MSPIFF 2026 - Part Two

 Back at it again for the second week of the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival. If you have not checked out the first part of my MSPIFF coverage or some of my other festival coverage, I encourage you to do so. I wound up taking a couple of nights off to balance out some late night double features. Moving forward, I'm only addressing the days I was in attendance.

Day 7

Shorts 5: Chills

I used to have very little interest in live-action shorts but have really come around on the format in the last year or two. I wanted to fit in some during this festival and the Chills program seemed like the best bet for me. I did notice that Blossom Needs a Ride Home played with a different group of films and I caught that one at MidWest Weird Fest. It gets a recommendation from me if you have the chance to catch it.

Unfortunately, many of these films do not currently have Letterboxd entries so I'm linking to whatever seemed the most relevant. One thing I'll mention up front is that these films all looked terrific. Lower budget shorts (and features) can sometimes be rendered with a noticeably flat photography and that wasn't an issue with these at all.

Goodnight My Demons - Cute and moderately spooky. The black & white presentation helps lend it a 50s creature feature vibe. 2.5/5 Stars

Follower - A Korean language film that I believe is meant as a cautionary tale about social media. Unfortunately I don't think the material really justifies the sexual assault content it employs and comes off as superficial and gross. 1.5/5 Stars

Mad Island - A story of ghosts and memory set on the shores of Lake Superior. Visually and sonically compelling with some incredible footage of the frozen lake. Lily Rains' performance really carried this one over the top for me as she manages humor with an edge of weirdness to great effect. 3.5/5 Stars

Baroque - Dark and atmospheric with direct visual nods to Caravaggio and other artists of the period. Baroque is a modern story of a young artist who is struggling to get support from the older, more established artist who has hired her as a model. Her dreams are haunted by a different self in a past era who does assert herself with bloody consequences. Filmmaker Shelby Dillon creates a wonderful look and color palette for this and uses some terrific practical effects to maintain the dreamy surrealism. 3/5 Stars

Strive - This short film from Finland is really quite ambitious in its scope and execution. A sci-fi genre tone piece about a vaguely dystopian cyberpunk near-future where most people live quiet lives in virtual reality and some rebel street kids race cars against automated freight trucks. There's certainly some digital effects work at play here, but I was rather taken with some practical sequences and location work which lends a tangible gravity to the whole thing. The plot is simplistic, but this is more of a piece around mood than narrative. 3/5 Stars

The Boom - A Minneapolis made film from Ajuawak Kapashesit that tackles local phenomenon, The Longfellow Boom, and reimagines the source of the mysterious sound as a kind of ancestral call. Boom is filled with terrific nighttime locations across Minneapolis and the performances charm with a humorous touch. It also makes for an interesting bridge between urban legend and folktale in its presentation. I liked this a lot. 3.5/5 Stars

Superconcious - Closing out the program was Christianne Hedtke's conspiratorially toned short tackling remote viewing, shadowy government programs, face blindness, mental health, and grief. Primarily the story of Cybil G. (Nat Boltt) and her handler Harvey T. (Matt Olsen) who embark on a series of psychic experiments in an idyllic wooded location in 1973. There are sinister and tragic elements lurking at the edges of Superconcious but the overall mood is more one of mystery fueled by the unusual phenomena that launched television programs and best selling paperbacks during the 70s and 80s. Well acted and makes great use of the location, Hedtke's film is genuinely evocative of the era without ever feeling overly nostalgic or derivative. Imagine a more thoughtful, melancholy episode of X-Files and this is what you might get. 4/5 Stars

Mārama (2025) - Taratoa Stappard takes the framework of the gothic horror tale and fleshes out an anti-colonialist take on generational trauma and vengeance. Similarly to more conventional gothics, Mārama is set an 19th Century estate haunted by the misdeeds of the past and sinister family secrets (there's even a doppelgänger of sorts), but Stappard blends this with ancestral ghosts and memories in a way I found genuinely engrossing. Ariaana Osbourne stars as Mary (Mārama), a young Māori woman who travels from New Zealand to North Yorkshire under the pretense that the affluent English family living there had information regarding the parents she never knew. After meeting the estate's patriarch, Nathanial Cole played by Toby Stephens, it's clear there's something far darker lurking beneath their genteel manner and professed "understanding" of Māori people. The central mysteries are peeled back deliberately uncovering deeper and more horrible truths about the Coles, their predatory colonial past, and Mary's relation to them. Stappard presents North Yorkshire in stark, desaturated light during the day but fills the nights with rich, candlelit atmospheres very much evoking the classic English and Italian gothic horror films of the 50s and 60s. The estate is all dark corridors after sunset and the normal ephemera of English gentry is supplemented with appropriated Māori artifacts and spoils from the Coles' whaling days. Mārama does gather momentum towards the final third of the film as Mary learns the true depravity of the Coles and their inner circle and what begins as a haunted tale explodes into a story of grim and bloody vengeance. Osbourne delivers a fantastic performance initially quite subdued before erupting in righteous outrage. At one point Mary levels an audience (both onscreen and off) with a haka while wearing a blood red ball gown. I don't recall Barbara Steele ever pulling something like that off, but I like to think she would appreciate it. Stephens also absolutely commits to the entitled and possibly insane Cole who must shift from a paternalistic father-figure to a walking embodiment of colonialist cruelty. Mārama is atmospheric, gruesome, a little melodramatic and I think one of the better modern reinterpretations of gothic horror I've seen in a while. 

3.5/5 Stars (maybe 4, I want to watch it again)

Day 9

Power Ballad (2026) - The latest from Irish director John Carney, Ballad stars Paul Rudd as a former rocker turned wedding singer who bonds with a former boy band star (Nick Jonas) over a night of drinking and jamming. I was granted a ticket for this from the studio before I received my press pass and they've asked that we not review it until closer to release. I'll say this; there's a lot of music in Power Ballad so if you like what you hear in the trailer, that bodes well for your enjoyment of the film. If you're not feeling it, than this might be a long watch.

Obsession (2025) - Comedian and filmmaker Curry Barker is a name I've been hearing lately, but this was the first of his films I've seen. Barker blends a 80s horror sensibility with uncanny imagery and off-kilter humor in a tale of young love gone horribly, horribly wrong. The film opens with a retro style commercial for the "One Wish Willow" which is the supernatural novelty at the heart of the film. Michael Johnston plays Baron (Bear) the soft-spoken member of a group of friends who pines for Nikki (Inde Navarrette) but lacks the confidence to tell her how he feels. Bear stumbles on the One Wish Willow while looking for a gift for Nikki and after he once again fails to speak up, he activates the wish by snapping the toy in half. Bear wishes that Nikki would love him more than "anyone else in the world" and she immediately turns her attention to him and also starts acting very strangely. While Bear does temporarily overlook Nikki's odder moments so he can maintain their "relationship", things begin to take darker and more extreme turns as Nikki's devotion to him grows a sinister edge. It's a classic monkey's paw set up and there's nothing spectacular about the writing on display. At times, it felt as though Obsession was a short film stretched to meet the length of a feature. Bear comes off as largely insufferable and fails to meet the lowest bars of integrity, making it a wonder that he has even platonic friendships with anyone. However, where Barker eventually won me over is in his presentation and commitment to utter mayhem as the film picks up steam. Navarette doesn't have much in the way of interior character to express but she's phenomenal in her performance of maniacal fixation turned to violent insanity. Nikki has haunting breaks of awareness peppered throughout the film that add a profound layer of ick to the conceit. While the plot and characters didn't distinguish themselves, Barker's comedic chops are still in evidence and the film has some very funny moments. Ultimately, I had a good time with this; it's a handsomely shot film, the young actors are all good with Navarette being really excellent, Andy Richter has a small role, and the gore and madness towards the end worked for me in ways that some of the "spookiness" did not. I'll definitely keep an eye out for more from Barker.

3/5 Stars

Day 11

The Blue Trail (2025) - Effortlessly charming, wryly funny, and occasionally lyrical semi-fable about an alternate world in which the Brazilian government has created a "colony" where seniors are forcibly relocated after a certain age to remove them from them from society and the workforce. Denise Weinberg leads as the resourceful and stubborn Tereza who, upon learning that her relocation is imminent, strikes out to experience more life before the "wrinkle wagon" comes for her. Her initial desire is to fly in a plane, but because she can no longer make travel plans without the consent of her daughter (legal guardianship of seniors also transfers when they reach colony age) Tereza is forced to find clandestine transport through a network of underground cash deals. While on a river trip through the Amazon, she's introduced to the psychoactive and possibly clairvoyant effects of the blue drool snail. Tereza's plane voyage is derailed when the money she gives to a man to fix his ultralight goes to booze and gambling instead. Striking out on her own, she's eventually taken by the authorities and sent in for "processing" before colonization. The film then becomes a prison break movie and Tereza is again on the lam where she finds a new friend and a potential path to her freedom. Blue Trail is exactly the kind of film I would expect to find at MSPIFF and is, in some ways, an clear crowd-pleaser aimed at the core audience. I do think filmmaker Gabriel Mascaro still manages to engage meaningfully with thorny issues even if done with a largely gentle touch. I found it all incredibly well done, Weinberg is a delight, and both my wife and I left the screening buzzing. The final act does go far more surreal than I anticipated and seems to deliver the message to seniors and anyone feeling trapped by their circumstances that drugs, crime, and wild chances are all fair methods when you need to break free.

Hokum (2026) - Damian McCarthy made some waves a couple of years ago with his well received horror film, Oddity, and is back with a new one featuring Adam Scott. Scott plays author Ohm Bauman who travels to Ireland to scatter his parents ashes and attempt to finish the latest installment of his best-selling "Conquistador Trilogy." Bauman clashes with nearly everyone he meets at the inn where he is staying and largely scoffs at rumors that the honeymoon suite is haunted by a witch. However, after being saved by a woman working at the inn, Bauman becomes invested in her mysterious disappearance and eventually the lore behind the witch. I confess I struggled to get invested in either they mystery or the supernatural elements in Hokum and found the whole affair largely dull. Bauman is clearly troubled but also acts like an absolute ass making him a complicated protagonist to rally behind. I'm relatively immune to jump scares and McCarthy hits them with steady regularity rendering what could be atmospheric dread into a demo reel of fright gags. It's a fine looking production and Scott follows the assignment gamely, I just couldn't hang onto anything for the duration of the film. Other people seem to view this far more favorably than myself so it could have been the night. 

2/5 Stars

Day 12

Mothertongue (2025) - Zhang Lu's latest film about language, family, regional affiliation and how that all influences personal concepts of identity. Bai Baihe plays Fang Chunshu, a woman who becomes disillusioned with professional acting in Beijing and decides to return to her hometown of Chengdu. Even though Chunshu's mother is still living in Chengdu, her initial efforts after arriving are to reconnect with her childhood acting teacher; the surrogate mother-figure that influenced her so deeply. Chunshu discovers that her teacher is now suffering from Alzheimer's but she has interludes of lucidity where she does remember their time together. Chunshu also befriends her mentor's son, Dong, and the two of them spend much of the film wandering through the evolving Chengdu cityscape. I'm not terribly familiar with Zhang Lu's previous work, but glancing through his filmography it seems like reunion, homecoming, and reconciliation with the past are some of his regular thematic hallmarks. Mothertongue is no exception and also features a significant thread around Chinese regional dialects and cultural identities. It's a gorgeous movie and I was quite happy to let scenes of Chengdu's various neighborhoods wash over me. It does meander to the point that the narrative pull is diminished, but there are some genuinely fantastic moments leading up to that. Mothertongue is a surprisingly hard-drinking movie and essentially anytime the characters gather for a meal; funny, awkward, and moving performances are on display.

3/5 Stars

Romería (2025) - Set in 2004 along the Atlantic Coast of Spain, writer/director Carla Simón presents the story of a young woman attempting to reconnect with the family of her birthfather. Newcomer Llúcia Garcia plays Marina, a young woman who was adopted after both of her parents died from AIDS in the fallout of Spain's 80s heroin scene. Marina travels to Vigo, not only to meet her extended family and learn about her parents, but to correct a public record that doesn't acknowledge her existence so that she can properly apply for educational grants. Marina's reception in Vigo ranges from warm to antagonistic, but even the more welcoming family members remain guarded around the specifics of her father's final days. Even in the early 00s misconceptions and stigma around AIDS persisted and it's clear that Marina's paternal grandparents intentionally tried to bury the past along with their son. Romería is broken into discreet chapters and filled with lovely coastal scenery captured with fragments of video footage interwoven with the more conventionally shot sequences. Simón takes a magical realist approach to the penultimate chapter that allows Marina to experience a recreation of Vigo in the 1980s and the carefree life her parents led before addiction and death caught up to them. There's an incredible nightclub scene that transforms into a dance number before becoming a chilling allegory for the lives lost at the height of the epidemic. This flashback in time contains some fantastic needle drops including Lole and Manuel's Tu Mirá (undoubtedly familiar to the Kill Bill fans out there) and Bailaré sobre tu tumba from Vigo-based punks Siniestro Total. The retro vibe, drug content, and use of music rendered the sequence like a miniature Quniqui film though not quite as explicitly hopeless as those movies can be. I did appreciate the uncomfortable family drama friction that encompasses most of Simón's film and Garcia is clearly a talent able to express subtle mood shifts with her expression and body language. I confess that the trip back in time was the part that really stuck with me, though. 

3.5/5 Stars

Check out some Siniestro Total!

Blue Heron (2025) - Reconciliation of familial past was certainly the theme for Day 12 and Sophy Romvari's feature debut made for the perfect finale to a childhood trauma triple feature. Romvari recreates a loosely autobiographical story of a Hungarian immigrant family that moves to Vancouver Island sometime in the late 1990s. The story is framed around 8 year old Sasha (Eylul Guven) but it's her eldest brother Jeremy (Edik Beddoes) and his increasingly hostile and fragile mental state that dominates the central conflict. While not officially diagnosed, Jeremy is experiencing something resembling Oppositional Defiance Disorder and his acting out is shifting from unruly and anti-social to physically threatening. Jeremy's parents, having exhausted various avenues of child therapy, turn to social services who give them an extreme option that's both heartbreaking and possibly their final recourse. Romvari then makes a formally daring decision to move the film decades ahead in time where an adult filmmaker Sasha is working on a project not dissimilar from the very film being watched. Amy Zimmer plays the mature Sasha and serves, to some degree, as a stand-in for Romvari herself trying to make sense of a difficult family history via cinematic storytelling. The two timelines collide allowing Romvari-Sasha to go back in time and interrogate her own parents and history around Jeremy's troubling and erratic behavior.  Romvari's take on storytelling structure and blending fictional with documentary elements is a genuine breath of fresh air regarding cinematic form. The first section of the film faithfully builds a hazy nostalgia for a specific time and place (even if it's one you haven't experienced). Sasha's father is shown to be an avid photographer and home-video enthusiast so the film is layered with authentic feeling (though fictional) documents of a home life that was undoubtedly turbulent but also marked with moments of grace and joy. The introduction of modern elements allow for a more frank discussion of changing attitudes towards child psychology and how social work succeeds and fails in aiding families. I can't say I was as engaged for the latter part, but I applaud the ingenuity and do find this a heartfelt tribute to a family and a brother that struggled to find their way.

3.5/4 Stars

Dinner of Film Festival Champions

So ends my 2026 MSPIFF! I watched fourteen features and one shorts program which is a touch lighter than in some years, but I thought the quality was consistently good with only a couple of things that fell truly flat for me. It remains a highlight of my year and the programming and organization are really commendable considering the resources the Film Society is able to bring to bear. I can't speak in figures, but the attendance appeared to be quite high with even less-hyped films regularly selling out. My days of wandering into the box office and grabbing up tickets a few minutes before a screening are certainly over, but a little preparation on my part is a small price to pay for cinematic enthusiasm. As always, I'd like to thank MSP Film Society for generously granting me a press pass and this year I'd like to give a special shout out to Metro Transit as I took the newly operational E Line to and from all of the screenings I attended. 

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MSPIFF 2026 - Part One

We're back once again for the 45th(!) Annual Minneapolis St. Paul Film Festival where film fans and filmmakers congregate near the banks of the Mississippi River just outside of Downtown Minneapolis for 200+ films from all over the world. MSPIFF is something I've enjoyed parts of for decades now, but has truly become a cornerstone of my movie calendar since they've generously been granting me press credentials for the past few years. For me, it's a chance to catch things that I've heard about from other festivals or experience films more outside my usual focus. Most importantly the MSP Film Society has managed to capture that alchemy of venue, programming, and people that make a film festival more than a mere marathon of movie watching. 

Day One

Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story (2026) - A new documentary covering the life and career of Maria Bamford with a particular focus on her struggles and experiences with mental health issues. Directors Neil Berkeley's and Judd Apatow's film provides the perfect introduction to Maria's comedy for the uninitiated while remaining surprisingly revelatory for long time fans. Despite Bamford's Minnesota origins, I think I (like many others) discovered her through another documentary, The Comedians of Comedy, twenty years ago. I was already familiar with her CoC fellows Patton Oswalt and Brian Posehn, but came away from that film thinking Bamford was the funniest comic featured (thought those early Zach Galifianakis bits are priceless). Not long after, I devoured her early YouTube show, her albums, and even managed to see her at Acme Comedy when she could have arguably been selling out larger theaters. It was her surreal, theatrical approach to stand-up that initially won me over but her work also always contained a fearless element of autobiographical confession; whether that was her brilliant impressions of family members or her startlingly frank material about mental health. All that is to say, I thought I knew Bamford's narrative fairly well. Berkekley's and Apatow's documentary is very conventional in its form of talking heads, archival footage, and following Bamford around with a camera crew. Still, Hope does an admirable job of organizing Bamford's life into cohesive chapters while always interweaving her comedy into a story that touches upon depression, eating disorders, suicide, OCD, death, and even the California wildfires. There's a degree of emotional whiplash to the film and it isn't afraid to delve into darker or even negative elements around Bamford's work, but because the focus is so strongly on her the result is  intensely funny and humane. As a longtime fan, I think my favorite bits were towards the end of the film where Berkeley was explaining some of Bamford's highly unconventional professional practices (one on one comedy sets with strangers, 8am matinees to families) to the complete astonishment of her peers. It's testament to Bamford's singular persona to have been so honest and open for so many years and still be able to surprise and delight even your closest colleagues.

4/5 Stars

This was followed up with a Q&A with Berkeley, Bamford, and her sister Sarah (who formerly cut the dead up into chunks). They were all extremely gracious and enthusiastic to present to a Minnesota audience (describing Duluth as a "Freshwater Monaco" got a huge laugh) and Bamford was effortlessly hilarious. 

Day Two

The Christophers (2025) - A deft two-hander from the steadily prolific Steven Soderbergh starring Ian McKellen as a once notable artist in decline (Julian Sklar) and Michaela Coel (Lori) as an artist hired by Sklar's children to masquerade as his assistant while "completing" some unfinished works from his most acclaimed period. Christophers is a beautifully performed film with a fascinating see-saw between Sklar's unrelenting onslaught of frequently funny diatribes and Lori's densely layered series of expressions that slowly gives way to her filling up more of their shared space as their personal dynamic shifts. It's also exquisitely photographed using almost entirely handheld shots for the cavernous interiors of Sklar's decaying side-by-side townhomes while the exteriors are filmed more traditionally. There's a quasi cat-and-mouse game around the identities of the two and how they relate to each other, but really it's more about understanding what it is, exactly, that they want out of their bizarre partnership. Visually, Soderbergh employs a recurring motif around climbing or descending stairways or crossing thresholds that elegantly, if not explicitly, illustrates Lori and Sklar trying to sort out where their mutual trust begins and ends between them. It's a clever film but not one that ever spoke to me deeply and finishes somewhat mutely. Soderbergh has been in the media most recently, and unfortunately, due to his apparent enthusiasm for using generative AI in some of his upcoming projects. Knowing that, it's hard for me to not read some of that subtext in this film about the sometimes derivative nature or questionable authorship of art.

3.5/5 Stars

Normal (2025) - Another film in Bob Odenkirk's streak as a hyper-violent comedy/action star, but this time from English director Ben Wheatley who has made boldly stylish (if not always successful) forays into films as diverse as A Field in England and Meg 2. My introduction to Normal was an early trailer featuring (in voiceover) one of the most absurdly exaggerated Minnesota accents this side of Fargo which didn't bode well for a watchable film. Fortunately subsequent trailers dispensed with the voiceovers and there's little overt attempt by the actors to approximate anything other than a vaguely midwestern tone to their speech. Odenkirk stars as Ulysses, an "interim" sheriff serving the titular town that really could be anywhere in the US that's both rural and snowy. Ulysses has taken this role leaving a disgruntled wife and some kind of unpleasantness behind and initially finds the small town rather charming despite some early indications that not all is as it seems. Mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Normal's previous sheriff as well as an ill-conceived bank robbery serve to uncover the town's secret and Normal wastes no time in becoming a ferociously brutal, nearly non-stop series of shootouts and brawls between Ulysses, a few choice allies, and the rest of the town. Wheatley (unsurprisingly) allows the violence to go straight over the top and illustrates early on that no character is safe from an uncompromisingly savage demise. This serves the film both by employing wildly inventive gags (so much eye trauma) as well as the comedy in a deeply nihilistic splat-stick fashion. Odenkirk seems completely at home in this register and he has some solid support from the likes of Lena Headey and Henry Winkler but the plot and any attempt at characterization feels tertiary to the onscreen mayhem. In fact, the attempts to fill in Ulysses' backstory feel like unwanted intrusions on the otherwise raucous parade of innovative carnage. Ultimately, the humor and gore were executed well enough to win me over and I did not struggle to shut my brain off and enjoy Normal for what it does best.

3.5/5 Stars

Day Three

Everybody to Kenmure Street (2026) - My Wife and I headed over to The Edina Cinema (returning as a satellite venue this MSPIFF) to catch this Scottish documentary that I'd heard about coming out of Sundance. Kenmure Street documents a day in Glasgow when the UK Home Office detained two immigrant men and the community turned up to resist and prevent them from leaving. Specifically, an activist referred to as "Van Man" crawled underneath the immigration enforcement van where the two men were being held and clung to the axle so that they could not drive away. This direct action stalled the immigration raid and allowed for more community members to surround them resulting in a tense standoff between the neighborhood and law enforcement. It's an interestingly constructed film that does a fine job providing historical context to both the story of immigration and resistance movements in Glasgow and how that relates to what took place on Kenmure Street that day. The archival footage is broken up with interviews with several of the witnesses and participants of the protest though the testimony of Van Man and an anonymous nurse who was on the scene are recreated by Emma Thompson and Kate Dickie. There's clear parallels between the events detailed in Kenmure Street and the brutal wave of federal occupation here in Minnesota and the director, in his introduction to the film, mentioned that they felt they were making this documentary for Minneapolis. This was an emotional watch for me even though the film's narrative is ultimately about community resistance overcoming state sponsored tyranny. It's hard not to think about how similar circumstances had drastically different (and lethal) results locally. I suppose it speaks to my American perspective that I found myself repeatedly wondering why they police weren't gassing or firing rubber bullets into the protesters, but my understanding is that the relative restraint demonstrated by law enforcement that day is somewhat of an anomaly. I just can't imagine a situation where ICE or MPD would similarly choose to de-escalate where they can employ significant levels of violence against the public with near-immunity. Having said that, Kenmure Street makes a clear argument against the kind of stupidity and cruelty that fuels things like Home Office dawn raids and a rousing document of community solidarity and resistance in the face of oppression. Sadly, I could not stay for the Q&A but did get a glimpse of the Van Man himself as I sprinted to the bus stop.

4/5 Stars

The first MSPIFF showing of Kenmure Street was on the opening night and I understand from attendees that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey introduced the film. Locals know that despite swearing in front of television cameras and going on a press tour, Frey was virtually absent on the streets of Minneapolis during the worst of Metro Surge. The resistance to ICE and the incredibly robust networks of mutual aid were grassroots operations that happened in spite of the fecklessness of many elected officials and local law enforcement. There are a huge number of individuals that enabled these movements and any one of them would have been a better choice than Frey to open the film.

Uncle Roy (2026) - Apparently Friday nights are for shedding tears and Keri Pickett's touching portrait of her uncle, Roy Blakey, had the whole theater choking up by the time the credits rolled. Blakey lived through wild and wide-ranging experiences starting as a performer in a world-traveling ice show during the 50s and 60s before moving on to a successful career as a headshot photographer in 1970s NYC. Also during that time, Blakey took and published astonishingly composed and highly influential male nudes making him one of the pioneers of gay photography. These two thematic drivers of Blakey's life, ice skating and the nudes, would make for a compelling story on their own and that narrative is supported by a truly incredible personal archive of photos and home movies that Blakey meticulously kept. However, Pickett also weaves in the final chapter of Blakey's life where (in his 90s) his cognitive function and health begin to decline precipitously while he is still looking for somewhere to house his vast collection of both photos and ice show memorabilia. The result is an intimate and unflinching look at the last stages of life and what it means to love and care for someone moving through this phase of their journey. Honestly, I skimmed by Uncle Roy in the initial program guide because I wasn't that interested in ice skating. To my delight, the ice show elements are actually quite immersive thanks to all of the archival footage Blakey's irrepressible good nature and impish sense of humor. The additional material about NYC, the 70s gay scene, and a wonderful collection of interviews with dancers and models who all posed for Ray further underscores how he touched so many lives of the people he came into contact with. I was especially taken with a sequence focused on the University of Minnesota Tretter Collection which is the largest LGTBQ archive in the Midwest and now the home of all of Blakey's materials, both skating and non-skating related. I have no idea what kind of distribution Uncle Roy will receive but it's one to look out for or, at the very least, look Blakey and his work up for yourself.

4/5 Stars

Carolina Caroline (2025) - I've been looking forward to Adam Rehmeier's lovers-on-the-lam film since hearing positive things out of TIFF last year and also because it's one of the few crime movies I get to see in the festival lineup. Kyle Gallner stars as a drifter and con-man (Oliver) who picks up Samara Weaving's Caroline after she catches him in a change scam at the gas station she works at. The two have an instant and electric connection and share troubled family histories involving feelings of abandonment. Caroline is quickly swayed by the heat of their relationship, Oliver's anarchic personal philosophy, and (perhaps most importantly) the opportunity to get out of Texas. The pair make good partners both romantically and criminally, moving rapidly from department store scams to a series of bank robberies across the Southern US. As the stakes increase, things inevitably go sideways resulting in violence Caroline didn't sign up for and disillusionment in the outlaw lifestyle. There's a lot that's easy for me to like about Carolina Caroline; besides their good looks both leads give solid performances and their on-screen chemistry is evident. Rehmeier set Caroline in the 90s and elected to shoot some tremendous authentic locations in a warm, analog style that matches the period while speaking to some previous classics in the genre. The scams and heists are intriguingly constructed and have some legitimate tension to them. What Oliver and Caroline lack in studied professionalism they make up for with instinct and guts and it's very believable. Thematically, I'm not sure things hang together quite as well. Oliver's early pitch to Caroline is that ripping off larger chain stores or banks is essentially victimless because any losses would barely render a blip on their yearly financials. Shortly thereafter the two pull a Grifters style scam on an unsuspecting businessman where they drain his bank account for thousands of dollars. Maybe he's supposed to be rich enough to eat the loss, but he certainly seems like a victim in the context of the film. The more interesting angle in Oliver's credo is that free will is an illusion and everyone is the product of millions of influences and impulses that drive their decisions from moment to moment. He and Caroline act as though they're on the outside of this agency-free continuum until the last act of the film when the consequences of their actions finally fold in around them. Oliver's resignation to their shared fate comes suddenly and completely and it's clear it was never going to end any other way.

3.5/5 Stars

Day Four

Personal obligations prevented me from attending the fest on this day. I still managed to have a good time.

Day Five

Dean Cundey in Conversation - MSPIFF has been getting some tremendous guests over the last few years for their "industry night" and tribute to founder, Al Milgrom. This year was none other than the legendary cinematographer, Dean Cundey. These are lightly moderated chats and Cundey was gracious with his time and anecdotes covering everything from the Roger Corman days to his collaborations with John Carpenter to his many innovative, effects driven blockbuster efforts. These days, I'm generally more curious about the old drive-in programmers than the Hollywood pictures but I wasn't surprised that his talk dwelled more on Jurassic Park or Who Framed Roger Rabbit  than it did on The Witch Who Came from the Sea or Black Shampoo. It was a fun talk, Cundey is funny in a grandfatherly way and the folks in attendance were clearly very excited to have him.

Late Fame (2025) - An adaptation of the posthumously published novella from playwright Arthur Schnitzler by director Kent Jones and writer Samy Burch starring Willem Dafoe as a postal worker whose decades-old book of poetry is "discovered" by a group of energetic young writers. Jones and Burch transport Schnitlzer's narrative from 19th Century Vienna to modern day New York rendering the film a statement not just on the nostalgia around the aspirations of young artists but also a remembrance of a bygone era in the city. Ed Saxberger (Dafoe) remains largely gracious and grounded when approached by Meyers (Edmund Donovan) and his quasi-salon that refer to themselves as the Enthusiasm Society, but he does begin to get seduced by the possibility of re-establishing his artistic notoriety even in a small way. One key element to this seduction is Gloria (Greta Lee) an actor who is no less obsessed with construction an affected artistic persona than the rest of the Society but has different financial realities than her wealthy and affluent fellows. While there's nothing overtly romantic about Gloria and Ed, they do fascinate each other and some of the more profound and melancholy moments occur between them. At one point Gloria looks at Ed and tells him "you must have been so beautiful when you were young" and, of course, we know he was but that person and that time are in the past now. I'm a sucker for NYC movies and movies about artists and Late Fame is exactly the kind of film I tend to be won over by, but I think it really does handle themes around youthful ambition and the comfortable resignation that sometimes comes with age without ever becoming maudlin or overly sentimental. Dafoe and Lee are impeccable and the younger actors who make up the Society are frequently hilariously cringe inducing. The film is bursting with good location work and the music from Don Fleming seems to lightly reference his own 80s music as well as his collaborations with Sonic Youth and Thurston Moore.

4/5 Stars

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MidWest WeirdFest 2026 - The Passionate Cinema

 
Dr. Dean Bertram and the good people of Eau Claire, Wisconsin have been hosting MidWest WeirdFest, "a cinematic celebration of all things fantastic, frightening, underground, offbeat, and just plain weird," for a seriously commendable 10 years now and I had the privilege of making my way down to check it out. Even though WeirdFest is essentially next door to the Twin Cities, it landed more firmly on my radar because they hosted one of the premier screenings for Anywhere, a movie I quite liked and reviewed back in January. Dean and Co. very generously provided me with a media pass this year so my wife and I made the short trip to spend a weekend in Eau Claire amidst some friendly and enthusiastic film fans and filmmakers. The old Asian Media Access Hong Kong film series had one of my favorite slogans; "Cinema with Passion," and cinematic passion is exactly what we found in Wisconsin.

Day 1

After arriving and settling in we walked around downtown Eau Claire for a bit and then made our way to the Micon Cinemas Downtown location; our venue for the fest. I'm always down to visit a smaller, older cinema and this one was a real charmer. Classic marquee and architectural stylings but also with some  renovations and well rounded food and beverage options. We were able to get our passes, which were some extremely cool printed dog tags, a mere 30 minutes before the first screening without issue. There is a noticeably laid-back vibe at WeirdFest where you don't have to sweat reserving tickets or finding the right office or person who may have your passes and yet nothing seemed oversold or overly chaotic.

Peeping Todd (2025) - What a fantastic way to begin the festival! Todd is Josh Munds' tale of the titular voyeur (Chris Alan Evans) who's ability to spy on the focus of his obsession, Claire (Mabel Thomas), faces a series of obstacles including her anally fixated boyfriend (Paul Petersen) and an increasingly vigilant home owners association. Also, it's a musical. Movie musicals are a tough sell for me and not something I would probably elect to review or even watch on my own so I'm especially grateful that I found my way to this one. Todd is utterly unrestrained in its depiction of a largely unsympathetic protagonist and a host of characters who run the gamut from despicable to the merely very strange. It succeeds both by executing the musical numbers beautifully, not only with solid performances but choreography as well, and by being incredibly funny. Without a doubt Todd features some of the funniest songs about stalking, anal sex, masturbation, and the particulars of running an HOA. The dialogue and some of the sight gags are also absolutely ludicrous in a way that really hit. I don't remember the last time I laughed this hard and this consistently in a theater. Todd definitely throws a lot at the audience and while not everything necessarily lands, there's clearly attention being paid to bizarre details from the Mormon rave/orgy to a momentary breakup song between Todd and the bush he normally hides in to watch Claire. It's something I could more easily see becoming a cult hit Off-Broadway but, as silly as it might sound, makes serious use of cinematic language to build some truly ambitious set pieces. I think it will take hustle on the part of the filmmakers and getting their off-kilter baby in front of the right eyeballs, but I could see Peeping Todd becoming a grassroots fan favorite and I hope it happens for them. 

This was preceded by a short film from Chris Alan Evans, Hivemind Deluxe, and followed by a fun Q&A with Evans and Assistant Director, Jonnie Stapleton.

Personhood (2025) - Next up was a smartly produced science fiction film from writer/director Richard Jordan about a lonely man in a recognizable near-future and his fraught relationship with an artificial person (AP in the film) companion. Set in coastal Spain, Waylen (Elliot Harris) is an affluent programmer whose physical challenges seemingly isolate him from forming meaningful relationships with anyone other than his adorable dog, Buddy. While the details are kept somewhat vague, a beautiful companion named Gala (Agathe Levi) arrives at his home seemingly prepared to service him both as housekeeper and lover. The two share some awkward exchanges as the limits of Gala's programming conflict with Waylen's desire for her to be more like a "real" person. Things are made far messier when Waylen's oafish younger brother turns up and starts showing his jealousy over Gala and everything else Waylen has managed to achieve. Personhood is a tremendous looking film and deftly manages what is essentially a two-hander between Waylen and Gala for much of the runtime. The performances are quite good across the board. Harris feels very authentic as Waylen and while it's one thing to cast someone with physical differences as the lead in your film, it's refreshing to see them cast as a whole person with sexual desires and significant character flaws. Agathe Levi is clearly gorgeous but manages to lend nuance to what could have been a mere "living doll" style of role. The aspect of Personhood that does falter a bit is the writing. It's difficult to have anything particularly novel to say about AI at this point and some of the dialogue felt nearly improvisational in an unconvincing way. The motivations in the third act get especially murky though it lands on a satisfying conclusion. Definitely a film, filmmaker, and a cast worth keeping an eye on even if it didn't cohere totally for me.

Personhood was preceded by a cool shadow puppet music video for Splash!'s single Under the Rose and a short film also dealing with artificial persons; E.D.G.A.R., which was co-produced with Kodak and I thought had a very cool vintage film stock look to it.

There was another screening but we hadn't really eaten since Minneapolis and weren't sure how many options we would have left by midnight so we departed to a local spot and called it a day.

Day 2

After properly caffeinating and fueling up at the hotel we made it down the block to the Micon for another round of weird and wonderful films.

Creature Fear (2025) - The feature debut from writer/director Manny Gumina who was in attendance at this screening. Gumina mentioned in his introduction that he intended for Creature Fear to be "as Wisconsin as possible" and I believe he nailed it. Creature is largely the story of Paul (Jarrod Langwinski) a small town ex-con in dire financial straits whose desperation leads him to subsist on local disease contaminated venison. This miserable diet results in his own infection, descent into madness, and a series of deaths that begin accidentally but escalate in intent and violence. In his isolation and ravenous hunger Paul indulges in some sinister activities reminiscent of Wisconsin's favorite taxidermy and cash register enthusiast, Ed Gein (Gein is never name checked in the film, but his stomping ground of Plainfield certainly is). Paul's story collides with that of a pair of musicians, local singer Miriam (Natalie Gerene) and Chicago based Charlie (Billy Chengary) who are looking to record music together and navigating a possible romance. Paul and Miriam share a grim connection and details are dispensed deliberately maintaining some air of mystery. There are extensively gruesome sequences featuring bodies both animal and human that are visceral in the most literal sense possible and this is contrasted with heartfelt interpersonal drama between the three leads. The class and culture conflicts between locals and visitors who believe "nothing good happens North of Madison" provides an interesting wrinkle to what could have been a more straightforward "backwoods townie shit" story. While the plot maintains a steady simmer in the third act, things do erupt into a dark, bloody finale that raises as many questions as it answers. Gumina's a Wisconsin native and lends a tangible authenticity to Creature Fear by employing great location work, dialogue, and a hard drinking way of life that rings very true. 

Creature Fear was preceded by a cool alien abduction animation from Nick Rohr of Lemon Pulp Studios and followed with a Q&A with Gumina, Langwinski, Chengary as well as actor Jimmy Romano and Cinematographer Derek Schmitt.

Best of the Midwest Shorts - We wanted to see some more shorts while attending the fest and this certainly seemed like the program to check out. I don't have great links for all of these but the festival page has more information on each.

The program opened with a teaser trailer for a project titled House of Flies. I spoke with the filmmakers briefly and they have a feature length screenplay that's getting noticed and are hoping to move forward with the full film. Definitely looks promising from what I've seen.

Country Soul - Another animation from Nick Rohr, this was a music video for the titular song by G'itis Baggs. It was both charming and tinged with melancholy. A touching tribute to the artist.

The Voice in the Vessel - An eerie Twilight Zone-esque story featuring a wonderfully cool automaton that may actually be a channel to the divine. Some great art direction in an attic filled with strange artifacts.

The Stay - A splendidly horrific lo-fi vision of a man on a deadline. Shot on film and featuring a decidedly experimental structure, this was both deeply weird and something I identified with to a disturbing degree. Featured the voice of Wisconsin's own Mark Borchardt!

The Girl in the Street - With a slightly longer runtime of 17 minutes, Girl in the Street has the opportunity to build some dread and tension around the story of a young man, Malachi, who moves to a small town for work. Once you notice that his employers hired the "Summerisle" movers to help him get settled, you know things are going to go poorly. Takes a very dark turn at the end and has some profoundly creepy imagery.

Spanked by a Ghost - Very fun, lightly horny tale of a young woman down for some paranormal extracurricular activities.

Homemade Gatorade - There were definitely moments for this one and I think it was a hit with the crowd. Gatorade is certainly spoofing garbage internet culture but also rooted in that aesthetic which I struggle with. It's a me problem and I'd still recommend checking this one out.

Hyperburn - A sci-fi/comedy/action vignette with some professional polish. Felt more like a promotional reel than a story to me, but there's absolutely a place for that in a festival setting.

Drink Up - Another eerie monkey's paw style of tale featuring some quality performances and some sharp direction. I'll definitely be interested in future work from Wenzler Powers.

Social Media Delivers People - Described as a video "art" project, this series of text and bland imagery decrying the inherent exploitative nature of the attention economy isn't wrong, but it isn't much a film either. Employing AI voices for the narration is definitely a choice.

Texas Strange - A sci-fi/Western mashup featuring an outlaw gang on a distant planet. Not really my aesthetic, but some solid performances here.

Godzilla Visits Minneapolis  - This short animation was much weirder and less coherent than I imagined, but how can I complain about Godzilla stomping out the Spoonbridge and Cherry?

Three Chicken Dinners - Hilarious story of a hapless film P.A. trying to order food for his crew from a Wisconsin dive bar. I witnessed something similar when I saw a guy trying to order a Chicago dog with sauerkraut from a local joint. You'd think he'd broken the Geneva Convention.

Blossom Needs a Ride Home - A film for anyone who wonders what happens to the "final girl" after the credits roll at the end of a slasher flick. Loaded with violent slapstick and smartly edited. This was a perfect way to cap off the series.

At this point, we were in need of a brief respite and headed next door to The Mousetrap which is the unofficial bar/meetup spot for WeirdFest. We grabbed a couple of drinks, said hi to some folks and took our bartender's friendly recommendation to grab some takeout from a local burrito spot to enjoy at the bar. Great joint, classic drinks, definitely worth a stop if you're in town.

El Ritual de Lily/Lily's Ritual (2025) - The sophomore feature from Spanish writer/director Manu Herrera employs the time tested formula of taking some attractive people, sticking them in an isolated rural locale, and introducing some supernatural havoc to bloodily satisfying results. In this case, it's a group of four female friends who, rather than stumble across something spooky, have every intention of performing a witchcraft ritual together to invoke a seemingly benign spiritual earth mother entity. There is (naturally) a dark twist and things proceed to go gruesomely off the rails in a stunning showcase of practical gore effects and creature makeup/prosthetics. The cast is both lovely and charming though Herrera perhaps lingers a bit too long on group dancing and sensual bathing sequences before getting to the violent conclusion of the film. As one of my fellow fest-goers noted, if you're going to indulge in that kind of thing you might as well go for something sleazier. We could just be degenerates, but I tend to concur. Herrera works through familiar territory with enough style to keep the film afloat, though,  and then the last 20-25 minutes are sheer gleeful mayhem. Definitely one to look out for.

Ritual was preceded by two shorts: Blindsided featuring visually impaired actor, Crystal Loverro, and a unique perspective on invading monsters. Sleep Tight personified night terrors into a typically spooky boogeyman and involved more foot stuff than I was prepared for.

The Mid-Night Driver (2026) - WeirdFest was the 2nd ever screening and Midwest debut of Alex Cherney's atmospheric period chiller that is not only oozing with an authentic sense of place (Cherney's home turf of Long Island) but sense of time being set around Halloween in 1992. Cherney channels the pre-internet creepiness of urban legends and dark party games centering his story around three teenage girls who attempt to summon the titular Driver based on a ritual learned from schoolmates. While this initial foray into the uncanny is uneventful; one of the girls, Claire played by Devan Delugo, attempts again on her own and succeeds in hailing a mysterious car with a sinister silent Driver to her home. By accepting a ride, Claire peels back the veil uncovering a legitimately eerie nighttime world of occult mystery lying below the surface of her mundane suburban existence. While budgetary limitations certainly must have played a factor, Cherney's implied rather than overt handling of supernatural elements is incredibly effective in creating a enigmatic world that suggests a much deeper lore than what's captured in this narrative. It's usually not wise to throw the term "Lynch-ian" around and I don't think Cherney's work is tonally very similar to something like Twin Peaks or Blue Velvet but there's a shared sensibility around mystery that's instantly identifiable. The Driver gives Claire occasional tasks on their rides and one late night visit to a woman's home reminded me a bit of Donna's unsettling visit to the Tremond residence in Peaks. Though he never utters an intelligible word, Al Reno as The Driver has a terrific screen presence and is able to convey so much with uncomfortable stares and grimaces. Likewise Delugo believably captures the essence of a determined, curious teenager who pushes her limits even if she hasn't fully articulated why for herself. Location selection plays a significant factor in how Cherney evokes Driver's early 90s setting and allows him to do so without ham-fisted platforming of obvious cultural identifiers. There are some fun easter-eggs scattered throughout as set dressing, though, and I'm nearly certain one of my neighbors had the same television/entertainment center/Pictionary box set-up featured so prominently in the film. One of the beautiful aspects of life before everyone carried a computer around in their pockets was that weird tales, legends, and mysteries could be explored and wondered about at length and Mid-Night Driver taps into that analog atmosphere of strangeness marvelously for it's 80 minute runtime. It's one I hope to revisit when the autumn leaves turn and a chill is in the air. 

The Mid-Night Driver was preceded by two short films: Film That Never Begins which I thought was very funny and 95 KiD which was not so much my thing. The film was followed by a Q&A with writer/director Alex Cherney.

After Driver we were cashed and decided to call it a night. Sadly, that was the end of our WeirdFest as we had to head home sooner than expected. This was such a joy of a fest: the film selection was excellent, the vibe was casual but things were still happening more-or-less on schedule, everyone I talked to couldn't have been nicer, and I'm already anticipating our next visit. There's a selfish part of me that doesn't even want to spread the word as WeirdFest feels so right-sized to me now, but I absolutely encourage anyone to come check it out. If you're a filmmaker, you should not only be submitting your films to WeirdFest but you should plain on attending! There were so many independent filmmakers in attendance and that only helped bolster the special event atmosphere the fest already had. Thanks goes to Dean and the other organizers (thanks especially for the pass) and the great folks at the Micon (seriously some of the finest movie theater service I've witnessed in ages). Next year, I'm taking off more time so that I can attend all three days and (hopefully) hit that Mousetrap after party.

MSPIFF 2025 - Part Two

 This is part two of my coverage from MSPIFF 44 wrapping up another year of mainlining international new releases as long as my schedule and body permits. Please do check out part one for an introduction, more capsule reviews, and a brief nod towards seeing Ang Lee speak as part of the festivities.

I was starting to flag a bit in the second week but I still turned up most days to fit at least one film in. I also thought the films were really excellent in the second week and I had a chance to finally check out some things that debuted at Cannes last year (just as this year's lineup was being announced). One thing I'm really happy about this year is that the weather held out reasonably well so I was able to bike to the theater most days and even walked all the way down on Saturday. I did take the bus a couple of times but a biking/transit/walking film festival is undoubtedly the best kind of film festival and I was feeling very fortunate about that.

Day 6

Undercover (2024) - A stylish Spanish police thriller with some profoundly stunning location footage (mostly in and around San Sebastian). Much of Undercover seemed to be occurring in wintertime and cold beach/coast has to be one of my all-time favorite ecospheres. I had not heard of Undercover before it was announced for MSPIFF but I was instantly excited for it. I love that some of these more classic film genres are still thriving in various international markets. While Undercover nails the aesthetics and contains an excellent lead performance - the political themes seem desperately undercooked. It's adapted from actual events of a young woman who went...undercover...and infiltrated the ETA. I am in no way an expert on the ETA, Basque sovereignty, or Spanish politics in general - but I don't think I'm that much better informed from this film. It's a snapshot containing elements of terrorism, state sponsored violence, systemic misogyny, cultural identity, and political liberation - but it doesn't have much to say about any of it and the final message feels muddled at best. Really cute cat, though.

Day 7

I needed a break and took this night off.

Day 8

Misericordia (2024) - This was a film I had heard great things about following its early festival rounds and one of the first things I reserved a ticket for when I was granted a pass. I think it's easiest to describe Alain Guiraudie's latest as a mystery - or at the very least; mysterious - though it is one less concerned with "who" and more focused on "why" Misericordia features exquisite autumnal French village atmosphere and a genuinely fantastic central performance from Félix Kysyl. It reminded me of Patricia Highsmith in some ways with this elusive, seductive main character but it's a far stranger affair than a Ripley story. There is a darkly humorous streak that runs through the entire film but it feels wrong to describe it as a comedy - it both contains one of the most hilarious scenes I saw during the fest and one of the most brutally horrific. The title is derived from the Latin word for mercy and there are some (very French) discussions around crime and punishment but I am still ruminating over how that theme is reflected throughout the film. This one beguiled me and I'd absolutely recommend it even if you don't find yourself as transfixed as I did.

Day 9

Caught by the Tides (2024) - Another Cannes standout. Narratively abstract and aesthetically chaotic - I can understand that Caught by the Tides will be a challenging watch for some (apparently at least one walkout during the screening I caught). I was absorbed by it, though. Tides is largely assembled from existing B-roll footage from Jia Zhang-ke's previous works. I am not familiar enough with Zhang-ke's filmography to spot where different segments of Tides was cribbed from, but I still loved the clash of formats and styles - careening from flat, digital industrial footage to grainy, low res night scenes to lush 35mm landscapes. It's impressive how this film is utilizing older footage, going back decades in some cases, but still manages to speak to recent history (albeit through a lens many of us are unfamiliar with). I know that travelogue is not sufficient to make a film compelling, but I thought there was significant value in this sprawling window into Chinese life. Hopefully this gets a wider release here and people can give it a shot. Definitely better to see it in a theater.

Day 10

We Can Be Heroes - Shorts Program - I didn't have anything planned out for the afternoon so I thought I would check out some shorts. Of all festival programming, short films truly are the most ephemeral and frequently the hardest to see outside of a fest environment. These were short documentaries covering subjects ranging from tattooing to puzzles to an elaborate corporate prank. Arguably the most moving of the bunch was How to Care (which sadly does not appear to be listed on IMDB or Letterboxd at the time of writing). It's focused on the life of Dan, a septuagenarian living with cerebral palsy, and the community of caregivers that help support him. It's a subject I have some personal experience with and I understand how critical those assistance and enrichment programs are. Dan and crew were also in attendance for the screening which was extremely cool to see. 

I'm guessing Adidas Owns Reality is the program selection that will have the best chance of life outside of the festival circuit. It documents an elaborate corporate hoax perpetrated by the Yes Men who are well known for culture-jamming hijinks largely at the expense of the wealthy and powerful. This particular prank involves a fake "co-CEO" of Adidas and a Berlin fashion show meant to confront the realities of sweatshop labor. The film is infuriating and funny and their cause is a righteous one. I hope this lands in front of more eyeballs.

Mr. K (2024) - Though I am not particularly familiar with the work of writer/director Tallulah Hazekamp Schwab, Mr. K was another festival selection that I was highly anticipating. Anything starring Crispin Glover was bound to interest me and it's also good to see something unapologetically weird. Ultimately, I think my anticipation was rewarded. Schwab apparently spent years developing K and it's certainly noticeable in the production design. Glover's awkward, nervous magician becomes trapped in a bewildering, labyrinthine hotel populated with frequently hostile (or creepily familiar) denizens who never seem to go outside. The hotel and it's myriad rooms, kitchens, stairways, and closets are impeccably rendered and filled with the kinds of aesthetic touches that would reward repeat viewings. I don't think there's anything terribly groundbreaking in this Kafkaesque conspiracy tale but I still think Schwab mostly nails the tone and the delivery. I found myself repeatedly noting what were likely influences but also connections to other films and filmmakers. The ending didn't land with everyone I saw the film with, but things took a strange enough, gross enough turn beforehand that I was satisfied. 

Day 11

Odd Fish (2024) - An Icelandic film ostensibly about two old friends and co-workers in a remote fishing village where one comes out as trans to the other (and her community). I say ostensibly because though there is an excellent and courageous performance from Arna Magnea Danks, the film spends less time on her transition and far more on the identity crisis of her middle-aged, cis-dude friend. As a cis-dude fast careening towards middle age - I would have been much more interested in a film driven by Danks' character. Still, this is a good natured film and it is filled both with some lovely coastal scenery and largely takes place in a rustic seafood restaurant that looked absolutely incredible. For her part, Arna Magnea Danks has mostly worked as a stunt and fight coordinator but absolutely has the goods as an actress. I'd love to hear more about her real life story.

Kill the Jockey (2024) - Luis Ortega is a filmmaker who landed on my radar largely thanks to his 2018 film, Angel, loosely based on the real life exploits of Argentine serial murderer - Carlos Eduardo Robledo Puch. Jockey is not remotely based in reality and is much lighter film in content - something in the vein of mildly surreal crime-adjacent flicks like the cinema du look movies. It's an incredibly stylish film utilizing some excellent long takes, some inventive POV work, and beautiful integration of pop music. Another strong lead performance, this time from Nahuel Pérez Biscayart. Biscayart is a handsome actor but Ortega manages to present him oddly enough to remind me of someone like Denis Lavant. Jockey starts in a heightened reality but only gets stranger and harder to hang onto (narratively) as the film progresses. It does deliver some lovely twists along the way and I will likely want to revisit it upon wider release. 

I had planned to see another movie but I was going to have to wait an hour and then stay up for another two hour film and I was running out of steam. Jockey was a terrific note to end on though and sometimes it's best to quit while you're ahead. I had a great time at MSPIFF this year, they put on a wonderfully run festival, and I can't thank the film society enough for granting me accreditation again. There were a few new wrinkles that I appreciated this year - though I only attended one screening, I really do like the preview idea for passholders. I'll have to take better advantage of that if its offered again. I also like the fact that I saw more familiar faces this year. Some of that is a matter of connecting with friends and some of that is due to my involvement with MNFCA. There's a certain comradery with regular attendees and I've had great conversations with total strangers in line, in the theater, and even on the bus ride home. Still, it's nice to have some friends around. The last thing is that I'm so happy that the Cabana Club opened just down the street from the theater. Great bar, good food, and staff that was very understanding that I might have to move quickly to see my next film. Highly recommended for a pre or post movie beverage the next time you're at the Main. 

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MSPIFF 2025 - Part One

Back for its 44th year, the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival presented by the MSP Film Society is the largest film event in the Upper Midwest and something I look forward to every springtime. Last year I was only able to attend a couple of screenings due to travel, but this year I'm in town, I'm ready, I'm willing, and I've been very generously accredited for a press pass from the organizers once again. Programming is king when it comes to good festivals and MSPIFF remains committed to showing a wide range of films and perspectives from all over the world that include a lot of smaller films. I noticed quite a few titles that haven't necessarily gotten an overabundance of attention at the larger, market festivals. It can make it a bit challenging to parse the schedule, but the freedom of the pass allows for me to take a few chances. 

The thing that more than endears me to the festival in recent years is that it's mostly concentrated at The Main Cinema across the Mississippi River from downtown Minneapolis. MSP Film Society runs programming at The Main all year round, but it's a tremendous central location for a festival that I can bike or bus to easily. It's in a great neighborhood and it's no problem to find food or coffee or even walk along the river in-between films (provided I give myself some time to do so). An especially exciting development this year is that I feel like I know more people at the festival and have had the good fortune of scheduling some viewings with friends and even running into old pals unexpectedly. 

I think the format I used in 2023 was a good one, so I'll be doing the same this year: Capsule reviews of everything I see and broken out into two parts. I think this will give people a good idea of the variety of films on offer and my hope is that you might see something interesting in this entry that compels you to attend MSPIFF while it has another week left.

Day 0

I already wrote about Bushido in my March entry so I won't go into details here. I like the preview screening idea, though. I hope that continues next year.

Day 1

Free Leonard Peltier (2025) - Opening night shindig and three sold-out screenings of this latest Leonard Peltier documentary. The history of the American Indian Movement, the arrest and conviction of Peltier, and the absolute chicanery on the side of the FBI are important stories to tell and MSPIFF accorded the event with the appropriate deference. There was a performance from local indigenous people, and invocation in Lakota, and then a zoom call from Peltier himself! I only wish I liked the film better. It functions well enough to convey the history but the film starts to meander somewhere in the midpoint. There is also the deeply unfortunate choice to bolster the archival footage with AI enhanced digital sequences. It's so unnecessary and I can't even say it's very effective. I wasn't positive at first but when I looked into the filmmakers, it became apparent that one of them is an enthusiastic generative AI adopter. It's hard not to contrast this film to Michael Apted's Incident at Oglala which I think is a much stronger feature. Thankfully, Peltier has finally been released from prison which does provide a moving coda for the film and serves as a testament to keeping the faith in the face of injustice.

Day 2 

The Friend (2024) - This other Sigrid Nunez adaptation from 2024 (the first to hit our shores was Pedro Almodovar's The Room Next Door) features Naomi Watts as a Manhattan writer who must come to terms with both the loss of a friend and mentor, the aftermath of the relationships left in his wake, and (most critically) the inheritance of his 150lb Great Dane. I know I'm not supposed to give credence to the concept of "guilty pleasures" but I really do feel guilty at how much I enjoy watching erudite, literary, essentially affluent people running around New York doing New York stuff. I can't help it and it may be a sickness, but I still think The Friend is pretty good. Watts is actually terrific and Murray delivers some brutally funny (if nihilistic) lines. I am uncertain of animal "performances" but I actually believed this dog to be in mourning for his person. What a good boy. Speaking of which, the film was co-introduced by Karl and his owner/trainer and it appears that I'm easily taken with gigantic dogs in indoor spaces. 

The Wailing (2024) - Not to be confused with the Korean folk horror/thriller of the same title. This Wailing is a largely Spanish production about different generations of women being haunted by a mostly unseen force. I am loathe to actually list this one as I was getting tired, it was late, and I still had to bike back home. I'm afraid I bailed about halfway through and didn't give The Wailing an entirely fair shake. It felt like a tepid mixture of YouTube creepypasta videos and tropes that were wearing thin in J-Horror 20-30 years ago. In fairness, I have a potent aversion to films filled with people doing things on phones and laptops - I don't like being subjected to text messages and IMs in real life. Why would I want to deal with it in film?

Day 3

LUZ (2025) - Given my expressed distaste for digital spaces, Flora Lau's use of a virtual reality game as a framing device for her intergenerational, bi-national film could have flopped instantly for me. Instead, I found myself absolutely taken with its gorgeous photography and meditation on how we build relationships. As mentioned, it's beautifully shot - contrasting a neon, nighttime Chongqing with a distinctly old-world version of Paris. The characters in Chongqing are unapologetically 21st century - watching livestreams and playing the titular VR game. In Paris, Isabelle Huppert's Sabine lives a largely analog life of books, art, records, and face to face relationships. The two worlds mirror each other throughout a few scenes and then begin to overlap - both aesthetically and due to the game. 

I'm not certain that LUZ (the film) is looking to admonish modern society (though it does take some beats to illustrate how dumb we look plugged into our devices) but it does seem to encourage life affirming, non-virtual connections. When Sabine's step-daughter explains that the virtual world is better than the physical one, Sabine flatly responds "I don't even know what that means." The goal of LUZ (the game) isn't rendered meaningless but my sense is that Flora Lau is reminding us that connectivity we effortlessly achieve virtually should be a means to strengthen our real world relationships.

The Surfer (2024) - When films and filmmakers make intentional nods to grindhouse cinema - the results are often mixed at best. Self aware attempts to be bonkers are usually injected with unwelcome comedy or an assault of film homage so that you can rest easy knowing the director watched the same grimy films you now own on 4K Ultra Hi-Def disc. I think Lorcan Finnegan has largely struck the right tone with this quasi-psychedelic throwback to the 70s/80s Ozploitation boom. Nic Cage is the right man for the job of both being incomprehensibly stubborn and the object of torrential abuse and humiliation. Crazy Cage done correctly is a joy on the screen. The Surfer is not exceptionally violent (all things considered) but it is visceral and contains more than enough stomach churning, wince inducing moments to make up for its relative bloodlessness. 

Day 4

Unholy Communion (2025) - I make it a point to see any crime films playing at MSPIFF since I've kind of made that my beat in the last year or two. I'm not going to pick on Unholy Communion too much as it's a small, local production though it does co-star one of the more notable actors to emerge from Minneapolis - Vincent Kartheiser. Communion is competently done but ultimately comes off as bland.  Everyone involved seemed very nice and I do think that Mancini's in St. Paul deserves more screen time in more movies.

Meet the Barbarians (2024) - Julie Delpy's satire of French xenophobia and intercultural relations is ultimately a very gentle one, but it still remains funny and insightful. It's no surprise that the overwhelming pleasures to be found here are in the performances from an excellent ensemble cast. They manage to make the village residents heartfelt enough that you can become invested in the local melodramas. Also, some gorgeous footage of Brittany doesn't hurt. I only wish that the reality presented here seemed more plausible compared to the rising tide of right wing nationalism felt all over Europe and the US.

The Wedding Banquet (2025) - Andrew Ahn's reinterpretation of Ang Lee's 90s indie classic could have gone terribly wrong and yet, I feel like I'll be recommending this one broadly. I haven't seen the original in ages (and now I'd very much like to revisit it), but Ahn's interpretation feels like it lives very much in its own space. The cast is truly excellent - though they are so good that Bowen Yang's comparative lack of expressive depth is noticeable. He's still hilarious when called upon and there are so many funny moments in this. It's easy to describe Ang Lee's films as gorgeous or luminous or whatever your preferred adjectives for "very pretty" are - Ahn is working in a different register but it's still lovely. Elegant compositions and some terrific location footage - especially multiple sequences in what I believe is Discovery Park. 

Friendship (2024) - I finished my fourth day with a raucous, sold out screening of Andrew DeYoung's buddy comedy starring Paul Rudd and Tim Robinson. There are some gut busting gags in Friendship and (because I'm a simple person) a lot of my favorites were pure physical tomfoolery. That said, I think the film was losing steam and losing me somewhere towards the middle. Tim Robinson's Craig says "I'm all out of ideas" before embarking on a toad fueled psychedelic experience and I felt that the movie was talking directly to us at that point. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to mention that Conner O’Malley has a small cameo in the film. Some guy behind me roared "Let's Goooooooo!" the minute O'Malley turned up. That's absolutely the target market for this one.

Day 5

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) - I remembered being distinctly dubious when I went to see this when it opened. I considered myself some kind of Hong Kong cinema aficionado and was NOT impressed with various Hollywood attempts at importing Wuxia stylings (I was kind of dickhead as young men often are). Also, Ang Lee didn't do martial arts movies so what did he know? Lee's film shut me up so quickly and I was duly chastened. It had been a few years since I revisited Tiger so I was very much reliving that same thrill during the opening brawl between Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi. I couldn't help but think how deprived we are of action this virtuosic since the balance has tipped towards digital effects even in Asian cinema. What a joy to see action and adventure at this scale shot on film. Also, the inn scene/send up of heroic fiction is still beyond hilarious. The guy with the iron abacus kills me every time.

My next MSPIFF stop wasn't a film but a conversation and Q&A with the man himself, Ang Lee. He spoke for around an hour with a moderator and I feel like I could have listened to him all night. Ang Lee was incredibly humble about what he's been able to achieve and yet not overly demure. He's clearly passionate, perceptive, and possessed of a certain eloquence though he constantly deprecates his English. Great event and I was very grateful to some of my fellow MNFCA folks who waved me over to a good spot

Việt and Nam (2024) - Ang Lee went on to present a screening of Brokeback Mountain which was no doubt tremendous. I opted instead to see this Vietnamese film that interestingly shares some thematic, contextual connective tissue to Brokeback. Việt and Nam entered my consciousness when it made John Waters' annual "best of" list and this was arguably going to be my only chance to see it. The movie is utterly stunning. Each frame is beautifully composed with an incredibly rich film grain and even some print artifacts. I understood that it was shot on 16mm, but I have to wonder if director Truong Minh Quy used an older film stock as well to achieve the look. It's a far more abstract film than I expected and even though I was engaged - fest life caught up to me and I conked out for the last bit. Not my finest festival moment but it really had been a long few days. I am hopeful Việt and Nam gets distribution somewhere or maybe a Mubi deal? My lack of stamina notwithstanding, I think this one is worth your time especially if you know what you're getting into.

That's it for Part 1 of my MSPIFF coverage this year. I will be posting a Part 2 early next week. There are still many screenings and multiple opportunities to see international films at this years fest. I'd highly recommend making time for it and if you see me at the fest, please say hello!

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