August 19th, 2025
By Greg Carlson
Shortly following its world premiere in January, first-time feature filmmaker Kate Beecroft’s “East of Wall” won the NEXT section’s audience award at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. A persuasive blend of nonfiction and fiction elements, the movie’s stunning South Dakota setting serves as an additional character in the ensemble. Populated by a number of newcomers and nonactors who in many cases inhabit versions of their real-life selves,…
August 13th, 2025
By Greg Carlson
The wildly talented and ambitious Zach Cregger drags us back to the basement in “Weapons,” one of the year’s most satisfying and enjoyable films of any genre. While fans of “Barbarian” know to expect the unexpected when it comes to the filmmaker’s investment in horror and comedy, Cregger’s latest feature will expand his audience to waves of newcomers eager to see what the hype is about. Opening weekend performance at the box office has…
August 4th, 2025
By Greg Carlson
When I first heard the premise for “Oh, Hi!” — which has been described as a “romantic comedy” if you imagine a twisted sense of the term — visions of two Stephen King novels popped into my head. In “Misery,” a writer is held captive by an obsessed fan. And in “Gerald’s Game,” a woman must figure out how to survive after finding herself handcuffed to a bed. King’s two stories exist principally in the space of the psychological…
July 29th, 2025
By Greg Carlson
Cinephiles and fans of classic midcentury Hollywood biography will find much to appreciate in Mariska Hargitay’s insightful documentary “My Mom Jayne.” As protagonist Olivia Benson on NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” Hargitay holds the record for playing the longest-running primetime character on network television. Many also know her as the daughter of iconic sex symbol Jayne Mansfield. Hargitay’s feature directorial debut…
July 21st, 2025
By Greg Carlson
Ari Aster’s political satire “Eddington” premiered in competition for the Palme d’Or at Cannes in May, where Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident” received the prize. A frequently laborious mash-up of genres including flashes of the filmmaker’s horror comfort zone (“Hereditary” and “Midsommar” remain the best films he has made) and slow-burn American Western/noir touches that aspire to the blending of violence and comedy…
July 15th, 2025
By Sabrina Hornung
Photo by Sabrina Hornung
Wing, North Dakota is a town of 132 located about an hour northwest of Bismarck on Highway 36. There’s a shiny new Cenex on the intersection of the highway and the high school marks the end of Main with six smiling senior portraits affixed to the building. It’s a quiet community with a few small businesses in town, including the staples such as a bar and a cafe.
One that particularly caught my eye was the movie theatre,…
July 15th, 2025
By Greg Carlson
With “Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything,” director Jackie Jesko takes on the legacy and legend of the late journalist extraordinaire. One of the year’s many solid, feature-length biographical documentaries, Jesko’s movie premiered at the Tribeca Festival in June before making its way to Hulu. The director highlights career accomplishments and off-camera alliances, avoiding total hagiography by looking at a handful of the transactional…
July 7th, 2025
By Greg Carlson
Filmmaker Matt Wolf, whose lovely “Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell” suggests he would be the perfect director to construct the definitive biographical account of the wholly original Paul Reubens, mostly makes good on that promise with the two-part “Pee-wee as Himself.” The story, now on HBO following a Sundance world premiere, has been identified somewhat disappointingly as a kind of “coming out” revelation, even though…
July 1st, 2025
By Greg Carlson
As we continue to deal with the ongoing horrorshow of racism, misogyny and transphobia embraced by the current administration, films like “Sally” can serve as an important reminder that love triumphs over hate time and again. News broke just this month that the Pentagon had officially renamed the John Lewis-class oiler USNS Harvey Milk for World War II officer Oscar V. Peterson. National Public Radio reported that “Under [Secretary of Defense…
June 24th, 2025
By Greg Carlson
The June 9 death of musician Sylvester Stewart, known much better by stage name Sly Stone, saw an outpouring of tributes, memorials and appreciations from some who knew him personally and many who never made his acquaintance. The groundbreaking visionary and multi-instrumentalist launched hit after hit into the cosmos, defining and redefining genre boundaries with a core group of players that included Black and white, male and female, years before…
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By Bryce Vincent Haugen By his own account, Edwin Chinchilla is lucky to still be in the United States. As a 12-year-old Salvadoran, he and his brother were packed into a semi with a couple dozen other people and given fake…
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…
February 21, 6-8 p.m.Turtle River State Park, Arvilla, NDEnjoy a self-guided hike in the picturesque woods of Turtle River State Park. The trails will be lit with luminary candles. After the hike, warm those bones by the fire at…
By Sabrina HornungThe quote, "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command” from George Orwell’s iconic novel “1984” has come up in conversation more times than…
By Ed Raymond‘Dakota Attitude’ should be read by all North Dakota studentsI have been meaning to write about this book by James Puppe for several years, but the world has been in such a mess I thought I should write about …
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…
Friday, March 13, 4-10 p.m.Brewhalla, Fargo, 1702 1st Ave. N., FargoPolish up those dancing shoes and come hungry for this ticketed event you won’t want to miss. Expect unlimited samples paired with wine and beer from 20+…
Saturday, March 7, 7:30 p.m.Fargo Theatre, 314 N. BroadwayFM Opera’s Artistic Director and tenor Joshua Kohl will be sharing the stage with internationally-renowned tenors Anthony Ciaramitaro and Luke Norvell to perform a variety…
By Greg Carlson The great documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras had to work diligently to convince Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh to be the subject of one of her films. Most accounts and reviews of “Cover-Up,”…
Saturday, March 7, 4-8 p.m.Swing Barrel Brewing, 814 Central Ave., MoorheadEmpty Bowls is a nationwide, grassroots, artist-led movement to support hunger related organizations in their communities. On March 7, prepare to fill your…
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 January 2026, the 2026-2030 dietary guidelines for Americans were released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They are supposed to be revolutionary and a “reset” from the previous ones.…
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 Vern Thompson Benjamin Franklin offered one of the most sobering warnings in American history. When asked what kind of government the framers had created in 1787, he replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” Few words…
