Cinema

​Fastvold marks the agony and the ecstasy of ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’

January 5th, 2026

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

Director Mona Fastvold’s “The Testament of Ann Lee” frequently writhes and gesticulates with a hypnotizing mysticism that mirrors the fervor of its title character. At its absolute best when reaching for the strange and inexplicable, the movie — stunningly photographed by William Rexer — also shrinks and retreats when focused on the more basic historical outlines of the early development of the Shaker faith in the northwest of England and then…

Read more...


​Making the Magazine: Curry Subscribes to ‘The New Yorker at 100’

December 29th, 2025

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

Available on Netflix, Marshall Curry’s “The New Yorker at 100” takes the measure of the venerable publication as a compact primer aiming to please longtime readers and potential new converts. The Oscar-winning filmmaker toggles between key historical moments and the preparation of the magazine’s centennial issue, following several personalities devoted to the care and keeping of the special recipe that has enthralled us decade after decade.…

Read more...


​‘Marty Supreme’ Looks for a Big Bounce

December 29th, 2025

By Greg Carlson


There is no rule demanding that our main characters be good human beings. Paul Newman’s Hud Bannon? A charming, selfish snake. Robert De Niro’s Travis Bickle? A ticking time bomb. Jason Schwartzman’s Max Fischer? A conniving, immature pest. And now we can add Timothée Chalamet’s mid-twentieth century table tennis hustler Marty Mauser to the list of folks we would likely cross the street to avoid should we have the misfortune to encounter them in our real lives.…

Read more...


Peck explores world and words in ‘Orwell: 2+2=5’

December 16th, 2025

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

The brilliant film essayist and documentarian Raoul Peck tackles the looming shadow of contemporary American and international totalitarianism in “Orwell: 2+2=5.” Following a May debut at Cannes and a fall theatrical release, the troubling and worthwhile movie is now available to rent from the major streaming services. Meticulously researched and exactingly visualized, Peck’s critique would reverberate even more like a desperate and…

Read more...


​Be here now: Zhao stages a powerful “Hamnet”

December 9th, 2025

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

Cinephiles who fell in love early with Chloe Zhao’s remarkable moviemaking gifts will point to the blend of unpolished performances, raw emotion and stunning visuals on display in “Songs My Brothers Taught Me” and “The Rider.” Those two features laid the groundwork that earned Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress Oscars for mainstream breakthrough “Nomadland” and then the odd and polarizing Marvel superhero entry…

Read more...


​Trier’s family ties: ‘Sentimental Value’

December 2nd, 2025

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value” continues to make an award-season push for recognition as it expands to additional screens following its initial premiere in May at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the Grand Prix. Both longtime and more recent fans of the filmmaker will be dazzled by Trier’s command of the cinematic medium. The auteur, writing again with longtime collaborator Eskil Vogt, locates the sweet spot between…

Read more...


​All in the ‘Rental Family’

November 24th, 2025

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

Japanese director Hikari, born in Osaka and originally named Mitsuyo Miyazaki, is poised for a significant stateside breakthrough with “Rental Family,” the new film she co-wrote with Stephen Blahut. Already generating some limited (and possibly wishful) Oscar nomination buzz for lead Brendan Fraser, “Rental Family” joins “The Phoenician Scheme,” “One Battle After Another,” and “Sentimental Value” in a curious group of recent…

Read more...


DaCosta and Thompson go to work on Ibsen

November 18th, 2025

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

In “Hedda,” Nia DaCosta’s bold adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s celebrated 1891 play, the filmmaker reunites with longtime collaborator Tessa Thompson, who starred in DaCosta’s directorial debut “Little Woods” (screened, among other places, in the Fargo Film Festival). DaCosta makes several audacious alterations to the original text, switching the setting from Kristiania (Oslo) to 1950s England. The writer-director also centralizes a queer…

Read more...


​Lawrence plays spiraling new mother in ‘Die My Love’

November 12th, 2025

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

Scottish moviemaker Lynne Ramsay adds the fifth feature to her filmography with “Die My Love,” an adaptation of Argentine writer Ariana Harwicz’s 2012 novel. Co-written by Ramsay, Enda Walsh and Alice Birch, the movie eavesdrops on the unraveling of a young woman struggling to adjust to life following the acquisition of a new husband, a new home and a new baby. Jennifer Lawrence, in an expectedly committed performance, plays the tellingly…

Read more...


​Lanthimos and Stone seek more honey in fourth film together

November 3rd, 2025

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

As a reflection on our perilous political landscape, “Bugonia,” from the ever curious and boundary-stretching auteur Yorgos Lanthimos, joins several other 2025 releases that have something to say about a deeply divided populace and the fine line between order and chaos. Landing somewhere between “One Battle After Another” and “Eddington” on the “both sides are bad” spectrum, “Bugonia” is smaller in scale than either of those…

Read more...


Tracker Pixel for Entry staveq1 Tracker Pixel for Entry Blackbird Tracker Pixel for Entry 7Clans Tracker Pixel for Entry Bismarck Tracker Pixel for Entry WurstWest Tracker Pixel for Entry FPL2

Recently in:

By Bryce Vincent Haugen There are three Fargo Park Board seats up for election June 9. Park Board President Vicki Dawson and long-time member Dr. Joe Deutsch announced their reelection bids, but board member Aaron Hill is vacating…

By Michael M. Miller Rev. Salomon Joachim, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Beulah, North Dakota., delivered an address to the Western Conference of the Dakota District of the American Lutheran Church in 1939. His presentation was…

Thursday, April 23, 7 p.m.Fargodome, 1800 University Dr. N, FargoHeralded as "The Nicest Man in Stand-Up" by The Atlantic, Nate Bargatze is also one of the top-grossing comedians, breaking both streaming and attendance records. Now…

By Sabrina Hornung In the last week of March, we heard about an AI education droid visiting the White House as the first lady made a pitch to replace teachers with androids. In an interview with conservative commentator Benny…

By Ed RaymondWhy do women make up only 2% of humans on death row? In the 16th Century, when the Roman Catholic Pope refused to grant Henry VIII of England a divorce so he could marry the beautiful Anne Boleyn, he told the Pope and…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick Gion A brand new food event called the "ONE BITE Challenge" will launch in downtown Fargo on May 23. Rocky Schneider, executive director of the Downtown Community Partnership told us more. HPR: Hi Rocky. Thank you for…

By John ShowalterAs hip-hop started to make its way into the national spotlight in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was largely split into two camps, “East Coast” and “West Coast”. Not content to be left out of a…

By Blaise Balas As many Fargoans will tell you, it is almost vanishingly rare that our town gets any kind of major recognition, let alone placement in a movie. Movies are reserved for New York, Chicago, Boston — you know, the big…

By Sabrina Hornung Something wicked (and wonderful) this way comes to this year’s Plains Art Gala. With the theme being “Nightmare at the Museum,” the Plains Art Museum is partnering up with Drekker and Brewhalla as…

Saturday, January 31, 6:30-9 p.m.Transfiguration Fitness, 764 34th St. N., Unit P, FargoAn enchanting evening celebrating movement and creativity in a staff-student showcase. This is a family-friendly event showcasing pole, aerial…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By Ellie Liverani In November 2025, the FDA initiated the removal of the “black box” warning from Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). The “black box” warning is a FAD safety warning for healthcare providers and patients…

January 31, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.Viking Ship Park, 202 1st Ave. N., Moorhead2026 marks 10 years of frosty fun! Enjoy sauna sessions with Log the Sauna, try Snowga (yoga in the snow), take a guided snowshoe nature hike, listen to live…

By Chris M. StonerBryon Noem deserves to feel shame. Not for his bimbofication fetish. As a drag queen for nearly a quarter of a century, I whole-heartedly think people should do more exploration of their gender and sexual…