Movie Blog: Full List Of MSPIFF Titles Announced

As I said a few weeks ago, "there are few things sweeter than the sight of grass peeking through the snow after a long, hard winter season. But the opportunity to see new movies from world-class auteurs and local up-and-comers alike is among those things."

Well, we're now just a few weeks away from the opening of the 2013 Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival, and it still feels pretty much like winter out there. So there will be no reason to feel bad about seeking late-season refuge inside a movie theater ... for weeks.

The Film Society of Minneapolis-St. Paul has just announced the list of approximately 200 feature films in the mix, along with the usual shorts showcases.

A couple weeks ago, I reported that Ken Loach's The Angels' Share would be the opening night selection, and Paolo & Vittorio Taviani's Caesar Must Die was the official mid-fest highlight.

Now, the Film Society announces that In a World, Lake Bell's feature directorial debut, will be the festival's official closing night selection. As the title probably suggests, Bell's movie is about a movie trailer announcer (yep, just like Don LaFontaine and Ben Patrick Johnson). Bell is one of the cast members of Adult Swim's hysterically funny 15-minute sitcom Children's Hospital, so you know I'm looking forward to that one.

Previously reported highlights from this year's fest included:

-       French New Wave titan Alain Resnais's You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet, one of the best-reviewed movies at last year's Cannes fest
-       Francois Ozon's In the House
-       Norway's Kon-Tiki, an Oscar nominee this year for best foreign film
-       A retrospective screening of Werner Herzog's classic '70s doc The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner
-       Serbian director Srdjan Dragojević's controversial gay-rights portrait The Parade
-       Rising Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan's Laurence Anyways

That's in addition to spotlight programs about documentaries that blur the line between fact and fiction ("More REEL: Art in the Age of Truthiness"), movies that catalogue the struggles of displaced people ("Songs of Exile"), late night whatzits, Minnesota-made efforts and even selections for the kids.

But, as Lake Bell might say, that's not all. Scroll below to see the full list of films slated for this year's festival.

The festival is set to run from April 11 through April 28, with the bulk of screenings taking place at St. Anthony Main Theater.

Tickets to The Angels' Share and the opening night party will go on sale to members of The Film Society on March 13; the cost will be $40. Non-members will have to wait until April 1 to buy their tickets for $50.