In less than three weeks from today, the Twin Cities Film Fest (TCFF) opens on September 20. The festival organizer has kindly asked me to be the lead blogger this year so I’ll be covering the event extensively, hopefully more so than I did last year on TCFF’s debut.
I’m excited that this year the event will take place at Showplace ICON Cinemas with The Shops at West End as the main sponsor. I love this cinema, it’s definitely a great alternative to AMCs with their state-of-the-art technology and reserved-seating feature, plus it’s a heck of a lot cleaner than most theaters in town.
I received the Press Release via email last week, and whilst I’m still waiting for the official line up to be announced, we’ve got info on the two movies that will open and close the event.
The Bully Project – Opening Night, Sept. 20
Sundance and Emmy-award winning filmmaker, Lee Hirsch will present The Bully Project, a beautifully cinematic, character-driven documentary. At its heart are those with huge stakes in this issue whose stories each represent a different facet of America’s bullying crisis. Hirsch will introduce the film and conduct a Q&A afterwards.
Here’s the summary per IMDb:
This year, over 5 million American kids will be bullied at school, online, on the bus, at home, through their cell phones and on the streets of their towns, making it the most common form of violence young people in this country experience. The Bully Project is the first feature documentary film to show how we’ve all been affected by bullying, whether we’ve been victims, perpetrators or stood silent witness.
Hirch’s previous work include Amandla! a Revolution in Four Part Harmony, Discovery Channel’s series documentary Next World, and a History Channel special, Act of Honor. The Bully Project is slated to open in the Twin Cities March 2012.
Like Crazy – Closing Night, Sept. 24
I love movies about bittersweet romances and Anton Yelchin is one of my favorite young actors working today, so I’m quite excited about this one. Like Crazy won the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner and it tells the story of a British college student who falls for an American student, only to be separated from him when she’s banned from the U.S. after overstaying her visa. Being a US immigrant myself, the subject matter is certainly something I could relate to, though I’m very blessed that I ended up falling for someone from my own homeland 😉
Director/Co-Writer Drake Doremus (Douchebag) and star Anton Yelchin (Star Trek, Fright Night) will introduce the film and host a Q&A following the screening. Yelchin has such a likable presence on screen, he was great as Checkov in Star Trek and I even like him as Kyle Reese in Terminator Salvation. He was also at Comic Con to promote Fright Night and he seemed like a cool guy. I hope I’d be able to get at least a couple of soundbites from him later this month!
I quite like the trailer, despite its inherently romantic subject matter, it doesn’t look corny or overly-schmaltzy. There’s believable chemistry between Yelchin and the English-born Felicity Jones and their struggle to make their relationship work seems heartfelt and genuine. The music sounds good one as well, I love the Ingrid Michaelson’s rendition of Can’t Help Falling in Love playing in the background towards the end. Check out the trailer below:
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I will post the 2011 TCFF complete schedule as soon as I have it, which hopefully will be Tuesday as the PR sheet says tickets is available beginning September 6th. I’m desperately hoping Machine Gun Preacher will be shown during the Fest as my friend Ted told me last week, fingers crossed!!
For more information & last year’s recap of TCFF, visit the official website.
If you live in the Twin Cities area, are you planning to attend TCFF this year? As for everyone else, are you interested to see either one of these films?
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
Congrats on the assignment! I hope you get to cover MGP as well!
Thanks Sherry, well let’s hope MGP is indeed going to premiere here. If it does, you know for sure I’ll have a special coverage of it 😀
Dito on the congrats! What an honor!! Have you upgraded your server facilities so you can handle the traffic? =)
Thanks Joel. As for the server thing, I don’t think I need to do that, I don’t think the amount of traffic would be as much as what I got from IMDb when my post was featured over the weekend.
great news for you! i’m sure it will be awesome coverage.
personally neither of these films appeal. crazy love trailer made me feel ill with the amount the camera shakes and wobbles, a kind of sea sickness. like you i rate YELCHIN highly so i would probably have given the film a chance if it weren’t for that.
Hi Toby, why thanks for your confidence. I’ll certainly do my best.
I actually don’t see the camera being all that wobbly in this trailer but yeah, normally I hate it, it makes me dizzy. Glad you like Yelchin too, he’s got such a soulful pair of eyes, he’s perfect for this role, it’s kinda like 500 Days of Summer but I like him a bit better than Levitt.
i just watched it again. definitely the camera doesn’t stop moving. Camera sickness aside this is a very sad trailer. I’ve been on the other side of the world from Leah for extended periods twice. Brought back all those emotions.
One question I’m taking from this trailer – why didn’t she just apply for a new visa? Why didn’t he just go to England with her? OK that’s two questions. SO here’s a third, if the trailer is making you ask those questions is it a good thing? Is the intention to make me see it to find out?
i can’t believe you like anyone more than Levitt, that’s almost blasphemous! obviously that Butler fella aside. do you mean in this vs 500 Days or in general?
I wasn’t on the 500 Days bandwagon, it irritated.
Yeah, the trailer made me tear up a bit as well. Sorry to hear you’ve experienced something like that before, Toby. Sounds like what these two had in this movie is more than just a frivolous fling, at least that’s how they made it look like in the trailer anyway.
He..he.. well the trailer did a good job then making you ask all those questions. I think she was perhaps too distracted by being in love with this guy to ask for an extension visa, though it’s never guaranteed, at least she won’t get deported which has serious repercussion, there’s that scene where the immigration officer said she can’t lift the ban, which means she can’t go back to the US for quite some time, not sure how long.
Oh you love JGL, don’t you? I like him too, but yeah I mean in this movie I kind of like Yelchin better in the way he conveys the heartbreak and sense of forlorn-ness, if you know what I mean. But of course I haven’t seen the movie yet so that remains to be seen. I like 500 Days apart from Zooey, I find her irritating.
@ Toby: It’s difficult to get visa to stay in the US. I mean that’s why there is millions of folks crossing our borders illegally every year. I think a lot of people have the misconception that they can go and live anywhere in the world. Most countries have stringent immigration policies.
I totally understand that castor as an immigrant myself. But there are other options. Proving your relationship status for example. Spending time in other countries together. Canada or england for example. Perhaps I can’t understand taking the illegal route in any circumstance.
Neither of these films really interests me but if I can see them for free and I’m sure I’m able to, then I’ll go see them. As for Machine Gun Preacher, the last I heard it may be shown that Friday. I asked Jatin if his team could get Kill List but I think it’s too late since it’s already going to the Toronto Film Fest.
Ahah, I know you don’t like romantic films, Ted, but who knows you might be pleasantly surprised w/ Like Crazy. Oooh, I really hope you’re not just yankin’ my chain about MGP Ted, I’d be so thrilled if I can see that in 3 weeks!! Sorry to hear about The Kill List, I know you’ve been anticipating that one. Actually MGP is being shown at TIFF as well, so I don’t know why you said it’s too late. I’d think it’s entirely possible that a movie is shown in multiple film festivals??
I’d watch romantic films once in a while but I don’t go out of my way to see them. 🙂
Jatin told me Machine Gun Preacher should open that Friday unless of course they decided to reschedule.
Oh no, I meant to say it’s too late for the TCFF team to talk to the studio reps about bringing Kill List to the festival, I told Jatin about the film like 2 weeks ago so I think they just didn’t have enough time to negotiate with the studio folks.
He..he.. it can’t hurt to get in touch w/ your romantic side, Ted 😉
Woo hoo! I hope to see MGP when the full lineup schedule is released then, man I can’t wait!!
Too bad about Kill List, I hope it’ll open soon in the regular theaters for you.
I generally don’t mind romance as long as its well written
Haha I am with you Ted.I will see those movies for free…not because they look like bad movies but because they just not the kind I want to watch in big screen.
Well unless they star Cillian right, Nov? Then it won’t matter to you even if it’s a super weepy romantic drama 😀
Interesting that the event will take place in St Louis Park this time around. I might give it a go given that it won’t be in the downtown area where parking is such a hassle. I’m kinda looking forward to Like Crazy although probably on DVD. We shall see… 😉
But I will wait for the lineup first…
Yeah, I’m so happy that they move from Block E to St Louis Park, the parking arrangement is great, and of course it’s FREE! I go to that area very often as my favorite store Anthropologie is there, but lately I’ve been going to the cinema as well as it’s clean and you can reserve seats.
I hope I’ll see you at the Fest, Castor, I’m sure you can find a few you’d be interested in. The schedule is supposed to be released tomorrow I think so I’ll be sure to blog about it.
Castor: You are all about your car aren’t you? =) Thank god for drive in cinemas right? =)
Congratulations on being the lead blogger. As I’m a big fan of documentaries it’s nice to see one is shown on opening night. Hadn’t heard of this yet, but it sound interesting.
Thanks Nostra, if you’re a fan of documentaries, you might want to check this one out. Did you see Waiting for Superman? It opened TCFF last year.
Yes, I’m a big fan of documentaries (actually created a seperate blog for them (http://justdocumentaries.wordpress.com (shameless plug, I know ;)).
No, have not seen it. I think I really should start checking out all the dutch film festivals as we have some very good ones.
CHECK YOU OUT!! Lead Blogger? You are like big time now Ruthy!!
Fantastic! I am completely made up for you!!! I look forward to hearing more and more from this festival!!
WOW
S
Ahah, not even close, matey. I’m just going to be blogging about the event, not a big timer by a long shot. I don’t even get free screenings like you, Mr. Front Room Cinema 😀 In any case, I’ll do my best to cover the festival and try to review the films I see. It’ll probably be mini-reviews as I’d have to write a bunch of them. Thanks for your support, Scott, always appreciated!
Congratulation on your assignment Ruth 🙂
Festival movies are always interesting and thought provoking (Just like my recent movie review)…tho not my material of big screen.
Look forward to read which movies will be suitable for me
Thanks Nov. Yes, I hope to see off-the-beaten path type of movies later this month. Who knows there might be a Cillian movie in the line up? Fingers crossed!
Congratulations on being the lead blogger! I believe there’s gonna be many great films in the festival.
Thanks Jaccstev, I believe we will, too 🙂
Happy Labor Day all and sundry!
Woohoo, Ruth!
Congratulations on your Lead Blogger~ship.
Looking forward to your critiques, especially (fingers crossed as well) ‘Machine Gun Preacher’.
Have fun. Ask pertinent questions. Wear sneakers of sensible shoes!
Hello Jack, hope you’re enjoying your Labor Day weekend. Thanks for your kind comment, as always, I hope to be able to cover as much as I can about the festival. I might invite my loyal readers such as yourself if they have any question for a particular filmmaker/actor.
I’ll definitely let you know if MGP will be shown, glad you’re as excited for it as I am.
ah fun!! and congratulations on your blogging assignment! WOW!
I can’t wait to read all of your reports! what fun!
very proud of you Ruth!!
Thank you, T, it’s really exciting and considering how much fun I had last year, I hope it’ll be double that the second year round 😀
i am absolutely and assuredly positive it shall be!
Sorry for the late posting, still playing catch up with all the blogs I visit now that I have high speed internet at my disposal.
All I can say are these two things:
– I am SUPER jealous (and)
– Have a SPECTACULAR time!
“Lead blogger”? Um, wow much?
LIKE CRAZY has me interested cos I love Anton Yelchin and will pretty much see anything he’s in. Anywhoozles, best of luck Ruth, hope you have fun, and can’t wait to read your thoughts on the flicks.
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