21 January
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In Award Ceremonies

The 24th ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS – THE WINNERS OUSTANDING ENSEMBLE THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Abbie Cornish Peter Dinklage Woody Harrelson John Hawkes Lucas Hedges Željo Ivanek Caleb Landry Jones Frances McDormand Clarke Peters Sam Rockwell Samara Weaving OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE Gary Oldman, The Darkest Hour OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Alison Janney, I, Tonya OUTSTANDING ACTIONRead More →

21 November
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In Movie Reviews

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Writer/Director: Martin McDonagh Starring: Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, John Hawkes, Peter Dinklage, Lucas Hedges, Abbbie Cornish, Zeljko Ivanek In Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Frances McDormand gives the best performance of her career since the old Marge Gunderson days in Fargo. She plays Mildred Hayes who is still grieving after the murder of her daughter, Angela. She has driven by three billboards outside the town border countless times before but only now does the light bulb go off. They are old, rickety, and haven’t been touched in years with various panels hanging off. She pays $5,000 for theRead More →

20 October
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In Special Series

TWIN CITIES FILM FEST 2015 The Twin Cities Film Fest is upon us, and executive director Jatin Setia has delivered one of the best line-ups I’ve seen from the festival. The festival runs October 21-31, 2015 at the ShowPlace Icon Theaters at the Shops of West End in St. Louis Park, MN. Setia and Artistic Director Steve Snyder present a diverse line-up of studio films, independents, Minnesota made, documentaries, shorts, web series, and more. There is literally a film for any sort of moviegoer. The festival also features red carpet events including filmmaker interviews, mixers, and discussion panels. One big event includes a special dedicationRead More →

20 September
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In Movie Reviews

EVEREST Director: Baltasar Kormákur Starring: Josh Brolin, Jason Clarke, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robin Wright, Emily Watson, Keira Knightley, John Hawkes, Michael Kelly, Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Debicki I already knew this, but Everest has now confirmed that I have no desire to go climb Mount Everest or any other summit like that. In 1996 two expeditions attempt to make their way to the top of Mount Everest. Jason Clarke plays Rob Hall, an expedition leader based out of New Zealand who is bringing a group of amateur hikers up with his company Adventure Consultants. Texas pathologist Beck Weathers (Brolin) and journalist Jon Krakauer (Kelly) were two membersRead More →

04 January
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In Movie Reviews

THE SESSIONS Director: Ben Lewin Starring: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy, Moon Bloodgood, W. Earl Brown What is the difference between a sex surrogate and a prostitute? According to Cheryl Cohen-Greene (Hunt), prostitutes want your return business. Mark O’Brien (Hawkes) spends ninety percent of his day living in an iron lung. The rest of the day is spent being carried around on a gurney by his attendant, Vera (Bloodgood). Whether it is clothes shopping, going to church, or visiting other friends, Vera is by his side bringing him where ever he needs to go. Mark suffers from polio and his body has becomeRead More →

20 November
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In Movie Reviews

LINCOLN Director: Steven SpielbergStarring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jared Harris, David Strathairn, James Spader, John Hawkes, Tim Blake Nelson If you go into Lincoln expecting to see Steven Spielberg’s take on his assassination, you are going into the wrong movie. You will also not see a movie focused on his whole presidency making you feel like you are back in history class seeing a badly narrated movie. Even though the assassination is included, Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner focus their film on Lincoln’s (Day-Lewis) battle to pass the 13th amendment to abolish slavery. Lincoln was opposed to slavery and neededRead More →