November 7th, 2018
If you Google something, anything, about halfway down the page you’ll find the “People Also Ask” section. The results of this section are, not surprisingly, determined by the most commonly asked questions which leads users to the most commonly clicked links. When I Googled “The Room Movie” last year “Is the movie “The Room” a comedy?” was at the top of that list.
By the way, "The Room", for those of you who just found out about media, is the 2003 film funded, produced…
November 7th, 2018
Jonah Hill’s feature directorial debut, which he also wrote, is a textbook bildungsroman of the hetero-masculine variety, a finely tuned throwback to the “Mid90s” of its title smart enough to locate the universal experiences that everyone -- regardless of generation -- recognizes. Shot on gorgeous Super 16mm in a 4:3 aspect ratio by ace photographer and regular Kelly Reichardt collaborator Christopher Blauvelt, Hill’s lean slice of life, which runs a fleet 84 minutes, is as…
October 31st, 2018
Unknown to the general public but fascinating to followers of Stanley Kubrick, the name Leon Vitali takes center stage in Tony Zierra’s “Filmworker.” Vitali, who moved from the onscreen role of Lord Bullingdon in “Barry Lyndon” to the offscreen one as Kubrick’s general factotum for a quarter of a century, may have been credited as the famous director’s “personal assistant,” but Zierra reveals the astonishing extent of Vitali’s loyalty. Drawing from a deep trove of…
October 24th, 2018
On Thursday, November 15 at the Sanctuary Events Center, Grindflicks will present “Turkish Movie Showcase: A Mega Mix of Turkish Flix.” Tickets for the 21+ event are five dollars at the door, which opens at 7:00 p.m. The movie starts at 8:00 p.m.
HPR film editor Greg Carlson talked to Grindflicks founder and events coordinator Randal Black, who has been bringing the best in exploitation cinema to Fargo audiences since 2010, about the wild allure of unofficial re-imaginings of some…
October 17th, 2018
Damien Chazelle’s fourth feature follows the trajectory common to the careers of many ambitious and talented filmmakers honored with Academy Awards: the dissipation of rawness and experimentation as budgets, expectations, and stakes increase. “First Man,” a deeply self-serious adaptation of James R. Hansen’s Neil Armstrong biography of the same name, is the first of Chazelle’s features written by someone other than the director (the screenplay is the work of “Spotlight”…
October 10th, 2018
WARNING: The following review reveals plot information. Read only if you have seen “A Star Is Born”
Bradley Cooper directs himself and Lady Gaga in the fourth version of the show business perennial “A Star Is Born.” Despite looking, at least on the surface, like a calculated shot at Oscar recognition and glory, Cooper’s own history with substance abuse and suicidal ideation marks the familiar story with a deep personal connection. The chemistry between the leads and the…
October 3rd, 2018
“Love, Gilda,” Lisa D’Apolito’s biography of founding “Saturday Night Live” member Gilda Radner, treats comedy fans to an earnest assessment of the brilliant performer’s life and career, which was cut far too short at age 42 as a result of ovarian cancer. As one of the trailblazing Not Ready for Prime Time Players, Radner originated a healthy share of some of the show’s most memorable characters during her five seasons on SNL. Competing for space and time against the…
September 26th, 2018
Slipping and sliding through its blood-soaked climax, “Assassination Nation” attempts to reconcile the lurid and exploitative embrace of its milieu with an in-your-face polemic on the modern hellscape of rape culture and toxic masculinity. As channeled through the hypersexualized noise of social media (where everyone can be a “star” or cultivate a personal “brand”) as well as the private-until-they’re-not exchanges of person-to-person text messages, writer-director Sam…
September 19th, 2018
Director Craig William Macneill speculates on the infamous legend surrounding Massachusetts murder suspect Lizzie Borden in “Lizzie,” a long-germinating labor of love for star Chloe Sevigny. Working from a screenplay by Bryce Kass, Macneill’s stylish direction will satisfy a good cross-section of true crime fans as well as admirers of Sevigny and Kristen Stewart, who plays live-in Irish housemaid Bridget Sullivan. The continuing cultural fascination with the gruesome deaths of…
September 12th, 2018
Filmmaker Reed Morano’s “I Think We’re Alone Now” doesn’t match the levels of heat surrounding the tireless veteran cinematographer’s other recent successes on “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Working from an original script by Mike Makowsky, Morano cannot be faulted for the film’s exquisite visual design, but the story -- another post-apocalyptic, last-person-on-earth dystopia winding up to some kind of bombshell -- stumbles following a riveting set-up.
Peter Dinklage is Del,…
By Josette Ciceronunapologeticallyanxiousme@gmail.com What does it mean to truly live in a community —or should I say, among community? It’s a question I have been wrestling with since I moved to Fargo-Moorhead in February 2022.…