Happy Elf season to all who celebrate. The Christmas perennials have begun to take over local theaters, as they do every December, which means I'll be recycling bad jokes even more than usual. I so appreciate that the canon has widened enough to take in Eyes Wide Shut, for those who prefer naughty to nice.
As for new releases, Five Nights at Freddy's gives it a go at becoming a horror franchise and America's number one Paul Dano hater (honestly, I get it) presents Kill Bill as a single film.
I've also got a review of Wake Up Dead Man below. It's Josh O'Connor's third great performance this year, and his second (afterThe History of Sound) in a movie that could have been better.
Special Screenings
Thursday, December 4
Wedding Crashers (2005)
AMC Rosedale 14/AMC Southdale 16
Really overstates how many hot single people you meet at weddings. $16.35. 7 & 9 p.m. More info here.
Bob Marley: One Love (2024)
Capri Theater
I’m waiting on the sequel, Two Love. $5. 7 p.m. More info here.
The Doors: When You’re Strange (2009)
AMC Southdale 16/Emagine Willow Creek/Marcus West End
What do the youth think of the Doors these days? Anything at all? Also Saturday. Times and prices here.
Fanny and Alexander (1982)
Grandview 1&2
Ideally, this three-hour movie would be starting a little earlier. $14.14. 9:15 p.m. More info here.
White Christmas (1954)
Heights Theater
As usual, these showings are sold out. $20. Thursday-Friday 7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday 2 & 7 p.m. More info here.
Friday, December 5
Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch (2018)
AMC Southdale 16/Marcus West End
Benedict Cumberbatch, you are no Boris Karloff. AMC: Noon. $7. More info here. Marcus: All week. Showtimes and ticket prices here.
Scream It Off Screen
Parkway Theater
No screaming for you, unless you already got tix. Sold out. 8 p.m. More info here.
Withnail and I (1987)
Trylon
The beloved British comedy. $8. 7 p.m. Saturday 9 p.m. Sunday 3 p.m. More info here.
How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989)
Trylon
If you love Withnail, check out another comedy from director Bruce Robinson and actor Richard E. Grant. $8. 9:15 p.m. Saturday 7 p.m. Sunday 5:15 p.m. More info here.
British Arrows Awards
Walker Art Center
The Walker’s annual holiday showcase of British commercials continues. $15/$18. 7 p.m. Saturday 1, 4, & 7 p.m. Sunday 1 & 4 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday 7 & 8 p.m. More info here.
Saturday, December 6
Risky Business (1983)
Alamo Drafthouse
Pimpin’ ain’t easy. $13.99. 9:30 p.m. More info here.
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
Alamo Drafthouse
We know how to do it. $13.99. 6 p.m. More info here.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Alamo Drafthouse
It’s a Christmas movie. $10.99. 3 p.m. Tuesday 5 p.m. Wednesday 3:45 p.m. More info here.
Elf (2003)
Alamo Drafthouse/Emagine Willow CreekMarcus West End
Hide your cats! Everyone's favorite visitor from Melmac is back and—oh, sorry, it's Elf. Alamo: $19. Noon. More info here. Emagine: $10.60. 10:10 a.m. & 3:40 p.m. Sunday 2:30 p.m. Wednesday 6:30 p.m. More info here. Marcus: All week. Prices and showtimes here.
The Met: Live in HD: The Magic Flute
AMC Rosedale 14/AMC Southdale 16/Emagine Willow Creek/Marcus West End
An encore screening of the Met’s 2006 staging of the Mozart classic. 1 p.m. Ticket prices and more info here.
School Daze (1988)
Capri Theater
Spike Lee plunges into the world of HBCs. $25. 7 p.m. More info here.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Granada
Taste the Movies serves up (presumably) roast beast. Sold out. 6 & 8 p.m. More info here.
Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025)
Main Cinema
An advance screening of the reimagined horror flick by MN’s own Mike P. Nelson. Free. 10 p.m. More info here.
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Parkway Theater
*Whispers almost inaudibly* It’s fine. $5-$10. 1 p.m. More info here.
Elf (2003)
St. Paul Eagles Club
For you East Siders. Presented by TriLingua Cinema. Free. 7 p.m. More info here.
Sunday, December 7
The Holiday (2006)
Alamo Drafthouse
Feels like this one is screening a lot more than in recent years? $10.99. 11 a.m. Monday 3 p.m. More info here.
André Rieu’s 2025 Christmas Concert: Merry Christmas (2025)
AMC Southdale/Marcus West End
The Dutch violinist/conductor does his part for the holiday. Also Wednesday. Prices, times, and more info here.
The Polar Express (2004)
AMC Southdale
Creepy! Also Tuesday. $10. Noon. More info here.
The Nutcracker at Wethersfield (2025)
Edina Mann
Featuring a Q&A with the director, Edina native Annie Sundberg. $11.61. 3 & 6:30 p.m. More info here.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Grandview 1&2
Tis the season. Also Thursday. $14.44. 9:15 p.m. More info here.
Elf (2003)
Roxy’s Cabaret
Yet another free screening. Free. 7 p.m. More info here.
Basic Instinct (1992)
Trylon
I’m less nostalgic for the Age of Michael Douglas than some of you. $8. 7:15 p.m. Monday-Tuesday 7 & 9:30 p.m. More info here.
Monday, December 8
Desperado (1995)
Alamo Drafthouse
Once you’ve seen a spur run sensually along Salma Hayek’s ass, you never forget it. $13.99. 7 p.m. More info here.
Love Actually (2003)
AMC Southdale 16
Working on a theory that The Holiday has overtaken Love Actually as the most popular Christmas romcom. $7. Noon. More info here.
No Other Choice (2025)
AMC Southdale 16
An advance screening of the new Park Chan-wook. $18.99. 7 & 10:30 p.m. More info here.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Edina Mann
If you’d rather see it in Edina. Also Wednesday. $12.15. 7 p.m. More info here.
Krampus (2015)
Emagine Willow Creek
He knows if you’ve been naughty. $8.60. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Heights Theater
A meddling angel refuses to let a miserable man die. Also Tuesday. $15. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
Tuesday, December 9
Maniac Cop 2 (1990)
Alamo Drafthouse
ACAM. $10.99. 8 p.m. More info here.
Wednesday, December 10
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
Alamo Drafthouse
Don’t miss your one chance to see the Chevy Chase holiday classic on the big screen this season. $20. 7 p.m. More info here.
Star Wars Holiday Special (1977)
Bryant Lake Bowl
We’re sponsoring the middle screening, btw! Free with toy donation. 3:30, 6:30, & 9:30 p.m. More info here.
Secret Movie Night
Emagine Willow Creek
A mystery movie chosen by a local notable. $11.60. 7 p.m. More info here.
Hundreds of Beavers (2024)
Parkway Theater
That’s too many beavers! $15/$20. Costume contest at 7:30 p.m. Movie at 8 p.m. More info here.
Lisztomania (1975)
Trylon
What if Franz Liszt was a rock star? What if Ringo was the pope? Presented by Sound Unseen. $13. 7 p.m. More info here.
Thursday, December 11
The French Connection (1971)
Heights Theater
It’s a Christmas movie? $15. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
The Cure: The Show of a Lost World (2025)
Lagoon Cinema
Watch a Cure concert, appropriately, in the dark. $15.25. 7 p.m. More info here.
Gremlins (1984)
Parkway Theater
Girl are you a gremlin? Cause I wanna get you wet and multiply. $9/$12. Trivia at 7:30 p.m. Movie at 8 p.m. More info here.
Opening This Week
Follow the links for showtimes.
Akhanda 2
An Indian fantasy flick.
Fackham Hall
There will always be an England.
Five Nights at Freddy's 2
That’s too many nights.
Hijacked
I prefer the Vietnamese title, which translates as Death Battle on the Air.
Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution
A “dark fantasy” anime.
Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair
Fuck you, Weinstein.
Merrily We Roll Along
Daniel Radcliffe does Sondheim.
100 Nights of Hero
A cruel husband tests his wife’s fidelity.
Ongoing in Local Theaters
Follow the links for showtimes.
Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc—ends December 4
Hamnet
There’s no reason this should work. Hamlet isn’t “about” the death of Shakespeare’s only son, and even if the play was his way of processing that calamity, what’s that to us? But while I feared the biographical fallacy would run amok through (cursed phrase incoming) Chloé Zhao’s first film since Eternals—movies have a tedious habit of treating works of art as riddles we decode to understand an artist’s life—Hamnet honors the complexity of human creativity. It helps that the central figure isn’t Shakespeare (Paul Mescal, here to make the girlies weep once more), but his wife Agnes (Jessie Buckley), a “forest witch” (as the villagers say) who takes to motherhood intensely, with a protectiveness born out of her visions of dark foreboding. With the aid of DP Łukasz Żal’s muddy tones and chiaroscuro interiors, and an allusive yet plainspoken script co-written with Maggie O'Farrell (author of the novel that serves as source material), Zhao creates a credible Elizabethan world, and Buckley’s performance, ranging from the subtle flickers of a smile to wracked howls of grief, is all-encompassing. The final segment—the premiere of Hamlet itself—is the emotional equivalent of juggling chainsaws, yet Buckley’s commitment anchors a conceit that could as easily elicit snickers as sniffles. In her expression we watch as the stuff of life—mourning, family drama, the unworthiness we feel in the face of personal tragedy—is subsumed into something greater than its components. A
Jay Kelly—ends December 4
Sentimental Value
Joachim Trier may be the kindest great director of his generation and its most gently devastating—a sort of Scandinavian Ozu. In his latest, Stellan Skarsgård is Gustav Borg, a once-heralded filmmaker who hasn’t worked in 15 years. Gustav was also, you won’t be surprised to learn, a terrible father who abandoned his wife and his two daughters, Nora (Renate Reinsve), who resents his absence, and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), who seems to have made her peace. Gustav returns on the day of their mother’s funeral and offers Nora a part in his new film, which reckons with their family’s dark past. When she rejects his offer, he instead casts Hollywood star Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning), who gradually realizes she’s wrong for the part. All this could be the stuff of high drama or broad comedy, but Trier generally keeps both extremes at a low simmer. Reinsve, as the daughter reluctantly recognizing herself in her father, is no less an incarnation of millennial neurosis here than in The Worst Person in the World, while Skarsgård exercises his charm and authority lightly but firmly, regret battling stubbornness in his every action. At the center of the film is the Borg home, a creaky old storehouse of memories that allows Trier to exercise his easy way with chronology. The film slips into the past then fast-forwards, creating the sense that the past is always just beyond our reach, even while we’re firmly stuck in the present. A
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
In the latest of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out whodunnits, Daniel Craig’s swampy-voiced Benoit Blanc largely cedes the spotlight to Josh O’Connor’s Father Jud, an idealistic young priest caught in a battle of wills with the charismatic Monsignor Jefferson Witt (Josh Brolin). When Witt is murdered mysteriously, everyone in the parish is a suspect, including Father Jud himself. Dead Man is heavier in tone than past installments, and its characters don’t get to flaunt their quirks as memorably. And here’s something you may never hear me say again: A Catholic really should have approved this script before they started filming. Not to censor any of the naughty bits, but to explain to Johnson how the Catholic hierarchy works. When a film strives to take spiritual dilemmas seriously, and often succeeds at it, the institutional differences with Evangelical or even mainline Protestant churches are crucial to pin down. Still, O’Connor, who’s really gunning for “best actor under 40” honors these days, almost pulls it off, and there’s a special pleasure in a performance that holds its own in a flawed setting. B
