TWIN CITIES LIVE

TWIN CITIES LIVE
April 16, 2014

As I mentioned in last week's Dear Readers column, I am the new movie critic on "Twin Cities Live". Today marked my fourth appearance and it has been a complete joy. Today's movies include:

- Draft Day starring Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, Denis Leary
- Philomena starring Judi Dench, Steve Coogan
- The Sixth Annual Minneapolis Hitchcock Festival presented by Take-Up Productions

Here's the video for my appearance this week:

ENJOY!




video courtesy of "Twin Cities Live"/ABC

THE SIXTH ANNUAL MINNEAPOLIS HITCHCOCK FESTIVAL

THE SIXTH ANNUAL MINNEAPOLIS HITCHCOCK FESTIVAL

Take-Up Productions is a local non-profit film company that screens classic, foreign, and independent films in multiple venues catering to a wide range of moviegoers. The majority of their programming is at the Trylon microcinema, located in Minneapolis' Longfellow neighborhood. They also partner with The Riverview Theater in Minneapolis and The Heights Theater in Columbia Heights.

Part of their programming includes marathons/retrospectives devoted to various actors, directors, and themes. Coming up soon is their sixth annual Hitchcock festival. My mom and I try to go to a couple of them each year, and it makes for great mother/son bonding time. Take-Up tries to showcase a mix of Hitch's well-known films as well as some that you may not have heard of from earlier in his career. It's great seeing those old classics back up on the big screen. Even if you’ve seen Psycho numerous times, there may be things you notice for the first time once you see it blown up in a theater as opposed to the TV in your living room. Some of them are shown in 35mm while others will be shown digitally. I recommend getting there 30-45 minutes early to be sure you get a ticket and a good seat. The series has a big enough following now that each screening typically has a strong turn-out.

Here's the line-up
1. Psycho, Monday April 21 7:00 at The Riverview
2. Suspicion, Thursday April 24 7:30 at The Heights
3. Young and Innocent, April 25-27 at The Trylon Microcinema
4. The 39 Steps, Monday April 28 7:00 at The Riverview
5. The Trouble with Harry, Monday May 5 7:00 at The Riverview
6. The Lady Vanishes, Monday May 12 7:00 at The Riverview
7. Family Plot, Monday May 19 7:00 at The Riverview

Tickets are $8 apiece or you can buy a punch card with five punches for $25. I recommend the punch card! If you don't use all of the punch card for the Hitchcock festival, you can use it at other Take-Up screenings later on. I have gone through many punch cards over the years.

For more information on the festival or their other programming, go to their website at www.take-up.org

I hope to see you there!

DEAR READERS

DEAR READERS,

You may have noticed that I have bit a bit sparse lately on some of the new releases that have it your local multiplex. You may have checked in for my thoughts on the likes of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, The Nut Job, I, Frankenstein, or even Labor Day. I do love me some Kate Winslet, so tonight I will be seeing Labor Day . A review of that will be coming soon. George Clooney's latest,The Monuments Men, opens this weekend. Hopefully, I can check that one off the list as well. The January/February months at the theater tend to be a bit polarizing as the studios tend to slip in their duds hoping they disappear amongst all of the Oscar-bait movies that people are flocking to before the big day. Many of the latest new releases I juggle with as I decide if it is worth the time and money on a movie that I know I will most likely dislike. I may even pass on them despite getting passes for an advanced screening. Even though some of those reviews are the most fun to write, I would rather write about a movie that I loved.

     

I work two jobs and have a family, so my movie going time has been a bit limited. When I do have the opportunity to sit down on the couch, I have been catching up on the Oscar nominated documentaries and foreign films. I have been and will continue posting reviews of those as I see them. I have also started a new feature here called My Criterion Collection where I delve into the superior titles that The Criterion Collection has to offer. Stay tuned as I introduce a different title or two each month. If you follow me on Twitter (@PaulMcGuire83), you may have noticed that I haven’t been a complete stranger to going to the theater. I have been spending time at the Trylon Microcinema lately to catch some of their programming. Take-Up Productions is a wonderful local non-profit company that hosts weekly series highlighting different directors, themes, actors/actresses at a variety of art-house theaters in Minneapolis. I have been a fan of their programming for years now. Right now at the Trylon, they are showing various films from the David Lynch canon on the weekends and showcasing a young Sissy Spacek on Mondays and Tuesdays. Just this past week, I caught Eraserhead and Badlands, both in 35mm, for the first time. I highly recommend Badlands if you haven’t seen it. Terrence Malick’s first film was stunning.

  

While I keep my blog a mix of new releases and vintage titles, I find myself going back to those old classics instead of wasting my time seeing the junk (I, Frankenstein) at theaters. There may be some titles that I do want to see and time slips by. C'est La Vie. There's always the dollar theater. 

Thanks for reading,

 PAUL