‘Movie Corner’ Archives
Free Leonard Peltier
Featured Documentary at the 2025 Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Film Festival By OLIVER STRICHERZ Although there may be many, films aren’t the only thing getting people to come to MSPIFF. This year, the festival had many events, including everything from panels to karaoke parties. The opening night of the fest began with the documentary Free Leonard Peltier, which brilliantly told the story of the 49-year-long unjust imprisonment of Leonard Peltier, one of the most impactful Indigenous activists ever. The film, directed by Indigenous director Jesse Shortbull and reporter David France, used archival footage and interviews with other activists who were involved in the 1973 revolution in Wounded Knee. Near the end of his term, former President Biden commuted Peltier’s sentence to house arrest after the previous 49 years he spent in maximum-security prison for a crime he didn’t commit. The film had been completed by this point and had its premiere at the Sundance [...]
Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning
from the series Movie Corner... 4/5 Stars Action/Adventure/Spy/Drama By HOWARD MCQUITTER II Howard McQuitter II Like all the previous seven Mission Impossible films, The Final Reckoning is a high octane adventure that seems boundless. There's always a purpose for The Mission Impossible installments and The Final Reckoning is no exception. There's one man Ethan Hunt, a hero (like Superman, Batman or Spider-Man) and a spy who performs stunning stunts in the air between airplanes, on the ground or risking his life in a sunken Russian submarine on the verge of going over the edge. Hunt, along with his longtime covert fixers Luther Stickell, Benji Dunn, and a new member Grace, a former girlfriend, are out to save the world from a monstrous, self-serving Gabriel. Artificial Intelligence (A.I.), as The Entity, has seized all the nuclear power available. Paramount Pictures Nothing will stand in the way for Hunt, including the antagonists Briggs and Degas, two vexing [...]
All That’s Left of You
By OLIVER STRICHERZ This year, MSPIFF44 showed a strong initiative to represent the stories of people from all parts of the world. More than 60 countries worldwide had at least one film in the festival, mostly in languages other than English. From documentaries to samurai films, there’s an international film for everyone. The Film Society’s deep appreciation for showing international stories through film shows up in many other parts of the year as well, through other specialty festivals such as the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival, Italian Film Festival, Cine Latino, Black Europe Film Festival, and more, all in collaboration with local Twin Cities cultural centers and international voices. All That’s Left of You poignantly shows the decades-long story of a Palestinian family adjusting to and enduring the heartbreaking displacement from their homeland. Pictured are two of the presenters of the film, one of whom represents Mizna, a locally based nonprofit that, among many [...]
