully shot, vividly performed and is ultimately an arresting pop treatise on the impossibility of objective truth." - Times UK]]>Skate Video Nighthttps://centralcinema865.com/production/skate-video-night/
Skate Video NightSkate Video Night is a monthly showcase of top-shelf skate videos, presented on VHS and DVD the last Monday of the month and curated by collector Chris Albiston. Admission is just $7! Please note that this monthly series is presented in a more casual mode than other CC screenings, including increased light level in the auditorium and no discouragement of casual conversation. Come hang out!
 
]]>Free! TAMIS Presents "Honor Among Thieves"https://centralcinema865.com/production/tamis/TAMIS Presents 2024In early 1970, an amateur film crew shot a no-budget heist movie in Knoxville, TN. Throughout the shoot, cast members gathered in an abandoned quarry, a local bar, and a defunct bank building to get their vision on film. The cinematographer perched on top of a car to film a highway chase, and the whole company trekked into the foothills for a climactic foot pursuit and brawl. The resulting film, HONOR AMONG THIEVES, was never seen widely and never made a dime... but it did get its writer-director out of a term paper. Join TAMIS for this unusually ambitious example of juvenile filmmaking-cum-homework assignment – along with a bonus short film by the same filmmakers – at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, August 19, at Central Cinema. Central Cinema is pleased to team up with the Knox County Public Library's Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound for a free monthly screening event, alternating between regionally-relevant feature films and dispatches from their extensive archive of audiovisual treasures.]]>$5 Screening: Phantasmhttps://centralcinema865.com/production/phantasm/PhantasmFollowing sad news of the passing of Reggie Bannister (1945-2026) we'll be offering a one-off screening of one of our all-time favorite scary movies – free for Central Cinema members and just $5 for the general public. (Bonus: we'll also be making a number of announcements about this year's Knoxville Horror Film Fest!) Written, produced, directed, shot, and edited by Don Coscarelli when he was only 23 years old, PHANTASM follows a group of small-town friends as they battle the "Tall Man" – a mysterious force of cosmic horror who wields flying silver murderballs. This Lovecraftian vortex deftly combines gothic horror, surrealism, and a killer prog rock score into a concoction that horror fans have never stopped worshipping. Thanks to a stunning restoration and 5.1 surround sound mix produced by J.J. Abrams's Bad Robot and Coscarelli, PHANTASM has never looked or sounded better. (AGFA) "Wildly imaginative and legitimately creepy, confronting death and mourning as part of the coming-of-age process while also delivering nutty Jawa-type critters and blood spurting out of peoples' faces." - AV Club]]>Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasmahttps://centralcinema865.com/production/teenage-sex-and-death-at-camp-miasma/Teenage Sex DeathCentral Cinema is thrilled to present the latest horror riff from Jane Schoenbrun, visionary director of I SAW THE TV GLOW and WE'RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD'S FAIR. After years of slapdash sequels, the Camp Miasma franchise is handed over to an enthusiastic young director (Hannah Einbinder) for resurrection. But when she visits the original’s star, a now-reclusive actress shrouded in mystery (Gillian Anderson), the two women fall into a blood-soaked world of desire, fear, and delirium. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dimCiC_hdoA&source_ve_path=OTY3MTQ&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fmubi.com%2F]]>$5 Screening: Mississippi Masalahttps://centralcinema865.com/production/5-screening-mississippi-masala/Mississippi MasalaCentral Cinema is thrilled to be teaming up with the University of Tennessee's Denbo Center for Humanities and the Arts for a series of screenings supplementing their multi-year focus on the idea of "authenticity", kicking off this school year with the sub-themes of "identity and place". First up for the Fall semester's programming: Mira Nair's steamy interracial romance MISSISSIPPI MASALA, screening for just $5 and introduced by Urmila Seshagiri, UT Distinguished Professor in Humanities. The vibrant cultures of India, Uganda, and the American South are blended and simmered into a rich and fragrant fusion feast in Mira Nair’s luminous look at the complexities of love in the modern melting pot. Years after her Indian family was forced to flee their home in Uganda by the dictatorship of Idi Amin, twentysomething Mina (Sarita Choudhury) finds herself helping to run a motel in the faraway land of Mississippi. It’s there that a passionate romance with the charming Black carpet cleaner Demetrius (Denzel Washington) challenges the prejudices of their conservative families and exposes the rifts between the region’s Indian and African American communities. Tackling thorny issues of racism, colorism, culture clash, and displacement with big-hearted humor and keen insight, Nair serves up a sweet, sexy, and radical celebration of love’s power to break down the barriers between us. "Mira Nair's MISSISSIPPI MASALA is a piquant dish all its own, a love story with a twist, a look at displaced people, a charming, poignant blend of comedy and drama." - St. Lous Post-Dispatch]]>Film & Discussion: Hope Fundhttps://centralcinema865.com/production/film-discussion-hope-fund/Join us on August 25 (the fourth anniversary of Tennessee's trigger ban on abortion) as partnering orgs Abortion Care Tennessee and Mountain Access Brigade present a local premiere of this short documentary, followed by a candid panel discussion on the status and future of reproductive rights and mutual aid solutions. Before there were clinics, there were communities. Black and brown doulas, midwives, and healers built systems of care long before any institution recognized the need, passing down knowledge, keeping each other alive, and laying the groundwork for what Reproductive Justice would eventually be named. Hope Fund traces that lineage from its roots to the present day, following Abortion Care Tennessee and Mountain Access Brigade — two independent abortion funds that merged to meet a moment — as they reckon with broken systems, shifting laws, and the ongoing fight to keep abortion care alive in a state that once protected it. From Tennessee’s history as a sanctuary state to the 2014 constitutional shift that changed everything, from the Dobbs decision that sent shockwaves through an already fragile landscape to the maternal mortality crisis unfolding in real time, this film doesn’t look away from how we got here. Through the stories from people on the ground, like a board member who nearly died in childbirth and an Executive Director who believes this work can be joyful, bold, and even a little sexy, HOPE FUND makes the case that Reproductive Justice isn’t just survival. It’s style, power, and community refusing to be miserable on anyone else’s terms. This is a love letter to the people doing the work. And a very clear message to everyone trying to stop them.]]>Idiotshttps://centralcinema865.com/production/idiots/IdiotsTwo rock-bottom drivers (Dave Franco & O'Shea Jackson Jr) transport a wealthy teen (Mason Thames) to rehab, but their simple job spirals into a chaotic journey of drugs, danger, and crime as their passenger derails their plans. "The film refuses to go in predictable directions, unveiling bizarre side characters and travelling down odd narrative backroads. But that occasional bagginess also allows for a richly textured picture bursting with energy." - Screen International https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoAf0LNAn30]]>Movies Under The Stars: Napoleon Dynamitehttps://centralcinema865.com/production/movies-under-the-stars-napoleon-dynamite/Ijams NDOur 2026 Movies Under The Stars outdoor screening series continues with Jared Hess's riotously eccentric indie classic! In small-town Idaho, awkward teen Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder) has trouble fitting in. After his grandmother is injured in an accident, his life is made even worse when his uncle Rico (John Gries) shows up to keep an eye on him. With no safe haven at home or at school, Napoleon befriends the new kid, Pedro (Efren Ramirez) a morose Hispanic boy who speaks little English. Together the two launch a campaign to run for class president. Please note this event takes place on the lawn outside the Ijams Visitor Center, NOT at Central Cinema! Gates open at 7pm and the movie will start at sundown, giving you plenty of time to take advantage of food trucks, a beer tent and the expanse of trails & exhibits that make Ijams Nature Center such a treasure. Tickets are just $12 per person; please bring a chair/blanket (and a leash for pups!) but no coolers or outside alcohol. Movies Under The Stars 2026 is sponsored by Pacifico, Nirvana Comics, Creepycon and Sierra Nevada.]]>Tiny Stage presents Central Cinema Comedy Nighthttps://centralcinema865.com/production/tiny-stage-comedy-night/Join us for our FREE monthly live standup engagement, showcasing Knoxville's best comics courtesy of our friends at Tiny Stage Comedy! Doors at 7pm, comedy beginning at 7:30pm.
Third-Party Event Notice: this screening or performance is presented by an outside organization using Central Cinema as a venue for hire. Questions regarding content, ticketing and other event-specific information should be directed to the organizers.
]]>Double Bill: The Room + Big Shark with guest Greg Sesterohttps://centralcinema865.com/production/double-bill-the-room-big-shark-with-guest-greg-sestero/Oh hi again Mark… this Labor Day weekend we’re thrilled to welcome screen heartthrob Greg Sestero for back-to-back nights of pure movie fun! Best known as the romantic foil in 2003’s legendary cult sensation THE ROOM, Greg has balanced his own creative career with an unexpected role as an ambassador for the film and its eccentric creator/star Tommy Wiseau. (His bestselling book about the film’s production, The Disaster Artist, was even adapted into a hit Hollywood comedy.)  One of our favorite returning guests here at Central Cinema, Greg is an expert at engaging the film’s fans and revving them up for an ideal experience… and as THE ROOM screening veterans will tell you, it’s an experience like few others.  On Sunday, September 6 Greg will host and introduce both a 6pm screening of THE ROOM and an 8:30pm screening of Wiseau’s 2023 followup BIG SHARK, a man vs. nature thriller that oh-so-improbably manages to recapture THE ROOM’s naive magic two decades later. (Click showtime below for $30 double feature tickets, or on individual film titles for $20 standalone tickets.) THE ROOM (2003) | In San Francisco, an amiable banker's seemingly perfect life is turned upside down when his deceitful bride-to-be embarks on a passionate affair with his best friend. BIG SHARK (2023) | Three firefighters must save New Orleans from a gigantic shark. On Monday, September 7 Greg will stick around during our 6:30pm screening of THE ROOM to offer scene-specific commentary throughout the film, after which (9pm) he’ll be treating us to a hush-hush look at a long-gestating project that’s guaranteed to make for a memorable pairing. (Double feature tickets also available.)  ]]>The Room with guest Greg Sesterohttps://centralcinema865.com/production/the-room-with-guest-gregsestero/The RoomGreg Sestero returns to Central Cinema this Labor Day Weekend for two nights of fun! Sunday night's opening slot features Greg introducing this cult favorite from director Tommy Wiseau... see it on its own (tickets below) or in a double feature with Wiseau's BIG SHARK! Johnny (Tommy Wiseau) is a successful banker who lives happily in a San Francisco townhouse with his fiancée, Lisa (Juliette Danielle). One day, inexplicably, she gets bored of him and decides to seduce Johnny's best friend Mark (Greg Sestero). From there, nothing will be the same again.]]>Big Shark with guest Greg Sesterohttps://centralcinema865.com/production/big-shark-with-guest-greg-sestero/Greg Sestero returns to Central Cinema this Labor Day Weekend for two nights of fun! Sunday night's late slot features Greg introducing this long-awaited followup from THE ROOM director Tommy Wiseau... see it on its own (tickets below) or in a double feature with THE ROOM! Three firefighters (Isaiah LaBorde, Mark Valeriano and Tommy Wiseau) must save New Orleans from a gigantic shark. Can New Orleans survive? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzNWojRTzWE]]>Double Bill: The Room with commentary by Greg Sestero + ???https://centralcinema865.com/production/double-bill-the-room-with-commentary-by-greg-sestero/Sestero 2026BOh hi again Mark… this Labor Day weekend we’re thrilled to welcome screen heartthrob Greg Sestero for back-to-back nights of pure movie fun! Best known as the romantic foil in 2003’s legendary cult sensation THE ROOM, Greg has balanced his own creative career with an unexpected role as an ambassador for the film and its eccentric creator/star Tommy Wiseau. (His bestselling book about the film’s production, The Disaster Artist, was even adapted into a hit Hollywood comedy.)  One of our favorite returning guests here at Central Cinema, Greg is an expert at engaging the film’s fans and revving them up for an ideal experience… and as THE ROOM screening veterans will tell you, it’s an experience like few others. On Monday, September 7 Greg will stick around during our 6:30pm screening of THE ROOM to offer scene-specific commentary throughout the film, after which (9pm) he’ll be treating us to a hush-hush look at a long-gestating project that’s guaranteed to make for a memorable pairing. (Click showtime below for $30 double feature tickets, or on individual film titles for $20 standalone tickets.) THE ROOM (2003) | In San Francisco, an amiable banker's seemingly perfect life is turned upside down when his deceitful bride-to-be embarks on a passionate affair with his best friend. ??? | In San Francisco, an amiable banker's seemingly perfect life is turned upside down when his deceitful bride-to-be embarks on a passionate affair with his best friend. On Sunday, September 6 Greg will host and introduce both a 6pm screening of THE ROOM and an 8:30pm screening of Wiseau’s 2023 followup BIG SHARK, a man vs. nature thriller that oh-so-improbably manages to recapture THE ROOM’s naive magic two decades later. (Double feature tickets also available.) ]]>The Room with live commentary by Greg Sesterohttps://centralcinema865.com/production/the-room-with-live-commentary-by-greg-sestero/The Room Live CommentaryGreg Sestero returns to Central Cinema this Labor Day Weekend for two nights of fun! Monday evening's opening slot features Greg introducing and providing a scene-specific commentary for this cult favorite from director Tommy Wiseau... see it on its own (tickets below) or in a double feature with a very special ROOM-related surprise! Johnny (Tommy Wiseau) is a successful banker who lives happily in a San Francisco townhouse with his fiancée, Lisa (Juliette Danielle). One day, inexplicably, she gets bored of him and decides to seduce Johnny's best friend Mark (Greg Sestero). From there, nothing will be the same again.]]>Mystery Movie (with guest Greg Sestero)https://centralcinema865.com/production/mystery-movie-monday/???]]>