November @ the Trylon microcinema: Here Comes The Tramp: The Films of Charlie Chaplin

Last week I stumbled across a bemusing article suggesting that if you were to watch the extras on the DVD for Charlie Chaplin's The Circus (1928), you would see an old woman using a cell phone. In 1928. Video evidence is below for you to determine on your own, but if it's not actually true, it's a kind of funny sight nonetheless.

Wouldn't you know it, The Circus is showing this weekend only at the Trylon microcinema, kicking off the November retrospective, Here Comes The Tramp: The Films of Charlie Chaplin. Of course, you won't see the cell phone lady because the Trylon screens 35mm prints whenever possible, and there are restored prints for every film in this series, so you'll have to check out the DVD extras at home. Or just watch the video and decide for yourself...

Fall Film Festobonanza, Part 5: 20 Years of Milestone Films @ the Trylon & Macalester Film Series on Global Justice

Killer of Sheep & The Bicycle Thief

What: Milestone’s 20th: Two Decades of Enduring Artistry

Where: Trylon Microcinema

When: Oct 1 - 31

What: Macalester Alumni Fall 2010 Film Series: "Global Justice"

Where: John B. Davis Lecture Hall (JBD), Ruth Stricker Dayton Campus Center

When: September 22 - November 10

Just when I thought the programming at the Trylon microcinema couldn't get more varied (past series have featured Cronenberg, Spielberg, Godard, and Harryhausen, to name a few), along comes a true mixed bag of classic films: Milestone’s 20th: Two Decades of Enduring Artistry.

Fall Film Festobonanza, Part 3: Sound Unseen 11

The films of Sound Unseen 11

What: 11th Sound Unseen "Films on Music" Festival

Where: Southern Theater, Trylon microcinema, Red Stag Supper Club, Minneapolis

When: October 6 - 10

Last year's Sound Unseen festival featured some really outstanding films, including P-Star Rising, We Live in Public, and one of my favorites of the entire year, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (which I believe is scheduled for a limited late fall theatrical release). Sound Unseen programs numerous films on music throughout the year, but their annual festival always features high-profile films that otherwise would not get screened in the Twin Cities. It's a cozy little festival, too, with screenings at the Trylon (50 seats) and, this year, the Southern Theater on the West Bank. Here's the official release:

September @ the Trylon microcinema: Mel Brooks: The Orgasm of Insanity

What was the last spoof movie you saw? Epic Movie? Meet the Spartans? Vampires Suck?

What was the last good spoof movie you saw? Um...Hot Fuzz? Does that even count?

Talk about a lost art. Seems there hasn't been a decent spoof to speak of since the trend petered out in the mid-90's. But fortunately for you (if you live in the Twin Cities), Take-Up Productions is bringing the spoof back this September at the Trylon microcinema with Mel Brooks: The Orgasm of Insanity, spanning nearly twenty years of classic comedy from the legendary filmmaker. You'll laugh, you'll laugh, and, well, you'll laugh some more. Try not cracking a nostalgic smile while watching a few of clips below. Pretty hard, right?

Know what's harder? Trying to crack a smile while watching this.

August @ the Trylon microcinema: The Jack Nicholson Experience: 7 from the 70's

It's entirely possible that the first time I ever saw Jack Nicholson was under a thick layer of makeup, as The Joker in Batman. I was a child of the 80's and as such I matured into a movie-goer mostly seeing Nicholson in Batman, and then A Few Good Men, and then a score of poor 90's movies (Mars Attacks!...in the theater). If I didn't at some point go back and view some of his more accomplished films, I might have written the guy off completely. After all, he has little aside from The Departed to speak of in the past decade - unless you're a fan of The Bucket List.

Which is why the young or the ignorant like me should appreciate the Trylon's August series, The Jack Nicholson Experience: 7 from the 70's. It brings us back to what most people would consider Nicholson's heyday, demanding that we respect him for the august actor that he once was. He was nominated for five Oscars during that decade, and you have the chance to see four of those performances in the comfy Trylon rocker seats this month. Even casual movie fans of an adult age have by now likely seen The Shining, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Chinatown (not being screened), and maybe even Five Easy Pieces or Easy Rider. But have you seen The King of Marvin Gardens, The Passenger, or The Last Detail? I have not, and for a first-time viewing experience you could do a lot worse than the classic 35mm projection at the Trylon (six of the seven will be projected in their glorious original format).

On the subject of viewing experiences, I can say with confidence that The Shining remains the most terrifying movie my horror-averse eyes have yet seen. Nicholson himself doesn't really make me quiver, but the combination of Kubrick's methodically slow cinematography, creepy twins, and an isolated setting have put me over the edge quite a few times. I'm so scared by this movie that in the half-dozen times that I've seen it I've never been able to watch what happens in Room 237. So if you somehow haven't seen it, consider this a ringing endorsement to enjoy The Shining in the company of 49 others at the Trylon next weekend. God be with you.

The full schedule:

May Lineup @ The Trylon microcinema: "Before Tokyo: Comedies of Bill Murray"

I seem to remember Bill Murray being in dozens of comedies from my childhood, but the fact is that it was more like only a half dozen films, each of which I saw dozens of times. Three of those comedic classics will be presented by Take-Up Productions as part of Before Tokyo: Comedies of Bill Murray, with the fourth, Quick Change, being one that I have not seen. If you haven't either, it's the only film in the series discounted due to the Trylon's impeccable film formatting standards.

Anyway, here's Take-Up's cleverly sarcastic explanation of the series' title:

"Bill Murray burst onto the dramatic scene as the taciturn Bob Harris in 2003's Lost in Translation, for which he received an Oscar nomination. Since then, he's starred in numerous blockbusters and critically acclaimed dramas.

But few are familiar with his great comedies from years past—until now. Take-Up Productions proudly presents Murray's obscure classics, four comedies from the 80s and early 90s, including his rarely-seen supernatural burlesque Ghostbusters. Won't you join us as we rediscover the "other" side of Bill Murray—philosopher, social critic, and clown."

The schedule:

Get Hitched in Minneapolis this April

On the heels of a successful retrospective of Ray Harryhausen films, Take-Up Productions presents its second annual Alfred Hitchcock series: "Alfred Hitchcock: Across the Decades". Last April's series ("First, You Need a Crime") was a massive success; I only made it to To Catch a Thief at the Riverview, where I had to sit front row, right side, with a capacity crowd of 700 bursting the theater at the seams.

Expect the same this year with five new Hitchcock films at the Riverview and five more at the beloved Trylon microcinema, which holds, you should remember, only 50 people. You'd be foolish to show up at the Trylon day-of-show to get in (they've been sold out this first weekend), so buy your tickets now. You could get away with not buying in advance for the Riverview shows, but if so, arrive no later than 7:00 PM to get decent seats.

Here's the lineup with a few highlighted trailers:

Minneapolis Movie Madness

Spring in the Twin Cities is always a frustrating time for my movie life. I consider March, not January, the beginning of the new movie year, and every post-Oscar-night morning I look forward to a little respite from thinking about movies, especially as the temperature edges above 30 degrees and Daylight Savings begins.

Trouble is, March and April are two of the most jam packed months if the year for movie lovers in Twin Cities. It's literally impossible to see everything you'd want to in theaters, and you can forget about catching up with anything on DVD. Want to enjoy the weather outside? Fine, but know that you're missing some movies that will likely never be shown here again.

In addition to 6-8 new releases every week (already too much to consume), there is:

March Lineup @ The Trylon microcinema: "Titans. Will. Clash. - The FX Magic of Ray Harryhausen"

Weekends in March @ the Trylon microcinema:

March 5 & 6

JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963)

7:00 PM & 9:00 PM

Tickets

 

"The classic Greek myth of Jason’s quest for the Golden Fleece comes to life under Ray Harryhausen’s creative guise. The iconic skeleton battle scene, topping out at three minutes, took four months to produce. His first “A” list film, it was regarded by Harryhausen as his best film."

 

 

 

March 7

EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS (1956)

5:20 PM & 7:00 PM

Tickets 

 

"It’s all out war when a U.S. space mission rashly fires upon a mysterious alien spacecraft. Part classic sci-fi in the vein of War of the Worlds and part low-budget fun similar to Plan 9 From Outer Space, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers relegated Harryhausen’s talents to the less animated, but no less fantastical, effects of flying saucers destroying national monuments."

 

 

 

March 12 & 13

MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1961)

7:00 PM & 9:00 PM

Tickets 

 

"Although many film adaptations exist of Jules Verne’s novel, this version was by far the most popular. A small group of Union soldiers escape from a Confederate prison camp via hot air balloon only to find themselves stranded on a volcanic island inhabited with mammoth crabs, birds and bees. Presented in “superdynamation!”"

 

 

 

March 14

IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA (1955)

5:20 PM & 7:00 PM

Tickets

 

"Driven from its natural habitat by hydrogen bomb testing, a giant octopus sets its monstrous sights on San Francisco, and the military is forced to pull out all its nuclear age gizmos to defend the west coast from ruin! Harryhausen did his best to disguise the fact that there was only enough money in the budget to construct six legs for the octopus that he jokingly referred to as the “hextapus.”"

 

March 19 & 20

FIRST MEN IN THE MOON (1964) 

7:00 PM & 9:00 PM

Tickets 

 

"Three intrepid turn-of-the-century voyagers are jettisoned to the moon via hair-brained science and DIY space travel. Not only do they discover a strange race of large bipedal insect aliens known as Selenites, but they also uncover their evil plan to conquer the earth! Harryhausen, a fan of the H.G. Wells novel, was personally responsible for persuading Columbia to fund this unique adaptation."

 

March 21

20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH (1957)

5:20 PM & 7:00 PM

Tickets 

 

"Humans unwittingly unleash the rage in the Ymir, a giant sulfur-loving reptile brought back from Venus and one of Harryhausen’s most iconic creatures. Shot on location in Italy—because Harryhausen wanted to vacation there—the film’s finale features the most unique death match the Roman Coliseum has ever seen."

 

March 26-28

THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1958) 

Fri/Sat 7:00 & 8:25 PM; Sun 5:20 & 7:00 PM

Tickets

"Often regarded (with "Argonauts") as Harryhausen's masterpiece, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad proved so popular it spawned two sequels. This one features battles with a Cyclops, a roc (the two-headed eagle), a fighting skeleton, and a dancing, four-armed cobra-woman, Harryhausen's favorite creature."

 

 

 

Tickets for all shows can be purchased online. Remember, there are only 50 seats so these go quickly. Additional film series run during the week (Trash Film Debauchery, Dreamland Faces, & Sound Unseen) - check the full calendar here.

Coming soon to the Trylon...
April: Alfred Hitchcock: Across the Decades
May: Before Tokyo: Comedies of Bill Murray

The Trylon microcinema is located at:

3258 Minnehaha Avenue S

Minneapolis, MN 55406

Info Line: 612.424.5468

 

View Larger Map

February Lineup @ The Trylon microcinema: Godard's 60's

Weekends in February @ the Trylon microcinema:

Feb 5 and 6

Made In U.S.A. (1966) 

*Minneapolis Premiere!* 

"Trench-coated Anna Karina arrives in Atlantic City (apparently a provincial French town)  to track down boyfriend Richard Widmark (a character, not the actor), only to find...and  then the bodies start dropping. A (very) metaphorical treatment of the murders of JFK and Ben Barka...and Karina’s swan song for Godard." 

I saw this last week for the first time and found myself drowning in confusion, not surprising considering it was only the third Godard film I'd seen. It's one of the artiest of all art films, evidenced by this brilliant trailer:

Oak St. Cinema: Out Like a Lamb

Well that was pretty anticlimactic. From a firework to a fire to a flame to a fizzle, the storied Oak St. Cinema will unofficially be closing down this month, in case you haven't heard. The news came out a couple weeks ago in a release from Minnesota Film Arts (the nonprofit that owns and operates the theater), as well as an accompanying article in the Star Tribune. But as it happens I found out about the closing over a month ago when, tasked with reviewing an upcoming weekend series at the Oak for the Strib, I stopped by MFA's office above the theater to pick up a screener of Citizen Havel. I was shocked to see that the moving process was already underway, but I kept my word that I wouldn't spill the beans about MFA's impending relocation to St. Anthony Main. 

It wasn't a huge secret and nobody would have believed me anyway considering the rumors that have swirled around this situation for the last decade (including my own premature obituary almost two years ago), but I kept mum anyway even if I wanted to urge readers of the Strib to check out that series at what might be their last-ever chance to visit the Oak. But the news remained hidden, and who knows, deep down maybe I didn't even believe it was actually going to happen.

Well it did, with really no fanfare at all, and in this transitional period before the "new" MFA reemerges at St. Anthony, I've realized I have the odd distinction of having written the last-ever published review of a film series at a theater that was the bedrock of the film community in the Twin Cities for decades. The seasonally shown Swedish film Ronia, the Robber's Daughter is playing through next week, but by all accounts there will never be a curated series at the Oak like the one I previewed earlier this month.

Winter 2009-10 Lineup @ The Trylon microcinema

One of the things I've loved about the upstart Trylon microcinema is that a great variety of films has been featured in just the few months since it's opened: Buster Keaton, New York crime thrillers, David Cronenberg, Frank Capra, and music films as part of Sound Unseen 10. The little theater tucked away on Minnehaha Avenue is slowly but surely becoming a must-visit destination for film buffs in the Twin Cities; it's impossible to walk out of this place without feeling good about cinema. The picture looks great (The Warriors looked especially sharp on 35mm), the sound is clear, and the concession prices are unequaled in the city.

Take a weekend date night to come out and support Take-Up Productions and this independent theater space. Here's a look at the variety of classic films on tap for this winter at The Trylon:

REVIEW: P-Star Rising (A-)

If you were at a club at 2:00 AM and a nine year-old little girl got up on the stage and started rapping, your natural instinct would likely cause you to smile and say, "Aw, that's so funny/cute/random/disturbing." You'd have an amusing story to tell your friends the next day. Gabriel Noble probably had the same initial reaction when he saw Priscilla Star Diaz (a.k.a. "P-Star") perform five years ago in lower Manhattan, but something about P-Star captured his curiousity and wouldn't let go. He spent the next day filming Priscilla and her family, and then the next day after that, and then the next four years after that. P-Star Rising, which premiered at Tribeca in April and is currently on the festival circuit, richly documents Priscilla's tumultuous emergence as a child star, and the youngest ever female rapper.

Watching Priscilla, her sister, Solsky, and her father, Jesse, move from a one-room Harlem shelter to a four-bedroom apartment and leased SUV is often uplifting but frequently discomfiting. Jesse was an aspiring rapper in his own right in the late 80's, but poor career management and a two-year prison stint (for selling cocaine) derailed his future, leaving you to question his ability to manage Priscilla's career. His wife fell in too deep with drugs and could not care for their daughters, so it was up to him, a failed rapper and convicted felon, to try and support two young girls on his own. He worked odd jobs when he could find them, but most of his energy was spent trying to revive his rapping career - until he discovered Priscilla's talent. (He also apparently home schools Priscilla, a somewhat disturbing detail that isn't given much attention here.)

300 Words About: Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench

Jazz just sounds cooler when it's backing a black and white scene, doesn't it? Gives it an organic, refreshing sound, almost a palpable texture. Jazz under neon blue lights and nightclub smoke makes for a great atmosphere, too, but that's sultry and mysterious and can be too confined by its own setting.

The reason I point this out is because Damien Chazelle's Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (which made waves at Tribeca in April but is still seeking financing for a theatrical release) gives jazz a shot in the arm that not only gets your toe tapping, but your spirit soaring. You're not seduced by the riffs so much as you're invigorated by them.

It's a verite-style romantic musical dramedy that defies categorization precisely because it fits so many descriptions: indie, docudrama, mumblecore, to name a few. At different times it reminded of new cinema (In Search of a Midnight Kiss and Medicine for Melancholy) and classic cinema (the dancing scene from Jean-Luc Godard's Band of Outsiders), and it won't work for everyone if only because it's so peculiarly surreal. But I think that's why I loved it, aside from the fact that it was shot on the Boston and Cambridge streets that hold a special nostalgia for me.

Sound Unseen 2009: The 10th Anniversary Edition

Travelers on the journey that is the packed Fall 2009 Twin Cities film bonanza will arrive next week at a major landmark: the 10th Annual Sound Unseen Festival, one of the foremost "films-on-music" festival in the country. From Sept. 29 - Oct. 4, nearly two dozen documentaries and feature films will play at the Trylon microcinema and Oak Street Cinema (the latter once again showing its impressive resiliency this fall), and a few more will play at the Walker Art Center and Cedar Cultural Center.

In and around these screenings will be performances by local musical acts representing nearly every genre. Festival co-director Rick Hansen recently told me that he had hoped to get a handful of Sound Unseen alumni (including Atmosphere and Solid Gold) to come and perform for this 10th anniversary, but they're just plain too big now for these small venues. In other words, check out these bands now before you have to pay to see them at a sold-out First Ave. show in a couple years.

The one bit of a bad luck Sound Unseen might face this year is that it falls on the same weekend that A Serious Man opens locally. But on the other hand, that's only playing at the Uptown, so all of the hundreds of people out of luck at the sellouts will have to go elsewhere and see a different movie. 

Either way I'm including the full film schedule here, but I'd like to pick out a few of them to highlight. It's worth mentioning here at some point that last year's Sound Unseen hosted the local premieres of both War Child and Anvil! The Story of Anvil. 

I haven't seen any of the following but I have a couple on hand that I'm planning to watch; check back next week for reviews:

Fall 2009 Lineup at the Trylon microcinema

Considering that all 12 screenings in the better-than-advertised Buster Keaton series at the new Trylon microcinema completely sold out, you'd be wise to get tickets well in advance for the next slate of films. Barry Kryshka is following through with his pledge to bring weekly repertory programming back to the Twin Cities in his terrific new space, and the recently released fall lineup boasts a few can't-miss opportunities.

The first three months each feature a different theme, and many of us will be seeing some movies for the first time in the theater. For example, as I was intent on rushing a viewing of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three in before Tony Scott's disastrous remake, I was forced to stream it online on my tiny laptop screen one night. Little did I know that Take-Up Productions would be showing the original in all of its refreshingly imperfect 35mm glory, sure to be sweet relief for all those who are still reeling from this summer's version (speaking of Tony Scott - see The Warriors here before Scott ruins that, too).

Below is the confirmed fall schedule for the Trylon (note that Take-Up is also programming Audrey, an Audrey Hepburn series, at the Heights for six Monday nights beginning Sept. 14). All descriptions are taken directly from Take-Up Productions:

SEPTEMBER - "Crime Spree"
New York Crime - The New Classics

September 4 and 5
The Warriors (1979) in 35mm @ 7:00 & 9:00 PM
dir Walter Will, starring Michael Beck and David Patrick Kelly
*As color-coded gangs gather in the thousands in the Bronx, charismatic leader Cyrus is assassinated and the finger points, mistakenly, at the Warriors - now it’s one long train ride back to Coney. A stylized violence-packed update of Xenophon's Anabasis. See it now, before Tony Scott "re-imagines" this film the way he did with...

September 11 and 12
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) in 35mm @ 7:00 and 9:05 PM
dir Joseph Sargent, starring Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw
*"Screw the goddamn passengers! What do they want for their thirty-five cents? To live forever?"
Wisecracks and bullets fly as Robert Shaw, Hector Elizondo and Martin Balsam hijack a southbound No. 6 train, the ransom-carrying cop car jackknifes in Astor Place, and TA cop Walter Matthau negotiates via subway squawkbox.
(Read my thoughts on the original and this summer's remake.)

September 18 and 19
Dog Day Afternoon (1975) in BD @ 7:00 & 9:25 PM
dir Sidney Lumet, starring Al Pacino and John Cazale
*The robbery should have taken 10 minutes. 4 hours later, the bank was like a circus sideshow. 8 hours later, it was the hottest thing on live TV. 12 hours later, it was all history. And it's all true.
(Revisit a classic scene from Dog Day Afternoon.)

September 25 and 26
Inside Man (2006) in BD @ 7:00 & 9:00 PM
dir Spike Lee, starring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster
*It looked like the perfect bank robbery. But you can't judge a crime by it's cover. This is Spike Lee's pitch perfect tribute to the NYC crime films of the 70s. Spot on casting includes Christopher Plummer, Willem Dafoe, Chiwetel Ejiofor and James Ransone (who you may know from his role in HBO's Generation Kill).

OCTOBER - "Cronenberg"
The Films of David Cronenberg

Oct 9 and 10
Videodrome (1983) in 35mm @ 7:00 & 8:50 PM
starring James Woods
*First it controlled her mind, then it destroyed her body...Long live the new flesh!

Oct 16 and 17
Scanners (1981) in 35mm @ 7:00 & 9:10 PM
starring Stephen Lack and Michael Ironside
*There are 4 billion people on earth. 237 are Scanners. They have the most terrifying powers ever created...and they are winning. 35mm

Oct 23 and 24
The Brood (1979) in 35mm @ 7:00 & 9:00 PM
starring Oliver Reed and Samantha Eggar
*The Ultimate Experience Of Inner Terror!

Oct 30 and 31
The Fly (1986) in 35mm & BD @ 7:00 & 9:00 PM
starring Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis
*Something went wrong in the lab today. Very wrong.
(Take your pick, on Friday we run film at 7, digital at 9, on Saturday we run digital at 7, film at 9.)

NOVEMBER - "Capra"
The Films of Frank Capra

Nov 6 and 7
American Madness (1932) in 35mm @ 7:00 & 8:35 PM
starring Walter Huston, Pat O'Brien and Kay Johnson
*Bank president Walter Huston insists on lending on "character" collateral, despite an almost cheating wife, embezzling cashier, and spectacular bank run.

Nov 13 and 14
It Happened One Night (1934) in 35mm @ 7:00 & 9:05 PM
starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert
*Following a memorable Greyhound bus ride, only the "walls of Jericho" separate story-hungry newshound Clark Gable from bratty runaway heiress Claudette Colbert. The apotheosis of the screwball comedy swept the Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and (for Robert Riskin) Best Screenplay.

Nov 20 and 21
Mr Deeds Goes To Town (1936) in 35mm @ 7:00 & 9:15 PM
starring Garry Cooper and Jean Arthur
*"Mr. Deeds is Capra's finest film, and that means it is a comedy quite unmatched on the screen." -Graham Greene, 1936

Nov 27 and 28
Lost Horizon (1937) in 35mm @ 7:00 & 9:35 PM
starring Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt and Edward Everett Horton
*Millions to make it!...Two years in production!...The best seller that sets a new style in romance floods the screen with splendor and drama.

*The Trylon projects from 35mm film or 1080p high definition video. "35mm" denotes a program projected from film, "BD" is a digital screening.

Download the full Fall 2009 schedule in PDF format.

The Trylon microcinema (612.424.5468) is located at 3258 Minnehaha Avenue S (click for a map and for my profile of the Trylon prior to its grand opening last month). All tickets at the Trylon are $8, but discount cards can be purchased for $25 (5 admissions, good for up to two per screening).

Purchase tickets EARLY (they will sell out) at www.trylon.org.

Local Theater Love #2: The Trylon microcinema

Welcome to your new Minneapolis home for repertory film programming...

It's a steamy late June afternoon as I slowly drive around the corner of E 33rd St. and Minnehaha Ave. in Southeast Minneapolis, trying to locate the new Trylon microcinema. I neglected to double check the address before I left, and as I aimlessly drive down an alley between Minnehaha and Snelling, the sun is blinding me, my back is sweating like crazy and my girlfriend is annoyed because I've called her at work asking her for navigation assistance.

Where is this place? I think back to when I had originally planned to come in February, when it was little more than a screening room hosted by Take-Up Productions and friends. Kathie Smith was going to show Chungking Express on Blu-Ray on a Tuesday night, and I couldn't wait to see it. Unfortunately, neither could a certain local film critic, thus sending the Strib my way seeking someone to attend the screening of Friday the 13th that same night. Conflicted, I accepted the assignment and missed out on Chungking. Thanks a lot, Colin...

Bam, there it is! A stark white sign on the back corner of a brick building: Trylon microcinema. I hurriedly hang up with my girlfriend, park on the street and, briefly distracted by a colorful mural lining the windowless building on the south side, find my way to the only door along 33rd St. Is this the right place?

Yes, in so many ways (and to be clear, it's really not that hard to find). With help from his friends and associates, Barry Kryshka has, in just over a year, wholly transformed the space in this building from empty retail/warehouse space to a.) a functional office for his own business, and b.) the newest and perhaps most intimate theater space in town. After three years of dutiful saving and hard work programming series and festivals around the Twin Cities, Take-Up Productions has secured its own space: the Trylon microcinema.

Featuring a 20' screen, two 35mm projectors, feels-like-you're-there sound, shockingly good digital capability, frosty air-conditioning and 60 real theater seats (plush, red velvet-upholstered, and graduated seats, to be specific), the Trylon is at first glance simply a smaller version of any cheeky theater at an AMC multiplex. But it has character (the seats, from an old theater in Waseca, were reupholstered by prison inmates in St. Cloud), intimacy, and maybe most importantly, freedom from corporate control.

While the space was still under construction when I visited, Take-Up had already hosted a couple of preview screenings and Barry was confident everything would be in place for the July 17th opening. The first row of seats (above) still needed to be installed instead of placeholder chairs, some lighting, painting, and soundproofing needed to be finished, and the matte around the screen had not yet been added. But there was no question that this was a legit theater, and one that had been constructed with the utmost regard for the cinematic experience. As an added bonus, Barry gave me a look at a few minutes of Blu-Ray projected on the screen, and the picture can only be described as eye-popping.

After spending a good chunk of the afternoon admiring and discussing the space with Barry, he was gracious enough to answer some additional questions via email as a kind of summary of our conversations. Before or after reading this I highly recommend you read up on Barry's discussion with Kathie Smith back in February about the process of programming repertory series at local theaters. Also, find more information on the July 17th opening further below, or on Take-Up's website.


Daniel: Take-Up Productions has established itself as a regular and well-respected fixture in the Twin Cities film scene over the last 2-3 years. Aside from the opening of the Trylon, what would you consider your biggest challenges and proudest achievements so far?

Barry Kryshka: The biggest hurdle/accomplishment was getting our first series on the screen at a local moviehouse. We spent a couple of summers bouncing around, showing films any way we could, usually outdoors, we showed The Hot Rock in a back alley behind a coffee shop, and Groundhog Day on the wall of the Soap Factory. So our first series at the Parkway was a big deal for me. We had 71 people for our opening night show: Stanley Kubrick's classic - The Killing, and we put in a ton of work at The Parkway to that stage. Since then just about every series has been bigger than the one before.

In terms of content, my favorite bill has to be the double feature of The Blue Dahlia and The Glass Key at the Heights last winter.

DG: What can people expect when they show up at the Trylon for the Buster Keaton series, "The Great Stone Face: Six from Buster Keaton", beginning July 17?

BK: I'm not even sure I know anymore, this project is taking on a life of its own. Dreamland Faces originally told me to plan for two people on accordion and musical saw...now it's 3-4 people playing each night, there's a piano involved, and I'm now hearing about "a very small drum set".

People should know that we're kind of like a speakeasy at this point. Our main entrance will be through the currently in-construction XYZ Gallery at 3258 Minnehaha. Just walk through the gallery and you'll find us at the back.

DG: Take us through the process you went through deciding on a name for your new space.

BK: I was looking for a name that would be unique, but with some cinema heritage. I considered "the Falls", because I'd heard about the Falls Theater on Minnehaha Ave, about six blocks from our space. The Falls was demolished in the 40's and replaced by Riverview.

But I don't really have a personal connection to that theater, and I eventually chose the name Trylon after the theater of the same name on Queens Blvd., where I grew up. The original Trylon was named for the 1939 World's Fair structure, and seated 600, including the balcony. I like the reference to the 30s, and the connection to a neighborhood moviehouse. The Trylon wasn't the biggest or most impressive in New York, but it was a neighborhood movie theater that served its community for 60 years.

DG: You've paid considerable attention so far to screening classic films in 35mm (and for the record, each of the ones I've seen has looked fantastic, most recently "To Catch at Thief" at the Riverview). How do you plan to balance the programming at the Trylon between 35mm and video formats (including Blu-Ray)?

BK: There's something about the look of 35mm film, and the sound of the projectors running, that reminds people they're out at a theater, having an experience you can't duplicate at home.

I'm extremely proud of our video image. It's a real 1920 x 1080 projector, the first in an independent Twin Cities movie theater, it has the same level of detail as the hundred thousand dollar 2K DLP projectors used by AMC's digital screens at the new Roseville theater.

I think the picture we project from Blu-Ray disc on our 20 foot screen is a match for 35mm film, but I never considered for a moment opening the Trylon without 35mm projection. The construction would have been so much easier, we could have had room for a bunch more seats, and a far lower electric bill, if we were digital only, but it wouldn't be a movie theater, not the way I think of them.

DG: It seems like the possibilities for series themes are endless. How you decide which genre, actor/actress, or time period to build a film series around?

BK: I talk to everyone I see at our shows, running ideas past everybody to see where there's interest. I also watch the calendars from the big repertory theaters in NY and LA, and I often go digging though my collection of Oak Street calendars for inspiration (does anyone out there have Summer 1998?). With the Trylon we're going to have much more flexibility in our programming. I can't wait.

DG: Considering the success you have had with series like "First, You Need a Crime...Six From Hitchcock", how do you see Take-Up balancing its programming between series and regular screenings at the Trylon, and series and retrospectives at bigger local theaters (The Heights, The Riverview, The Parkway)?

BK: We're going to start regular Friday/Saturday night screenings at the Trylon in September, with monthly themes. But we have no intention of slowing our pace with the Monday night shows. We've already confirmed a series in collaboration with the Heights this September.

DG: Do you foresee the Trylon ever moving toward more first-run or limited release films that don't get picked up by local theaters, or retaining a focus more on retrospectives/repertory programming?

BK: I'm going to keep Fri/Sat programming strictly repertory, but the Trylon will also run other films on occasion. For one example, we've started a partnership with Sound Unseen. They were looking for a venue to do monthly screenings in between their annual festival, so we'll have more screenings like last month's Bjork film, Voltaic.

DG: Describe the picture in your head of the Trylon microcinema five years from now.

BK: Five different films each week on one screen, that's the dream. I'm very satisfied with the Trylon technically. We were under a tight budget, working with the profits we had from 2 years of screenings, but we weren't forced to scrimp, and I think the quality of picture and sound at the Trylon is extraordinary.

What I want now, which is a much bigger task, is to slowly build the organization from four screenings a week to shows every night, and as many films each week as possible.

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There may still be some tickets available for the Trylon's July 17th grand opening, but with only 60 seats in the house you'd be wise to get tickets ASAP. In addition the occasion of welcoming a new theater space to the Cities, I'm just as excited that the first series are these Buster Keaton films, accompanied live by Dreamland Faces as Barry describes above.

Also, know that Kathie Smith and I are reconvening the Film Goats at Town Talk Diner following the 7:00 PM shows on Friday night. Any and all are welcome to celebrate the Trylon's opening and pretentiously complain about the popularity of summer blockbusters like Transformers 2. Or openly admit to loving Transformers 2. There's room for that, too; we're goats, of course.

Below is a preview of the six films - also note that advance tickets are now on sale at Take-Up's brownpapertickets.com page.

The Great Stone Face: Six from Buster Keaton, beginning July 17

Sherlock Jr. (1924)
July 17 and 18 at 7pm and 9pm
Woody Allen's Purple Rose of Cairo is a delight, but Buster Keaton did it first. Projectionist Buster — dreaming he’s an ace detective — jumps right on to the movie screen, finding himself furiously edited from garden bench to city street to cliff — but finally becoming the ace detective of his wildest cinema fantasies.

Preceded by the short: The Electric House (1922) Buster designs a house with all the latest gadgets for a real estate tycoon who will buy thousands if the model home impresses him. But during the demonstration, everything that can go wrong, does - hilariously!

The Navigator (1924)
July 24 and 25 at 7pm and 9pm
Keaton’s top money-maker began with the biggest prop of his career: an ocean liner. Pampered playboy Buster is stranded on same with equally helpless airhead Kathryn McGuire. The ship finally runs aground on a desert island where the two unfortunates are chased by cannibals. One of Keaton's most revered films.

Preceded by the short film: The Ballonatic (1923) Buster rises to new heights as he sails heavenward in a balloon. He bumps into clouds, and in trying to bring down a duck, punctures the gas bag and crashes in the woods where he saves Phyllis Haver from a bear and falls in love. His courtship and the 'balloonatic' events that follow are hilarious!

Seven Chances (1925)
July 31 and August 1 at 7pm and 9pm
Buster gets word that if he can be married by 7 o'clock that evening, he will inherit $7,000,000. When his sweetheart refuses, he proposes to everyone in skirts, including a Scotsman! Hopeful still, he advertises for a bride and is horrified to discover 500 would-be brides hot on his trail in a hilarious chase to the finish!

Preceded by the short film: The Goat (1921) A mistaken-identity crisis precipitates an almost continuous - and continuously brilliant - chase through two adjoining towns where Buster is taken for 'Deadeye Dan, Public Enemy'.

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