Five Must-See Movies in December

Sometimes it's a one-night deal, and sometimes they stick around for weeks, so when it comes to seeing an independent film at a local theater, planning ahead is crucial.

That's why we've wrangled must-see flicks screening in the Valley this month. Prep your bowl of buttery popcorn and check out our picks ...

5. Eames: The Architect and Painter
AIGA's Arizona chapter presents a screening of this James Franco-narrated documentary about the lives and designs of pivotal modernist innovators Charles and Ray Eames.

See it tonight at

at 7 p.m. Tickets are $9.50 for adults. Details

.

4. The Pruitt-Igoe Myth

St. Louis' high-density Pruitt-Igoe housing project remains a symbol of cultural failure resulting from the Housing Act of 1949, out-of-touch design, and misguided efforts to revitalize largely segregated slums. ASU's Phoenix Urban Research Lab presents this documentary screening at

tonight at 6:30 p.m. Guest speakers include two architecture professors from the university. RSVP

.

3. Native American Micro, Mini Film Festival

Native American filmmakers Razelle Benally and Nana Dalunde will screen two short films,

and

respectively, at

on Saturday, December 17, at 9 p.m. Admission is free. Click

for more details. (The clip is from a German festival that will screen Dalunde's film next month, but it includes some scenes from

.)

2. Earthwork

Crop artist Stan Herd brings his typically rural style to an urban community (on land owned by the one and only Donald Trump) in this documentary about process and inspiration. Watch it December 18, at

, at 1 p.m. Admission is $5, and free for museum members.

1. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

Leave it to the

to inject the holidays with its signature B-movie brilliance.

is exactly what it sounds like: kinda weird. The Christmas figurehead is kidnapped by aliens fed up with their toy- and Santa-obsessed children. And the costumes are stellar. I Can Smell Your Brains presents the screening on December 21, at 7 p.m. Get your tix

.

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