Here are four films worth checking out at the Twin Cities Film Festival

Ross Raihala, Pioneer Press
·3 min read
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The Twin Cities Film Festival, which runs through Oct. 28, offers a slate of more than 140 films, 30 percent of which have a Minnesota connection. And more than 50 films are also available for streaming.

Single tickets as well as passes for both online and in-person screenings are available via twincitiesfilmfest.org. The festival takes place at the Showplace ICON Theaters at The Shops at West End in St. Louis Park.

Here’s a look at four films worth catching:

“The Holdovers”: Writer/director Alexander Payne made his name through a series of widely acclaimed films, including “Election” (1999), “About Schmidt” (2002), “Sideways” (2004) and “The Descendants” (2011). He also won best adapted screenplay Oscars for the latter two. But his career slumped for much of the past decade, when several projects fell apart and the one movie he released, 2017’s “Downsizing,” earned scathing reviews. But the warm reception given to “The Holdovers” on the festival circuit suggests Payne is back in business. Paul Giamatti plays a teacher in the early ’70s supervising students unable to return home for the holidays. A critic for Vanity Fair said it “seems beamed in from another time in cinema history, when wordy and thoughtful little movies like this were in healthier supply.” (7:15 p.m. Oct. 19)

“Still Working 9 to 5”: In 1980, skeptical film executives took a leap of faith to fund a comedy fronted by three women: Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton. Now a cult classic, the film was the second-highest earner at the box office that year (behind “The Empire Strikes Back”) and now stands at No. 74 on the American Film Institute’s “100 Funniest Movies” list. This doc traces the development of the film through interviews with the three stars and others involved in the film and also takes a dive into the feminist movement of 1980 through today. (4:45 p.m. Oct. 22, streaming)

“A Disturbance in the Force”: There are plenty of “Star Wars” documentaries out there, but this one is special. It’s focused on the “Star Wars Holiday Special,” the notorious two-hour variety show that aired exactly once on CBS in 1978 and has never been rebroadcast or released in any physical format. In addition to detailing the general insanity of “Holiday Special” — which somehow starred Bea Arthur, Harvey Korman, Art Carney, Jefferson Starship and the leads from “Star Wars” — it explains why it happened in the first place. As tough as it is to believe today, there was genuine concern people would forget about “Star Wars” before the release of “The Empire Strikes Back.” (7:45 p.m. Oct. 26)

“Downtown Owl”: Based on the 2008 novel by essayist and North Dakota native Chuck Klosterman, “Downtown Owl” is set in 1983 in the fictional North Dakota town of Owl. It follows Julia Rabia (Lily Rabe), a Milwaukee teacher who moves to the small town for a one-semester teaching job in order to give her husband the space to finish his doctoral thesis. Ed Harris, Vanessa Hudgens, Jack Dylan Grazer, Finn Wittrock and Henry Golding are also in the cast. Actors and real-life couple Rabe and Hamish Linklater make their directorial debut in the film, which they shot in April 2022. In addition to filming scenes at the Spot Bar and Highland Park High School in St. Paul, the crew also shot elsewhere in the area, including Minneapolis, Elko New Market and Independence. (8:15 and 9 p.m. Oct. 28)

RELATED: First reviews for ‘Downtown Owl,’ which was partially shot in St. Paul, are a mixed bag

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