Ready. Set. MSPIFF!

Local movie yokels unite in a grad spectacle of film gluttony! The Minneapolis St Paul International Film Festival starts tonight in the winter wonderland that is Minnesota in April. With over 200 films to surf, here are a few recommendations from the peanut gallery called me:

Highly Recommended

Leviathan (USA/France/UK) d. Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Véréna Paravel Trailer
Friday, April 12, 2:00pm
Sunday, April 14, 10:00pm

Film goes physical...big time

The Last Time I Saw Macao (Portugal/France) d. João Rui Guerra da Mata, João Pedro Rodrigues  Trailer
Friday, April 12, 4:15pm
Sunday, April 14, 2:45pm

Film noir by way of a film essay

Old Dog (China) d. Pema Tseden Trailer
Saturday, April 13, 12:30pm
Wednesday, April 17, 9:30pm

Subtle political protest from Tibet

Student (Kazakhstan) d. Darezhan Omirbayev Trailer
Monday, April 22, 7:00pm
Sunday, April 28, 9:00pm

Bresson meets Dostoyevsky via modern Kazakhstan

The Capsule (Greece) d. Athina Rachel Tsangari Trailer
(screens with F*ck For Forest; don't ask me why, it just does)
Monday, April 22, 9:45pm
Friday, April 26, 10:00pm

Surreal world of feminine rights of passage

Worth Making Time For

Laurence Anyways (Canada/France) d. Xavier Dolan Trailer
Saturday, April 13, 8:00pm
Sunday, April 21, 9:00pm

Love, music and beauty conquers all

Augustine (France) d. Alice Winocour Trailer
Sunday, April 14, 4:45pm
Friday, April 19, 4:20pm

Better than A Dangerous Method

Cutie and the Boxer (USA) d. Zachary Heinzerling Sundance "Meet the Artists" Video
Friday, April 12, 9:45pm
Monday, April 15, 7:00pm

With charisma to burn

Hannah Arendt (Germany/Luxembourg/France) d. Margarethe von Trotta Trailer
Sunday, April 14, 3:15pm
Sunday, April 21, 4:40pm

History dramatically directed (with Barbara Sukowa!)

And finally, if you made it through all of that hoo-ha, a few films that I am looking forward to seeing (but too lazy to add photos or trailers or times):

• In the Fog (Russia/Germany/Latvia/Netherlands/Belarus) d. Sergei Loznitsa - First of all, look at those country credits. Second of all, from the director of My Joy.
• Your Ain't Seen Nothin Yet (France) d. Alain Resnais - It's the second coming of this master filmmaker. Go rent his last two films now!
• Museum Hours (Austria/USA) d. Jem Cohen - I'll admit, I'm a little bitter about museums these days, but maybe Jem Cohen can snap me out of it via Vienna. 
• Ceasar Must Die (Italy) d. Paolo and Vittorio Taviani - Julius Caesar in a prison.
• Persistence of Vision (USA) d. Kevin Sheck - Missed this at VIFF; I like animation and I like obsessions.

If you wanna toss some salad about my recommendations, catch me at the festival - I'll be there. In the meantime, I've got some short but sweet reviews in the Star Tribune and the City Pages of some of these films and more.