Before I put MSPIFF 2025 behind me for good (you can still catch the last Best of the Fest installment tonight), I may as well run down the films I saw in week two, listed in decreasing order of appreciation.
Seeds—A gorgeous black and white doc about Black farmers in Georgia that's like slowly turning the pages to an art photography book.
Predators—A fair-minded doc about the skeevy Bush II-era crime porn reality show To Catch a Predator and its gross legacy.
Caught by the Tides—Jia Zhangke films typically observe the sweep of modern Chinese history from a distance, but his latest seems to take place at an even further remove.
Happyend—Japanese teens commit mayhem in a quasi-dystopian future.
Ghost Trail—Solid revenge drama about a Syrian man hunting his former torturer down in France.
The Village Next to Paradise—Some Somali-American women brought their daughters to the screening of Mo Harawe's film (made in Somalia) at the Capri Theater and it was very sweet.
Mr. K—"We saw this really weird movie at the Film Festival." Never occurred to me before but Richard Painter looks a bit like Crispin Glover. Or vice versa.
Special Screenings
Thursday, April 17
Neil Young: Coastal (2025)
AMC Rosedale 14/AMC Southdale 16/Emagine Willow Creek/Marcus West End
A new behind-the-scenes doc with the irascible model train freak. $16.60. 7 p.m. More info here.
One of Them Days (2025)
Capri Theater
A special SZA Night celebration featuring a totally solid B+ comedy. $10; free for Northsiders. 6 p.m. More info here.
The Conversation (1974)
Emagine Willow Creek
Peak Nixon-era paranoia with Gene Hackman at his best. $11.60. 7 p.m. More info here.
Eraserhead (1977)
Grandview 1&2
A movie that needs to be heard in a theater. Also Sunday. $14.15. 9:15 p.m. More info here.
The Birds (1963)
Heights Theater
I always knew they had it in for us. $13. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
Acts of Reparation (2024)
Main Cinema
Two filmmakers, one white and one Black, travel south to learn about their family histories. $17. 1 p.m. More info here.
Unholy Communion (2024)
Main Cinema
A serial killer is targeting Catholic priests in this local filmmaker’s adaptation of a Minnesota author’s novel. $17. 4 p.m. More info here.
The Fun-Raiser (2025)
The Main
Everything goes wrong at a fundraiser for a performing arts high school. $17. 4:15 p.m. More info here.
Waves (2024)
The Main
A radio journalist in the ’60s runs afoul of the Czech secret police. $17. 7 p.m. More info here.
1-800-On-Her-Own (2024)
Main Cinema
A look at the life and career of Ani DiFranco. $11. 7 p.m. More info here.
Breaking Plates and Smashing the Patriarchy
Trylon
Ten short silent films filled with feminist slapstick, introduced by a new short documentary. $8. 7 p.m. More info here.
Friday, April 18
Tommy Boy (1995)
Alamo Drafthouse
A documentary about the great hip-hop label. Right? $11.95. 7 p.m. More info here.
Mufasa: El Rey León (2024)
Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center
En Español, por los niños. Free. 6 p.m. More info here.
Passenger 57 (1992)
Trylon
Maybe it's just me, but if finally captured the world's most dangerous hijacker, I wouldn't bring him back for trial... on a plane. $8. Friday-Saturday 7 & 9 p.m. Sunday 3 & 5 p.m. More info here.
Preemptive Listening (2024)
Walker Art Center
A study of sirens. $12/$15. 7 p.m. More info here.
Saturday, April 19
Hop (2011)
Marcus West End
Russell Brand is the Easter Bunny’s teenage son? Under no circumstances. 11 a.m. More info here.
The Wild Robot (2024)
Marcus West End
AI propaganda! 11:15 a.m. More info here.
Lord of the Rings Marathon: Extended Edition
Marcus West End
All 12 hours and three minutes of it. 11:30 a.m. More info here.
Minari (2020)
Mia
Cute kid! Free. 2 p.m. More info here.
Flow (2024)
Mounds Theater
I feel like I should know more about the Mounds Theater, which is doing an Oscars three-fer today. $5. 4:15 p.m. More info here.
Sing Sing (2024)
Mounds Theater
Real-life incarcerated actors upstage Colman Domingo. $5. 6 p.m. More info here.
The Substance (2024)
Mounds Theater
Body horror, but make it post-feminist. Or something. $5. 8:30 p.m. More info here.
Sunday, April 20
Cheech and Chong’s Last Movie (2025)
Alamo Drafthouse/Emagine Willow Creek
An advance screening, because apparently they couldn’t get it into theaters in time for 4/20. $8.95. 4:20 p.m. More info here.
Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)
Alamo Drafthouse
A movie about the guy who didn’t rise from the dead on Easter. $8.95. 1:30 p.m. More info here.
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Parkway Theater
Gotta think one of the main reasons to have a kid is so you can show them Totoro. $7-$10. 1 p.m. More info here.
Trouble Every Day (2001)
Trylon
Claire Denis does vampires. $8. 7 p.m. Monday-Tuesday 7 & 9 p.m. More info here.
Monday, April 21
Juliet of the Spirits (1965)
Alamo Drafthouse
Fellini gets spooky. $11.95. 7 p.m. More info here.
The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1974)
Emagine Willow Creek
Aka Let Sleeping Corpses Lie and Do Not Profane the Sleep of the Dead. $7.60. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
WTF! Watch Terrible Films Club
56 Brewing
I don’t know what the movie’ll be, but I know it’ll be bad! Free. 7 p.m. More info here.
M*A*S*H (1970)
Heights Theater
Honestly I think this aged the least well of Altman’s ’70s classics. $13. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
National Theatre Live: Dr. Strangelove
Main Cinema
Steve Coogan does Peter Sellers. $20. 7 p.m. Wednesday 12 p.m. More info here.
National Theater Live: Present Laughter
Marcus West End
Andrew Scott does Noël Coward. 6 p.m. Find more info here.
Titanic (1997)
Marcus West End
It was sad when that great ship went down. 6:45 p.m. More info here.
The Evil Dead (1981)
Parkway Theater
The kind of horror movie that rewires your brain. $9/$12. Trivia at 7:30 p.m.; movie at 8 p.m. More info here.
Tuesday, April 22
Critters 2: The Main Course (1988)
Alamo Drafthouse
Those aren’t Easter eggs! They’re critter eggs! $8.95. 8 p.m. More info here.
Sneak Peek Showcase
Emagine Willow Creek
Your guess is (still) as good as mine. $4.60. 6 p.m. More info here.
RITUAL Mountain Bike Film Tour
Parkway Theater
A celebration of mountain biking. $25/$30. 7 p.m. More info here.
Wednesday, April 23
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
Edina 4
Ooh, the Mann in Edina is showing old movies on Wednesdays now. $12.15. 7 p.m. More info here.
Vertigo (1958)
Heights Theater
…to the polls! $19. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
Hellavision Television Presents: Track Attack
Main Cinema
“An animated variety show inspired by broadcast music television.” $11. 7 p.m. More info here.
Brick and Mirror (1965)/The House is Black (1964)
Trylon
Two groundbreaking Iranian films from the ’60s. Part of the Mizna Film Series. $10. 7 p.m. More info here.
Opening
Follow the links for showtimes.
Arjun S/O Vyjayanthi
This week’s Indian action blockbuster.
Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can't Sing
An anime based on a video game.
One to One: John & Yoko
An intimate look at the couple as Lennon prepares to make his worst solo album.
Pride and Prejudice (2005)
You know, I have never seen a Pride and Prejudice adaptation.
Sinners
Hearing good things about Ryan Coogler's period horror film.
Sneaks
A designer sneaker gets lost in NYC.
The Ugly Stepsister
A gritty Norwegian Cinderella reboot.
The Wedding Banquet
What all but tanks Andrew Ahn’s remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 international breakthrough is that in out ‘n’ proud 2025 everyone involved seems a little embarrassed by its wacky, recycled premise (gay man has to trick his traditional family into believing that a green card marriage is real). The film's attempts at a serious relationship drama are undercut by its screwball obligations. There are cute moments and a few laughs—especially from Joan Chen as a mother belatedly overcompensating for neglecting her daughter by going gangbusters with PFLAG—but it's a bummer to watch a terrific cast to shoehorn themselves into an unnecessary remake instead of telling an original story about queer 21st century people of color. B-
Ongoing in Local Theaters
Follow the links for showtimes.
Black Bag
I’m not saying Steven Soderbergh’s second release of 2025 offers nothing more than well-dressed attractive people in swank settings trying to outwit one another for 90 minutes—but if it did, would that be so awful? Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett are married spies George and Kathryn; he’s a stone-faced expert at ferreting out lies and she’s, well, Cate Blanchett. When George is tasked with discovering who leaked a sinister program to Russian dissidents, he invites the suspects (including Kathryn) to a dinner party where the chana masala is laced with a truth drug, with hilarious (and violent) results. That scene is neatly mirrored by an “I expect you're wondering why I've gathered you all here today” finale—screenwriter David Koepp, who’s made a living off Jurassic Park, Spider-Man, and late-model Indiana Jones sequels, has clearly always wanted to wed le Carré and Agatha Christie. (There’s also just a touch of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) Soderbergh’s digital camerawork, with its occasional glares and bends and blurs, isn’t exactly made for the big screen, but it does have its nice touches, like the long introductory shot that follows Fassbender from behind into the bar where he learns of his mission, or a fishing boat shot from below the waterline. In George, the director has a character just as clinical and masterful as he himself can be, yet for all the geopolitical intrigue and lives on the line, the stakes feel comfortably low. Above all, this is a parlor game, and our only concern is whether its hot married leads will get back to having hot married sex. A-
Captain America: Brave New World
The Captain America movies are where the MCU gets “serious,” where comic book idealism clashes with the dark side of U.S. history, where unfettered heroism encounters the restraining forces of bureaucracy. With Anthony Mackie inheriting the shield, Brave New World adds race to that equation. After shouldering endless Steve Rogers comparisons, Mackie's Sam Wilson gets a little speech where he wonders if he'll ever be enough, while for contrast we have Isaiah Bradley (Carl Bradley), an older Black super soldier who’d been imprisoned by the U.S. government. Meanwhile, President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) nearly gets us into a war with Japan (couldn’t be China—Disney needs that big overseas market) over adamantium, a new substa—ah, you know, don’t worry about it. Since in the real world, an authoritarian prez is seeking to purge the military (and everywhere else) of non-whites while saber-rattling with the nation’s historic allies, theoretically the film’s themes should resonate, at least in a half-assed pop culture thinkpiece kinda way. But this slapdash entry is more concerned with callbacks to the MCU D-list like the Eternals and 2008's The Incredible Hulk. Its one big reveal (unless you’re genuinely wondering, “Will Liv Tyler appear?”) was torpedoed by the need to fill seats: This would have been 10 times more fun if we didn’t know Ford was gonna Hulk out at the end, but the theaters would have been ten times emptier if the trailers didn’t spoil that. Brave New World is about one thing only: The MCU struggling to justify its continued existence. C
Hell of a Summer—ends Thursday
Jack—ends Thursday
Mickey 17—ends Thursday
More like Mickey Infinity. (Because it’s too long.) I will say, I’ve never seen a better Jerry Lewis-indebted anticolonialist sci-fi tragicomedy. Then again I’ve never seen a worse one either. For whatever it’s worth, Mickey 17 is sui generis—unlike its protagonist (Robert Pattinson), an "expendable" on a longterm space mission who is resurrected via 3D printer after each harrowing death. (It’s a metaphor! For capitalism!) Robert Pattinson is entertaining as both the schlubby title character and the much cooler Mickey 18 (as both the Julius Kelp and the Buddy Love, if I may), the latter hatched prematurely when 17 is believed gobbled up by some spectacularly designed wormy creatures with whom he develops a strange rapport. Bong Joon-hoo’s cheap gags and obvious critiques hit as often as they miss, yet your enjoyment of Mickey 17 relies primarily on how long you can tolerate Mark Ruffalo’s Trump impression and Toni Collette doing her usual rubberfaced mugging. Mostly Mickey 17 leaves me to wonder why the tonal clashes feel so much klutzier in Bong’s English-language efforts than they do in his Korean films. Do they just go down easier when I have to read subtitles? Or do I just miss Song Kang-ho? B-
Novocaine—ends Thursday
A Working Man
Suspecting that I underrated the silly-but-effective/effective-because-it’s-silly Jason Statham vehicle The Beekeeper last year, I went into the grim-visaged Brit’s latest vengeance romp determined not to not-get-fooled again. (It doesn’t help that they screen these things for a smattering of critics in the afternoon rather than plopping us into a rowdy crowd of comped civilians at night.) But sorry The Beekeeper fans—this is no The Beekeeper. In his new outing with director David Ayer, Statham is a black ops solider turned construction foreman whose name I’m not going to bother to look up; when the daughter of his kindly Latino bosses gets snatched, he reluctantly goes back to his old ways. As always, the baddies—tastelessly attired Russian gangsters, a bald Black meth kingpin who sits on an ornate metal throne in the back of a redneck bar—are colorfully sketched if never unforgettable. But if I can get with Statham belonging to an absurdly mysterious org (of beekeepers!) and uncovering an even wilder conspiracy, A Working Man is too grubby and self-righteous to be sheer dumb fun. Whenever someone asks him why he cares about the girl he’s rescuing, Statham mentions that he has a daughter of his own, and I couldn’t help shake that A Working Man believes that the worst thing about trafficking young women is that it upsets girl dads. C+
