Good news, bad news for Minneapolis-based films

The bad news first: a new film based on Charles Bukowski's Factotum, which was shot around town and even guest-stars a City Pages writer, has been dropped by its theatrical distributor right before its American premiere. Picturehouse, a distributorship owned and run by New Line and HBO, made the announcement just as the film was scheduled to be shown at Sundance. (Matt Dillon plays Bukowski/Chinaski, and it was directed by Scandanavian filmmaker Bent Hamer-- both have been singled out in the positive European reviews.) The good news is about another indy film with Minneapolis roots: Hoop Dreams, the 1994 documentary, was one of the 25 films added to this year's National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Films are added "because of their cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance." It's always a good list, and you can see this year's picks here.