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 Film Festival the previous January, but upon Peltier’s sentence being commuted, the ending was changed, and shown for the first time at MSPIFF. 

After the film was shown at MSPIFF, each of the three screenings that night were preceded by a Q&A with director Jesse Shortbull and David France, and others involved with the film, as well as a surprise video message from Peltier himself expressing his gratitude to those who came and saw his story, as well as a timely reminder to stay vigilant in the face of injustice.… Read the rest “Free Leonard Peltier ”

Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025)

from the series Movie Corner…

4/5 Stars

Dinosaur Action/Adventure/Thriller Universal Pictures

By HOWARD MCQUITTER II

Jurassic World: Rebirth is the seventh installment which is thrilling to say the least. While not being the best of the installments it is notably better than the previous two. I’ll give Rebirth its props for the adventure and of course, the dinosaurs. To screenwriters Michael Crichton and David Koepp, I say kudos for the work you have put in the film. Michael Crichton wrote the original novel Jurassic Park (1990) and co-wrote the screenplay for the 1993 film.

Very early in the film the exhibits of dinosaurs in the museum have fallen on hard times. The crowds that used to fill the halls are now at a trickle. Not only that, but the world governments have forbidden anyone from visiting the islands where the dinosaurs live. However, there’s a handful of people who are out to defy such notions. There’s Zora Bennett, an experienced covert operator, Martin Krebs, a pharmaceutical company representative, and Dr. Henry Loomis, a paleontologist working at a museum. Zora uses Duncan Kincaid as her top notch navigator. They are all going after what they believe is a cure for heart disease, if they can extract DNA from three different dinosaurs.… Read the rest “Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025)”