Movies to see in the Twin Cities this week: British Arrow Awards, 'Batman Returns,' 'Hundreds of Beavers'
Great news for Elf fans: It's playing on an almost endless loop at theaters right now.
The same can be said for a whole bunch of Christmas movies. Though, there are plenty of alternatives if you're elf-ed out. The British Arrow Awards, an anthology presentation of award-winning commercials, will start its run at the Walker Art Center. The deeply weird Hundreds of Beavers is returning to theaters. Oh, and one of John Waters' subversive classics starring Divine is hitting the big screen as well.
Here are some films worth tracking down around the Twin Cities this week.
British Arrows Awards
Dec. 6 through Jan. 4 at The Walker Art Center
Watching commercials is not enjoyable. It's the thing you're forced to do because you don't want to pay the extra $5 a month to remove them from your streaming subscription. Yet, the British Arrows Awards are an exception. The annual anthology of UK advertising returns to the Walker Art Center on Friday to start its month-long run of funny, occasionally poignant commercials. This year, the program includes ads with Olivia Colman as an oil baron and Salma Hayek as a party crasher. Expect mini-documentaries, science-fiction spoofs, animation, and a lot of inane oddities. 725 Vineland Pl., Minneapolis ($18)
Hundreds of Beavers (2022)
Wednesday, Dec. 4 and 18 at The Main Cinema
One of the strangest movies to be released this year is returning to theaters for a one-day engagement. Hundreds of Beavers feels like what might have happened if a silent film director from the 1920s grew up on Adult Swim cartoons and made a Bugs Bunny-inspired comedy. With no dialogue, a 19th-century fur trapper is tormented by the wilderness, with rabbits, woodpeckers, raccoons, fish, and geese making his life difficult. Worst of all are the beavers, of which there are, you may have guessed, hundreds. With intentionally absurd special effects, he goes to war with a deluge of men in beaver costumes. MSP Film Society's first screening sold out, so it added another on Wednesday and one later in the month. 115 SE Main St., Minneapolis ($11)
Klaus (2019)
Sunday, Dec. 8 at Alamo Drafthouse
Klaus, an animated Christmas film originally released on Netflix, feels destined to become a holiday staple. Spoiled Jesper is forced to become a postal delivery worker on a remote northern island. The island is divided between feuding families, a rift he attempts to mend after making nice with a crotchety toymaker named Klaus. It's beautifully animated, funny, and sweet. Plus, aside from Jason Schwartzman, Rashida Jones, and J.K. Simmons, you get to hear the late Norm MacDonald as one of the voices 9060 Hudson Rd., Woodbury ($10)
Batman Returns (1992)
Tuesday, Dec. 10 at Alamo Drafthouse
Just like Die Hard, Batman Returns deserves to be in the "Is it a Christmas movie?" debate. Tim Burton and Michael Keaton's second outing with the caped crusader is packed with dark holiday whimsy, Gothic stylization, and delightfully scene-chewing performances from Danny DeVito and Christopher Walken. 9060 Hudson Rd., Woodbury ($10)
Female Trouble (1974)
Friday, Dec. 6 at Alamo Drafthouse
For those who requiring an antidote to the seasonal cheer, the Alamo is serving up one of John Waters' subversive classics with Divine. Spoiled schoolgirl Dawn Davenport runs away from home after she doesn't get cha-cha heels for Christmas. (Does that make this a Christmas movie? I think it does.) Dawn hitchhikes, gets pregnant, and becomes a model for photographers who like to shoot models while they do crimes. That crimes bit becomes Dawn's favorite part of the job. A fitting follow-up to Pink Flamingos, it's got everything you want from Waters' maximalist approach to transgressive storytelling. 9060 Hudson Rd., Woodbury ($10)
More movie screenings taking place this week:
- Dec. 4: Tape Freaks at the Trylon Cinema
- Dec. 4: A Christmas Story (1983) at CMX Odyssey
- Dec. 4–8: White Christmas (1954) at The Heights Theater
- Dec. 4: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) Movie Party at Alamo Drafthouse
- Dec. 4: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) at Emagine Willow Creek
- Dec. 4–5 and 8: The Family Man (2000) at Grandview Theatre
- Dec. 5: Open Screen with co-hosts Anna duSaire and Ryan Stopera at Public Functionary
- Dec. 5: Bona (1980) at The Trylon Cinema
- Dec. 5: Sing Sing (2023) at The Capri Theater
- Dec. 6: Scream it Off Screen at The Parkway Theater
- Dec. 6–12: Heretics (2024) at The Trylon Cinema
- Dec. 6–8: Good Morning (1959) in 35mm at The Trylon Cinema
- Dec. 6–12: Elf (2003) at Lakes Cinema, Oakdale Cinema (6–8), Parkwood Cinema, Rosemount Cinema, Southbridge Crossing Cinema, and West End Cinema
- Dec. 6–12: Dr. Seuss' The Grinch (2018) at Oakdale Cinema (6–8), Parkwood Cinema, Rosemount Cinema, Southbridge Crossing Cinema, and West End Cinema
- Dec. 6–12: It's a Wonderful Life (1946) at Oakdale Cinema (6–8), Parkwood Cinema, and West End Cinema
- Dec. 6–11: Elf (2003) at St. Michael Cinema
- Dec. 6–11: A Christmas Story (1983) at St. Michael Cinema
- Dec. 7: Elf (2003) Pancakes and PJs party at Oakdale Cinema,
- Dec. 7: The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) at The Parkway Theater
- Dec. 7: Gremlins (1984) at The Main Cinema, part of the Midnight Mayhem series
- Dec. 7: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) at Alamo Drafthouse
- Dec. 7: The Polar Express (2004) movie party at Alamo Drafthouse
- Dec. 7–11: My Neighbor Totoro (1988) at St. Michael Cinema, Oakdale Cinema, Parkwood Cinema, Rosemount Cinema, and Southbridge Crossing Cinema
- Dec. 7–8 and 10: My Neighbor Totoro (1988) at Emagine Willow Creek
- Dec. 8: Scrooged (1988) at Audrey Rose Vintage
- Dec. 8–10: The Polar Express (2004) at CMX Odyssey
- Dec. 8 & 11: Love Actually (2003) at Emagine Willow Creek
- Dec. 8–10: Outrage (1950) at The Trylon Cinema
- Dec. 8: Pure Grit (2021) at Emagine Willow Creek, part of the Queer Gaze serie
- Dec. 9: The Dorm that Dripped Blood (1982) at Emagine Willow Creek, part of Cinema of the Macabre
- Dec. 9: It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) at The Heights Theater
- Dec. 9: Elf (2003) movie party at Alamo Drafthouse
- Dec. 9: Marcus Mystery Movie at Oakdale Cinema, Parkwood Cinema, Rosemount Cinema, Southbridge Crossing Cinema, and West End Cinema
- Dec. 10: Love Actually (2003) at AMC Eden Prairie, AMC Southdale, AMC Rosedale, AMC Mounds View, AMC Coon Rapids, and AMC Inver Grove
