The IMAX goes art house with new evening series

Think of art house movie theaters and the image of a screen barely larger than your home flat screen is likely to come to mind.

But Craig Mince, theater manager of the IMAX at the Indiana State Museum, is trying to change that. He's launching  a series of decidedly non-blockbusters on a screen more accustomed to in-your-face nature documentaries and superhero action.

First up: "Drinking Buddies," which was seen earlier in the summer as part of the Indianapolis International Film Festival. It stars Olivia Wilde and Anna Kendrick. Set for November is another IIFF hit, the documentary "Medora."

"Downtown is aching for some art house product," said Mince, who is still working to fill in the gap between those two titles.

The plan is for traditional IMAX screenings during the day with these contemporary films added in the evening. How long will they run? Mince isn't sure yet.  "With IMAX movies, you commit to a start and end date. With movies like this, you play a week and decide if you are going to hold it over. If there's an audience, we'll continue to run it."

Helping matters—particularly with "Drinking Buddies": The theater serves local beer and wine.