The past few weeks I have been pondering how my weekend movie intake differs from someone in any other middle market city in the US. August was a month when eyes were cast towards the big releases, and the Twin Cities was no different. And that is not to say that there weren’t some meaty films to chew on in the past month—District 9 got a debate going, Inglourious Basterds invoked a film-lover’s group hug, and those of us stupid enough to go see Halloween 2 should have had ‘H2’ carved on our foreheads—but the offerings were not the usual filmic fare that makes our modest fly-over-land so unique.

I for one welcome the passing of summer: goodbye State Fair, goodbye sun, goodbye summer vacation (if you were lucky enough to have one) and hello cultural events! This year there is a lot to be excited about in the next couple of months. The variety of programs offered is as diverse as the venues hosting them. I am loving September and October already. Here are the venues and events that have me feeling all warm and fuzzy (follow links for schedules and trailers):

The Trylon microcinema
After a bang-up grand opening with Buster Keaton in July, the 50-seat Trylon officially opens its doors to regular screenings every Friday and Saturday until the end of time. (Of course, if all goes well, other days will be added to that ‘end of time’ schedule.) The months are programmed around a theme with each film screening four times over a weekend. September brings out the deviants for a month long series entitled Crime Spree. Filling four weekends, the Trylon will screen three iconic films from the 70s—The Warriors, The Talking of Pelham One Two Three and Dog Day Afternoon—and one subversively clever film from 2006—Inside Man. Crime Spree is a representative series for the Trylon to start out with, and not because it is run by thugs, but because its namesake hails from the settings of these four films, otherwise known as the Big Apple. The Trylon in South Minneapolis may not have the grandiose entrance of the Trylon in Queens, but I think time will prove that it is just as special. October hosts four Cronenberg films just in time to give you a social commentary to Halloween, and November in Frank Capra month at the Trylon.

The Heights
Littered throughout the regular programming at The Heights is a smattering of repertory screenings that would make just about anyone interested in classic film squeal with glee. Take Up Productions is still working its magic outside of the Trylon and they are bringing five much loved Audrey Hepburn films to the Heights on Mondays starting September 14 and running every Monday through October 12. (Funny Face, originally scheduled for October 5, will not be shown due to a problem with the print, and will be replaced with Love in the Afternoon.) Roman Holiday, Sabrina, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s are all new 35mm prints.

The Heights also continues with its Ginger Rogers at RKO with Top Hat on September 24 and Swing Time on October 22. As if that weren’t enough, they will also screen Mildred Pierce on October 1 apparently celebrating the 40^th anniversary of the Star Tribune’s ‘taste’ section, and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane on October 29 replete with a Baby Jane and Blanche Hudson costume contest. Scary! As with all the rep screenings at The Heights, show up early to watch the Wurlitzer organ ascend for preshow entertainment.

Walker Art Center
The Walker film program comes off summer vacation and brings the films back inside. First on the list is a short run of Tony Manero, a film I was sure I would just have to wait and see on DVD. The critically acclaimed film from Cannes is a snapshot of 1970s Chile seen through the eyes of Raúl Peralta, a man obsessed with Saturday Night Fever. The film runs four times over three days September 11 through September 13. Also in the premiere category is yet another entry into the very crowded field of carbon footprint conscious documentaries, No Impact Man on September 16. Co-director Laura Gabbert will be on hand for a post-screening Q&A and the film opens at the Lagoon on October 10.

Of course the big news at the Walker is the wrangling of the ever elusive Minnesotans, Joel and Ethan Coen. The Walker’s retrospective and dialogue, “Raising Cain,” is a benchmark for the museum, the directors and Minnesota: it will be the Walker’s 50^th Regis Dialogue, the 25^th anniversary of the Coen’s debut Blood Simple, and coincides with the October 2 opening of their new film A Serious Man, made right here in Minnesota. The retrospective kicks off on September 18 with Blood Simple and winds down 13 films and one month later on October 17. Tucked in the middle of the retrospective is the highly anticipated dialogue with a yet to be announced moderator on September 25. Naysayers step aside, because I will be ready on September 10 at 11am to get my tickets.

Oak Street Cinema
Here’s the surprise entry in the fall lineup. The on-again-off-again programming at the Oak has come to be expected, but Minnesota Film Arts’ announcement of a full slate of films for the next couple months definitely fills some gaps. Most notable is the indie Canadian horror film Pontypool screening at 9:30pm September 24 -26. I’ve been excited to see this film ever since reading a write-up on it about six months ago. Pontypool is the first in a promised weekly horror film series, in which the Oak will showcase a new film each week. Sounds good to me. Other notable additions to the Oak’s calendar: Fifty Dean Men Walking, September 11- 17 and Burma VJ, September 19 -23, which was a film that I missed at the MSPIFF. There are a mixed bag of offerings that are, of course, subject to change, so keep your eye on the calendar.

Revolution Reel at Intermedia Arts
The Cinema Revolution Society cranks up its local film showcase at Intermedia Arts on September 8 with Patrick Coyle’s 2003 Detective Fiction. You could easily make a double feature by swinging by the Lagoon and catching Coyle’s new film Into Temptation and then head over to Intermedia. Revolution Reel continues every Tuesday at 7:30pm through October 6 capping off the series with a poignant local documentary The Adventures of Northside Johnny: A Subprime Mess.

Best of the Rest
Sound Unseen 10: The annual music and film fiesta is nearly upon us. Clear your calendar for September 30 through October 4; details are coming soon. Midnight Movies at the Uptown: The midnight movies are nothing new, but as someone who works at 8am on Sunday, I am thrilled that the Uptown has added Friday to the calendar. Starting on September 11 with a personal favorite, The Devil’s Rejects, all midnight movies will run Friday and Saturday nights. Evangelion 1.0: I know, I know – my geek feathers are showing. But anyone who is interested in anime should not miss this one-week run on the big screen. Evangelion 1.0 is a remake of episodes 1 – 6 of the series. As far as I can tell, it will only be playing at Forest Lake Theater. Saddle up kids! We’re goin’ to Forest Lake!

Of course, fall will also mean the statue hungry films will be coming out to stalk you. Fall prey if you if you want, I know I will, but don’t forget to look in your own backyard for some of the best offerings of the season.

This weekend was one of necessity: catching a one-time screening of Ginger Rogers in Vivacious Lady, fulfilling my civic duty by seeing the harrowing documentary The Cove, and revisiting some well-loved Miyazaki films in preparation for reviews.

Thursday, August 6 @ The Heights – Vivacious Lady (1938)

The transition from 1928 to 1938 in film history is pretty huge. In 1928 the new and dubious technology of sync sound was taking the world by storm. Some worried that the introduction of sound would shift film away from its more visual aesthetics to hollow dialog and poor acting. (Okay, maybe I’m projecting and embellishing a little bit, but what would those sound naysayers think of Hollywood now?) Needless to say, by 1938 silent films were a thing of the past in Hollywood.

This ten-year span was put into context when The Heights screened the silent film The Patsy, made in 1928, and one week later screened George Stevens’ 1938 film Vivacious Lady. Perhaps not meant to be representative of their respective years, The Patsy and Vivacious Lady nonetheless set up an interesting contrast where I found myself siding against the talkies.

Vivacious Lady was the second film in The Heights five part series of Ginger Rogers at RKO. Film preservationist and historian Bob DeFlores was on hand to introduce the film and present the audience with a rare film clip of Ginger Rogers on the Bob Hope Buick Show in 1959. The clip, a short song and dance, was an example of Rogers’ natural charm and stunning beauty. I sadly missed the first in the series, The Gay Divorcee with Fred Astaire, which screened last month. Rogers’ capable co-star for Vivacious Lady was a very young Jimmy Stewart before his face bore creases and before his chin receded into his thin neck. DeFlores mentioned in his introduction that Stewart nearly had to give up the part due to the fact that he got ill shortly after shooting had started. A plan to replace Stewart with Douglas Fairbanks (that would have been weird) was shelved, and the producers decided to put the production on hold until Stewart could return.

Rogers plays Francey, a New York City nightclub singer who gets swept off her feet by the square but charming small town professor, Peter Morgan (Stewart.) A quick marriage means that the nervous nelly professor must take his new blond bombshell wife home and explain to his stuffy parents (and prospective fiancé) that they have a daughter-in-law. Easier said than done, as the overbearing father clearly disapproves of everything outside of his control.

Vivacious Lady certainly has its moments, and most of them are Ginger Rogers’ including a hilarious catfight. Her sauciness as Francey is irresistible and gets almost every laugh in the film, which makes her cajoling so hard to take (not to mention Peter’s browbeaten inability to stand up for himself and his new wife.) Her sass seems to melt away at any given moment, turning her into a predictable and much less compelling character. My inability to deal with some of the incongruities from a film made over 70 years ago may be the source of some of my qualms with the film, but I also blame the writers. Jimmy Stewart and Ginger Rogers are always a pleasure to watch, but Vivacious Lady is far from their best films.

Which brings me back to those skeptics of sound, sort of. It may be comparing apples to oranges, but Marion Davies’ performance in The Patsy is, in my opinion, heads and shoulders above Ginger Rogers’ not because of acting ability but because of a weak script: sullied by sound and dialog! Vivacious Lady is unavailable through traditional means of DVD, so your golden opportunity to agree or disagree with me was Thursday at The Heights. The next film in the series will be Top Hat on September 24 at 7:30pm. Word on the street is you should buy your tickets in advance!

Friday, August 7 @ Edina Cinema – The Cove (2009)

In future posts I will try to refrain from repeating myself, but at this early juncture I can not help but vent on how much I hate driving or riding out to the Edina Cinema. I love the theater and its laidback but bustling atmosphere, I just wish it were closer or easier to get to. (I am spoiled by being able to bike almost anywhere I want to go, and I hate driving.)

With that in mind, going to Edina was the first proverbial stick in the eye; going to watch a documentary about the slaughter of dolphins is the second. Why did I do it? Because I knew that The Cove is one of those films that is important to see. As much as I try to bury my head in films and ignore the mess in the world, sometimes it is unavoidable. I knew what I was in for, and on the drive out to Edina I was already feeling sick about the human race and my complicit involvement.

The Cove is an investigative documentary on the dolphin industry in Taiji, Japan. Every September through March, fishermen round up dolphins on their normal migratory route into a protected cove to be sold as the next Flipper at a seaworld-like place near you. The dolphins that are not selected are shuttled to a secluded cove and killed for their meat. The killing, done on a daily basis, is a highly protected secret that law enforcement and fishermen alike go to intimidating extremes to protect.

There are two points to this issue. The first is the inhumanity of what is being done to these creatures. Dolphins are highly intelligent creatures that are just about as docile and gentle an animal you are going to find. The second is the extremely high levels of mercury in dolphin meat (more than 500 times what is considered safe to eat.) The reduction in highly coveted whale meat in Japan has resulted in dolphin meat being mislabeled as whale meat, and in a push to make dolphin meat on its own more acceptable, even promoting the meat for schools.

Dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry leads the fight to stop the slaughter of these animals. O’Barry was the famed trainer for Flipper and gives heart-wrenching testimonial to his personal awaking to the cruelty of dolphin captivity. That these ocean dwelling creatures, used to traveling 40 miles a day, would get depressed in an enclosed tank is something of a no-brainer, but you hardly think about it when you are sitting there watching them ‘smile’ and do tricks. O’Barry is a wanted man in Taiji, with everyone waiting for him to do something wrong so they can arrest him and throw him out of the country forever.

Filming the activities in the cove using proper channels proved to be a dead end for the film team. That is when the documentary turns into a covert operation to uncover and show the world what is happening behind the secretive cliffs.

The Cove is an amazing documentary that is as well made, as it is informative. The eventual footage is hard to watch but invaluable to the thrust of the film. Show me an animal being tortured or killed in an inhumane manner, and I not only see what is in front of me but also the downward spiral of mankind. Treading a little bit lighter, and treating animals and other human beings with dignity is something I wish we could all get on the same page about. Putting aside egos and national pride is a tall order on an international scale, and this issue is no different.

If I have a soapbox left to stand on and you haven’t hit the ‘back’ button on your browser, I would encourage everyone to see this film. And if watching dolphins swim for their lives in a bloody pool is not something you can do, I certainly understand. Either way, please consider putting your name on the petition to have this stopped. They have a goal of 30,000 signatures: I was number 15,209 and just one day later they were up to 16,848!

Saturday, August 8 @ home with Miyazaki

The alternating rain and steam were one deterrent from venturing out, but I also wasn’t up for traipsing though the Uptown Art Fair to see In the Loop. In the Loop will have to wait again.

Instead I decided to be a homebody. I’m slated to do some reviews of older Hayao Miyazaki films in celebration of the upcoming stateside release of Ponyo, so I spent the day re-watching The Castle of Cagliostro, My Neighbor Totoro and Porco Rosso. Just to give you an idea of how I feel about Miyazaki, Totoro usually ends up on my top ten list of favorite movies ever. Completely devoid of manipulative narrative devices, Totoro celebrates the simplicity of innocence and magic.

Miyazaki’s new film, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (shortened to Ponyo for the US) is getting a major release on August 14. The English dub looks to be top notch with a cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin, and Betty White. The two leads are voiced by Noah Cyrus and Frankie Jonas, which I don’t have a problem with per se, but the new theme song sung by the duo is a whole other matter entirely. I look forward to seeing this in the theater, but I also look forward to buying the import DVD sans Noah and Frankie.

Mining the catacombs of the obvious and not-so-obvious film choices that the Twin Cities has to offer, I was able to come up with back-to-back silent films, an interesting stop-motion animation and a Bollywood action bomb:

Thursday, July 30 @ The Heights – The Patsy (1928)

Nothing matches the grandeur of a special screening at The Heights Theater in Columbia Heights. Even though my head is usually bobbing up and down in an attempt capitalize on any momentum possible to pedal up those last 500 feet of the Central Avenue hill, the sparkly lights of the marquee and iconic vertical sign are the only carrot needed for a sad donkey like me.

I no more than sat down, front and center, before Karl Eilers elevated the mighty Wurlitzer organ for a little pre-show jamming. Almost all special screenings are preceded by putting the theater organ into use, and this night was no different. It’s worth noting, however, that Eilers was not only here for the pre-show entertainment, but also to play the live accompaniment to the film.

Silent films are hardly my era of expertise—by a long shot—but fortunately Tom Letness, owner of The Heights, introduced the film providing some background for neophytes like myself as well as trivia for the seasoned fans. Most notable about Marion Davies, star of The Patsy, was her affiliation with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst. Not only was her career overshadowed by her private life, but also it was Hearst that pushed her away from comedies, her forte, toward more dramatic roles.

Although I don’t think I have seen any other film that Marion Davies has been in, it is hard to imagine her being any better than she is in The Patsy. Davies exudes the physical talent demanded from silent pictures with the ability to change the dynamic of an entire scene with a look or a gesture. She plays Pat Harrington, the ill-favored daughter in a socialite family. But that doesn’t stop her from mooning over her sister’s boyfriend, the square and handsome Tony. When her sister ditches Tony for playboy Billy Caldwell, Pat sees her chance. Pat’s irrepressible silliness and indirect communication results in madcap rom-com mayhem.

In what is one of the funniest scenes in the film, Pat tries to revive a drunken Billy Caldwell by imitating the portraits of silent film stars she sees hanging on the wall. In what is obviously an inside joke to audience members familiar with the actresses, Davies, in turn, does the brilliant physical caricatures of Mae Murry, Lillian Gish and Pola Negri. I’m not even that familiar with these actresses and I found it to be a hoot.

Directed by the ever-prolific King Vidor, The Patsy is also notable for the the boost to the career of blacklisted vaudeville actress Marie Dressler staring as the oppressive matriarch. Dressler was reportedly on the verge of suicide when offered the role, and she went on to make a huge comeback until her death in 1934.

Friday, July 31 @ The Trylon – Seven Chances (1925)

Planning in advance pays off, especially when it comes to the grand opening of the Twin Cities newest (and only?) microcinema. Entering the third and last weekend of the grand opening Buster Keaton series, there was nary a free ticket in sight. At approximately 50 seats, the deserved media attention that The Trylon received meant turning many people away from these special screenings.

With The Trylon’s series and two DVDs to supplement, I have seen more Buster Keaton in July than I have my entire life. But isn’t that the beauty of having screens programmed by visionary curators?  And I don’t care how nice your home theater is, watching these on 35mm accompanied by a live score is as good as you are going to get.

The band line-up this weekend for the Dreamland Faces was accordion, piano, percussion and clarinet/oboe. The band has been utterly amazing, and although I think their score for The Navigator was my favorite, Seven Chances definitely tested their mettle. One of the most energetic films in the series, Seven Chances could be called Run Buster Run due to the fact that he is literally running for the last 20 minutes of the film. It’s exhausting (and exhilarating) for the viewer and I’m sure the band was feeling it as well.

Jimmy Shannon (Keaton) is a partner in a failing brokerage firm and, unless he can figure something out, he is on the road to ruin. Suddenly he learns that he has inherited seven million dollars (the equivalent of 85 million today according to the inflation calculator) on one condition: he must marry by 7:00pm. When his sweetheart Mary says no, Jimmy reluctantly agrees to try to find someone else. In a desperate attempt to find a bride, his partner places an ad in the newspaper, resulting in 700 angry brides hot on Jimmy’s tale.

A short film entitled Goat preceded Seven Chances. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Buster gets mistaken for the hardened criminal ‘Dead Shot Dan.’ There is a really great scene in Goat where a train come speeding towards the camera from a distance that results in a close-up of Buster, who is of coarse sitting on the front of the train, as casual as can be.

Saturday, August 3 @ Cinema Revolution

Saturday marked my overdue visit to the new space of the newly dubbed Cinema Revolution Society. Nestled in the lobby of Intermedia Arts on Lyndale, CRS is still a video store, but, as the name implies, aims to be much more. Part of the mission of the new Cinema Revolution Society was made evident by their series of films, all by local filmmakers, earlier this summer. Owner John Koch, a filmmaker himself, has ambitions not only to unite the film community through CRS, but also to help it blossom. John and I had shared such idealistic notions before and it seems as though we both still believe in them.

The video store portion of the Cinema Revolution Society is very much open for business. The store is still filled to the gills with some of the best titles available and a large section for local films. Perched above the lobby of Intermedia Arts, the place was bustling with Fringe Fest folks. I’m excited to see how the Cinema Revolution Society will evolve and hope to be a part of it.

@ The Lagoon – $9.99 (2008)

In the Loop and $9.99 were films that came out this weekend that I wanted to see: $9.99 happened to be the better choice time-wise; In the Loop will have to wait. It was a very quiet afternoon at the Lagoon with very few people joining me for the first show of the day.

An Australian-Israeli stop animation film, $9.99 is unique right out of the gate. Based on the dark and delicate short stories of Etgar Keret (co-director of Jellyfish), the film takes a half dozen people who live in the same apartment building and puts them under a microscope for 78 minutes. At the heart of the film is the Peck family: the father Jim is a trapped salary man still searching for why his wife left him; adult son Lenny is a smooth-talking repo man; and other son Dave is an unemployed 28-year-old still living at home who finds the meaning of life in a book that costs $9.99.

At times unexpectedly charming and at other times disturbingly surreal, $9.99 benefits from its style and the five star voice cast (including Anthony LaPaglia and Geoffrey Rush.) These characters verge on cliché (the stoner who can’t commit, the widower suffering from loneliness, the father who doesn’t understand his son), but with their modeled, lumpy weirdness, they are transported out of the world where clichés exist. I have a nostalgic soft spot for stop-motion animation. It’s got a physicality that magically exists in another dimension, and this holds true with $9.99.

The story that resonated the most was probably the one that was the least profound. Zach is a young boy who pines after a soccer action figure that is prominently displayed in the toy store window. His father—feeling that this is his chance to teach his son a valuable lesson—gives Zach a piggy bank and says he will give him 50 cents every time he finishes his glass of milk in order to save for the action figure. Although disappointed, Zach goes along with the plan and ends up growing fond of the absurdly cute piggy bank. (I don’t think you could find a piggy bank that looked so damn cute!) When it comes time to break the bank open, Zach can’t do it and resolves to set his pig free. The gesture is sweet and simple and totally moving.

Slingin’ popcorn at The Trylon

Yes, the truth comes out: not only am I a patron of the Trylon but a highly skilled volunteer able to add $1, $1.50 and $2 in any possible combination. I just dare any of you to order six sodas, five popcorns and nine candies from me and see if I can add it up.

Those of us at the Trylon Saturday night, both audience and staff alike, were able to celebrate twelve sold out shows for the series. The Keaton series sadly came to a close, but The Trylon has a full slate of weekend scheduling for September, October, and November. Look for me behind the candy counter!

Sunday, August 2 – Luck (2009)

Is everyone aware that we have a first run Bollywood movie theater in town? In a dilapidated strip mall in Brooklyn Center stands the independently owned Brookdale 8, serving up Indian hits and misses ever weekend along side bargain second run features. On almost any given day, I would much rather take my chances with an unknown Bollywood film than an overrated Hollywood film, but you have both options at the Brookdale 8 and you can get samosas, popcorn and a coke.

Like spinning the wheel of fortune, I chose to go see Luck (Azma), an action film promising less over-the-top song and dance and more over-the-top style. When I got there I realized that maybe it wasn’t the best choice, because, well, I was the only one watching it.

If you combined the plot of M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable with the French thriller 13 Tzameti and gave it the look of Johnny To’s Running Out of Time, you would have something very close to Luck. Part of the interesting aspects of the average Bollywood film is that it can be such an amazing pastiche styles and references. Unabashed borrowing is not the same as blatant copying when you are able to come up with a whole that is original. Luck might be original, but it boarders on completely inane as it throws caution and logic into the wind. An air-tight plot is not something I am normally concerned about, but this film was so loose at connecting the dots that it became comedic.

Musa is a high roller, obsessed with his own innate luck and the potential luck of others. Always outfitted in an airy kurta, a plush velvety sports coat and a fancy horseshoe necklace, Musa runs an extremely profitable gambling ring that rides on other’s fate. Always on the prowl for people who seem to be supernaturally lucky, he manipulates them in participating in games of chance where the general public places bets on individuals and their survival. Enter Ram, who is financially down on his luck and is desperate to find a way out. He agrees, under pressure, to participate in this game with 15 other hapless individuals.

Luck clocks in at about 2 ½ hours, and is relatively entertaining and painless unless you have a low tolerance for implausible drama and superficial characters. If you edited the film down to all the shots of people looking cool and walking in slow motion, I bet you would still have a film over an hour. Yes, there is a romance and, yes, there are plenty of musical interludes that are supposed to earn the characters some sympathy, but it simply doesn’t happen. In the end, Luck was a dud. From the look of the line when I emerge from the theater, I should have gone to the movie after .