the week ahead: august 30th

We got a handful of new movies rolling into town this week, and I thought it would only be appropriate if I gave you a heads up before the events are upon us.

•The American takes over Minneapolis theaters

The American opens this Wednesday.  'Why not Friday?' you ask.  Presumably to keep movie bloggers on their toes.  In just a couple of days you'll be able to see this Clooney vehicle at The Heights, St. Anthony Main and Lagoon.  To make room each theater had to dump some films.  The Heights is ending its run of The Girl Who Played With Fire, St. Anthony's getting rid of Inception and The Kids Are All Right, and Lagoon is cutting loose the films Agora and Life During Wartime.  This movie must be pretty darned good to warrant losing five films in Minneapolis theaters.

•Trylon showings

On Wednesday, Sound Unseen presents the Mogwai concert film, Burning.  And this week is the kick off of the Mel Brooks series, which will be playing at Trylon for the next four weekends starting with The Producers this Friday.  I've loved Mel Brooks ever since my ten year-old self first viewed Robin Hood: Men In Tights, which in retrospect is probably not the best film to introduce a person to Brooks' work.  You won't get the chance to watch that one in this series, but you really can't go wrong with any of the other screenings.

•Mystery Science Theater at Turf Club

At 10pm the Turf Club is showing MST3K's take on the movie Sidehackers.  Wait a minute, Mel Brooks and now Mystery Science Theater... this could only mean one thing.  Area venues are conspiring to schedule shows that are comprised solely of mid-90's Comedy Central programming.  Next week I expect someone to be showing Hartman/Farley era SNL episodes, the movie Clue, and the entire series of Dr. Katz.  I'll be sure to bring you details on those screenings next week.