Movies
Oscar picks: What will win? What should win?
The 84th Academy Awards are this upcoming Sunday and many Oscar pundits have started making their predictions on various websites. Having been a fan of the Oscars since elementary school, I’ve already tried my hand at predicting the winners and for the most part, I’ve done a decent job in previous years at naming the winners in advance. This year, I’ve not really attempted to pick the winners, but there are individuals and films I’ll be rooting for on Sunday night.MORE »
Finding balance with the "IZUN/MIZAN" film and dialogue series
If the new Reese Witherspoon rom-com isn’t cutting it and you’re looking for films with some bite, you might want to check out IZUN/MIZAN. Plus you won’t be cursing yourself for wasting your hard-earned cash on a Reese Witherspoon movie (IZUN/MIZANis free, but please donate at the door if you can).MORE »
TUESDAY PICK | Trylon Microcinema shines a light on screen legend Charlotte Rampling
As Richard Thompson is to rock legends, Charlotte Rampling is to screen legends: she's got the goods, and she's still smokin'...you just haven't heard of her. Her fiery performance in François Ozon's Swimming Pool (2003)—including, at the age of 57, an eye-popping nude scene—helped put her back on the cultural map, but she never really went away, and she's remained prolific. On February 21, the Trylon Microcinema is presenting the local premiere of Charlotte Rampling: The Look, a documentary following Rampling's career from the swinging 60s to the present.
Debunking myths of affordable housing: "Homes for All" airs on TPT Sunday
Affordable housing in Minnesota still is getting a bad rap, but this might change with a new public television documentary airing on Sunday: Homes for All.MORE »
MOVIES | Kenneth Lonergan's "Margaret" trades tragedy for tedium
One morning in January 2007, I woke up and broke up with my then girlfriend, who I was living with. I went to work, decided I'd made a terrible decision, and ran the mile-long distance back home in the business suit that I was wearing because it was also the day I was slated to defend my Ph.D. dissertation. As I ran past Cambridge landmarks, I could almost hear music surging. I burst through the door and found my girlfriend on the phone, making an appointment for us with a couples therapist. I remember thinking, okay, I guess life is not a movie.MORE »
Slamdance Film Festival recap, in absentia: From a Minnesota-made stunner to the worst film of 2012
It was a first this year that, due to scheduling conflicts, I was unable to catch anything at the Slamdance Film Festival. When I say I was not able to catch a film, I mean that it was the first time I have not been able to attend a Slamdance screening in the five years I’ve been heading out to Park City, Utah for the simultaneous Sundance Film Festival. I was bummed that I missed my chance to catch musician/filmmaker Neil Young and filmmaker/producer Jonathan Demme speak at a morning coffee panel to talk about their careers.MORE »
WEDNESDAY PICK | "Morvern Callar" takes a strange journey at the Walker Art Center
Though Lynne Ramsay's 2002 film Morvern Callar is set during the holidays, it's just as well that it's not screening in December: there's nothing very Christmasy about the lights of a tree illuminating a human corpse. That's how the movie opens; we soon learn that the body belongs to the eponymous heroine's boyfriend, who committed suicide and left the manuscript of a masterful novel for Morvern (Samantha Morton) to send to a publisher. Leaving her boyfriend's body lying under the tree and going out to the pub is only the first of a number of unexpected decisions made by Morvern in a movie that will delight lovers of dream-like indie films but will frustrate viewers looking for a traditional plot. You know who you are.MORE »
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is hair-raising good
A serial killer knocks off his victims in the fashion of the seven deadly sins. A female space warrior tries to stop a ruthless alien species from ripping her to shreds. A college student uses the Internet and his coding abilities to become a billionaire, but loses friends and makes enemies along the way.MORE »
"Chronicle" captures creative drama in found footage style
High school students have a hectic lifestyle. There’s homework to do, friends to hang out with, bullies to avoid, college applications to be filled out, and student leadership positions to be sought out. Don’t forget about flowering romantic relationships, the pep rallies, and the rigorous after-school sports schedules.MORE »
"Slavery by another name" airing on PBS
On Monday, February 13th, PBS stations will air a 90 minute documentary called “Slavery By Another Name”, based on a book by journalist Douglas Blackmon.MORE »
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