Whew. We've got a lot of listings for you this week. That's due in part to Mizna's Arab Film Festival (largely at the Main and the Walker) and the Black Film Festival at the Edina Mann. Lots to check out there. And I'm also stupidly excited for John Wilson's The History of Concrete.
Special Screenings
Thursday, September 24
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
Alamo Drafthouse
Manic gangsters are no match for Forrest Whitaker's chill combat philosophy. $13.99. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
Heaven in Stone and Glass (2026)
AMC Rosedale 14/AMC Southdale 16/Marcus West End
A trip through Europe’s Gothic cathedrals. 7 p.m. Ticket prices and more info here.
Ghost in the Shell (1995)
AMC Southdale 16
I often sing this title to the tune of Belle & Sebastian’s “Fox in the Snow.” $11.19. 12:45. More info here.
Toy Story 5 (2006)
East Side Freedom Library Lawn
TriLingua Cinema celebrates the grand opening of its new microcinema tonight. Free. 7 p.m. More info here.
Gothic (1986)
Emagine Willow Creek
This Ken Russell film blew my sheltered little 16-year-old mind when it came out. Wonder how it holds up. $12. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
Trailer Trash Reborn (2026)
Emagine Willow Creek
A collection of rare trailers and other film ephemera. $12. 7 p.m. More info here.
The Holy Mountain (1973)
Grandview 1&2
Alejandro Jodorowsky’s classic midnight movie. $14.14. 9:15 p.m. More info here.
Sabrina (1954)
The Heights
Poor Audrey Hepburn could never find a man her own age. $10/$13. 7 p.m. More info here.
Rebel With a Clause (2025)
Main Cinema
A doc about a grammar obsessive who travels the country offering info and discussion. $13. 4 p.m. More info here.
Edie Arnold Is a Loser (2025)
Main Cinema
Catholic schoolgirls start a band. $18. 7 p.m. More info here.
Shorts and Fragments
Main Cinema
Short films by local filmmakers. Part of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. $14. 5:30 p.m. More info here.
The Wicker Man (1973)
Parkway Theater
Christopher Lee loved this movie so much he did a self-funded promotional tour. $10/$15. Trivia at 7:30 p.m. Movie at 8 p.m. More info here.
Dinkytown: A Tale of a Legendary Village (2026)
Riverview Theater
Self-explanatory! $5. 7:15 p.m. More info here.
Samaritans (2026)
Riverview Theater
Documentary about humanitarians helping migrants in the U.S. Southwest. $10. 5 p.m. More info here.
Minority Report (2002)
Trylon
An ACLU-sponsored screening. Free. 6:30 p.m. More info here.
Mystery Classic Film
Under the 3rd Avenue Bridge
An outdoor screening of a classic Arab musical—but which one? Part of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. Suggested donation $10. More info here.
Friday. September 25
Mystery Voyage (2000)
Alamo Drafthouse
A terrifying ’60s kids’ movie filmed in the South African desert. $13.99. 9:30 p.m. More info here.
Marmaille (2024)
Alliance Française
A teen breakdancer gets kicked out by his mom. Free. 6 p.m. More info here.
At the Mercy of Faith (2025)
Edina Mann
A devout preacher is troubled by visions. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 4:50 p.m. More info here.
Black Sun (2026)
Edina Mann
Four Black men discuss sensitive issues. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 4 p.m. More info here.
First Comes Love (2026)
Edina Mann
A woman's "perfect life" with her boyfriend begins to unravel. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 4:25 p.m. More info here.
Minnesota Made
Edina Mann
A selection of short films from local filmmakers. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 6:05 p.m. More info here.
Regrow (2026)
Edina Mann
A spirit helps a man get past his anxiety. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 7:35 p.m. More info here.
Sira (2026)
Edina Mann
A nurse visits her dying father. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 6:45 p.m. More info here.
Stereotypically Me (2026)
Edina Mann
A Latina tries to make it in Hollywood. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 5:20 p.m. More info here.
The Greatest Story Never Told (2026)
Edina Mann
A doc about faith and activism. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 7 p.m. More info here.
Zoolander (2001)
Heights Theater
Featuring future president Donald Trump. $13. 9:45 p.m. More info here.
Who Killed Alex Odeh (2026)
Main Cinema
An investigation into the violent 1985 death of the poet and activist. Part of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. $14. 1 p.m. More info here.
My Father and Qaddafi (2025) + Attempting to Remember My Father's Face (2025)
Main Cinema
Two films from a director whose father seriously challenged Qaddafi’s rule. Part of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. $14. 4 p.m. More info here.
Hadi Moussally Retrospective (2020-25)
Main Cinema
A collection of shorts from the gay Arab filmmaker, who will be in attendance. Part of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. $14. 7 p.m. More info here.
The Arab (2026)
Main Cinema
An old man claims to be the brother of the unnamed Arab killed inThe Stranger. Part of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. $14. 9 p.m. More info here.
Dorothy (2026)
Marcus West End
The lives of two close friends are changed by a compassionate woman. Also Saturday & Tuesday. $9.25. 11:45 a.m. More info here.
Misery (1990)
Trylon
Someday a Racket member is gonna do this to me if I don’t write about their band, I just know it. $8. 7 & 9:15 p.m. Saturday 5, 7:15, & 9:30 p.m. Sunday 12:30 & 2:45 p.m. More info here.
Saturday, September 26
The Birdcage (1996)
Alamo Drafthouse
And it’s not even Pride Month. $13.99. 3:30 p.m. Monday 7:15 p.m. More info here.
Cataplexy (2025)
Edina Mann
A young person lives with narcolepsy. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 5:20 p.m. More info here.
Deliver Us (2026)
Edina Mann
A documentary about the horrifically high mortality rate for Black women giving birth. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 3 p.m. More info here.
Hairdoo (2026)
Edina Mann
A young girl struggles with her hair before school picture day. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 1:40 p.m. More info here.
Home (2026)
Edina Mann
A family must decide what to do with its aging mother. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 6:05 p.m. More info here.
Miss Arlene (2026)
Edina Mann
A young diabetic and an elderly baker become friends. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 7:05 p.m. More info here.
Montmartre (2026)
Edina Mann
A woman recovers her joie de vivre in France. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 7:40 p.m. More info here.
Reverence: Reclaiming the Forgotten (2026)
Edina Mann
A genealogist works to recover the lives of forgotten Black people. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 6:35 p.m. More info here.
Shenita's Remorse (2026)
Edina Mann
A middle-aged mother struggles with alcoholism. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 1:25 p.m. More info here.
Sisters and Destiny (2026)
Edina Mann
The lives of Angela Davis and her sister Gerty Archimède. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 2 p.m. More info here.
The Drop Off (2026)
Edina Mann
A man reunites with his estranged mother. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 5:35 p.m. More info here.
The Last Dance (2026)
Edina Mann
The last night at a bar in East London in the '90s. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 4:30 p.m. More info here.
The Woods Maiden (2026)
Edina Mann
A farmer meets a mysterious woman in the woods. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 4:55 p.m. More info here.
Three Black Men (2026)
Edina Mann
They travel the Transatlantic slave route in reverse. Part of the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. $14.16. 11:30 a.m. More info here.
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Extended (2003)
Emagine Willow Creek
Never stop returning, king! Also Sunday & Wednesday. $11. 1 & 6:15 p.m. More info here.
The Secret of NIMH (1982)
Heights Theater
Traumatize your children! $6-$13. 11 a.m. More info here.
The Fly (1986)
Heights Theater
Gross! But great! $10-$13. 9:45 p.m. More info here.
Stories of Rupture: Shorts
Main Cinema
Short films from Arab filmmakers. Part of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. $14. 12:30 p.m. More info here.
An Incomplete Calendar (2026)
Main Cinema
A look at how oil forged pan-Arab identity and power. Part of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. $14. 2:40 p.m. More info here.
Cotton Queen (2025)
Main Cinema
A Sudanese teen resists a businessman trying to change her village. Part of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. $14. 4:30 p.m. More info here.
Do You Love Me (2025)
Main Cinema
An archival look through the history of Beirut. Part of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. $14. 7 p.m. More info here.
Unidentified (2025)
Main Cinema
A tru-crime podcast fan tries to solve a murder in Saudi Arabia. Part of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. $14. 9 p.m. More info here.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Parkway Theater
Would you people keep it down? I’m trying to watch the movie. $10/$15. Midnight. More info here.
CatVideoFest 2026
Riverview Theater
The cats are back! Also Sunday. $5. 10:45 a.m. More info here.
Sunday, September 27
Destroy All Monsters (1968)
Alamo Drafthouse
Eleven kaiju duke it out here. $10.99. Saturday & Monday noon. Sunday 11:30 a.m. More info here.
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother (2026)
Alamo Drafthouse
An advance screening of the movie Bassam Tariq and Mahershala Ali made instead of Blade. $25. 7 p.m. More info here.
Videodrome (1983)
Grandview 1&2
James Woods is so unfortunately good in everything he’s in. Also Thursday. $13.19. 9:15 p.m. More info here.
A Foreign Affair (1948)
Heights Theater
Marlene Dietrich is a former Nazi. Jean Arthur is a U.S. congresswoman. John Lund (who?) must choose between them. $10/$13. 7 p.m. More info here.
El Sett (2025)
Main Cinema
A biopic about the great Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum. Part of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. $14. 11 a.m. More info here.
Je Tu Il Elle (1975)
Trylon
It’s gonna be a Chantal Akerman fall, y’all. $8. 5 & 7 p.m. 7 & 9 p.m. More info here.
With Hasan in Gaza (2025)
Walker Art Center
Kamal Aljafari makes a film out of footage from Gaza in 2001. Part of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. $10/$12. 3 p.m. More info here.
Bouchra (2025)
Walker Art Center
An artist in NYC draws inspiration from conversations with her mother back in Morocco. Part of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. $10/$12. 7 p.m. More info here.
Monday, September 28
Nacho Libre (2006)
Alamo Drafthouse
Hey, is that my libre? $20. 6:45 p.m. More info here.
Videodrome (1983)
Edina Mann
In case you’d rather see it in Edina. Also Wednesday. $10.90. 7 p.m. More info here.
Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
Emagine Willow Creek
A mockumentary about an aspiring slasher. $9. 7:30 & 7:45 p.m. More info here.
Remake (2025)
Heights Theater
Filmmaker Ross McElwee looks back on his career following his son’s death. $10/$13. 7 p.m. More info here.
Risky Business (1983)
Main Cinema
Just take those old movies off the shelf. Presented by Sloppy Discs. $13. 7 p.m. More info here.
Tuesday, September 29
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Alamo Drafthouse
Yes, but he’s our unstoppable killing machine from a dystopian future. $13.99. 4:30 p.m. Thursday 6:15 p.m. More info here.
The Sect (1991)
Alamo Drafthouse
A Satanic German cult ensnares Jamie Lee Curtis’s sister. $10.99. 8 p.m. More info here.
Poltergeist (1982)
Parkway Theater
Yes, those are real human skeletons. $10/$15. DJ set at 7:30 p.m. Movie at 8 p.m. More info here.
Wednesday, September 30
Verity (2006)
Alamo Drafthouse/AMC Rosedale 14/AMC Southdale 16/Emagine Willow Creek
I mean, Dakota Johnson does seem like a perfect Colleen Hoover heroine. Alamo: $17.99. 7 p.m. More info here. AMC: $19.99. 7 p.m. More info here. Emagine: $13. 7 p.m. More info here.
Jeopardy! Interactive
Alamo Drafthouse
Not a movie, but I’ll allow it. $15. 7 p.m. More info here.
Linkin Park: Unshatter (2026)
AMC Rosedale 14/AMC Southdale 16/B&B Bloomington/Emagine Willow Creek/Marcus West End
A look at the band today. AMC: $15. 6 p.m. More info here. B&B: $22.39. 7 p.m. More info here. Emagine: $17. 6 p.m. More info here. Marcus: $15:50. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976)
Emagine Willow Creek
An assassin is coming for the One-Armed Boxer! Also Thursday. $9. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
The Stepford Wives (2004)
Lagoon Cinema
Nicole Kidman sure has made some interesting choices in her career. $11. 4:50 & 7:15 p.m. More info here.
Gypsy 83: The Director’s Cut (2001)
Main Cinema
The Main begins its new “staff picks” series with this cult fave about a pair of Ohio goths who journey to NYC. $13. 7 p.m. More info here.
Season of the Witch (1972)
Trylon
Unhappy wife, witchy life. Sold out. 7 p.m. More info here.
Thursday, October 1
Nickel Boys (2024)
Capri Theater
Brilliant adaptation of the Colson Whitehead novel. $5-$20. 7 p.m. More info here.
Spirited Away—Live on Stage
AMC Rosedale 14/AMC Southdale 16/Emagine Willow Creek/Marcus West End
The Miyazaki classic, spectacularly adapted for the stage. Prices, showtimes, and more info here.
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Heights Theater
The classic “life upended by an aging star” film, referenced by not one but two new movies this summer. $16. 7 p.m. More info here.
She’s the He (2026)
Main Cinema
The Flip the Script Queer Film Festival opens with this trans coming-of-age comedy. 7 p.m. More info here.
The Naked Spur (1953)
Trylon
Jimmy Stewart is hot on Robert Ryan’s trail in this morally complex Western. $8. 7 p.m. More info here.
D’Est (From the East) (1993)
Walker Art Center
Chantal Akerman’s document of life in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Soviet Union. $6/$8. 7 p.m. More info here.
Opening
Follow the links for showtimes.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Never heard of it.
Charlie Harper
Two attractive people fall in love. One is named Charlie and one is named Harper.
Forgotten Island
Two friends can only leave a magical island if they lose all memory of each other.
Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!
A former ballroom dance competitor in Tokyo comes out of isolation.
Heart of the Beast
Brad Pitt and dog vs. the elements.
Hello Beautiful
A supermodel learns she has breast cancer.
The History of Concrete
I’m so there.
No Limbs No Limits: The NickV Story
The inspirational story of a man born without arms or legs.
The Paradise
A new Indian historical action drama.
Primetime
Robert Pattinson is Chris Hansen.
Princess Mononoke (1997)
Miyazaki’s bloodiest returns to theaters.
Reagan: The Director’s Cut
Because it wasn't long enough.
Spanglish (2024)
The Adam Sandler comedy, re-released for Hispanic Heritage Month. There had to be better choices?
The Stunt Driver
Jay Baruchel is a ’70s stuntman who wants to jump the St. Lawrence River.
Winter Hymns
A doctor meets with dying patients on a wintery day.
You Had to Be There
Subtitle: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (In a Canadian Kind of Way)
Ongoing in Local Theaters
Follow the links for showtimes.
Chronovisor—ends September 24
Coyote vs. Acme
When a fed-up Wile E. Coyote belatedly recognizes that defective Acme products are the source of all his woes, he seeks out Kevin Avery (Will Forte), a lawyer who specializes in settling animated clients’ product-liability cases fast and cheap. But the fired-up Coyote, along with Avery’s idealistic niece (Lana Condor), decide to stick it to The Man. Or rather, The Rooster—as Acme’s CEO, Foghorn Leghorn reveals himself as the evil bully we always knew he was, and it’s a hoot to watch him intimidate his lawyer, an obligingly game John Cena. If much of the comedy here leans on nostalgia, the old bits remain good ones. And while there’s a reason classic Looney Tunes didn’t exceed 10 minutes, Bugs and Daffy and Porky and Tweety all turn up at opportune moments. The human/toon interaction is as seamless as it should be, with Forte a serviceable enough straight man that I won’t compare him to Bob Hoskins. Though having avoided mentioning Who Framed Roger Rabbit? as long as I could, I couldn't help but notice that this film flirts with the other’s idea of cartoons as manic chaos agents but never quite plunges in. As for the anti-corporate storyline, it could be a critique of animal testing if it wanted to. (It’s a stretch, I say, I say, a stretch to claim it’s metaphorically calling out Big Tech’s beta-testing.) What stage of capitalism have we reached when a solid piece of entertainment like this becomes a cause célèbre simply because biz pinheads nearly binned it as a tax write off? I’m just glad it gives today’s kids the opportunity to learn who Peter Lorre was the same way that I did. B+
Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019)—ends September 24
Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger—ends September 24
The Odyssey—read full review here
What we tend to forget about The Odyssey is that it’s maybe 10% cool mythological shit like one-eyed giant cannibals and sinister witches and gods punishing impudent mortals and like 90% about exchanging gifts with your hosts and telling very long stories to impress them. What’s remarkable about Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is that it honors this aspect of the epic while delivering the supernatural adventure film moviegoers want. Yet as always, Nolan is so transparent in his ideology you can almost believe he’s making an argument, when like any storyteller he’s just using fiction to justify his beliefs. Which, as always, is that we are always one well-told tale away from chaos. Whether the gods are real or not, warns the David Brooks of the cineplex, if we don’t honor them we will undermine the customs that hold our society together. Hey man, I just came here for the Cyclops. B+
Queen(s)—ends September 24
Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Look, we all know what’s wrong with the MCU. Too long, too constructed to promote future installments, just plain too familiar. But I’m not here to relitigate all that. I’m here to tell people who might be in the mood for a Spider-Man movie whether they should see this Spider-Man movie, and my answer is a resounding “Uh, sure.” It is the one currently in theaters, after all, and it’s downright sleek compared to the Spider-Man: No Way Home, which was overstuffed with Spiders-Men, supervillains, and multiverse nonsense. Peter Parker’s existence (Tom Holland) has been magicked away from everyone’s memory, and as he watches his once-gf MJ (Zendaya) and once-bff Ned (Jacob Batalon) live blissful Peter-free lives at MIT, he throws himself into his work. He debates attempting to reintroduce himself while tracking a mysterious entity that leaps from body to body in search of some government secret and dealing with some freakily increasing spidery tendencies. Along the way, he encounters Florence Pugh’s Black Widow (says “potatoes” amusingly), Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk (bigger than ever), (a little too much of) Jon Berenthal’s Punisher, and, of course, Sadie Sink, who plays Jean Grey with an intense school-shooter vibe. Because this is Spider-Man, the fights are less monotonous than the MCU norm, though I was a bit fatigued by the time we got to the climatic battle with the evil ninjas. And as for future installments, I’m sure the device Peter invents that inhibits superpowers won’t be used against the good guys in future films. B
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma
Jane Schoenbrun’s latest had me hooked before the end of the opening credits sequence, which guides us through the cultural impact of an imaginary slasher series, right down to a fake New Yorker cartoon. Trash connoisseurs tend to be polemicists for their own niche fetishes—boys with toys and a rulebook for playing with them—but Schoenbrun is more intrigued with how pop culture psychologically embeds itself within our identities. They’re also, refreshingly, less respectful of their source material, and happy to indulge in fountains of blood, incongruous needle drops, and a willingness to cringe at the film’s tendency to wink at us. Here Hannah Einbinder is Kris, an indie director fluent in gender-ese and the theoretics of desire who has a shot to resurrect the played-out Camp Miasma series, centered on the unkillable, lake-dwelling trans serial murderer Little Death (Jack Haven). During a trip to recruit the reclusive star of the original installment, Billy Pressley (Gillian Anderson), for the new film, Kris must confront her own trashy sexual fantasies, and I gotta say, it gets pretty hot. Where Shoenburn’s moody, neon-saturated I Saw the TV Glow floated the idea of pop obsession as a fraught portal to self-awareness, this gloriously garish meta-slasher more simply encourages us to learn to revel in the tawdriness of our own unchosen, mass culturally imprinted desires. The leads are perfectly chosen, with a resonance for certain audiences beyond these roles, and the supporting cast balances avatars of contemporary cool like Eva Victor and Sarah Sherman with recognizable character actors like Dylan Baker and the unmistakably Lynchian Patrick Fischler. We’re offered plenty to ponder about the gaze (and, I suppose, the gays), and Teenage Sex may wax a little too therapeutic and, well, polemical in the homestretch. But it’ll take a second viewing for me to care about all that, ‘cause I was preoccupied laughing as hard as the theater of delighted 20-somethings around me. That’s the thing: This works first as entertainment, and also as a tale of sexual bonding that doesn't quite reduce to a love story. Lowering its stakes even as it ratchets up the tension, Teenage Sex is surprisingly tender for a movie that ends with its stars bloodier than Sissy Spacek at the prom. A-
Tony
A portrait of the artist as a young fraud. Looking like all of the Strokes rolled into one, Dominic Sessa plays Anthony “Call Me Tony” Bourdain as an intense, pretentious kid who confidentially mispronounces “bildungsroman,” slouches as though he’s perpetually passing through a low door frame only he can see, and lies as reflexively as only someone who hasn’t yet figured out who he is can. When his crush (Emilia Jones) heads to Cape Cod for the summer, the tousled lad stalks after her, pretending he won a writing fellowship while washing dishes at a touristy seafood joint. Tony succeeds because it’s less a biopic than a coming-of-age story, with the young Bourdain forced to choose between the devil on one shoulder (Leo Woodall’s hard-drinkin’, tail-chasin’, smack-shootin’, bar-fightin’ Sal) and the angel on the other (the restaurant’s somber, devout, and meticulous chef, played by Antonio Banderas). It falters because the choice that kept him alive and set him on his path is, well, just less fun to watch. Sessa has the charisma to play the young Bourdain (even if he’s just a few clicks away from his turn in The Holdovers—what happens when he has to play a 21st century adult?) and I’ve come to savor Banderas’s late career, in which he underplays as dramatically as he once overheated during the peak of his Hollywood stardom. B+
