Busyish week over here! The Jewish Film Festival wraps up over the weekend and then the Arab Film Fest begins on Wednesday. (We'll have more coverage of that next week.) And not only do Trylon's Horrorthon tix go on sale Saturday morning (in-person only), but the Restless Equinox Independent Film Fest offers a full day of horror over at Emagine Willow Creek. And Saturday is Batman's birthday, if you're into that kind of thing. We've heard of "I AM THE BATMAN"... but "I AM THE BIRTHDAY BOY"?!
Special Screenings
Thursday, September 19
The Babadook (2014)
Alamo Drafthouse/AMC Southdale 16
Celebrating 10 years of babadookery. Alamo: $13.50. 7 p.m. More info here. AMC: Through Sunday. $15. 8:30 p.m. More info here.
The Matrix (1999)
AMC Rosedale 14/AMC Southdale 16/Emagine Willow Creek
Ah, 1999, the peak of human civilization. May it continue forever. $16.35. 7 p.m. Monday 3 & 7 p.m. More info here.
Jurassic Park (1993)
Grandview 1&2
Dinosaurs are so scary, I'm glad they're not real. Also Sunday. $12. 9:15 p.m. More info here.
The Terminator (1984)
The Heights
He tells that guy "I'll be back" and then he comes back all right. $12. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
Minneanimate
Main Cinema
Check out 76 minutes of local animation. $15. 7 p.m. More info here.
Rabbi on the Block (2024)
Main Cinema
A Chicago rabbi brings the South Side's Jewish and Black residents together. Preceded by the short film In Solidarity. Part of the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival. $15/$18. 7 p.m. More info here.
Friday, September 20
Best of Québec Shorts
Alliance Française
Seven short films from francophone Canada, with a discussion following. Free. 6 p.m. More info here.
Blue Beetle (2023)
AMC Southdale 16
Back in theaters this week for some reason. $5. Showtimes and more info here.
The Batman (2022)
AMC Southdale 16
Why settle for a Batman? Read our full review here. All week. $5. 4 p.m. More info here.
The Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
AMC Southdale 16
Batman takes on Stacy Keech. All week. $5. 7:10 p.m. More info here.
Batman Forever (1995)
AMC Southdale 16
Watch out, Gotham! There's a new director in town and he's super gay. All week. $5. 9:30 p.m. More info here.
Persian Lessons (2023)
JCC Capp Center/JCC Sabes Center
In occupied France, a Jewish man convinces the Nazis that he's actually Persian. Part of the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival. Free. 3:15 p.m. More info here.
7 Days in May (1966)
Trylon
A coup in the U.S.? How preposterous! $8. Friday-Saturday 7 & 9:15 p.m. Sunday 3 & 5:15 p.m. More info here.
Saturday, September 21
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (2024)
AMC Rosedale 14/AMC Southdale 16/Bloomington 13/Marcus West End Cinema
Oh, Eminem is gonna hate this. Also Wednesday. $16.26. 4 & 7 p.m. More info here.
The Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
Alamo Drafthouse
Welcome to Batman day. $10. 3:10 p.m. More info here.
The Muppet Movie (1979)
Alamo Drafthouse
All your kids’ favorite stars have cameos in this one: Charles Durning, Edgar Bergen, and, of course, Orson Welles. $10. 5:30 p.m. More info here.
Horror High Film Camp Shorts Program
Emagine Willow Creek
A collection of short films by Horror High Film Camp students. Part of the Restless Equinox Independent Film Fest. $10. 12 p.m. Find more info here.
Batman Begins (2005)
Emagine Willow Creek
Cillian Murphy is super creepy in this. $5. 1 p.m. More info here.
Ten Thousand Shrieks: Minnesota Short Films
Emagine Willow Creek
A collection of short Minnesota-made horror films. Part of the Restless Equinox Independent Film Fest. $10. 2 p.m. More info here.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Emagine Willow Creek
Batman keeps on beginning. $5. 4 p.m. More info here.
Sledgehammers at Dawn (2013)
Emagine Willow Creek
Bloody things are happening on the outskirts of Minneapolis! Part of the Restless Equinox Independent Film Fest. $10. 4 p.m. More info here.
WNUF Halloween Special (2013)
Emagine Willow Creek
This spooky TV broadcast isn't real. Or IS IT? Part of the Restless Equinox Independent Film Fest. $10. 6 p.m. More info here.
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Emagine Willow Creek
Sounds dirty. $5. 7:15 p.m. More info here.
Death Drop Gorgeous (2020)
Emagine Willow Creek
A masked killer is draining gay men of their blood! Part of the Restless Equinox Independent Film Fest. $10. 8 p.m. More info here.
Madrasa (2023)
JCC Capp Center
Episodes of the Israeli TV show, set in a bilingual Jewish-Arab high school in Jerusalem. Part of the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival. 8 p.m. $15/$18. More info here.
Uncle Buck (1989)
Parkway Theater
What's worse than being home alone? Being home with Uncle Buck! $5-$10. 1 p.m. More info here.
Dan Savage's HUMP! Part Two
Parkway Theater
See 25 more new dirty movies. $25. 6:30 & 9 p.m. More info here.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Parkway Theater
Will you people keep it down? I’m trying to watch the movie! With live shadow cast performance by Transvestite Soup. $10./15 Midnight. More info here.
Sunday, September 22
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Alamo Drafthouse
I think this is the one with the prisoner of Azkaban. $10. 3:10 p.m. More info here.
The Warriors (1979)
Alamo Drafthouse
Is this as queer as the Alamo says it is? I honestly don't remember. $10. 6:35 p.m. More info here.
Psycho—Extended Cut (1960)
Emagine Willow Creek
Adds Norman peeping, Norman washing off blood, and two extra stabs. $9. 1:30 & 4:10 p.m. Wednesday 12 & 5:30 p.m. More info here.
That's Entertainment! (1974)
JCC Capp Center
The Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival closes with clips of MGM musicals' greatest moments. Tickets include food, drink, and music. $20/$25. More info here.
Kenki (1965)
Trylon
A gardener is a secret swordsman! $8. 7:30 p.m. Monday-Tuesday 7 & 9 p.m. More info here.
Monday, September 23
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Alamo Drafthouse
Just such a beautiful movie visually. $10. 7 p.m. More info here.
Just Before Dawn (1981)
Emagine Willow Creek
Backwoods creeps target clueless hikers. $10. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
Tuesday, September 24
The Terminator (1984)
Alamo Drafthouse
Must be Terminator season or something. $7. 7 p.m. More info here.
Stand by for Failure: A Documentary About Negativland (2022)
Emagine Willow Creek
A look at the career of the sonic provocateurs, along with a performance by the group itself. Presented by Sound Unseen. $25. 7 p.m. More info here.
Inglourious Bastards (2009)
Parkway Theater
Easily the best of Tarantino's "avenging historical wrongs" trilogy. $9/$12. Trivia at 7:30 p.m. Movie at 8 p.m. More info here.
Wednesday, September 25
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Alamo Drafthouse
Is this the one with the Goblet of Fire? $10. 7 p.m. More info here.
Starcrash (1978)
Emagine Willow Creek
Featuring a young David Hasselhoff. $6. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
The Mummy (1999)
Grandview 1&2
Mummies are so scary, I'm glad they're not real. $12. 9:15 p.m. More info here.
Bye Bye Tiberias (2024)
Main Cinema
Filmmaker Lina Soualem accompanies her mother when she returns to the Palestinian village she left 30 years earlier. Part of the Arab Film Festival. $8/12. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
Angel Terminators (1992)
Trylon
Cult Film Collective presents a little-seen Hong Kong action flick on 16mm. $10. 7 p.m. More info here.
Opening This Week
Follow the links for showtimes.
Girls Will Be Girls
A coming of age story in a Himalayan boarding school.
JUNG KOOK: I AM STILL
You are still what?
Kahan Shuru Kahan Khatam
Glad the new Marcus West End is keeping up Showplace ICON's commitment to screening new Indian releases.
Never Let Go
Halle Berry protects her kids from an evil spirit.
Omni Loop
Mary-Louise Parker travels through time.
Rez Ball
A Native American high school basketball team loses its star player.
The Substance
Thanks to a mysterious serum, Demi Moore relives her youth as Margaret Qualley. What could go wrong? Full review to come tomorrow.
Transformers One
Can Chris Hemsworth make Optimus Prime something besides the usual colossal drag?
Whiplash
Sorry, this movie was dumb 10 years ago and it's dumb now.
Ongoing in Local Theaters
Follow the links for showtimes.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
It’s nice to be pandered to occasionally, so in the run up to the release of this redundant sequel I’ve enjoyed hearing how Winona Ryder and Jenna Ortega geeked out on set about their shared love of Soy Cuba, as well as the Letterboxd promo where Ortega tried to sell Catherine O’Hara on The Passion of Joan of Arc. But then there were the CarMax, Denny’s, and Progressive ads reminding us the real reason why beloved films of the past can never die: $$$. And the movie itself? Well, with Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin’s quaint Maitlands having moved on via an unexplained “loophole,” the Deetz clan—Ryder's Lydia (now a famed ghost hunter), O'Hara's Delia (now an established NYC artist), and Ortega as Lydia’s sullen daughter Astrid—reunites for the funeral of its patriarch Charles (l’affair de Jeffrey Jones is navigated around cleverly). From the re-maniacal Michael Keaton and Ryder’s unstable goth mom to newcomers Justin Theroux as Lydia’s weaselly beau and current Burton GF Monica Bellucci as a soul-sucking spook, everyone here is game, and yes, there is involuntary singing and goopy mayhem. But while this silly little romp through a familiar world consistently errs on the side of goofball exuberance, the storylines race around frantically in search of a reason to happen. As for Ortega, she was good enough in the 2021 school shooting film The Fallout that I hope she frees herself from the afterlife of 20th century IP at some point and shows us what she's got. And I couldn’t help but be haunted by the fact that if he’d made the original a few years later, Burton would probably have cast Johnny Depp instead of Keaton. B-
Between the Temples
The setup is a little too much like a movie pitch: Jason Schwartzman is a cantor unable to get over his wife’s death; Carol Kane is his old music teacher, who demands that he prep her for a late-life bat mitzvah. But though these two characters do indeed, you know, “learn a little about each other—and themselves—along the way,” Nathan Silver’s understated little comedy (co-written with C. Mason Wells) is unconventional in a lived, everyday sort of way rather than willfully quirky. (It’s also a welcome peek into a middle-class community of Jews who for once aren’t depicted as screaming neurotics.) Great cast, for sure: Cantor Ben’s two moms are noodgy Dolly de Leon (even better here than in Ghostlight) and matronly Caroline Aaron (you’ll recognize that gravelly voice), while Robert Smigel is an easygoing rabbi and Madeline Weinstein is his daughter, who everyone wants Ben to marry. But it’s Schwartzman and Kane, both wizards of cadence, who carry the film, their relationship developing along a comic, conversational rhythm that’s complemented by MVP Sean Price Williams’s trademark handheld verite style. I wasn’t convinced the conclusion was true to the film’s non-confrontational spirit, but I was willing to be persuaded. A-
Blink Twice
There’s probably no way to discuss Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut, which she also co-wrote, without spilling the beans, so the spoiler-averse might just wanna clamp those eyes tight. In this Cinderella story turned nightmare, Channing Tatum is a tech titan who, following an undisclosed scandal and an apology tour, professes that therapy has made him a new man. He invites caterer Naomi Ackie and her more skeptical buddy Alia Shawkat (along with some other ladies and assorted hangers on) to his private island. Here the guests lounge around during the day and, by night, indulge in hallucinogenic larks that are quick-edited to conceal any details from us. As you’ve maybe heard, Blink Twice begins with a trigger warning regarding “depictions of violence—including sexual violence,” but the rape here is more implied than shown, unlike the orgy of vengeance it leads to. Kravitz’s glib one-liners and cartoonish characterizations are a mismatch for her big ideas about repressed trauma and gaslighting and abuse. The audience I saw kept laughing even when shit got grim—I don’t know if that’s what Kravitz wanted, but she certainly provided the opportunity. Loved the Yoko needle drop though. C
His Three Daughters
Sometimes, great acting is all a movie needs. Sometimes, great acting is more than a movie can handle. What writer/director Azazel Jacobs’s story of three sisters waiting for their dad to die in home hospice gets right about families under stress is how each member falls back into her familiar role. Carrie Coon’s Katie, the eldest, busies herself frantically with tasks, frustrated that no one wants to share the responsibilities she’s imposed on herself. Natasha Lyonne’s adopted Rachel just wants to withdraw until it’s all over and get high in her room. Elizabeth Olsen’s spacey peacemaker Christina wafts between the two, doing yoga and missing her daughter and trying to convince everyone (including herself) that everything will be all right. There are wonderful moments between the three, but there are also too many easy epiphanies, too many neat understandings reached, too many moments where a touch of restraint could balance out heightened emotion with the tedium that accompanies a death watch. And if there were more films offering actresses of this caliber the roles they deserve, maybe I wouldn't be tempted to overrate this one. B
Inside Out 2
Inside Out’s model of the human psyche was something only Pixar could have dreamt up (derogatory): Your brain is an office staffed with project managers jockeying for control of your emotional responses. Despite the corporatized determinism at its core, the 2015 movie worked dramatically because its story of a Minnesota girl named Riley played off adult sympathies for distressed children in the sort of pitiless, heart-wrenching way that only Pixar can (complimentary, I think?). In this noisy, chaotic follow up, Riley enters adolescence and a new emotion, Anxiety, shows up to the job. The upstart feeling stages a coup, literally bottles up Joy and other inconvenient emotions, and constructs Riley’s sense of self based wholly on the perception of others. There’s so much focus on the internal conflict here that Riley becomes a puppet yanked too and fro, and the emotional dynamics make no sense even on their own terms. C+
Reagan
No one should see this movie. I’m not joking. No, really—I’m worried that if I make any jokes here you’ll think maybe Reagan is bad in a fun way, or in a way that’s at least instructive about modern conservatism. It’s bad in a mildly stupefying way, leaving you with fewer thoughts about Reagan than you had before you entered the theater, drifting along from event to event with the pacing and depth of a History Channel historical reenactment. Reagan is clearly not history, but it’s not really entertainment either. It’s barely a movie, and even to call it propaganda suggests a manipulative skillfulness it lacks. Reagan is more like a two-hour bedtime story, meant, like the man himself, to reassure those frightened by history. Read our full review here. D+
Speak No Evil
Nope, haven’t seen the 2022 Danish original, despite hearing good things about it, and yet I could tell this Blumhouse photocopy was missing something even before I checked the former’s plot synopsis. Uptight Americans Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy meet rowdy Brits James McAvoy and Aisling Franciosi while vacationing in Italy and for some reason agree to come visit their country home. The hosts begin testing the guests’ limits, and the Yanks are such ninnies they go uncomfortably with the flow until, yes, it’s too late to turn back. McAvoy does have a ball as the rural psycho, but the film never builds any real tension. And it just isn’t nasty enough, we’re allowed to identify with the victims rather than taking any pleasure in their discomfort. It’s Straw Dogs with straw men, and what fun is that? C+
Twisters
Twister may not be quite the summer classic that anyone who wasn’t old enough to vote in 1996 thinks it is, but it knew what it was and what it was supposed to do. This not-really-a-sequel (unless every movie about a shark is a Jaws sequel) is a bigger mess than a small Oklahoma town after an EF5. It can't really be about climate change because blockbusters have to be carefully nonpartisan, but it can’t not be about climate change because why else (as everyone in this movie is constantly saying) are there more tornadoes than ever. The goofiest part is that the chasers keep abandoning storms to instead rush into threatened towns to "help," i.e. telling everyone to get away from windows and get into the basement, which, sorry, but if you live in tornado alley and don't already know that you deserve to get swooped up into the sky. As Normal People and Hit Man showed, both Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell are better actors than they are movie stars. He needs to find another auteur to cast him against type instead of passing off his permasquint and smackably handsome grin as charisma; she needs to star in a Jane Austen adaptation or a Paddington sequel or something because I don’t believe she could find Oklahoma on a map. This will make enough money that neither of those things will ever happen, and I bet director Lee Isaac Chung never makes another Minari either. Meanwhile we’ll probably lose the National Weather Service. C+
