MSPIFF 2011: Week 1
Star Tribune staff | Updated 8/17/2012
Thursday 4.14
OPENING NIGHT FILM: PAGE ONE: A YEAR INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES
Can today's media ecosystem support ambitious, expensive, rigorous journalism? As the Times struggles to reinvent itself in a world of iPads, extremist commentary, newsroom cuts and Wikileaks, its media columnist David Carr eloquently defends the virtues of old-school reporting in the Internet age. A confirmed skeptic and irrepressible wiseguy, Carr is the battered but unbowed champion of an endangered species -- ass-kicking, name-taking mainstream journalists. His scathing coverage of the Chicago Tribune's ethical/financial meltdown in the hands of takeover artist Sam Zell makes a gripping morality tale of the newspaper industry's painful metamorphosis. This candid documentary is a must-see. (U.S., 89 min.) ----Colin Covert
SCORE: A HOCKEY MUSICAL
Toronto filmmaker Michael McGowan's musical follows 17-year-old hockey prodigy Farley Gordon, a role that actor Noah Reid nails with loveable naivete. Amidst Gordon's struggles with fame, his brutish teammates and his intellectual parents, there is singing aplenty. It is also the film's most underwhelming aspect. The songbook is full of broken verses and bland instrumentals. Olivia Newton John, who plays Gordon's mother, is continually under-utilized, moaning empty lines like, "I'm so sad I can't even cry." Still, McGowan's film drips with heart and humor that makes his shticky concoction not entirely condemnable. (Canada, 92 min.) --Andrew Penkalski
Friday 4.15
DAVID WANTS TO FLY
David Lynch is a cult filmmaker, yes -- but to what extent? In this entertaining documentary, geeky film-school grad and die-hard Lynch devotee David Sieveking trails his wiggy-haired idol through the inland empire of Transcendental Meditation a practice Lynch claims can help deflate the "suffocating rubber clown suit of negativity" we're all wearing. Sieveking dutifully drinks the Kool-Aid, but, as in "Blue Velvet," there's something festering under the surface of nirvana. Complete with mood-alteringly Lynchian soundtrack, the documentary strikes a delicate balance between reverence and mounting skepticism as Sieveking follows the money sprinkled along TM's path to enlightenment. (Germany/Austria/France, 96 min.) --Rob Nelson
TRIUMPH67
Dunwoody College film instructor Mohannad Ghawanmeh makes an impressive acting debut as an Anglo-Palestinian sifting through his family history. After his charismatic older brother's death, he encounters a woman from their mutual past and learns that his memories are incomplete. To come to terms with his rootless present he must deal with old personal secrets . It's clearly a film buffs' labor of love. Poignant and moody, the film recalls "Blow Up," the French New Wave and such indie American classics as "The King of Marvin Gardens." Summertime Minneapolis and Lake Pepin sparkle in Jeremy Wilker's sharp HD cinematography. (U.S., 94 min.) --Colin Covert
CAMERAMAN: THE LIFE & WORK OF JACK CARDIFF
A pioneering practitioner of Technicolor in such vivid classics as "The Red Shoes" and "The African Queen," cinematographer Jack Cardiff gets his close-up in this admiring biographical documentary, which doubles as a clip-laden peek at film history. A former child actor who remained sprightly in his 90s, the late Cardiff shoots from the hip while recalling his painstaking efforts to bring the tonal values of impressionist painting to the screen. Martin Scorsese is among the luminaries who articulately contextualize the cameraman's style, while Cardiff's anecdotes about the likes of John Wayne, Ingrid Bergman and Marlene Dietrich appear aptly colorful. (United Kingdom, 83 min.) --Rob Nelson
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