Film Goats ride again! Trylon Grand Opening!

Trylon + Film Goats

Fun!

Yes folks. This weekend is the grand opening of the Twin Cities newest movie house, the little theater that could, the Trylon Microcinema! Opening with a Buster Keaton series with live music played by the Dreamland Faces, you could hardly ask for more. I proposed an after party involving kegs and dancing girls and smashing champagne bottles over the projectors, but Barry said no. Next best thing? Head down to Lake Street to the Town Talk Diner for some designer drinks and you're invited!

If you are as excited as me and Daniel over at Getafilm, join us Friday night post-screening for conversation and drink. Daniel and I are going to the 7pm show (sold out) and will be heading down to the Town Talk after. Don't worry, we'll still be there after the 9pm show (almost sold out) in hopes of bringing Barry, Trylon mastermind, out for a celebratory cheer. Don't know who the hell I am? I'll wear a Radio K t-shirt, so come and find me.

Want a little more info on the Trylon? Here's a primer:

• Peter Schilling's article in the Star Tribune: "Trylon: Small in size, large in ambition"
  
• Rob Nelson's article on MinnPost: "Screen of Dreams"
  
• Erik McClanahan's multimedia article on MNDialog: "Trylon Microcinema: Videos, Some History and Dreamland Faces" (nice photo)
• Daniel Getahun's recent interview with Barry Kryshka on Getafilm: "Local Theater Love: The Trylon Microcinema"
• Fox 9 profiles the Trylon (TV news is so weird)
  
• And, jeez, if you missed it, my post on the Voltaic screening: "Voltaic, a Trylon preview"
  

Remember, the Trylon series doesn't end after this weekend. The Great Stone Face: Six from Buster Keaton continues over the next three weekends. Buy your ticket in advance or you may find yourself out in the cold. Here are the particulars on the series:

The Great Stone Face:
Six From Buster Keaton

Accompanied by the music of Dreamland Faces

Starting July 17th
The Trylon microcinema
3258 Minnehaha Ave S
Tickets: $8
Suggested donation for live music: $2

The all-volunteer staff of Take-Up Productions has worked for three years to put together the money for our own theater. On July 17th, we're opening The Trylon in south Minneapolis, a few blocks from the Lake Street LRT station. We've decided to open our microcinema with a film series starring Buster Keaton, featuring the accompaniment of Dreamland Faces on accordion and singing saw.

Sherlock Jr (1924)
July 17 and 18 at 7pm and 9pm
Woody Allen's Purple Rose of Cairo is a delight, but Buster Keaton did it first. Projectionist Buster — dreaming he’s an ace detective — jumps right on to the movie screen, finding himself furiously edited from garden bench to city street to cliff — but finally becoming the ace detective of his wildest cinema fantasies.

Preceded by the short: The Electric House (1922) Buster designs a house with all the latest gadgets for a real estate tycoon who will buy thousands if the model home impresses him. But during the demonstration, everything that can go wrong, does - hilariously!

The Navigator (1924)
July 24 and 25 at 7pm and 9pm
Keaton’s top money-maker began with the biggest prop of his career: an ocean liner. Pampered playboy Buster is stranded on same with equally helpless airhead Kathryn McGuire. The ship finally runs aground on a desert island where the two unfortunates are chased by cannibals. One of Keaton's most revered films.

Preceded by the short film: The Ballonatic (1923) Buster rises to new heights as he sails heavenward in a balloon. He bumps into clouds, and in trying to bring down a duck, punctures the gas bag and crashes in the woods where he saves Phyllis Haver from a bear and falls in love. His courtship and the 'balloonatic' events that follow are hilarious!

Seven Chances (1925)
July 31 and August 1 at 7pm and 9pm
Buster gets word that if he can be married by 7 o'clock that evening, he will inherit $7,000,000. When his sweetheart refuses, he proposes to everyone in skirts, including a Scotsman! Hopeful still, he advertises for a bride and is horrified to discover 500 would-be brides hot on his trail in a hilarious chase to the finish!

Preceded by the short film: The Goat (1921) A mistaken-identity crisis precipitates an almost continuous - and continuously brilliant - chase through two adjoining towns where Buster is taken for 'Deadeye Dan, Public Enemy'."

Advance tickets are now on sale at Take-Up's brownpapertickets.com page.

MSPIFF: Day 8

No, I didn't stop going to see movies; I just failed to keep up with the daily grind. Overextending myself over the weekend left me mentally and physically exhausted. (I swear, if I get the swine flu, I'm blaming Rudo y Cursi!) Here was the Friday shizzle-sham:

My Time Will Come (2008) directed by Victor Arregui

Another Global Lens film, and another film with the best intentions and the most convoluted delivery. A sort of "Six Feet Under" of Ecuador, My Time Will Come is facilitated by Dr. Fernandez who methodically examines corpses as they arrive in the morgue. As the narrative shots off in different directions, each segue introduces us to another possible corpse. The storylines freely connect and disconnect to a point where nothing in the film has much gravity. The entire film feels like a sketch, acting included, with nothing fleshed out. My Time Will Come will probably make an appearance on DVD, if you really must see it. Not Recommended.

Food Inc. (2008) directed by Robert Kenner

Semi-full disclosure: I have worked in the wholesale distribution of organic produce in the Twin Cities for almost twelve years. This subject of where and how we get our food is not only an occupational interest, but a personal interest. Food Inc is a very well made documentary that tries to summarize all the very complex issues surrounding the foods we eat everyday. Relying heavily on interviews with Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) and Micheal Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma), Robert Kenner does his best to cover all the bases: meat industry, corn reliance, corporate domination, consumer rights, health issues, animal rights, local farms, organic conglomerates, Monsanto, Stonyfield, Walmart, and everything in between. Because the topic is so huge, you really feel like you only get a peek behind each curtain. Sometimes a peek is all you need, but some of the stories are so galvanizing you feel cheated not getting to know more. Specifically is a farmer who never bought into Monsanto patented seeds and continued to farm corn and soybeans the 'old fashioned' way by saving seeds. Monsanto gets pissed, takes on the farmer until he can no longer afford to fight the corporate lawyers. It's an unbelievable story. I wish everyone could see Food Inc., but ultimately the people who will see this doc are already committed to a Co-op or a CSA or a farmer's market. That being said, I do think that we, the committed, can hone our voice for change, the better chance we will have in inciting that change. (Anybody see a soapbox?) I'm going to do a more detailed review/soapbox chat when I get a chance. Food Inc. is set to open in domestically sometime this summer, and will probably find a good audience here. Highly Recommended.

Film Goats retired to the very crowded Pracna for talk of film, food and other random association topics. Our group grew to the point we were standing around a small table and had to be moved to a different room. (Unbeknownst to me, a tandem post-White Man's World party was also rollicking in Pracna.) We burned the midnight oil, and Daniel and I were the last soldiers to fall. For anyone else who was up at 1:00 Saturday morning, it was cold! I pedaled as fast as I could, but had a very cold bike ride home. (Maybe this is where I got the swine flu...)

MSPIFF Friday Film Goat Get Togethers

Calling all Film Goats: the second ever MSPIFF Friday Film Goat Get Togethers!

Where: Pracna
When: 9:00pm-ish

Yes, it is the second edition of the film goat get togethers hosted by me and Daniel over at Getafilm. We will be heading to Pracna after our respective 7 o'clock screenings, just in time for happy hour (which runs from 9-11:00.) Stop by. I won't humiliate myself again by wearing a T-Wolves hat; chances are I will be wearing a short billed brown hat that has a very small Behind Bars Bike Shop logo (voted best bike shop!) I'm not nearly as cute as the goat above.

Calling all Film Goats: MSPIFF Get Togethers!

Announcing the first ever MSPIFF Friday Film Goat Get Together!

Where: Pracna (right next to the St Anthony Main Theaters)
When: 5:30 to 7:00pm
Why: Because we really like movies.
Who: Moi and fellow blogger and all around nice guy Daniel at Getafilm.

Let's get together for a drink and talk about plans for the Film Festival!

Some people find goats annoying, but look at that little fella above: cute, a champion, and not concerned with worldly objects like ribbons. Just like us! Yes, I am equating film fans to goats: tenacious, unflappable and willing to try anything - exactly what you need to be for the MSPIFF.

Yes, it's an open call - we are brave to want to meet you and you are even more brave to want to meet us! Although I have been trying to keep my identity a secret for a while, it's time for me to bust out of my shell! Daniel and I are anxious to place faces with names and match obsessions with obsessions. There might even be a proverbial how-many-movies-can-you-see arm wrestling match in the wings. Stop by. Say hi. Have a drink. Let's talk about the Festival. Providing all goes well, we'll do it again next Friday, possibly a late edition.

(I'm not really a NASCAR chick. I'll be wearing a blue Minnesota Timberwolves hat - no doubt, no one else in their right mind will be wearing one - and probably have a big backpack with bike helmet.)