Just in time for the upcoming Oscars, shocking I know, several theatres here in the Twin Cities have decided to host some movie marathons of films nominated for this year’s Oscars, from Live Action and Animated short films, to Documentary to every Best Picture nominee, you can find them somewhere in the Cities this weekend and next.
Live Action and Animated Short Films The Lagoon Cinema
Animated – 2:50 & 7:15 (Daily)
Live Action – 5:10 & 9:30 (Daily)
Matinee $7 | General $9
Twin Cities Gold Film Festival Woodbury 10 Theatre
The Most Dangerous Man in America – Sat @ 7:00 (Twin Cities Premiere)
Food Inc – Fri @ 1:00 | Sat @ 5:00 | Sun @ 3:00
Burma VJ – Fri @ 3:00 & 9:00 | Sat @ 3:00 | Sun @ 1:00
Which Way Home – Fri @ 7:00 | Sat @ 9:00 | Sun @ 5:00 (Twin Cities Premiere)
The Cove – Fri @ 5:00 | Sat @ 1:00 | Sun @ 7:00
Tickets $6 | Festival Pass $25
Best Picture Marathon Day 1 (Feb 27th)
AMC Eden Prairie 18
10:30 – Avatar
1:45 – Up
3:45 – A Serious Man
6:30 – Precious
8:45 – District 9
AMC Arbor Lakes 16 & AMC Rosedale 14
10:30 – Avatar
1:45 – Up in the Air
4:00 – Precious
6:45 – The Blind Side
9:15 – Inglourious Basterds
Day 2 (March 6)
AMC Eden Prairie 18
10:30 – An Education
12:45 – The Hurt Locker
3:25 – Up in the Air
6:00 – The Blind Side
8:30 – Inglourious Basterds
AMC Arbor Lakes 16 & AMC Rosedale 14
10:30 – Up
12:45 – A Serious Man
2:45 – The Hurt Locker
6:00 – An Education
8:00 – District 9
The Heights Theatre along with Take-Up Productions is proudly presenting the British noir classic Peeping Tom from famed director Michael Powell. The film is now known for killing Powell’s illustrious career due to its graphic and disturbing images of a serial killer who films his victims as he kills them. The film was so reviled by critics, that Alfred Hitchcock decided not to screen Psycho for them because he was so worried his film would receive the same treatment and kill any chances it would have to find box office success.
Some time ago I reviewed this now legendary film, and while I found it fascinating, the film is harmed by the fact that nearly every thriller has blatantly cribbed from this rather impressive source material, neutering the film to some degree compared to its modern counterparts, yet the film still is unquestionably a must see film for those who appreciate thrillers. Tickets are just $8 and there will only be one showing this upcoming Monday so make sure to make the time to see this fascinating film.
Peeping Tom
The Heights Theatre
January 25th
7:30 pm | $8
The Parkway Theatre has assembled one heck of a great horror marathon for the Halloween weekend that they are calling Days of the Dead. Starting at 5:30 on Friday October 30th and running through Sunday evening The Parkway will be screening numerous horror films and other oddities for those of us who are into that sort of thing. As if that isn’t enough, each screening will have a corresponding drink/food special at the neighboring Pepito’s restaurant or at The Parkway’s concession stand. And if that isn’t enough, the entire marathon costs a mere $10. That’s right, a single ticket will get you into each and every film being shown during the entire weekend. One important note, starting at 7pm you must be 21 to attend any of the screenings due to the allowance of alcohol in the theatre.
If you haven’t made it out to The Parkway yet, this is as good a time as any to make the trip to this fantastic south Minneapolis movie theatre.
Full Schedule (drink/food specials)
Friday, Oct. 30th.
5:30 Frightmare ($1.00 off any size popcorn)
7:15 Blood Suckers (two for one beers and half price burritos)
9:00 Blood Thirst (two for one beers and half price nachos)
10:30 Blood Orgy of the She Devils (two for one beers and half price nachos)
If you happen to be wandering the streets of Uptown tomorrow night and happen to see a large individual who bears more then a passing resemblance to Michael Moore, surprise, it is Michael Moore. The charismatic filmmaker will be in town to support his latest film Capitalism: A Love Story. But that film isn’t supposed to open in the Twin Cities for another couple of weeks? True, but The Lagoon Cinema will be hosting a semi-secret screening tomorrow at 7:00 pm of the film, and Moore will have a Q&A afterwards.
Great, so how can you get tickets? You can’t. This is a word of mouth screening so you have to be invited. In case that doesn’t register that means that you shouldn’t call The Lagoon to ask for tickets because they can’t give you any. You also shouldn’t show up at The Lagoon to ask for tickets because they can’t give you any. And it also means do not email me because I can’t get you in either. And if that isn’t enough reasons, please remember to not talk about Fight Club either. Because it has nothing to do with Moore’s film.
But, if you want to show up to stand outside and people watch and snap a few photos of the jolly director and then feel like sending them my way I’ll be more then happy to post them.
And, if anyone who actually has been invited to this screening could give me any details on what is discussed in the Q&A that would be awesome, because I’m stuck working tomorrow night and won’t be able to attend. So I’m just as screwed as the rest of you.
Capitalism: A Love Story opens at The Lagoon Cinema on October 2nd.
While buzz is starting to build for the low budget haunted house/demon possession independent film Paranormal Activity, the odds of anyone actually getting to see the film seem surprisingly low. The film is getting an incredibly limited release on Thursday September 24th, with midnight screenings at 13 different theatres.
But so far that is it in terms of theatrical release. The studio (Paramount here in the US) is trying to increase demand for the film by having a competition hosted by Eventful, where fans demand the release in their local markets with a rather vague promise of “When your city gets enough demands, you WILL be the first to experience the terror!” Yet no mention of just how many demands are required to get a screening.
Knowing from experience what I do about free screenings, you’ll need something in the neighborhood of 1000 demands to convince a theatre to devote a 200 seat auditorium to a screening. And, as of this moment, not a single city has reached that magical number, though LA seems like it will eventually make it. It doesn’t seem very smart to make promises, no matter how vague, to their fanbase only to not be able to live up to them.
Of course we then have the new trailer, which incorporates audience reactions while showing moments from the film, which makes the entire thing look incredibly cheesy to me. The original trailer looks better, and is far more effective, and in the new trailer it is readily apparent they’ve cleaned up the images to make the picture look glossier and thus have more appeal to mainstream audiences. Whether or not the actual product has been cleaned up I have no idea, but the disconnect is now evident. Then you have the previous plans to remake the film with original director Oren Peli helming the remake, and you can’t help but wonder if they simply re-shot the whole film with better equipment due to the stark contrast in the visuals of the two trailers. It has taken two years to release this film after all.
And finally, we have the film’s rumored new endings. I say endings, because word is that there are as many as three endings floating out there in the ether that have been screened for audiences. While I know what two of them are, I haven’t heard anything specific about the latest ending, other than it is the worst of he bunch, which is probably why Paramount chose it.
At this point I have little hope of ever seeing this film in the theatres, which is a shame as the film certainly seems to have as good a chance as any of being a modern horror film that is actually scary, or God forbid, horrifying. But I will be sure to check it out once it eventually hits DVD, and here’s to hoping the film lives up to its rather strange, but intriguing, hype.
Just in time for the upcoming Oscars, shocking I know, several theatres here in the Twin Cities have decided to host some movie marathons of films nominated for this year’s Oscars, from Live Action and Animated short films, to Documentary to every Best Picture nominee, you can find them somewhere in the Cities this weekend and next.
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